It's easy for teenagers to lie. It's their second language or rather, a necessary skill each teenager has to master especially in school.
For some, secrets begat lies and for others, lies begat secrets. And the more we lied, the more complicated our lives became. But the truth was, we couldn't live without lies. As I said, it was a necessary skill.
A simple lie was supposed to save me from Ms. Isong. Unfortunately, at that moment, there wasn't a simple lie to tell.
The issue with Charles Elias had rattled up the school authorities and had caused trouble for some students. At the end of the day, only the skilled ones would scale through—the ones who knew how to lie and keep secrets.
But at some point, some of us get tired of lying and keeping secrets, and that's when the truth comes out.
◈ ━━━━━━━ ⸙ - ⸙ ━━━━━━━ ◈
No Casting was a phrase teenagers used when one person out of all the culprits in a crime was caught or got into trouble. That phrase simply meant that anyone who was caught would carry the cross alone without mentioning or in any way involving his co-conspirators. The phrase had become an unspoken rule that everyone knew of and it came as a surprise when everyone found out that Charles Disemi had mentioned names.
"He said he gave you the maths set the previous day and you hadn't returned it since then." Mr. Johnson peered through his glasses to take a good look at Dele.
Dele knew the Vice Principal was good at reading expressions and the slightest bead of sweat, unsteady breathing or stammering would immediately give him away. Luckily, Dele had spent time learning how to maintain good composure while lying. He was sure he could even pass a lie detector test when the situation called for it.
"Sir, Charles can't even be sure that it's his math set. If he claims that he was framed then maybe, whoever framed him used another math set." Dele shrugged, knowing that he was most likely going to put himself in trouble with what he was saying.
"Okay, so if you say that someone framed him with another math set and you also haven't returned his math set, then it means his math set is still in your possession." Mr. Johnson wasn't asking, he was stating. And Dele had been expecting this.
"No, sir, it's not in my possession," Dele said boldly.
"What do you mean? Who has it?"
A smirk danced on Dele's lips for a second, a smirk Mr. Johnson couldn't read meaning to, before he replied, "Zehan Essien has it."
• • •
"That's what he said?" Zehan raised his eyebrows at what Mr. Johnson had just said.
"Yes, that's exactly what he said." The Vice Principal confirmed. "He said he saw you taking it and was going to report you before everything happened,"
Zehan could not help but wonder if Mr. Johnson was daft or if he was simply stupid. Even a toddler would know that Dele had told a lie and a ridiculous one at that.
"What game was Dele trying to play?" Zehan asked himself. Zehan knew that whatever he said next would determine his fate because, for all he knew, Dele might have been aware that he had tried to frame him for drug possession and this was all some elaborate scheme to trace it all back to him.
"Sir, I promised my mom that I wouldn't get into any trouble," Zehan said with such an angelic voice that no one knew he had, "I didn't take anything from Dele, he's lying."
Mr. Johnson kept mute for a few seconds, studying Zehan. "You kids think this is a joke, right?" Mr. Johnson leaned back into his seat. "A student was found with drugs in school and you all think this is some kind of joke. Don't worry, I will find out everything and I'll have no mercy if I find out that there's more to what you're telling me."
Zehan didn't say anything. He only stared back at the Vice Principal and kept wondering if the man had lost his sanity.
"You can go," said the Vice Principal before Zehan immediately stood up and walked out of the office. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding ever since.
Zehan began thinking of the many ways things could've gone much more wrong. He was going to make sure that his plans from that moment onwards were full proof.
• • •
No one really knew who CJ Ikem was. Many people knew he was always tattered, late, and nonchalant. They also knew he was poor and he lived in the lower ring of Newland Estate; the paupers' area.
Perhaps, what they didn't know was that CJ didn't have a father. They knew his mom was a Canadian and that's why some people resulted calling him Canada. Only a few people knew his mother was a drunk and a prostitute. No one knew that the boy who moved around in a wheelchair was CJ's younger brother and no one knew that CJ had two six-year-old siblings, twins.
Most of all, no one knew that the class thief, the latecomer, the dirty-looking mixed boy had to cater for his siblings. He didn't bother with himself because his siblings were more important.
And as he sat there, in front of a perplexed-looking Ms. Isong, all he could think of was the fact that their house rent was long overdue and his mother hadn't been heard from for nearly two weeks.
