Claire

Halcyon High School

Halcyon High School is a coeducational institute. It is a popular school known for its good standards over the years. The school is also popular for the numerous awards she had brought home both nationally and internationally. It had been my father’s dream that I attended that school and I am so glad that it was a dream come true.

Auntie Kike had been saving up money to buy my things for school. Sometimes, I feel so lucky to have Auntie Kike as my aunt. Even though her salary was meagre, she always tried hard to make sure I was satisfied. After getting other things apart from my books because the scholarship covered them, my aunt called me to her room the night preceding the resumption day “Claire Eniitan” she called my name, “Yes, Mama Kiks” I replied, I called her Mama Kiks whenever I want to tease her. “I am super grateful to God because one of your dreams came true, yes, you have been through a lot and …” She paused and took a deep breath, “Your parents’ death has and is still causing you so much pain and resentment. I know you are after the killer of your parents, but I want you to put that aside and face your life. I do not want any distraction for you and your studies”, she paused and continued. “You know, in life, several things happen and one event leads to another, people are bound to die …” she said and paused again. “Claire, let me not say too much because you are still a child and you cannot understand what I am saying, what I just want to tell you, in a nutshell, is that you shouldn’t be distracted by what has happened to you in the past”. Truly, I didn’t understand what she was telling me, “to forget my parents’ death and their killer or what”, I thought in my mind.

We were to resume school the following morning, Auntie Kike had helped me pack my things that night. The following morning, Auntie Kike woke me up as early as 6:00 am. She had woken up to cook and do all the other necessary stuff. So, the only thing I did was just to have my bath and eat. Uncle Jason, Auntie Kike’s boyfriend came around 7:00 am to take us to the school. Uncle Jason was a nice man, he bought me different goodies and I usually think he was the right man for my aunt. He is also tall, dark-skinned and good-looking with neatly arranged beards. In my own opinion, he was head over heels in love with Auntie Kike. I liked him too because he took care of me like his sister.

