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My Book: Soon To Be Published - Literature - Nairaland

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I Self-Published A Book! Thank You Nairaland / Are You Between Ages 11 And 21? Do You Want To Be Published? This Is Your Chance / My 2 Novels Need To Be Published Pls! (2) (3) (4)

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My Book: Soon To Be Published by Gamine(f): 8:36pm On Jan 26, 2007
its about a young girl's journey through lots of hardship and how she caught up with destiny smiley

Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Seun(m): 9:42am On Jan 27, 2007
Congratulations on completing the cover of your book. Now you have to compose the actual contents. Good luck!
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by NSNA: 12:40pm On Jan 27, 2007
Seun:

Congratulations on completing the cover of your book. Now you have to compose the actual contents. Good luck!
grin
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Gamine(f): 6:44pm On Jan 27, 2007
i have the contents bo tongue
i would post some excerpts when i hv tym
just wanted u to feel the cover first wink grin
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by showbobo(m): 9:22am On Jan 28, 2007
WOOW.thats greattttttt.i never knew you had such nice talent.let us know when its out so that we can also get some copies on Nairaland.and is that u on the cover page??
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by showbobo(m): 9:24am On Jan 28, 2007
I hope you wont be billed for the advert u're making on here.kidding grin grin grin
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Gamine(f): 2:43pm On Jan 30, 2007
PartONE:Who i Used to BE

My Habits and Me

I’ve always loved to watch. Yeah I loved to just sit back and watch people, trying to understand their reasons. I wasn’t a shy kid but my deliberate quietness gave the feeling to some people that I was timid and a certain percentage thought I bordered on being insane.

Oh yes I was a watcher; my primary 4 school teacher aptly described me when complaining to my mum one dreary day. I remember her and my mum outside the class while i was sitted at my desk, it had rained an hour ago, my mum was looking cold. This was right after the bell had gone to signal the close of school for the day. My mum had come to pick me up, she usually didn’t but the letter I gave her the day before made her.
   
My teacher was just being dramatic I thought because her hands where all over the place while my mum in her designer suit stood tall and erect, not a hair was out of place in her tightened bun…she had such a smooth fair complexion that people wondered if I was her child. Though I couldn’t hear the words they exchanged quite well, I could read their lips, one of the things I had learnt watching people. My teacher was saying; she sits like a lump, hardly says a word until she’s talked to, she’s slow. Her huge eyes keep staring like she hasn’t got a clue to what’s happening in the world only in the fantasy world that she keeps daydreaming about, I just don’t know what to do with her, blah …blah …blah. My mum began to ask some questions in her distinctive low toned voice with the exaggerated‘s’
Her grades are okay? Does she have friends?, blah blah.

Yes, I loved to take my time; I was a bit plump, tall enough for my age with a dark skin and long dark hair at least by Nigerian standards; my hair though in plaits stopped at my back just above my elbow. That was the only thing that made people notice me, apart from the fact that I moved like a cow in labour. I loved the speculation that surrounded me. I could almost see question marks on people’s heads as they looked at me in fact I imagined huge ones dancing around their heads, oh it amused me greatly.

I was still musing on that when my mums voice, called ‘ssStacie’, I quickly grabbed my Mickey Mouse backpack and hurried to meet them. My teacher’s hands were crossed now, thank goodness! Her energy had been draining mine.
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by sakish(f): 9:24pm On Jan 30, 2007
Good luck then. I really believe in you. I won't be surprised if you get awards for the books you write.
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Gamine(f): 7:32pm On Jan 31, 2007
Wow, sakish thanks smiley, i'll def keep writing
and providing small excerpts here! grin
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Gamine(f): 9:40am On Feb 02, 2007
My Names smiley



‘The Sow’ was my official nickname in my Cedarn Montessori Junior School, you see my full name is Temitayo Stacie Ola-Williams, from that we get my initials; T.S. Ola-Williams, look closely and you would see something. ‘T S O W’ which was, to does who revelled in teasing me, a clincher.
I was called that conveniently. My ‘fatness’ as someone crudely put it, was unbecoming; they just couldn’t understand how a lump like me could have come from my mum. Mrs Taiye Alexandra Ola-Williams, my dearest mother was slim and in shape but our facial resemblance was obvious even though I was darker in complexion; I had her light brown eyes too.

After receiving a lot of jabs from people, kids and adults alike and feeling like a stranger in my own skin, I got thinking. Aren’t I a child?, at nine years at least I’m allowed to be ‘fat’, ‘round’ what ever you could call it. In my mind, I resolved that I won’t let anyone’s petty comment disturb me, pretty advanced for a kid you think, but it was just simple reasoning I was standing on. One, I felt I was just ‘chubby’ with baby fat that would be shed as I grow older, Two, I wasn’t even the fattest kid in my form not even near the top three, The award of ‘Fattest’ went to Aisha Umar, who most people were afraid of, no one dared call her fat, I was the only one allowed to be picked on. When I walk from the cafeteria to my class, I hear groups of girls giggling and jeering ‘there goes Mummy Sow’, and rather loudly too.

I entered Cedarn in primary three when I first came to Nigeria I had never seen so many black kids like me and I was happy to sit back and enjoy the feel that was how I became a watcher. My parents who were both mixed; Nigerian, Brazilian and Irish had been living in England before they decided they wanted to settle down in Nigeria, I can't really remember any jab or tease back there. It was when I got to Nigeria that I got to know the person they called ‘The Sow’ undecided
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Orikinla(m): 12:23pm On Feb 02, 2007
Gamine,
Take your time to publish your book.
Get a good editor and let a book designer design your book cover to cover.

If you have a publisher, then your publisher will bear the cost.

My publisher did that for my first book Children of Heaven and he lost money.
But my new publisher Flonnal Limited is making money with my love book.
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Gamine(f): 7:53pm On Feb 02, 2007
ooh really, thanks Orikinla smiley

i cant use that cover its just a demo
but i'll definately take my tym, can u link me with any other good publisher
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by marhoatumu(m): 6:24pm On Feb 06, 2007
"My Experiment with the Truth" i think i've heard that name somewhere
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Gamine(f): 4:44pm On Feb 07, 2007
"My Experiment with the Truth" i think i've heard that name somewhere

lol, i kno, im goin to change the name grin
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Orikinla(m): 8:07pm On Feb 07, 2007
Contact
Literamed Publications Ltd
Lantern House
Plot 45, Alausa Bus Stop,
P.M.B 21068, Ikeja,
Lagos.

Tel: 234-01-4962512

If you are still not published by December, then I can offer to publish your book.
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Gamine(f): 8:01pm On Feb 08, 2007
Orinkinla, that wld be so nice!

thnks for the contact.! smiley
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by texazzpete(m): 12:41am On Feb 09, 2007
Nice idea (the book thingy). I used to write a long time ago, but now with my soul in turmoil, it's hard for me to put pen to paper anymore.

@orikinla
You still in Bonny? Would be visiting at the LNG RA later this month. We could jam then
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Epi: 3:25am On Feb 03, 2009
@Poster

Did u get your book Published? If yes, Congratulations!!!


