𝑬𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝑻𝒐 𝒀𝑯𝑾𝑯

𝑽𝑰𝑰

"Desmond!" Mister Ojekwu, our biology teacher pointed his long cane at the drawing of the human skeleton on the board. It made a loud sound when it hit the surface causing silence to envelope our classroom. It was the last period before lunch, most of my classmates had long lost interest in the morphology of the human vertebrae which we were learning, instead they chatted amongst themselves about what to buy for lunch, the latest things happening between who's who in the school and for the quiet people like me, secretly reading a novel under a disguised notebook.

I purchased this particular book from an online vendor after mindlessly scrolling through the list of Nigerian novels I could find on google. It was a bit difficult because I didn't want to read a book about post colonial times and the tragedies that followed suit-I had too much of that in my life already. I wanted to read something cliché, something that would leave me daydreaming and wishing I too was a character in a book. That was when I stumbled upon the story titled The Spider King's daughter by Chibundo Onuzo.

The idea of a rich spoilt girl and a hawker guy whom she meets during a traffic jam in her black Jeep to buy ice cream from, it's just the perfect beginning for a cliché story. Plus the prospect of having a spoiled female character means I can get annoyed and throw insults at her in my mind-even though she's just an imaginary character.

I flipped to the next page of the book, completely oblivious to the things going on in the classroom as all my focus was on the book in my hand.

"What bone is this?" I heard Mister Ojekwu ask poor Desmond, a notorious backbencher whom teachers like to discuss amongst themselves whether or not he actually has a future in science due to his lackadaisical behavior in class. Some of the snobbish teachers who think they've achieved everything in life even go as far as to conclude that he has no future at all.

"Uhmm," he scratched his head, looking very confused. It almost made me scoff because I knew he was just putting on a show as he always does. Up till now I don't get why he pulls pranks, fools himself by cracking up lazy jokes in the middle of class and humiliates himself by coming off as stupid when he's actually not. "Waist bone?"

"Is that an answer or a question?"

"Anyone you prefer sir."

My classmates chuckled quietly so as to not anger the teacher further. I felt saliva touch my skin from when Winifred, my sitting partner, tried to stifle her laugh. Goosebumps rose up my skin just imagining the germs that it could contain. The general unsanitary act left me disgusted. Some people really don't know how to compose themselves, and with my thin patience today I couldn't hide the disgusted look written on my face.

After what happened the previous day, allowing myself a moment of vulnerability I woke up with a stronger resolve, promising myself to put on a tougher act so nothing can get to me.

"What?" Winifred asked me, noticing the way I scooted my chair to create more distance between us. I responded to her when a loud hiss.

"Let me tell you this, it's not my future that it's affecting so if you like continue playing around. I've already written my exams years ago. During my time..."