Going to school that morning, I was so nervous, after all, it was my first time leaving a family member to live with total strangers. I could see and feel that my aunt was not really in a very good mood. She couldn’t bear leaving me in school. We got to school around 8:30 am and the assembly had already started. Auntie Kike and I got out of the car at the school gate while Uncle Jason drove ahead to park the car at the parking lot. We met with a man at the security post and as soon as I saw him, I recognized him as the man who helped us when I came to write the entrance examination. ‘Mr. Bala’ his name popped into my head. It was so funny how I remembered his name because that day, I was too nervous and I didn’t think I could remember minor things like that. Mr Bala greeted us warmly and he too recognized us quickly “Auntie fine girl” he greeted me. I smiled and my auntie asked where the principal’s office is. He smiled and said, “You may not quickly get to the place make I take you to the place, make I no stress you too much”. What a nice person I thought. “The principal is always busy in this kain period, he dey always take plenty visitors this time as per new students like you dey just resume”. “Who asked him questions”, I thought silently. Auntie Kike was just replying with “ehn ehn” and “huns”. Uncle Jason met us on the way, he asked if I was okay and all. I just nodded and smiled. Mr Bala continued talking about various things nobody asked him. That man was a chatterbox. We finally got to the principal’s office. The principal’s office was quite far from the school gate. We thanked Mr Bala for taking us there. We were asked to sit at the reception because the Principal was attending to a parent and their ward in the office. After waiting for close to ten minutes, the people inside came outside and we entered the Principal’s office. As we entered, the principal stood to welcome us. The first thing that caught my attention was the golden nameplate on the table with the inscription “Dr E.G. Effiong B.ed, M.ed, PhD”. “The man must be a living success,” I thought silently. Dr Effiong was a short, stout man and chocolate dark-skinned. He was also bald. One would easily know that he is a Calabar man because of the way his spoken English sounded. His office was quite a big one. By the left, was a shelf decorated with several awards of excellence and recognition. “You are welcome to Halcyon High School”, he said. “I guess you are the scholarship student, the one who broke our school record so far”, he said. I smiled, yes sir. “Wow, beauty with brain indeed”, he continued, “Errm, you see, this school has plans for any scholarship student who gets a high flying grade eventually in the 12th-grade examination. I want you to work hard and strive hard to be a beneficiary of this plan. I know it isn’t easy, nothing comes easy after all, you just have to endure till the end”. Thank you very much, sir, I said. “Also…” he continued almost immediately after I spoke. “… Watch those you walk with. There are many corrupt kids out there, evil communication they say corrupt good manners”. Thank you very much, sir, Auntie Kike and I chorused. “Oh, it’s no problem, congratulations and welcome to this great citadel of learning, I hope you enjoy studying here”, he replied and I smiled, “ What’s your name again?” he asked, Claire sir, Claire Osundare”, I replied with a smile. “Oh Alright Claire, do not hesitate to see me if you have any problem”. “Okay sir”, I replied. We were directed to the dormitory allocation office by the Principal’s P.A. We were able to get there easily. As we got there, we were asked to sit at the reception because the dormitory allocation officer was attending to someone. After a few minutes, an ebony-skinned girl walked out of the office with a young man probably in his mid-thirties. I quickly recognized the girl as the girl who helped me on the exam day. But she walked out briskly, I would have stopped to thank her with Auntie Kike for the other day. We entered the office, Uncle Jason didn’t enter with us. The office was quite big too with a shelf by the left side where many files were neatly arranged. “You can have your seat”, she said, “Good morning and welcome to Halcyon High School”, “Thank you ma” Auntie Kike and I chorused. The woman had this Igbo accent that wanted to make me laugh, she was a dark, tall skinny young woman probably in her late forties. Her dress was admirable and her hair too; black straightened long hair packed in a neat bun. “What’s your name” she broke into my thought “Erm, Claire Eniitan Osundare ma’am”. “Oh oh oh, you are the… erm, scholarship student? She asked, “yes ma”, I replied with a broad smile. “Wow, you are smart and beautiful and I like your smile”, “Thank you ma”, I replied. She then faced Auntie Kike, “You are so lucky to have this adorable girl as you daughter”, “thank you ma” she replied. “Don’t worry I will put you in a very good dormitory, so you can concentrate on your studies. Make sure you don’t join a bad gang, be a good girl and remember the child of whom you are”. ‘Thank you so much ma’, I replied. She then picked up the telephone on the table and dialled a number. “Hello, please come to my office now”. Claire, she continued, “ Feel free to come to my office anytime you have a problem in the hostel, okay? ‘Alright ma’ I replied. After a few seconds, someone knocked on the door and entered, the person stood at my back and the tiny voice spoke “I am here ma”. “Tope, please take this beautiful young girl to Peace Dorm 1 and give her a room with a good bed space. A file has been opened for her already because she is the scholarship student. Claire, follow her, she will take you to your dorm”. “Thank you so much ma”, I thanked her. “thank you ma, we appreciate your kind gesture”, Auntie Kike thanked her too. We got out of the allocation office and Uncle Jason was no longer there. We thought he had gone to the car park to relax in his car. We could not call him because phones were scarce commodities then. Not everybody had phones and Auntie Kike and Uncle Jason were part of the majority who didn’t have phones. So we just decided to leave him and followed Ms Tope to the Girls’ hostel. I forgot to ask for the dormitory allocation officer’s name so I asked Ms Tope and she told me her name is Mrs Okafor. We got to the hostel after walking for about five minutes. During the walk Auntie Kike and I were busy admiring the beauty of the school, the neatly tarred roads, the fine buildings, the mini stadium and every other thing that caught our sight. The students we came across were neatly dressed and of course, the school uniform was beautiful; navy blue blazer, sky blue shirt, navy blue tie with green stripes and navy blue A-shape pleated skirt and a cream hat. When I saw the students, I couldn’t just wait to get my uniforms too.