1 love

*****Just going through some old threads*******
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Peaceworld(m): 4:51pm On Feb 03, 2009
Hi new friends!
Nice work girl. BUT YOU GOTTA FINISH THE BOOK O! Any way, permit me to invite you to get my OWN book. HALF OF IT FOR FREE! Feelin' like a creepy read?! Well, a funny, creepy read?! THE BLACK BOOK is for you. THIS IS MY NEW BOOK AND YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HALF OF THE BOOK AT www.lulu.com/freedownloads
FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME AT mailgeorgeshadow@yahoo.com and tell me what you think! You can also check out my post here, i.e. AFRICAN WRITERS AND THE VILLAGE LIFE. I HOPE SAY YOU NO DEY FOLLOW THE SHOES OF YOUR ANCESTORS IN WRITING O! CHINUA ACHEBE, ETC. NIGERIA WRITERS HAVE GOT TO MOVE ON O! FEEL FREE TO MORDERNIZZZE! ANY WAY, SOME CHAPTERS OF THIS WONDERFUL BOOK OF MINE FOLLOWS!
Love you all!
PEACEWORLD.


Chapter 1  
MATTHEW’S WONDERFUL FIND

It was Matthew who discovered the black, hard cover up in the attic. This particular book had brown pages visibly burnt at their edges and looked so ancient that he was so pleased with his find and quickly brought it to Nora, his sister.
“Look, Nora! Look!” he shouted gaily as he banged noisily on her room’s door. “See what I’ve found up in the attic!”
“What now, Noise?! Go away!” snapped his sister from within. “You don’t need a nose punch now, do you?!”
Matthew wasn’t discouraged. “No, Nora,” he quickly concurred, “but you wouldn’t want me to go away without seeing what I’ve got to show you!” And then he straightened up proudly. “I’ve got a prize find and a wonderful offer for you!” he announced, feeling like an experienced salesman.
Almost as quickly, the door flew open and Nora popped her head out, coughing significantly from the dust and dirt her brother had brought down with him from the attic.
“What do you mean?!” she asked him, surprisingly staring at his dirty, rumpled shirt and sooth-covered face with a carved-out, broadly-grinning smile. Matthew showed her the book and she grumbled something and slammed the door in his face.
“Ow, c’mon!”
“That wouldn’t do!” she wailed from inside. “Now, leave my door!”
“Ow, c’mon!” repeated her brother. “You promised me five dollars for anything I get up there!”
“Not for an old book!” she told him. “Maybe…for a fashionable shawl or a cotton sweater! Definitely not for that…junk! Why not ask Mom for five dollars if you badly need it?!”
“You know she’ll ask me why I want it!”
“And what do you need it for?!”
“Nothing?!” he lied. “Sweets?! Candy?!” he confessed.
“C’mon, Matt – You know sweets are bad for your teeth!”
Matthew frowned. He hardly knew why she thought he would find a cotton sweater up in this particular attic, but he knew he needed five dollars that would come with no strings attached, unlike Mom’s. So he bent down submissively and passed the book underneath her door.
“Well, if you change your mind!” he announced bravely and scampered off.
Nora sighed and continued with her makeup. It had been a year since the Quentins moved into their new home and Matthew Quentin was the biggest nuisance she was finally feeling grateful to be rid of after ten years of a shared room. His new abode was the attic and he always had a new discovery to show or sell to her from the old boxes the house’s previous occupiers left there. He was going to be a salesman when he grew up. Just like Daddy.
“Nora? Where are you? We’ll be late!”
“Just a sec, Mom!”
She looked herself over and dusted her cheeks, and then she stood up, mouth pouting, and posed for the mirror. Nora was as beautiful as her mother and her age mates always said this was her problem, although she cared less about their jealous remarks behind her back. They were simply trying to make her feel bad about herself.
Tall for her age, this particular Quentin already had the shape every girl was dying for at sixteen, and in class, her mates often stole glances at her due to this. She was the most popular girl in Sleepy Coven High, although people also said she was a snobbish, self-absorbed chick.
An unpleasant credit the best quarter back in the school’s football squad found so intriguing that he’d started taking an interest in her.
His name was Leonard, and she’d had a crush on him ever since the day their eyes met!
“We’re using the jeep, dear!” Mommy called out from below, immediately bringing her back to the present. The sixteen-year old scowled and pulled on her Levi’s five-o-nine. What of the damn Escalade? The Wrangler was never her type of car. It was rather too rough-looking for a city girl like her, but Mommy liked exhibiting her ‘tougher side’ with such cars and Nora didn’t mind indulging her.
“Nora?!”
“Coming!” she called back, a Louis-Vouitton bag hanging from her shoulder. She picked up Matthew’s treasure book on her way out and dusted off the front leather cover, totally lost on what to do with it.
It was the size of a large hardback novel and weighed as much. There was no title on its cover and no names either. The spine was held in place by a kind of rope made with animal skin and Nora found this so weird. She flipped it open and noticed two names on the dusty first page. One was central, bold and stylish. Probably the book’s original owner. One Cardinal Marcos. A priest. So weird. She cared less.
She threw the book into her waste paper basket, but didn’t stick a five dollar bill under Matthew’s door as she passed it.
“Hi, Mom!”
“Hi, Nora! My! Look at you!” beamed Mom.
“My! Look at you!” mimicked nine-year old Stephanie, a bored look on her face as she picked up the remote. “Where’re we going?” She turned on the plasma.
“Shopping!” sang Nora.
“Not again!” yelled her little sister.
“Stephanie, you know you’ll love shopping today!” started Mrs. Quentin, brushing off a strand of golden hair from her face as she picked up the Wrangler’s key. “The day is bright and the weather is fine…!” she sang.
“But Mom, I just got back from ballet class!”
“Which you shouldn’t be too keen on,” started Nora, enjoying herself. “You’re too young for that!”
Stephanie switched off the T.V. and sauntered out, glaring at the last speaker. “I have to start young, Miss Fine Face!” she reminded her.
“Mom, can I come too?” asked Matthew, appearing from the kitchen with a sandwich.
“No, dear. You need to clean up and wait for Dad and Gavin.” Gavin was the dog.
“Besides, girls only?” reminded Nora.
“Hey!” he beamed. “My – five dollars?”
“I’ll give you two?”
“Deal!” he announced, sandwich jam all mixed up with the sooth on his shirt. He stretched out his hand towards his mother. “Mommy?”
“Nora!” cried Mrs. Quentin. “Never make promises you can’t keep!” She gave Matthew five dollars.
“Sorry, Mom,” scowled Nora. “It’s just an old book from a weird priest, though!”
Matthew’s mother nodded knowingly and looked him over. “From the attic, I guess?” she queried him.
“It’s not so old, Mom,” he objected sullenly. “Nora told me to…”
“Don’t you dare!” snapped the mentioned.
“Whatever she told you, honey, you look great this very moment,” observed Mommy. “Now you need to clean up before Daddy comes back or else no more gaming.”
“Ow, Mom, come on!” he protested.
“Just an old book, though!” Nora chided him.
And as she left, he made a face at her.
She returned the favor.