CJ didn't know why he'd told Ms. Isong everything. What did the woman see in him anyway?
At that moment as Ms. Isong looked sincerely sorry for CJ, he felt so angry. He was angry at himself for opening up and telling her all that. He didn't want anyone to know his story. He didn't want their pity or their attention. He wanted to be left to his miserable life. He wasn't the only one with problems.
"CJ, don't you have any idea where your mom could be? I would like to speak with her," Ms. Isong said from across the desk.
CJ hadn't raised his head since he walked into the staff room. He just kept fiddling with his fingers. He wasn't worried about breaking down in front of the teacher because even if he'd wanted to cry, he couldn't. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried.
CJ shook his head in response to Ms. Isong's question. It wasn't like his mother would've done anything to make the situation better, rather, she would've simply worsened things by bringing different men in and out of the house anyway so it was probably better she remained wherever she was.
He wanted to get out of there already as he thought about all these things.
"Why didn't you tell anyone about this? You should've told someone what was happening," said Ms. Isong in a calm and collected tone.
"Can I go?" CJ asked instead. He still hadn't raised his head. He didn't want to look up at the teacher and that reminded Ms. Isong of the first day she'd met him.
"Ok, but you said you work... What sort of work do you do?" she probed further.
CJ shrugged. "Anything," he said, "I mostly work in the mechanic,"
"You can fix cars?"
Cj didn't reply.
The room was dead silent for a while. They had been the only ones in the staffroom since the Vice Principal had called a meeting with members of staff concerning what had gone down that morning. Ms. Isong had excused herself since she felt that CJ had a lot of explaining to do.
Ms. Isong sighed. "You can go, but we still need to talk more, we're not done."
CJ didn't care what the young lady had said after the first three words, he simply stood up and ran out of the room. As soon as he stepped out of the staffroom, the bell for lunch break went off.
• • •
Tari had taken her friend across the school to the primary school section just to talk.
Newland Schools had built up a fence to demarcate the primary school from the secondary school area. A small gate served as a link between the two extremely large compounds.
Tari and Amira sat on the swings as they swung themselves gently, back and forth. They would occasionally look out the playground and watch the primary school pupils play like there was no tomorrow.
Amira had stopped swinging after Tari had told her the reason she'd been crying nonstop since Charles and the whole drama that morning.
"You can't be serious," said Amira, "I mean, you're joking..." she trailed off before turning away and looking towards the playground. Amira laughed lightly and shook her head. Tari simply stared at her friend with disbelief.
"I can't believe you think I'm joking with something as serious as this," Tari said before watching as Amira turned back to look at her again, this time, much more serious.
"Like... You're pregnant..." Amira trailed off again, staring at Tari's belly as if she expected the foetus to speak and confirm the fact that her best friend was actually pregnant. "Tari... Wh— how did it happen?" Amira asked as reality finally dawned on her. "You and Charles Disemi? Are you serious? I thought you hated him. You guys were sworn enemies!"
"Not really..." Tari mumbled.
Amira sighed and looked intently at her friend. "Tari, what do you want me to say?"
"Don't say anything, it's fine. But don't judge me either." Tari looked away and focused her gaze on the nursery school pupils playing in the sand. They only reminded her of the fact that she would soon be a mother. Tari mentally cringed and shook her head at that thought.
"But you know people would still judge you when they find out," Amira said, "I mean, what about your parents? Your dad?"
Tari shook her head repeatedly. She was trying her best not to cry. "There's no way I'm having this baby."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me," Tari replied immediately and Amira only stared back at her without really knowing what else to say.
Amira couldn't imagine how Tari must've felt. She wasn't really in support of an abortion but what did she know about being pregnant at that age? Tari must've been feeling scared, alone and confused. At the end of the day, all she could do for her best friend was to always be there for her and support any decision she would make.
"Tari... Like... Wait... You're really pregnant?" Amira asked. It was obvious that she was still finding everything difficult to believe.
Tari only sighed and looked away. She was short of words but at the same time, she was also finding it hard to believe. How the hell had she gotten herself into this mess knowing her father was a strict pastor? On top of that, Godson Disemi had worked so hard in making sure his reputation and that of his family was one to envy and now, Tari was literally sending their spotless reputation to hell with her pregnancy.
