Chapter 2 Bad Girl

"Everyone wins when children — and especially girls – have access to education. An educated girl is likely to increase her personal earning potential and prepare herself for a productive and fulfilling life, as well as reduce poverty in the whole community. Investing in girls' education also helps delay early marriage and parenthood. Our booming economies in Africa need more female engineers, teachers and doctors to prosper and sustain growth." – Angelique Kidjo.

.....

I remember stepping into the house in utter anger. I was completely furious. I would watch movies where people tried to bribe people and wonder why the person being bribed would be pissed, I swear that I also thought they were overreacting, but now I understood.

Yet I wasn't mad at her for offering me money to get my position as the chief speaker, I was mad because she thought I needed her money; she even believed she needed to increase it. That was how lowly and cheap the girl thought of me.

"Damn her, and damn her bloody money!" I thought out loud as I banged the door close.

"Who is this one damning, and why are you back so early, didn't you say you were going to rehearse or something?" Rotimi, my elder brother looked up from his tablet.

"I said that, now I'm back! do you have a problem with that?" I replied with irritation laced in my tongue.

He dropped his tablet and looked up, laughing as he motioned towards me.

"Hmmm, someone's having boyfriend issues?" he sang. "Anyway, don't go and start thinking I'll give you your food back just because you're back earlier than the time we agreed upon o."

"I wish that was the case." I hissed.

"If that isn't the case," he said with a surprising look of concern on his handsome face. "what could have gotten you so worked up?" He asked.

I began to ask myself if it was a thoughtful thing to tell Rotimi, I mean, the dude never took anything seriously and would probably laugh about it but maybe I needed the distraction anyway. So I explained everything to him. Instead of laughing, Rotimi had a shocked expression on his face.

'OMG, he's as mad as me, he didn't find it funny, he's going to make me take him to her house and beat the hell out of her! I shouldn't have told him, what have I done!' I thought, feeling myself slowly begin to pant fast in hyperventilation because of how intense his expression was.

"Remi?..." he called my name but didn't look at me directly.

"Rotimi, calm-" I rose up and began to motion towards him.

"- Ah! I never knew you were such a Mumu. So you let such opportunity pass you by? That was like a legit way to earn cool cash!" He shouted.

'Wait, what?' To say I was disappointed in my brother would have been an understatement.

___________

That night, I stood in front of my laptop and contemplated posting it on my blog. But it was a fresh gist, She was either going to think I went about telling everyone and tag me a snitch, or she was going to fix the pieces together and find out that I ran the anonymous school blog. I wanted to risk the former option but someway, somehow, I didn't want her or anyone thinking I was a snitch; I grew up around boys who lectured me countlessly on the importance of being loyal and trustworthy. Most times these lectures came whenever I wanted to rat their naughty escapades out to my mum; like when I caught them trying to sneak girls in or steal meat from the pot. They'd pull me aside and tell me stories of how snitches got stitches and how I wouldn't like that so much, so I just shut my laptop down and went to bed that afternoon , with this intense anger in the bowels of my heart.

That night I dreamt that Rotimi went over to her place and came back home with bags of money, he threw the money all over the room like they usually did in music videos and smirked at me before screaming the word, 'FOOL!' at me.

___________

The Next day was Wednesday, our Physical Education day, and still, I harboured the anger in me as I got ready for school.

"Your brother told me you're in a bad mood, he said your friend tried to bribe you." Mum said,on the way to drop me off at school.

'Rotimi really needs to shut his mouth' I thought. "She's not my friend, She's just this girl that thinks she can get anything she want, anytime she wants it" I blurted out of a compiled anger.

"What's her name gan sef?" Mum asked, looking out the window of the car and waving at a friend or an acquaintance.

"Aisha, Aisha Balewa." I replied.

"Balewa...Balewa, that name sounds so familiar. Well, Remilekun. You did the right thing by rejecting her offer. I'm proud of you, But you shouldn't let one ill mannered girl control your mood and live in your head rent free, I'm sure she's not worth it."

Mum was right.

"Thanks mum" I said after sometime and turned to the window. In the movies, The child would tell their parents how much they loved them after a talk like the one I just had with my mum, but in Nigeria, it felt so weird and awkward. I couldn't even imagine telling mum I loved her, she'd probably look at me and nod, which would make me feel stupid for the whole month. So I told her I liked her outfit instead and waved her goodbye as she dropped me off.

The Debate was to take place on Friday so I decided to speak with Mr Williams during lunch break. He needed to provide another person for the post of second speaker because I just couldn't harbour the thought of losing to the opposite team. I bared the pain and boredom biology gave me as I watched the biology yarn dust. After an endless 40 minutes, the lunch bell rang and she finally set us free i was the first person to burst out.

I was walking quickly to the IT room when I saw Aisha leaning on a pillar, just few steps to the IT room. Something told me she was waiting for me.

"Hey" I said and walked past her.

"Can we talk?" She asked, causing me to halt. "I've been waiting for you."

"Don't you have classes? or did you bribe your teacher as well?"

"I had IT, Can we talk?" This time she asked coolly.

"What about?"

"I don't like talking while standing, follow me" she took her back off the pillar and walked towards the music class. Ordinarily, I wouldn't have gone with her, but I couldn't deny the fact that something intrigued me about her. Something I am yet to explain. We got into the Music room and I couldn't help but comment on how dusty the musical equipment were.