***

Sleepy Coven was a beautifully peaceful suburb very close to the border between the states of Kansas and Missouri. Rolling hills, lush greenery and tiny cottages dotting the landscape were landmarks of this cozy American settlement, and a small stream usually glowing in radiant sunshine freely cut through the rich geography here en route to the Missouri from the highlands.
A strong but narrow bridge supported pedestrian and vehicular traffic across this stream, and the road from this bridge led into the town square and the various public places that covered this part of Sleepy Coven.
Such public places included a police station, a train station, a post office, a fire service department and a large shopping mall all very close to one another, and this arrangement was convenient due to the services these establishments rendered to the public. Nobody had any reason to complain about it since Sleepy Coven was a small community and everybody knew everybody.
The Quentins had always wanted to come down here even when Daddy was struggling to make ends meet in a struggling company. And of course now that Mommy had everything they ever wanted, a better life and a new home in this serene town, which was away from the bustling, urban city, was no longer a dream. Besides, Mrs. Quentin was also a wannabe writer of children’s books and this unique quiet a jungle of skyscrapers could never provide was an added advantage for her.
Lora Quentin’s millions had come to her like a dream when a forgotten, distant relative of hers, who had bequeathed all his wealth to his ‘dear niece,’ died. And almost immediately after this, the house in Sleepy Coven had come up for sale!
Supported by the pleas of her kids, the yearnings of her heart and the side-comments of her husband, Lora had grabbed this once-in-a-lifetime offer to move from the city. She could afford to care for everybody’s needs now and have the time to pursue her writing hobby as well, although John, her best friend and husband, had always stressed the need for him to continue working as head of the family.
Lora had never minded indulging him.
She could afford to.
“I’m taking the Gucci, Mom!”
“Oh, alright. How much?”
“A…hundred?”
“Stephanie, that’s too….”
“Cheap?” wickedly inserted Nora. Her mother sighed.
“But…I like it!” cried her sister.
“The sweater’s nice…I rather like it, too,” said Lora.
“Oh, Jeez! A gang-up?!” Nora raised her hands in mock despair. Stephanie became all smiles and mouthed an ‘o’ when she picked out Nora’s shopping bag.
“What are you doing?!” she fumed. “Buying the whole mall?!”
“No, dearest!” beamed the older girl with poise. “Remember, I’m way out of your league!”
“Well, what do you have in there?!” she demanded, peeping into the big polystyrene. “Soccer balls?!”
“Dior undergarments, two Dolce bags, a Chloé high-collared mustard double-button coat,” listed Nora, “Prada shoes, three big shampoo bottles, four Gucci high-heeled pairs, three Armani belts, a pair of Vouitton black gloves, and a Prada dinner dress!”
“The Chloé is two-thousand, five hundred and seventy dollars, Mom!” exclaimed Stephanie, staring at the prize label on its collar. “Such extravagance!” She made a face.
But her mother only smiled. She knew her daughters better than they knew themselves. Nora was the fashion-conscious one and since she was going out on a date with Leonard in a week’s time, the black Prada dinner dress was a nice choice. Stephanie would faint if she noticed the tag on that one!
“Such extravagance!” the little girl repeated. She forgot her mother could easily afford to indulge them all.
“C’mon girls!” Mrs. Quentin announced with a laugh. “I better hurry home to prepare dinner!” A large Harry Potter poster caught her attention and she stood looking at it for awhile. Her daughters knew her too well to wait behind her and study the picture with her. Stephanie couldn’t stop giggling and Nora couldn’t help joining her after restraining herself for some time.
“What now?!” their mother noticed. “You think I won’t get a story like that?!”
“You’re rich already, Mom!” twinkled Nora. “Why bother?!”
“Any title yet?!” Stephanie quipped.
“Still working on it!” Lora confessed. “I have so many I don’t know which one to choose, really.”
“What’s it all about?!” Nora asked her.
“Afraid it’s still secret!” her mother refused cheerfully.
“The Fairy Pumpkin?!” tried Stephanie.
“Maybe you’ll keep that for your own story!” proposed Nora.








Chapter 2  
A LITTLE SECRET AND SCHOOL

Morning and there was a blue sky.
John had gone to his office and the kids have all disappeared to school when Lora looked up from her book and noticed the red Oldsmobile slowly snaking its way across the stony path cutting through their lawn and up to their front door. Of course she knew who was visiting, but she’d never expected his visit to come so soon after the last one, which was a year ago, when they were about moving.
Mr. Crool’s car stopped before the house and he grunted and heaved as he pulled his hefty figure out of the driver’s seat, quickly resuming his whistling when his bulk was almost out. Lora could not make out the song he was trying to produce, but she knew it must be that same, irritating one in that same, irritating manner from that same, irritating time last year!
“Good morning, Mrs. Quentin!” he announced, trudging up to where she stood with all his might. “I love the house! Nice patio over there!” he pointed out.
But Lora only nodded, arms akimbo, and waited for him to come up. The birds were chirping and she thought they were better whistlers than Mr. Crool.
“Mornin’, Ma’am,” he puffed as he stopped in front of her and balanced his weight on his two legs. He was drunk as usual.
“Morning, Mr. Crool,” she smiled unfeelingly, inspecting his wardrobe. She need not have bothered. He was as parsimoniously dressed as ever. “What brings you here this bright, summer, morning?” she demanded as gaily as she could.
“Nothing serious, Lora,” happily replied her visitor, grinning. “Just checking up on the little brat!” he added jokingly, reaching for his left coat pocket. “I guess no problem?!”
“Yeah, none,” she quickly replied. “He’s doing well.”
“Good! Now if you would just sign here, I’ll be on my way!” he sang, whistling some more as he brought out a folded, rumpled sheet of paper from his pocket. “It’s official!” he sang to himself, “Matthew has a new home! Matthew has a new home!”
Mrs. Quentin felt embarrassed by this, but could only shrug it off as she signed for herself and John. The orphanage had been of immense help, but she kept wondering why they always sent Mr. Crool when they needed her to sign some more papers.
“When next are you coming?!” she finally asked him, handing him back his pen and official document.
“When he turns eighteen!” the fat man whispered, and laughed out loud. “That will be my last visit, Mrs. Quentin, and I’m looking forward to it!” Then he drew nearer and spoke in a very low tone. “I – I hope you’ve never told him anything, have you?! These brats get brainwashed when they realize they’re bastards and cannot find their mother! I simply hope for your sake that you can keep him in the dark forever! We’ve got loads and loads of such cases back in the office! By the way, I love the inn in this town!”
Lora wondered whether Mr. Crool was allowed to say such things outside the four walls of his office. He must know she could call the police.
“The birds are chirping!” her visitor suddenly remarked, wide-eyed.
“What?”
“Do you think they…whistle better?!”