We entered the hostel compound and Ms Tope asked the Security woman on duty where the porter was, she told her she went to get something at the tuck shop. We proceeded to the hostel, only for us to see a woman sleeping by one side of the lobby, “Iya Porter”, Ms Tope shouted angrily. “What are you doing? Sleeping on duty? That’s very bad of you. Abeg, stand up and move to your duty post jare. Later if I report you to Mrs Okafor they will say I am wicked, Rubbish”! The woman stood up a little bit embarrassed. “We don’t kuku know whether you are tired of your job, tell us o so we can replace you with another person, mtcheeew” she continued and hissed. “I am sorry ma” the woman replied remorsefully. “No problem o”, Ms Tope said and continued, ‘This girl is a fresher and Mrs Okafor asked me to put her here. Make sure you look after her okay?” ‘Okay ma’, she replied. ‘You can put her in room 12’. She said and left. Iya Porter as she was called is a chubby woman with a thick neck, big cheeks and large bosoms. She looked like someone that can be easily convinced with money. She had this funny sleepy look on her face. ‘Good morning ma’, I greeted ‘Morning dear’, she replied amidst yawning. ‘Don’t worry I will give you good room, you hear?’, ‘Thank you ma’. I replied, Auntie Kike went to get something to snack on because she was hungry. ‘Ermm, I think there is still one space remaining in Room 12. That room has a very good bed space’, she said. ‘Oh okay ma’, I replied to her. She took me to the room to check if I liked it, the room was okay and I liked it. The toilets and bathrooms were at the end of the corridor. Each room had one toilet and bathroom to themselves, the toilet and bathroom were merged so each room had one toilet and bathroom in the same place. There were twenty rooms in the dorm, ten on the right side and ten on the left side. The dormitory was very big. When we entered the room, I could see that my potential roommates had resumed and it seemed like I was the only one remaining. Auntie Kike was already with us at that time, she offered me something to eat but I refused to take it because I wasn’t really hungry. We thanked Iya Porter and told her that we want to get our things and we would soon be back. Then we left for the car park to get Uncle Jason so we could go to the hostel together. We got to the hostel and Auntie Kike helped with my things inside the room. I could not resume class that day because time had gone when I was finally done with the whole necessary things like collecting uniforms and textbooks.

Auntie Kike was reluctant to leave me alone in school. I cried so much when she and Uncle Jason were about to leave. It felt like the whole world was leaving me all alone in my lonely world. I cried so much that day that my head began to ache. Auntie Kike cried too to the extent that Uncle Jason had to comfort us. Several thoughts began to run through my mind that day, ‘What if Auntie Kike would never come back’, ‘What if I get killed just like my parents by unknown people’. Bad thoughts kept flowing through my head. I became scared of the future and what it entails.

In the evening, my roommates arrived. Although, I was asleep when they came back from school because I was really tired from the stress I went through in the morning. It was Ayishat’s voice that woke me up. She has this loud, annoying tiny voice that could wake the dead up from the grave. She was just talking at the top of her voice, announcing to the other roommates that they already had a new roommate and she is a sleeping beauty. Then Sarah replied her telling her to keep quiet because she remains the most beautiful girl in the room. I sensed that three people entered but the third person didn’t say anything. I opened my eyes to check if the third person was in the room and she was in the room.

Ayishat is a tall skinny fair skinned girl with black scanty hair? She has broad pink lips and a pointed nose. She is a beautiful, friendly, forward, loud girl who loves talking. Sarah on the other hand is an average-height dark-skinned girl with a beautiful face. She is moderately sized with a curvy shape. She is rude, saucy, proud and wayward. Fabunmi was my third roommate. She is a dark-skinned chubby young girl. She was on a low cut when we were roommates. She rarely talked in the room. If minding one’s business was a person, Fabunmi would be the person. Fabunmi and Sarah were two classes older than me while Ayishat was my classmate. Before I resumed class the following day, Ayishat had briefed me about how the class went that day. She also gave me the few notes they had written so I could meet up with them.

To be continued.