"It's been a while since we've made use of this place, but I come here every time I want to think"

'Why's she telling me this?' I wondered quietly.

"Look, I don't usually do this, but Screw it, I apologize, I shouldn't have ......done what I did yesterday. Its unspeakable."

I wasn't surprised or shocked like most of the students would have been at the news of The Almighty Aisha Balewa, Apologising, in fact, I needed the apology but hearing it now made me feel bad, like I was guilty or something. Maybe it's the way she said it.

"I know you're pissed at me, but an 'OK' would do"

"I'll accept your apology on one condition."

"I'll guess, you want me to rehearse with you, right?"

I nodded.

"You don't have to place me on that condition, I made up my mind to do so yesterday. You found a way to convince me at last" She smiled. I don't know why, but I found myself smiling like an idiot too.

We decided to rehearse from that day to Friday because she was way back in the debate. She also asked me not to tell anyone about the bribe and I told her it was okay.

On the day of the debate, Aisha was nowhere to be found and we were to start in an hour. I searched for her everywhere, The classrooms, The bathrooms, the lunch hall even at the kindergarten. Nobody had seen Aisha, but she was in school, I mean, she wouldn't leave school without her bag and her books, right?

I felt the urge to cry, when I suddenly remembered the old music room.

"......but I come here every time I want to think" God why didn't I think of the music room? Maybe it's because it's old and no normal person would go there, especially to think. I knew she was probably there because she was nervous or something. Looks like the famous Aisha isn't that courageous after all, I thought as I ran to the music room. You can't imagine the mixed feelings of relief and anger that was swirling inside me.

"My God! I've been looking all over the school for you"

Silence.

"Aisha?" I called.

"Stop calling the name of Allah in vain,Remi."

'Yeah, yeah, I know it's not cool, but that's not what I'm talking about here, Missy'

"Okay, okay, I've heard you" I said eagerly, I could hear the School hall roar with noises. Before a debate takes place, a few students ease the tension by entertaining the audience with choreography, music or jokes. And the noise meant they were done with the entertainment. "We have to go, they've finished performing."

"I'm not going" she said,confidently and took the wireless earpiece out of her ear. So all these while that I'd been searching for her, she was here all along, listening to music?

"What do you mean you're not going? Look hurry up, we don't have much time anymore. They'll soon start calling on us."

"Are you deaf or something? I said I'm not debating. It's simple English."

"But.....why?! You told me you were going to, you rehearsed with us, why this?" I felt my own voice betray me.

"My father taught me never to go for less. If you want me to debate with you, you'll make me the chief speaker, that's if the debate is important to you" she smiled and smirked.

I slowly took off my eye glasses, I wore it exclusively for the debate today, it made me look smart. I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing. So all along she....she played games. She knew I was going to get a replacement and hindered that from happening. She rehearsed with us and kept us well assured only to use it as an added advantage. All this while it was a game. She played on my intelligence, and she knows I how important this debate is to me.

"I know what's going through your mind right now, 'She's an evil psychopath' well you're wrong. I just like getting what I want, and you better speak up, the debate is about to begin.". She laughed softly.

I watched as she stood on the podium and delivered my weeks of hard work to the whole school. She attacked the opponents with my points! and she did it so naturally without flinching. How evil could she be?.

Mr Williams asked a thousand questions with his eyes, but it only made me want to cry and grab Aisha and smack her head and kill her. So I avoided his eyes at all cost.

For weeks, I'd rehearsed the lines of the chief speaker so when I had to speak as the second speaker, I found myself stuttering and making errors, causing mostly everyone in the room to laugh at me. I hadn't even completed my time before I concluded and left. The laughter behind me was legendary, but thanks to Aisha and Josiah, we won and they poured praises on Aisha and laughed, snickered and made faces at me.

For another two weeks, my name was the talk of the school and I had to post it on my own blog.

As if that wasn't enough, Aisha started spreading rumours around that she paid me a huge sum of money as bribe for me to become second speaker, and I had to post it on my blog.

Many of you will wonder why I keep writing these nasty things about me on my own blog, this is my answer: Professionalism.

If I was the type of girl that easily got pulled down by rumours, gossips and words of the mouth, I would have probably asked my dad to withdraw me from the school if he didn't want me committing suicide. But I wasn't that type of girl, in fact, I enjoyed being spoken about. Mr Williams assured me that he didn't believe the rumours and that was all I needed to know. I mean, he was the only one I gave a hoot about in the whole school. But has the day went by and by, my burning hatred for the girl called Aisha burned hotter than an inferno. Mr Williams kept telling me to let her be, that she wasn't worth it. But he only said that because he wasn't the one she humiliated and made a fool of.

I didn't know for sure what I was going to do to get back at Aisha, but I kept her safe and sound at a dark place in my heart.

I was observing siesta one Friday evening when Rotimi came to disturb my peace.

"Wakey wakey" he sang.

"What!" I growled.

"Eww, your breathe stinks. You better take care of it cos you have a guest waiting at the door"

'Guest? I've never had a guest before, who could it be?'

"I'm not expecting anyone." I said, this time i tilted my head and making sure I didn't kill him with my sleep-breathe.

"But she specifically asked for you, I think its that Aisha girl"

I immediately flew awake, feeling blood pump into my brain.

'What the hell does she want?'

"Aisha?!" I said to his face and ignored the way he scrunched up his nostrils in horror.

'Was my breathe really that bad?'