***

Sleepy Coven High was a sleek, suburban school for Sleepy Coven kids opened in 1994. Housed in a very big building situated in a large land expanse between two undulating hills that were very close to the stream, this was were Sleepy Coven boys learned street language and Sleepy Coven girls lost whatever they lost. This was also Nora’s school and kingdom. She reigned supreme here and loved every bit of it.
“Nora, hope you’re coming to cheerleading class today!”
“Yeah, sure. Time?”
“Five in the evening. Sarah’s coming with her CD player!”
Linda was Nora’s best friend and servant. She worshipped this particular Quentin, literally!
“That’s great! Which album is she coming with?”
“Luther?! The black guy?”
“Great! She went to Africa?! How could she get Vandross for gymn class?!”
“Nora Quentin!” reminded Miss Ashley, their Biology teacher. “Focus?!”
Biology class ran from ten to eleven every Tuesday morning. Not many students liked the subject, especially its practical approach, but surprisingly, Linda was an exception, and she prided herself in being the best in Miss Ashley’s class. Nora wasn’t so lucky!
“What’s a food pyramid, Linda?”
“You mean like you don’t know?!”
“So what?! I haven’t read it up yet!”
“Well it’s a kind of food arrangement in nature where organisms lower down in the pyramid support those on top.”
“Like, you mean, are fed on?”
“Yeah, sure. Yuk! I’m cutting this open!”
The thing in question was a green frog and Nora closed her eyes as the other girl started working on the amphibian. They were in the biology lab with twenty other students who were in the same situation with various lizards and frogs. Miss Ashley supervised them.
“Carefully flip back the animal’s skin when you’re through with cutting,” she directed, “and pin this on your board with the office pins.”
“Oh, so inhuman!” whined Nora.
“They’re not humans, dear!”
“Label the intestines, heart, stomach and what else you see in there with the tabs on your table,” continued Miss Ashley as she neared their table, “and quite cringing back with disgust and apprehension, Miss Quentin! You’ll have to learn how to stomach that if you really wanna be a surgeon!”
“I think she meant you, Linda!” Nora whispered to her friend.
Eleven o’clock and Biology was over. Both girls joked on their way to History class.
Linda prided herself in being close to Nora during such breaks, because all eyes were on them as they walked down the passage. Even the seniors envied them. What, with Nora’s Z4 packed outside, she alone could afford to give them pocket money from her personal piggy bank for some months! Fancy a rich kid for a friend!
“Hey, Nora! Wait, Nora!”
“What now?!” giggled Linda as the fat boy jogged up to meet them, breathing heavily. Nora sighed. Here came one of her greatest admirers.
“What now, Peter?!” she queried when he stopped before them. “I’ve got a class before eleven fifteen!”
“So do I,” began the Jew. “Hey, my Mom is preparing a Passover feast tonight and I’m inviting you!”
“Oh, that’s lovely!” began Linda. “What ‘bout me?!”
“Oh, you can come if you want to. Sorry!”
“Not interested!” refused Nora. “I’m not a Jew, Peter.”
“Sorry, Peter,” reversed Linda. “She’s the boss!”
“But Nora, you’ll love it!” he persuaded. “It’s meant to mark, ”
“The day the Lord killed all first born sons of the Egyptians? And spared those of the Israelites?” helped both girls together. “We know, Peter!”
“But, but my mom would love to see you!”
“Cut it out, Peter!” snapped Nora, turning on him and drawing much attention.
“Here goes, !” jittered Linda.
“For the umpteenth time?!” Nora continued. “I’m not interested in you and will never be your girlfriend!”
“Ooooooooh!” intruded Mark, who was with his friends. “Now that hurts!” Peter was downcast.
“But Nora, I, I love you!”
“In your dreams, Peter!” said Nora, and she went into History class.
“Yeah, in your dreams, Peter,” repeated Linda, and followed her friend.
Mark came up to Peter. “What on Earth were you thinking, man?” he asked the fat boy. “That snob for a girlfriend?”
“She’s not a snob!” cried Peter, turning away into the classroom.
“Well,” wondered Mark. “Everyone knows she’s a rich snob!”
He entered the classroom, where everyone was settling down.
“Alright, class,” announced Mr. Heaver, the fat History teacher. “Our topic for today is the Great Wall of China!” And he turned to scribble it on the board.
“Boring!” whispered Nora exasperatedly.
“Heard that, Nora!” indicated the teacher, turning to face them again. He cleared his throat. “But first of all,” he continued, “I would like to introduce you all to a new kid on the block!”
The class laughed cheerfully at this joke as all eyes turned to see the new comer.
“His name is, eh – Ike…chukwu, but you can all call him I.K!” said Mr. Heaver, staring down at a piece of paper on which he’d scribbled the name. Ignorantly, he’d pronounced the name wrongly. “Now, his parents are immigrants from the UK, but he is from Western Africa and is anxious to meet you all!”
“As in desperate?!” quietly helped Linda.
“No, Linda. As in, curious.”
“Hi, everyone!” the boy said, feeling embarrassed.
“Hi, I.K!” the class chorused.
“I knew it!” whispered Nora, being careful not to draw Mr. Heaver’s attention again.
“Knew what?” asked Linda behind her and she turned around.
“Sarah’s met him before, right?” she asked the other girl. “Besides, where could she have gotten that, Luther tape from, huh?”
“Nora, Luther’s a black American!” giggled Linda. “Who gives a hoot?! He’s still black!”

***

Break time in school was fun time and Matthew was with Anderson, his best friend, when Stephanie came up to them.
“Hi!” She quipped, taking Anderson’s hand and shaking it like a grown-up. She dropped her bag pack and brought out her lunchbox.
Matthew was two classes above her in middle school, but unlike most of the other guys, he didn’t mind being seen around her during break, because she was his sister and the best any boy could ask for.  To him, she was even better than Nora, because there were so many qualities he could see in her which he’d failed to see in his older sister.
For one thing, Stephanie was careful while Nora was careless. Stephanie was bright while Nora was dumb. Stephanie was selfless, but Nora was selfish. Stephanie was no snob, He could go on and on and on. Stephanie would never call him Noise. Stephanie adored him. He adored Stephanie.
He nudged her. “Hey, what happened yesterday at the mall?”
“The usual?!” she shrugged. “Prada shoes, Dior undergarments and Louis-Vouitton.”
“Your sister’s so cute, Matt!” quickly observed Anderson. “Wonder if she needs a boyfriend?!”
“Not her, stupid!” Matthew told him. “Nora?!” Then he turned back to Stephanie with excitement. “Guess what, Mom’s buying the bicycle for me today! She called me on my cell!”
“Oh, Matt, can I ride, too?!” she pleaded.
“Why not?!”
“Your sister’s still so cute,” repeated Anderson, studying Stephanie as if he was seeing her for the first time. “Wonder if she would want a black boy for a boyfriend?”
“Why not?!” began the little girl.
“Yeah, why not?!” agreed Matthew.
“Some people don’t, like blacks – that’s all!” stuttered the black boy.
“But we now have a black president!” opposed Stephanie.
“Uhuuuh!” agreed Matthew. “What can you say to that, black boy?!”
“That shows we’re not racist anymore!” agreed Anderson.
“And that you’re beginning to bore me!”
“But I still need a girl like Stephanie!” he pressed on. “I - I’ll give her whatever she wants!”
“When she’s older, man!” advised Matthew.
“Or you could try Mary Ann right now!” snapped Stephanie.
“Yeowww! That hurts!” Matthew laughed cheerfully, standing up to brush bread crumbs from his pants.
“I wouldn’t go near her for all the money in the world!” Anderson joked. “She’s old enough to be in a class ahead or us!”
“She’s a girl bully,” Stephanie observed correctly. “She took Katie’s fruit cakes yesterday!”
“Her parents are rich, so what do you expect from an only child?!” suggested Anderson. “She treats everyone with disdain and enjoys spreading rumors about anyone as long as it catches her fancy!”
“I’ve never escaped her fancy even when I fell ill with the flu!” mused Matthew. “I wonder who fills her with all those lies about me?! She’s got so many friends!”
Stephanie wanted to say something, but cut herself short. Her brother would fall apart if he knew who was helping Mary Ann against him.
“I bet it’s Rupert,” shyly said Anderson. “Those two are inseparable!”
“They often come to our class during lunchtime to exchange ideas for their next tales!” Stephanie quickly revealed. “I sometimes wonder who gossip the most between them!”
“It must be Rupert,” Matthew suddenly agreed. “He’s Fat George’s side-kick!”
“I hear he wets his bed!” Stephanie helped.
“I hear his grandfather was a Nazi!” Anderson helped.
“I hear his name is Jewish!” Fat George suddenly bellowed behind them, causing them to jump out of their seats. He reached out for their lunch boxes, but luckily for them, these were empty.
A slightly-older, obese fellow with bulbous eyes and a bully’s attitude, Fat George had only one trusted friend he called his side-kick, and that was Rupert. His father was a civil engineer who worked for a construction company in the city and his mother had a shop in Sleepy Coven’s central mall.
Fat George passionately hated Matthew due to the wealth he knew the Quentins controlled, and he often told Rupert, his side-kick, what a waste of time and money Matthew was for his parents. Rupert never disagreed with Fat George.
“You all sound like Mary Ann!” the fat boy grumbled, glaring at Matthew with clenched fists. Stephanie hid behind her brother, peeping out now and then.
“What do you want, George?” Anderson demanded from him, making sure he omitted the ‘Fat’ before the name, or else there would be trouble.
“Nothing,” the bully smirked, pushing the black boy out of the way as he walked past. “Another mention of my name, Quentin, and you’ll smell your grave!” he threw back at Matthew as he walked away.
Again, Stephanie knew that Barbara was the girl in the silent question between her brother and this blurb of fat. Tall, slim, dark-haired and beautiful Barbara, who never knew she was causing so much trouble just as Matthew never knew she envied his ‘riches’ deep within her. Stephanie knew this because Barbara was Mary Ann’s friend and told the girl-bully all that Matthew was telling her in confidence.
Mary Ann hated everything nice as long as it wasn’t hers and she always made sure any girl who refused to heed her warnings concerning pride and behavior saw the right side of her fist. Barbara was her one exception to this rule because she told her things about Matthew and he wasn’t the wiser for it! Poor Matthew, Stephanie thought.
The bell went, bringing them all back from their thoughts.
“Phew! That was close!” sweated Anderson as he watched Fat George’s overbearing figure recede in the distance. “Who would’ve known he was behind us?!”
Matthew shrugged and bent down to start packing Stephanie’s lunch box for her.
“I hear he once set his shoes on fire ‘cause they were too small for him, Matthew!” she told him.
“Oh, gross!” Anderson exclaimed.
“Don’t listen too much to Mary Ann or you’ll end up being like her, Steph!” Matthew warned his sister and shooed her off.
“Race you to class!” Anderson announced.
Barbara was just entering their class.
“Yeah, sure!” he agreed. “Race you to class!”
He quickly re-laced his shoes.

