Chapter 4

                                                    September

                         2000

Dear mama,

I had to struggle to get out of bed today. It felt like I had run a marathon through the night.

I went to my new school with my uncle Taju and aunt Bose. I don't know why I have to call her aunty though, she isn't related to me in any way but uncle Taju said it was rude to call her by her name.

Anyways my new school is ok I guess, The classrooms are big with long chairs and tables, I understand they hold two people. There are no air conditioners but there are ceiling fans.

There are tiles in the classrooms but the corridors are bare. Most of the paint on the walls are peeling off. The boards are black and wide. The school has many classrooms. It's a long bungalow. It's a community primary school.

Uncle Taju said I should just try to get used to the place. He said he knew it was a far cry from the school I attend back home but it just had to do for now.

He said I will change my school as time went on but he wanted me to attend a school close to granny's house so I can keep her company. He said he will visit me during Christmas and if I ever needed anything he was a telephone call away.

The headmaster of my new school is probably sixty, he's brown with a black beard that is streaked with gray. He has a nice smile and a dimple that is tempting to touch.

He seemed genuinely happy to see me. When I told him my name was Omar Demilade Abadi, he looked at my uncle as if to quiz him. It must be a weird combination of names.

Even my own name sounds weird to me.

School starts next week and I can't exactly say I am looking forward to it.

Dear mama,

The week has been uneventful, except that uncle Taju and his family have left, leaving me with grandmother and Bose. My first day at school was alright.

My teacher is a very fat woman that I so much pity her chair. I must be the youngest in my class as every other person is much fatter and taller than I am. Most of the girls already have breast and some even look like they can mother me.

It doesn't help that I am small even for my age. My classmates are burdensome, they are always teasing me about how I look and calling me ' oyibo ' it doesn't matter the number of times I tell them that my name is Omar and not ' oyibo ' I seriously need to find out the meaning of that word. I am the joke of the whole class.

The teacher is no better as she finds it amusing. I'm scared of my teacher though, forgetting that she can choke me with a mere hug she has a very long cane.

She calls the cane ' Mr do good ', she has threatened to use it on anybody that is not compliant with her. She did make an example of a boy who left the class without her notice.

I can still hear the sound of the cane as she raised it up to hit the boys bum. The boy must be used to such because aside from a few shrieks he shed no tear. The onlooker had watery eyes just by witnessing it. Well I have made up my mind not to get into the bad book of my teacher so I don't have a taste of ' Mr do good '

We also have to work on the school's farm. There's a period for it and we are assigned work to do. I hate it though because the sun is so hurt it tanned me after a few minutes.

On assembly, we were told the consequences of coming late are to clear the bushes or to sweep the compound during the lunch period which is at noon. I don't ever wish to become a culprit.

The school also has no proper toilet, it makes use of a pit latrine that stinks so much my pee disappeared. I had to hold my pee until I got home. I'm grateful Bose cooked my lunch for me because I don't think I can eat anything they sell in school. The school lacks hygiene.

Dear mama,

Another week has passed and like that, I've spent one week in school. So far I haven't landed in any trouble and aside from the usual teasing from my classmates, it's been ok so far.

I have a new friend I guess, her name is Lola. She is yellow and although she's slim her chest is far from that. She happens to be my seatmate and she is nice to me. She's beautiful and a lot of boys in our class and some senior boys admire her.

I always see her reading one love letter after the next and she's never short of snacks as one of her admirers always leave something for her beneath her desk.

She has no female friends though, except for me that is. She said the other girls are jealous of her. She said they are cheap and most of them are ' ashewo ' which translates to a prostitute. She even told me that some of the girls have committed several abortions.

I'm surprised though none of this happens in my school back home. Most of my mates back home don't even know about sex talk less how it gets people pregnant. If not for the sex education you gave me halfway through my eight-year I will be clueless.

Anyway, I have no such problems because I look so unattractive to be bothered.

Dear mama,

I saw a man been burnt alive today. It was not a pleasant sight to behold at all. I followed Bose to the market today, the market is very crowded and dirty.

All of a sudden we saw people starting to gather around in the midst of them was a man. Some men then started to beat the man to a pulp when they were done they placed a tire around his neck.

When I asked Bose what they were going to do to the man she said they wanted to burn him with fire and if the police don't come in time the man will be burnt alive.

I became really scared I asked Bose what the man had fine to receive such treatment. She said he had allegedly raped a girl and he is a common thief in the market by making an example of him will serve as a warning to other people who want to tow the same path.

It makes me remember what Atinuke said about been burnt alive if anyone found out that I am an ' aje '. I don't even have an idea of what that means. The police came after the man had been set on fire.

I don't know what happened after but I do know whoever is responsible is wicked. How is it even human to put someone on fire? Asides that, the crowd that gathered around did not try stopping it rather they cheered on.

Maybe I should ask Bose or Lola what can be done to an ' aje ' to be transformed but if I do that they may think I'm asking because I'm one.

Dear mama,

I went to church today and to be honest I could barely understand anything that was said. I won't even say the pastor really preached anything worth taking note of.

They danced for most of the service and for every dance a basket was passed around for people to drop money. All I could hear the pastor saying was that people should not be stingy to God and no one should come to the presence of the Lord with an empty hand.

Seriously? Some of these people can barely even afford to eat three square meals and here they are on Sunday showing off the latest and dancing round the offering basket.

It's more like a party than a church. Back home church was a place you could reflect on your deeds and try to be a better person. Most people were sober coming to church, if I didn't know better I'll say they are drunk.

By the time I got home my ears were ringing from all the drums and singing.

Just in case you're wondering mama, I haven't stopped jumping but I have decided to jump only during the weekends so I don't get too tired in class as I need enough strength to farm in school.

Remember to vote with your power stones daily at the end of the chapter.