She had to get rid of the pregnancy and fast. There was too much at stake.
• • •
Adam Somoye had been the only one in the Art class when Zehan had walked in like he owned the school and Zehan couldn't have been more thankful for that.
There had always been a special bond between the boys before everything that had happened but even after that, Zehan still found himself wanting to unburden himself with Adam just like he used to do back then. So Zehan wasn't totally surprised when he walked into Adam's class on instinct.
"I heard you were with the VP." Adam raised his head from the books in front of him and turned towards Zehan who approached him.
"Yes," Zehan replied, taking a seat on Adam's desk.
"Why did he call you?"
"Why do you think he called me?" Zehan asked instead.
Adam sighed. "Did you do anything?"
Zehan didn't reply to that question. He was pretty sure Adam already knew the answer to that.
"I know why you came back," said Adam, "you want to get back at them."
"That's pretty obvious," Zehan stated, looking down at his friend.
"But what's the use? You'll just end up doing something you'll regret," Adam said, "that's one problem you have. You do crazy things when you're angry."
"Are you trying to say that my actions aren't justified?" Zehan asked with a look of disbelief plastered on his face.
"I don't think it's worth it." Adam shrugged. "Whether you like it or not, Ismael is dead."
"Yeah, and everybody thinks I killed him!" Zehan was almost yelling at that moment.
There was a few seconds of silence before they both heard someone join the conversation.
"That's because you did kill him." The deep, masculine voice came from the door and the boys turned towards the class entrance to see Dele Akindele standing there with his hands in his pockets while Kasy stood behind him.
"Akindele, mind your fucking business," Zehan spat with so much venom oozing from his tone.
"I don't know how long you're going to keep deceiving yourself. Kasy and I saw you with our two eyes—"
"No, you just hate me that much and you decided that telling everybody that I killed my brother was the best way to get rid of me." Zehan stood as Dele and Kasy further made their way into the empty classroom.
"No one was trying to get rid of you. We were all friends," Kasy said. "Zehan, we didn't lie, we only said what we saw."
"What you saw?" Zehan asked and scoffed afterward. "The both of you need to have your eyes checked."
"And you need to have your brain checked, I think you have some sort of mental disorder," Dele said and smirked afterward.
"You're insane if you think you can make me fight with you, Dele. I don't need to fight you anymore." Zehan had been all up in Dele's face at that moment as though he was going to go against his word and fight the Deputy Head Boy.
"Of course, you don't fight anymore... I've seen your new tactic," Dele said, "I'm talking about your little attempt to get me expelled but things didn't work out for you, did they?" Dele laughed like a maniac after that and that got to Zehan.
"You think I did that?" Zehan asked, in an attempt not to confirm the fact that he was responsible for what had happened. For all he knew, this was Dele's way of catching him by having him admit it. "You should know that Zehan Andikan Essien doesn't miss a target and remember that I always hit where I'm sure it's gonna hurt." It was Zehan's turn to laugh. "I mean, it only took one fight with me to lose your chance as Head Boy. Do you really want to know what else I have up my sleeve?"
"Empty threats," Dele replied through gritted teeth.
Zehan chuckled. He was enjoying the whole thing. "Alright, but just know that when I hit you, I'm going to hit you once and you'll be miserable."
"What are you saying, Zehan?" Kasy asked.
"What I'm saying, madam, is that you both..." he pointed an accusing finger at the both of them, "...ruined my life and I plan on returning the favor."
"We didn't ruin your life. You did that yourself when you decided to fill your heart with jealousy and hatred towards your own brother," Kasy replied.
Zehan scoffed. He wouldn't deny the fact that Kasy's words had gotten to him. "Kasy, if only you knew the person you're defending."
Kasy didn't know the meaning behind Zehan's statement. She hardly knew Ismael before he died but she knew he was nothing like Zehan, they were exact opposites and he was a good guy.
"Even after he dies, you're still speaking ill of him, for Christ's sake, he was your fucking brother!" Dele yelled into Zehan's face and in retaliation, Zehan shoved him away.
Zehan looked from Dele to Kasy and back and forth while breathing heavily. He'd never felt so betrayed before. He turned around to look at Adam who hadn't uttered a word and he could see Adam silently begging him with his eyes not to retaliate any further. With that, Zehan walked past Kasy and Dele and stormed out of the classroom.