***

After school, Nora gracefully left with Linda closely behind her. She wasn’t bad in History, but she hated the subject. To her, most of the stories she heard in the class were just that. Stories. And how she detested them.
“Hi! The name’s Peter and I’m an immigrant, too!”
“Hi! Enjoyed the class?”
“Yeah, sure. From where I came, we’ve got a lot of history wrapped around us!”
“Cool, man!” said Ikechukwu, loosening up a bit. “I’m from Africa and that goes for me, too! Where are you from?!” They shook hands.
“Israel?” replied his new friend. “I’m a Jew.”
“And whose the blonde that just left?” he asked. “She seems, famous around here!”
“That’s Nora Quentin, the richest kid around and my crush!” beamed Peter. “Come; let me buy you a hot dog!”
Outside, Nora and Linda met Leonard with his friends and Linda waited for Nora to finish with him, giggling and smiling foolishly.
Leonard was a handsome, tall sophomore with a bashful presence and stature. He evoked a pompous stance whenever he walked and his notoriety was popular among his friends. Some said he changed girlfriends like he changed his toothbrush, but that had never bothered Nora, because she was up to it. After all, he was a very young and talented sportsman and besides, he had sworn to her that he had no other girl but her.
“Hi, Leonard!” she sang as she walked up to him.
“Hi, Leonard!” Linda repeated enthusiastically.
“Nora, Linda, hi!” he directed at the two of them, and the second girl waved widely from where she stood, grinning from ear to ear. He turned to Nora and smiled at her. “Whatz up? School over?”
“Yes!” They hugged each other.
“Guess what happened to me today!” started his girlfriend.
“Peter?”
Nora nodded. “Came up to me again. Same question.”
“Loser!” chuckled Leonard. “He’ll never stop trying, huh?”
“And he’ll never stop losing!” Nora joked.
Miss Ashley came out and they quickly disentangled from each other. “Hi, Leonard, Nora!” she quipped as she passed. “Nice tango, eh?”
“Hi, Miss Ashley!” greeted Leonard, smiling angrily. “You bet!” he whispered.
Next, Peter and the new boy came out from the building and started coming towards them.
“Talk of the devil!” giggled Linda.
“Quick!” said Nora, facing Leonard. “Kiss me!”
He did.
“Some crush, eh?” Ikechukwu asked a forlorn Peter.
“Yes,” he agreed. “Some crush.”
“Hi, Peter!” called out Linda, waving.
“Hi, stooge!” intruded a new voice behind her. She spun round to see Patricia and her gang standing directly behind her. “Waiting on her majesty again?”
“Tricia! You almost killed me!”
“Good!” said Patricia. “You’re grateful!”
The three groups convened before the school building, Leonard holding Nora close to him.
“Hi, everyone!” greeted Ikechukwu. “Whatz up?!”
“How’s Africa?!” mocked Nora.
“Yeah, how’s Africa?!” put in Leonard. This irked the Nigerian, but he kept his cool.
“Hi, Leonard, dear!” greeted Patricia. Nora eyed her with disdain.
“What is it, Pat?” asked Leonard uncomfortably. “What do you want?”
“I want you back, dear!” she said. Her friends chuckled.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and Nora angrily pushed her away. Patricia was her major rival for Leonard, although she only had nice legs. And acted dumb.
“Leave him alone, Tricia!” she wailed. “He’s through with you!”
“Oh, yeah?!” fumed the girl. “We’ll see about that, won’t we, Leonard, dear?!” And she stumped off with her soldiers directly behind her. Nora left angrily with Linda, too.
“Em, Leonard,” said Peter awkwardly, “that sure was embarrassing!”
“You stay out of this, fat face!” he bellowed and walked out on them with his friends, calling Nora to wait for him.
“Man, what was that all about?” Ikechukwu asked when he’d gone.
“Girl War,” replied Peter. “I’m trying to get Nora out of that!”
“And are you, succeeding?”
The other shook his head sadly. Then he brightened up. “Tell you what, why don’t you come to dinner with me tonight?” he persuaded.
“Oh, yeah?” said Ikechukwu. “I’ll have to call my mother.”
“You’ll get to see my parents and siblings!” added Peter. “The dinner’ll be a special one!”

Chapter 3  
ADOPTED!

Nora was still fuming when she packed her BMW in the garage and walked in with her key. Patricia had no right to put her arms around Leonard after he’d dumped her in public. Her raunchy behavior that day was meant to spark off some kind of jealous rivalry for poor Leonard in Nora and Nora knew she could never loose out in that kind of competition. Her skirts just needed to get tighter and shorter and she needed more red lipstick and nail polish. Since her enemy could afford to embrace the big fashion names, this was the only way she knew she could fight back.
The house appeared empty and she thought it best to simply go to the kitchen and ransack the fridge if Mommy forgot to make her favorite orange juice before leaving for the market with Gavin. Nora usually came back a bit earlier than Matthew and Stephanie, so she had the plasma to herself until they invaded the sitting room around 1.00 p.m., when they usually came back home from school.
In the kitchen, she met a big jug of juice waiting for her and discovered some cakes in the fridge. She dropped her bag near the staircase on her way to the living room and kicked off her shoes when she got there. Her favorite sofa then beckoned and she could never resist.
She must have slept off in the middle of the show because she woke up half-heartedly to hear Dad and Mom quarrelling inside Dad’s library and home office. Their voices were measured, but she could clearly hear and understand the argument from where she still lay.
“But you said you wanted another boy after Matthew’s death!” her father stressed. “You even named him Matthew against everything sensible, Lora!”
“I couldn’t help it, John, I - I was falling apart!”
“Honey, come on! Pull yourself together! Nobody knows, and nobody will ever know! Besides, who cares if he’s adopted?!” her father persuaded. “Nobody! You’re just, overreacting!”
“I’m not, John!” wailed his wife. “We must tell him before he finds out by himself! It’s nothing, but people…his classmates, might…start making fun of him in school! I know Mr. Crool must have spilled it all down at Frederick’s even though he told me not to tell him! The jerk was drunk, John, and you know what that means for his oath of secrecy!”
“So how are we gonna do this?!” her husband asked her. “We can’t just tell him his mother left him thirteen years ago to, die in the cold, can we?!” He was getting angry.
“We’ll find a way!” Lora said.
“I bet you will, Mom!” Nora screamed and scampered from the door where she’d been listening in. Both adults lost their composure when they realized what had happened and Lora followed her daughter as she scaled the steps.
“Nora, wait! Nora!” she called out, picking up the school bag and shoes Nora had earlier discarded. “We can all talk this through!”
“No! We can’t, Mom!” Nora exploded, turning to face her mother half-way up. “For thirteen years I’ve been living with a lie and you think we can all talk through this?! I’m old enough to know what you guys discussed in there, Mom! My brother died a long time ago and, and I’m making do with someone else’s kid!”
“It’s not like that, Nora! Matthew was, adopted.”
“Matthew is dead! Jesus!” Nora ranted. “You couldn’t even give him another name!” All the anger she had for Patricia was now directed towards her parents. “You made me believe all this!”
“It’s not like that, Nora!” repeated her mother. “When Matthew died I – I couldn’t deal with it, and, and I couldn’t bare another child! We had to, adopt!” Lora had tears in her eyes then. “Please, honey, I’m sorry for all this, It’s not your fault, you’re acting this way ‘cause we kept this from you! Please, you must promise me he’ll still be a brother to you, !”
“He’s no such thing, Mom, and you know it!” And she ran up to her room.
Mrs. Quentin was heart-broken. This was what she’d feared all along. Now it’s happening and she had already lost control. Crying, she fell into the waiting arms of her husband, who was lost for words, himself.
“I’m confused, John!”
“Me, too, honey!”

