dark forest

the dark

A slap followed pouring of water afterwards screaming and shouting down on by my stepmother who shows her utter disgruntlement at me spreading wide on my torn and haggard looking insects infested mat, I have to join up the pieces to be able to form a manageable one, am used to this every morning, so what if sometimes she add some awful substance in it, maybe it's her urine. Within I get the shock message of the water, but I was weak and at the same time tired. I did virtually every shores except eating for her. Gently I slide open my left eye as if  afraid of doing so and wriggly I stretched yawning the same time, then a big spat exploded on my face, followed by several beat up " get up you slimy creepy lazy thing" I jumped up and was going to run to shower its almost time for school assembly but felt a heavy thumb on my back and dropped on the floor I did, she turned to me " make sure you wash the dish bathe the dog, cook lunch and wash my dirty dresses I soaked in the basin" confused I am, and really don't get all she said but to be let alone I nodded hysterically, then she turned and walked off, her back side recklessly abandoned was bouncing everywhere.
Gingerly I walked out from the room, the heap of clothes I saw almost cause me to faint, and I have to go to school. Tiptoe I drew to her door, she was naked changing to another wear so I ran to my room picked my very dirty school uniform, sandals, rush out, dip my face in the drum of water outside the compound and dash out into the bush. As I was running I removed my clothes jump into my school uniform, paused a while to slide my sandals on, I was about 200 meters away from my house then when she screamed out at my name, " Bruno!!! ".

D Bruce Lee
I never knew who my mother was or what she look like, the only thing I know about her is my  stepmother's sayings of her when she want to insult her through me " stupid boy look at how dirty and unkept he is, just like that his ugly, stinking forsaken mother " or the way my father used to say then, " Bruno my boy I missed your mother, the most handsome woman I've ever met, you look just like her, I think am jinxed to the beautiful ones" but he is late now leaving me with Comfort a woman I learn he picked and married from a brothel. I heard the call of my name a second time but this wasn't Comfort's.
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I looked tears were almost at the peak of escaping from my eyes, but to a woman? No way, I turned away from her and started walking away, she is the list of my worries now. The previous day Sarah betrayed my supposed heroism, I can't even of what happened yesterday  its noisome. To me she is just a disgusting fellow. I still have up to 1000 meters to cover so I careless whatever she have to say, when her mother make sure to deprive me of dinner the previous day all she could do was to munch at her meal laughing why I work my socks up. She is years older than I just as her mother was to my father, I always wonder what he saw in her, I began to walk faster so she would not get any closer, but she did. She pulled me back asking if I didn't hear her. "I know you are angry at me but you need to see funny the scene between you a d my mom was like, I saw you scaling the fence without your school bag, so, here it is"
I lowered my head collected the bag from her and slowly walk away. Sarah just graduated from senior high and I am still in my junior high.
Ever since father died Sarah's mom have been bringing different sizes and complexion of men by the day and I walk into one of them yesterday ramming Sarah, they didn't even noticed, so I slowly walk outside, few minutes later when I heard their footsteps, I pretend to just arriving, and said something annoying, " okay sir I'll deliver the message to my mom. As soon as she walked in I told her what I saw and she was sad throughout the day until according to her the funny scene with her mom. I thought I'd gone far until she called again " Bruno am sorry I betrayed your trust about my remaining a virgin till my wedding day but he gave me 2000 dough, and immediately he touched me I lost my brain" I continued now walking very slowly and dejected and she apologized again " am sorry "

In school I look so extremely different so dirty with the rag I called uniform. It was suppose to be 2 pupils par table but no one dare share a table with me, not a fault of theirs because even me sometimes perceive my own odour, but not so with Tilda who is arguably the most beautiful and neatest, she will slid her bag in the table, greet me and sat beside me. She always answer every question from the teachers but I never attempted any to her surprise, and she always will show her disgruntlement when the class sang olodo song for me and call me olodo, they will sing, " olodo rabata oju eja lomô je oni lo paper silate loma lo, aji yan wo eja tutu lomó je shame, shame shame shame, shaaaaaame" it's a Yoruba song for a dumbo, and sometimes the teachers make me dance to it. Sule and his friends are always angry with me because of Tilda and was like I do something to Tilda to make her leave my table for good but I refused. The second the school bell went up indicating the close of the day activities, I was in for showdown with Sule and his gangs, and so immediately jumped the window and was making a dash into the bush, so to escape to home, but as if the whole class knew what's awaiting me, they ran after me. Before I could make it into the bush I saw Faleke and the other of Sule's gang coming out from the same path which I was to follow, on a fast break I stopped, turned, and behold Sule with the other boys are right behind me. Is good to see movies, but do not allow yourself be deceived by you that can just wake up one day and be able to do the things you watched. Days ago I have watched ( enter the dragon ) by Bruce Lee on a national TV station and for 3 days now I have been trying to behave and move like Bruce Lee, so after a olodo song for me, as the teacher walked out of the class, believing to have been engulfed by the spirit of Bruce Lee I charged a tiger fist walk to Sule's table, before he could say the word on his lips I have landed a thunderous slap on his face, the volume of chorus it attracted from the class got my brain to a factory reset, then the weight of what I did dawned on me. Sule was about launching at me when another teacher walked in, and like the sunsetting, everywhere became calm again. Before the the teacher rounded up the topic Faleke and 3 other boys excused themselves to the toilet and did not return. Being the last period of the day, pulled off my sandals put them inside my bag and wore my slippers. The teacher walked out of the class but there was still and even greater silence in the class. When I knew that it wasn't over yet was when one of the boys mimicked my Bruce Lee sound and one after the other it continued until the bell.
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Several punches have landed on my body and face Faleke was punching away at me, I fell, stood up, staggered, the rains of blow was devastating, I fell again picked up my slippers, slid one up my right hand and the other my left hand, I charged harder at them, let out this time a very loud Bruce Lee sound and the next thing I heard was the whole class singing now very loudly to me, Bruce Lee, Bruce Lee, Bruce Lee, Bruce Lee. As Faleke danced to his right hand side, making a opening to the bush, men, I disappeared into the dark forest.