Dele soon followed behind him and Kasy and Adam were the only ones left. Adam tried to go back to what he'd been doing before Zehan walked in but he could still see Kasy standing there through the corner of his eyes and he immediately knew she was going to say something.
"It's not like we hate him or anything, we're not lying," Kasy explained as though Adam had asked for an explanation.
"I think a sixteen-year-old boy is capable of knowing if be committed murder," Adam mumbled without looking up from what he had been writing down.
"He's delusional... Even after all these months, he's still denying it. He has a serious problem," said Kasy. When she didn't get any response from Adam, she quietly went to her desk and took her seat before the bell went off, signaling the end of lunch break.
Tari and Amira walked in shortly afterward. Amira had been holding into her friend as though she was consoling her for a loss and Tari on the other hand looked like the Walking Dead; lifeless.
Kasy narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Amira seldom escorted Tari to her class not to talk more of her desk just like she was doing now.
It was true that they'd been suspecting Amira to be the one who had wanted to end her life but at that moment, Tari looked like the only thing that was still alive within her was her body.
• • •
Charles Elias was still the reigning topic come the next day. Apparently, he had left the set's Whatsapp group chat since everyone had something to say on there.
Tari still wasn't herself and Amira felt lost because she didn't know how to handle the situation. She didn't even know if she should be trying to handle it in the first place. So she gave up.
At home, Amira Yusuf couldn't really think about her friend and her problem because she had issues of her own to deal with.
"That Physics test you were preparing for, how did it go?"
Amira had been admiring herself in front of the mirror when her mother walked in. She had adorned herself in a pink hijab, a floral skirt, and applied pink lipstick to match. The smile on her face immediately disappeared when her mother had barged in.
"Physics test," Amira repeated as though she was trying to recall if they'd written any test. She could already visualize how the conversation would go down after her mother finds out she'd score nine and to top it all off, that wasn't even the highest score.
"Yes, Physics test," Mrs. Yusuf replied, looking at her daughter through the mirror. Amira knew her mother would still comment on the lipstick after rambling about her failure in the test.
"Mummy..." She trailed, gulping down the lump in her throat, "I scored nine."
"Nine?" Mrs. Yusuf emphasized. "You mean like nine over nine?"
"No, nine over ten, ma," Amira found the courage to reply. She still hadn't turned around to look at her mother properly. She only stared at each other through the mirror.
"And what happened to the remaining mark?" Mrs. Yusuf asked, her gaze turning harsh and unpleasant by the second. "I'm asking you, what happened to the remaining one mark? Did you leave it for your children?"
"No, ma. Nothing, ma," Amira mumbled. Her heart was racing and beating loudly against her chest like a little child who was about to get beaten.
"And did you score the highest?" Mrs. Yusuf asked.
"N-no..."
"Who did?"
"Annika," Amira replied.
"You're good for nothing, do you know that?" Mrs. Yusuf raised her voice. "The same girl, all the time. You both vied for Head Girl and she was chosen over you. She will come first in class and you'll manage to tail behind her or sometimes even come out third! Are you not ashamed of yourself?"
Tears found their way to Amira's eyes. She bent her head and sobbed as her mother continued reminding her of how useless she was.
"Just wait till your father hears this," said Mrs. Yusuf. "And mind you, if you take anything that's not the first position this term, forget about going to school."
Amira thought that by now, she would've been used to getting tagged a failure but it turned out she wasn't. She still cried each time her parents lashed out at her. She was trying her best but her best was simply not good enough. At least not for her parents.
"And wipe that nonsense off your lips." That was Mrs. Yusuf's final statement before she stormed out of the bedroom.
Maybe if she'd just put in a little more effort, she could come first, Amira thought.
Ahmed would laugh at her for crying over her perfectly envious grades because they weren't good enough for Mr. and Mrs. Yusuf, the perfectionists.
Studying probably wasn't going to get her anywhere. She had to do more than study. But the truth was, she was tired and she just wanted everything to stop.
Please don't go without leaving a comment.
What do you think about Zehan so far? Do you think he really killed his brother?
What about CJ and his problems? Were you expecting it?
And Tari? Can you predict what's going to happen to her?
Any thoughts on Amira so far? Is it possible she might have written the suicide note?
Thanks for reading!