***

“Mommy, we’re home!” Stephanie yelled as she pushed open the entrance door. The next minute she was hugging her mother and dropping her school bag at the same time. “Orange juice!” she remembered and scaled familiar obstacles to head for the kitchen, Gavin in hot pursuit.
“Hi, Mom!” Matthew greeted as he closed the door behind him. She ruffled his hair playfully and hugged him far longer than she usually did.
“Mom, you’re too tight!” he reminded her and she let him go, ruffling his hair the more and kissing him on the cheek.
“How was school today, darling?” she asked.
“Great!” he cheerfully said, blushing from the kiss. “Can I see the bike now, Mom?!” he eagerly demanded.
“Not until you’ve finished your glass of juice and changed for the evening!” Lora laughed. “Now, hop along!”
“Bicycle?!” challenged Nora from upstairs as Matthew boyishly jumped two steps at a time in haste. She blocked his path.
“Hi, Nora!” he greeted, oblivious of her question. “Mom’s bought a bike for me!” He sneaked through underneath her left hand, deciding not to wait for her reply and she glared at her mother, who quickly turned away.
“Why don’t you just tell him straight?!” she bluntly proposed.
“Nora, why are you doing this?!” her mother pleaded.
“Tell who what?!” Matthew demanded.
“That you aren’t one of us?!” his sister sarcastically replied and ran into her room.
Matthew stopped in his tracks.
“Girls!” he decided and turned to continue on his way. Mrs. Quentin breathed a sigh of relief. She would tell him when she wanted to, not when her daughter prompted her to.
And that must be very soon.

***

Inside her room, Nora caused herself a thousand times over. She couldn’t tell what had gotten into her and she hated herself for this. Every sane teenager knew that adoption was a very normal thing, which grown-ups were legally allowed to do if they wanted to. Angelie Jolie had adopted like two or three of hers and that was so sweet of her, so what was the big deal? What if Matthew was adopted? Who cares?!
Lazily, she flipped open an issue of Vogue on her bedside table and gazed at the models appearing for Ralph Lauren. She hoped to be one of them someday, but why was Mommy concerned about Mr. What’s-his-name spilling it all down at Frederick’s? And why wouldn’t she be? Maybe she doesn’t want the publicity or maybe she was trying to protect her adopted brother from that same publicity.
“That’s it!” she suddenly exclaimed, standing up and flinging away the Vogue. “That’s it!” but all of a sudden, she was frowning and trying to make out what ‘it’ was. She sat down again with a worried look on her beautiful face.
Patricia!
Her only enemy would devour her with this singular piece of news! And who’s gonna protect her from those awful school taunts and biting gossip?! Matthew will be okay. He’s a boy!
Not her.
She’ll be devastated! Destroyed!
She might even lose Leonard!
“Oh, my God!” she whispered, and quickly got up to start walking about, agitated. “Oh, my God, this, this is not so happening to me! I’m in a dream and I will soon wake up!”
“Nora, hey Nora! Come out and see my bike! Stephanie’s riding it!” shouted Matthew as he banged on her door.
“Go away, Noise!” she wailed with vigor. “You’ll destroy my life!”
Ten years of a shared room could never change what was coming now! Unless she could prevent her friends from finding out in school, it’d be better to get run over by a truck!
Well, maybe a small car!

***

“Adopted? And what does that mean, Mom?”
“It means we took you into relationship as our child a long time ago,” replied his adopted mother, looking up to his adopted father for support.
“Yes, Matthew, and it also means we’ll take care of all your needs until death do us part,” he agreed.
“Talk of looooove!” crooned Stephanie.
“Yeah, whatever!” sighed Nora, looking up to the heavens.
“We’re telling you this, darling, because, because things might get out of hand in school,” her mother quickly added.
“People, your friends, Matthew, might, talk,” explained Mr. Quentin. “You just have to ignore them.”
“Talk?” Matthew was sitting on his adopted mother’s lap and Stephanie was lying on the rug before the big sofa in the living room. She was told to skip ballet class due to this family ‘meeting’ and had obliged for a bowl of cookies, while Nora was getting her coupe refueled by Mom. The younger girl was even enjoying herself since she was still trying to figure out grown-ups. Nora was tense. “I can handle it, Dad!” Matthew said.
“Yeah, I thought as much,” Nora told him. “You perfectly understand the situation here, don’t you, Mr. Tinker head?!”
“Nora!”
“But Mom, who’s gonna protect me in school?! Who’s gonna protect Stephanie?!”
“I’m alright!” Stephanie pointed out. “I don’t need protection, Miss Fine Face!”
“Children, stop name-calling yourselves!” their father ordered wearily. “Now, Nora, you know your friends are old enough to keep themselves out of other people’s business!”
“It’s not their problem, Dad, that’s why they won’t keep out of it! Besides, I’m popular?! And I’ve got, enemies?!”
“That should be your personal problem, Nora!” her mother told her. “You must learn to get along with everyone!”
“You – You don’t understand, Mom!” fretted her daughter. “Patricia will eat me alive!”
“Who’s Patricia?” Stephanie chided her. “Your girlfriend?”
“Dad?!” Nora fumed.
“Stephanie!” her father sternly warned her.
“Just joking!” she whined.
“Where’s my real mother?” Matthew suddenly asked.
“She left you out in the cold and ran away!” Nora bluntly told him without thinking twice about it. “She’s an evil monster!”
“Nora!” gasped her mother, sitting up straight. “Apologize!”
“No!”
“Apologize, Nora!” Dad directed.
“No, Dad!” she snapped, standing up. “I’ve had enough of this! I’m sick and tired of you two trying to make him alone feel at home! For all I care, he doesn’t belong here! He’s not my brother anymore! I should’ve said this ten years ago!”
Matthew was staring at her.
He had tears in his eyes.
“Alright, Nora,” her father finally said. “Go to your room.”
She ran.

