Late for school
"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising everytime we fall. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma- which is living with the results of other people's thinking." Those were the words Claire's mum would usually say to her each time she feels like giving up in life.
She always quoted them from her favorite famous heros which were Nelson Mandela and Steve Jobs. Claire rubbed her eyes and yawned to full glory while she got out of bed in a daze.
Her mind got so cloudy that she did not quite feel like it was indeed her. The luxurious sheets touching her palm were so soft at a touch. Her body ached badly as though it had just been torn apart by something.
"Claire darling, get out of bed and take your bath otherwise you'll be running late for school again." A voice called from downstairs and she knew that this was her mum. Oh right, the phrase, "again" made her remember why she had said that to her.
She was late for school the previous day which made her get a portion of punishment which was what she deserved by the way. She slept late the previous night. She got late because she was watching and playing games on her new iPad which was given to her by her dad on her birthday two days ago.
Her mum, Mrs. Layla wasn't a home mother to get accustomed to waking up early. Claire used to get dressed up by their maid who had traveled to her hometown for the burial of her mum. Ever since then, Layla had to look not just after the house but also after her seven year old daughter.
Layla got out of bed and checked the time on the bedside table which read 7:24am. She hurriedly got out of bed when she realized her daughter needed to be at school in six minutes. Rushing to her room to wake her up, Claire had to brush her teeth and take her bath while her mum went to the kitchen to get her breakfast and school pack ready.
Things didn't go that fine but she managed to get something done and ensured her daughter didn't go to school on an empty stomach. She quickly prepared bread and hot sauce with cheese for Claire who couldn't believe what she was about to have for breakfast but she had to take it hurriedly before heading for school.
The driver was already waiting for her as her mum walked her up to the car and waved her bye. Claire was leaving for school at 8:24am. The driver had to speed up with her inorder to get her to school on time even though she was already behind time.
Stepping into the classroom, she saw that it was all quiet as the first lesson was already going on and not just in her class but in other classes too. Normally, she would come early and be okay with the other kids before lessons began but today was a different day.
She felt like a stranger as everyone looked at her when she opened the classroom door. She didn't know why all eyes were fixed to her.
"So who do we have here? What does your time say?" The English teacher, who was taking their lesson that morning, asked her. Yes, she knows that she had just entered the lion's den and can't escape this. This particular teacher didn't like her for reasons best known to her.
"What is the time?" Mrs. Poala screamed into her face with a thunderous voice which scared the life out of Claire.
"It's 9am." She said to her.
"And you are coming to school by this time? Look at how dirty you look. You are such a pig!" Mrs. Poala said to her and the class burst into a bout of laughter.
"That's enough now! Get your hands down and your lips zipped and do your work!" She yelled at the other children while Claire stood by the door and watched them, feeling embarrassed as her cheeks felt hot and red from shame.
Claire made a few steps from the door as she was stopped in her tracks by Mrs. Poala.
"Where do you think you are going to? Come and kneel down here! You will remain kneeling for the rest of the lesson. Get down!" She fired at Claire who did as she said. That was the worst day for her.
When the lesson was over, she got back to her seat amidst the jeers of her classmates who sang "pig pig pig" to her. She felt soaked in shame as beads of sweat formed on her forehead that cold morning.
"What's that stain Claire? Your sty wasn't cleaned up last night was it? Hahahahahaha…." A boy who bullied her in her class said to her. His name is Jason.
"Let her be!" Another girl said in defense of her. She went to sit with Claire.
"Yeah…we will all let her be because no one can stay with a pig." Jason added as they laughed out loud.
"Still there?" Jason said to the girl as she quietly got up and left Claire which made the boys burst out laughing. They took out her bed and threw it to the floor and stepped on her books.
Claire fought them back as she was angry. She lost balance on the slippery floor, slipped and fell at the feet of Jason which made them laugh harder.
"Oh my…princess pig is bowing to our king!" A boy exclaimed as they all burst into another round of laughter. Claire got up, filled with rage as she gave him a hard punch in the face and they started fighting, scattering hairs and flying books and chairs.
The class representative had to report them because they had gone wild already. Claire and Jason were sent to the principal's office for serious warning. Jason of course always had his ways because majority of the class took sides with him while Claire had to give in to all the humiliations.
Jason and Claire were sworn enemies and Claire was ready to do anything to get back at him, sometime when he was least going to expect that. Lessons continued but she spent the greater part of her time serving punishment for fighting. When the driver came to pick her up, she angrily walked to the car and they drove back home.
Her mother got to know what happened and she told her to be careful of such people. She also told her to get to bed early to avoid such things from happening again. She was in grade two.
Claire shook her head to stop having such thoughts as she put in her flip flops and headed for the bathroom. She didn't want to be late today again as she couldn't stop thinking of how to get revenge on Jason.
"Sweetheart, breakfast is ready…" Her mum called out to her as she went upstairs to her room. She dressed her up as they went down together to the dining room. She had her breakfast and got to school early.
Layla waited for Claire to drop off at school before she went to work. Her husband owned a company which was doing just fine so she didn't need to hurry up to work. They were swimming in money as they didn't have any financial challenges. She tried to clean up after Claire had left for school.
Robinson, also known as Robbin was their personal driver. He returned back after dropping her off at school.
"Madam, isn't it better you get another maid to clean up the house before Carolyn is back?" Robbin said to Layla as she was mopping the floor.
"I don't want to replace her just yet. She'll soon be back so before then, I have to clean up and keep the house tidied." Layla replied to Robbin.
"I will help out before she comes as I've always done. Do you need me to do anything for you?" He asked her. Robbin was such a nice and humble young man in his late thirties.
He had been working for the Alexanders' for the past three years. He was a trusted and dedicated man, loved by everyone and always punctual to work. He was so much trusted that he was left to handle important and handy documents of the company.
Alexander had so many business meetings to run and sometimes, he let Robbin represent him in some meetings. Robbin is a single man who just completed his education before he went into looking for a job but couldn't get a decent job and resorted to being a driver when he got one.
He came from a poor background, a struggling family with six siblings. He is the second child and male son of his family. His elder sister got married with three kids, they were also barely surviving life so her meagre salary couldn't sustain them. His parents were retired so he had to work extra hard to raise funds for his family.