***

Matthew was still stunned by Nora’s biting words when he got up to prepare for school the next morning. He went through his normal routine like a self-conscious, mechanical robot, which just lost the will to exist. None of the comforting words and hugs his adopted parents gave him after Nora’s outburst could vanquish this sad feeling and he somehow knew that this was not a good sign.
How she got to know what she had told him he could not tell, but despite the pleas from his adopted parents to ignore all that she did say, he knew she must have heard about his real mother from them, because when he pressed harder for answers from her mother, she tried to make him forget those questions he’d asked. To erase them completely from his memory.
But could he do that? He just wanted to know who and where his real mother was. Why he must find out, he didn’t know. Why he never thought of his real father he could not tell, although that question might actually be lurking deep within his subconscious, probably waiting for that particular yearning he was yet to know he harbored all this while.
“Matthew, come on down, we’ll be late for school, honey!” called out his adopted mother from the garage and he hastened up.
Nora he had tried to avoid since last night, even though he shouldn’t have bothered. She cared less, or so it seemed. Since her room was next to his, he knew when she woke up that morning and tip-toed into the bathroom, because he woke up before everyone that morning and heard her quietly close her door behind her. Later that morning, she’d met him as she came down the steps and had simply ignored him, her car key making loud music with the side rail.
“Matthew!” yelled Stephanie. “We’re gonna be late!”
“Coming!” he called back and slipped into his Spiderman t-shirt. He heard Nora’s roadster purr like a wild cat as he hurried down the steps and met his adopted Dad preparing to leave for work in the living room.
“Going, Dad!” he called out.
“Hey!”
He turned.
“Whatever happens out there, Matt, never break!” smiled Mr. Quentin. Matthew thought the man could do without the ‘adopted’ part of the name. Only a true Dad could stand by his son in such a way, even if this son was adopted.
“Thanks, Dad!” the boy grinned, blushing, and stepped out into the waiting arms of his adopted mother.








Chapter 4
BRING IT ON!

All eyes turned to her as she stepped out of her car and banged its door shut. Even Mr. Heaver stole a glance and that was good.
“Hey, Nora! You look great!” Mark called out to her as she passed his jalopy.
“I know!” she assured him, taking long strides that fully exhibited her legs. Although her attire was not bizarre, it helped accentuate her better qualities and expose her superb ones. Patricia was in for a surprise.
“Hi, Nora!” Linda greeted her, mouth agape.
“Awe-struck?!” Nora smoothly asked her, turning round once to showcase herself. “This fight just got better!”
“Nora! All this for Leonard?!” her classmate finally giggled. “I bet he’s in for the shock of his life!”
“And I’m here to silence Patricia forever!”
“Absolutely!” drawled her maid.
“We’ve got Geography at eight, right?”
“Right!” Linda had two heavy landscape books with her. “You could help me with these, though!”
“Come on, it’s not like you’re drowning or something!” skipped Nora. “Besides, here we are!”
A large room, which extended down the building’s length and took up most of its first floor, was their destination. Large tables on which various models were placed covered its length and a podium took up one end of the room, while a white board occupied the wall here.
“Okay, class, we start today with a very interesting topic: earthquakes!” began Miss Mooney, their geography teacher. “By the way, good morning, Miss Quentin, and please don’t take away the attention of the class!”
“I can’t believe she actually noticed you!” whispered Linda as she sat down beside Nora and before a model of Mount Vesuvius. “Miss Mooney never notices anybody with those goggles of hers!”
“Girl power!” Nora hissed. “It’s all about girl power!”
Of course Patricia was here and had noticed her as well. Sadly, and unfortunately for her, she wasn’t ‘dressed to kill’ like Nora and didn’t represent a threat to Leonard’s full attention that day. The battle had already been won even before it started! Leonard’s attention was already hers to do with as she pleased!
“Nora?!” Miss Mooney repeated, now turning to face her. “Could you please tell us what an earthquake is?!”
“Uh….Yes, Miss Mooney!” she blurted out, turning to Linda for support. The other girl caught her eye sign and defined the term on a blank sheet on her lap in bold capital letters. “Uh….An earthquake?! Is…a convulsion of the earth’s surface?”
“Yes, Nora,” Miss Mooney agreed. “I was beginning to feel we were loosing you back there!” and Nora lost whatever she continued with, because Leonard and his squad suddenly crossed the building on their way to practice and she found herself in cloud nine. Did he actually wink at her back there?!
Linda nudged her as Miss Mooney babbled on. “Look!” she directed towards Patricia’s group, her voice bolder and annoyed. These girls were chuckling and throwing side glances in her direction. Nora wondered what joke Patricia must have told them.
“I wonder what she’s up to?!” she thought out loud.
“You?!” Linda reminded her.
“What?!”
“You don’t know?!” her friend was amazed. “Nora, it’s all over town!”
“That I’m beautiful?! It’s old story, dear!”
“No, about Matthew!”
A cold wind caught Nora and she tried to shrug it off. This had been her fear since last night, but Dad might be right after all. Her friends will do well not to meddle in her private affairs.
“She can’t use that against me, Linda,” she aired with confidence. “No one will take that serious!”
“Hello?!” Linda whispered in earnest, alarmed, as she looked on straight at Miss Mooney. “You forget who you’re dealing with, Nora! Be careful with this…battle for Leonard!”
“We’ll see!”
After a two-hour session of Math following Geography’s one hour, both girls went to have their lunch at the school’s cafeteria. On their way, they passed Peter and his new Nigerian friend and the Jewish boy couldn’t help gawking at Nora after exchanging pleasantries with them.
“He’s nuts, that one!” Nora laughed when they were out of earshot.
“You seem to be generating loads of attention, girl!” agreed Linda. “Here, model yourself for me again!” and Nora created space for herself, to spin round once.
A simple, red, mid-riff, body-hugging blouse gave way to a very short jean-skirt, which appeared torn off before mid-thigh. The blouse accentuated her blonde hair and the skirt worked wonders for her legs. Simple, white loafers completed the attire and she carried no schoolbag. It was like she was going to a beach party.
“You rock, girl! Go, girl!” Linda laughed, unconsciously swinging the geography books around. What she couldn’t tell her friend was that she also looked like a baby prostitute.
“Thanks!” Nora said and meant it. They were to drop the two books in the library before continuing to the cafeteria. Little did they know who awaited them there and what she had up her sleeve.
“Patricia!”
“Well, well, well! Look who just showed up!” was the reply. “It’s the Queen of Sleepy Coven High, herself, and…and her left foot!”
The three girls had blocked their path inside the library and they could all only whisper in low tones.
“What do you want?!” Nora demanded, trying to look and sound brave.
Tricia walked up to her, and since their heights were almost level, she looked directly into the other girl’s eyes and drew near to mouth the words in her ears.
“I’ve invited Leonard and his friends to the gymn at two, Nora!” she coldly began. “What if you meet me there so that he can choose who he really likes when we…UnCloth for him?!” she teased, a finger in her mouth.
“Oooooooooo!” her two friends brilliantly added.
“Deal!” Nora snapped in her rage.
“Nora, no!” Linda softly protested. She was putting back the books on their shelf and was fortunate enough to have heard the lewd details of the challenge. “You’ll be expelled if you get caught! Besides, this looks like a trick!”
“You just lost it, door mat!” Patricia told her. “She just agreed, and we’ll only strip down to our undies!”
And they were gone.
“How could you agree to that?!” Linda confronted her friend with. Her voice was quite audible and some readers turned towards them, so they quickly left the place. “What came into you, Nora?!”
“I had no choice!” Nora protested. “Besides, I’ll win!”
“Walk away!”
“Why?!”
“I don’t like this, Nora!”
“Who said I’ll lose?!” she confidently pointed out, adamantly heading for the gymn. “We’ll finish this before our lunch in no time!” But Linda was definitely worried. “Come on!” Nora urged. “No one will be there but us! They’re all eating now!”
The school’s gymnasium and all the P.T. classes where located inside a huge, white-washed building, which stood alone behind the other notable infrastructures and facilities. This large, indoor hall doubled as both a gymnasium and a stadium for the school’s basketball team. It was here that Leonard and Patricia were waiting for them with their separate set of friends in a dimly-lit corner of the hall.
“Hi, Leonard, dear!” smiled Nora, running up to hug him.
“Hi, Nora!” he returned, a bit uncomfortable with himself as they embraced each other.
“I thought you’ll all come alone!” Linda observed.
“But you came with her!” Patricia said and turned to her enemy. “Are you ready, Nora?” she sweetly enquired.
“Well…yes!” Nora replied, looking around at the empty seats and closed doors of the gymn. She straightened her short skirt with naïve hands and waited.
“We’ll do this when I give the word, right?” Patricia said, coming over to stand beside her before Leonard. The others drew nearer, holding their breath, and Linda tried to dissuade her friend for the last time by shaking her head at her, but Nora had made up her mind.
“Let’s do this!” she whispered, looking at Leonard who looked visibly embarrassed, but was trying to hide this from everyone, especially his friends.
“Yeah, let’s do this!” he told them and they nodded behind him.
They all waited for Patricia, who looked around to see whether the janitor was snoring on one of the seats or there was an intruder. Linda thought she was faking it.
“Now!” she breathed and Nora pulled up her blouse.
“Stop!” Leonard snapped and she pulled it back down. “Stop this, Nora! I’ve seen enough!”
Nora Quentin was speechless. She turned to Patricia for support.
Foolishly.
“I told you, Leonard!” her sly enemy exclaimed, drawing away from her. “I told you, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did, Tricia! I – I was a fool!” he agreed.
“Can someone tell me what’s going on?!” Nora sadly pleaded when the gathered started shaking their heads and looking away. Except Linda, that is.
“What more is there to tell, Nora?!” one of Leonard’s friends asked her.
“Yeah, what more is there to tell, Nora?!” asked Leonard. “We all know your only brother was adopted! So, either your mother lost her womb as a call-girl after producing another very like her, or you were adopted like your brother! From an orphanage dealing with call-girls!”
“But…but Tricia said….”
“Told you what?!” took up Patricia. “That Leonard will agree to choose between us like this?! And you jumped at the chance, Nora! Just like your mother!”
“How do I know you don’t do this kind of thing around town, Nora?!” asked Leonard, enraged. “How do I know you don’t sleep around?!”
“Your friend tried to warn you, Nora,” Patricia continued, enjoying herself as Leonard placed his arm around her waist. “You ignored her, Nora, because you thought you’ll win! Like always!”
“I thought you, ” began Nora. She was confused.
“What, you…think I like…this?!” Leonard asked her. “You think I love seeing…naked girls?! I never knew you could be so…cheap, Nora!” he spat out, to the approval of his friends, as well as Patricia’s.
Nora fled.

***

Both boys stood a few meters apart in Mr. Pebblestone’s office. They were facing the wall as punishment, and whenever the principal was not looking, they quickly got some reprieve by swinging both arms, although this wasn’t as often as they would have wanted.
Matthew was tired. The fight had taken more out of him than he’d ever imagined and he just wanted to go home. He now knew that Nora was right after all. His name was on the lips of every kid in school, and what they were saying about him wasn’t good, either, although he was glad to have openly confronted Fat George when the bully decided to harass him before the class. He never knew he could do this, but he guessed his affiliation with Spiderman bolstered his courage and successfully enabled him to take on the bigger boy.
“Alright, who started this?!” Mr. Pebblestone suddenly snapped, bringing him back to the present.
Appropriately called ‘The Hawk’ behind his back by his students, the head teacher definitely knew how to deal with rebels like the two in his office. Tall and gaunt with a long, curved nose almost hiding sharp, piercing eyes, Mr. Pebblestone appeared to have burrowed the features of an evil wizard from a fairy tale book. What was actually left out were the long ears of an elf and the children often added these whenever they were depicting him on their blackboards.
“Well?” he waited.
“Matthew started it, sir!” began Fat George, all humble and respectful. He’d been brought down twice by the smaller boy and that was humiliating enough. “He’s always jeering me in class!”
“Liar!” Matthew denied, turning to him in anger. “Mary Ann started it, sir! She told him I’m a bastard and he came up to me with her!”
“That’s not true!” Fat George grumbled.
“I never told you to turn away from the wall, Mr. Quentin!”
“Sorry, sir!” Matthew apologized.
“Now,” the head teacher continued, turning away with his hands held together behind his back, “I think you both deserve to be more severely punished – and I intend to find a more deserving punishment for this act of…of rebellion and utter disregard for the rules in my school by the both of you!
“But first of all,” he added, reaching for the drawer below his desk, “I shall have to pencil down your names in my Black Book!”
“A black what?!” Fat George demanded.
“What’s a black book, sir?” Matthew asked.
“It’s a book in which I put down the names of misfits like you, Mr. Quentin!” replied Mr. Pebblestone. “People who hurt my work and…and indirectly hurt me by hurting my work!”
“Sorry, Mr. Pebblestone!” Matthew apologized, trying to appear distraught, but his excitement couldn’t hide itself. Here was the real job of a black book and he couldn’t have found out about this at a more appropriate time!
As they both left Mr. Pebblestone’s office, Matthew started thinking of ways he could retrieve his last find in the attic from Nora. Fat George was definitely a misfit, and Mary Ann, too. Their names he knew and could spell, so he just needed a pen.
“I read up a very interesting word in the dictionary yesterday!” Mary Ann commenced when they entered their class. “It means a child who has lost his or her parents!”
Nobody laughed except Fat George.
He was trying to assert himself again.


***

“I knew it, Mom! I knew it!” shouted Nora as she entered the living room.
“Knew what, dear?!” her surprised mother enquired, looking up from her writing. “What happened in school?!”
“This is gonna destroy my life!” she cried, turning from the first step up to her room. “It’s everywhere in town! I can’t even live here anymore!”
“Calm down, Nora! You’re freaking me out!” her mother ordered, standing up. “It hurts me more than you, dear, and there’s nothing we can do about it!”
“We can move again, Mom!” Stephanie suggested at the door, looking tired and edgy. She wasn’t crying and her mother’s heart went out to her.
“Oh, baby! Come here, my sweet!” she was told, and she eagerly ran into her mother’s open arms.
“We cannot do that, Steph!” Matthew said behind her. “It will all go away in a few days, I promise!”
“You stay away from me!” Nora growled, pointing at him. “Don’t you ever come an inch near me!”
“I need my book back!” Matthew told her. “You never paid for it yourself!”
“And you think I care now for that…miserly scrap junk?!” she returned. “I just lost Leonard because of you and all you can tell me is to give you back that…crap?!”
Her mother turned to her. “Oh, Nora!” she softly whispered.
“Well, take it, anyway!” her daughter continued. “You’ve already ruined my life, you outcast!”
And she ran up to her room.
This time, Matthew did not cry.
He’d found another misfit.
“Nora is calling Matthew names, Mommy!” Stephanie pointed out, tugging her mother by the hand. “She deserves to miss dinner!”
“She’s just angry, Steph!” Lora said, drawing Matthew to herself. “You know you must forgive her, don’t you, Matthew?” she asked him, but he said nothing, prompting her to continue. “And what’s about this…book?!”
“Nothing, Mom,” he replied, feeling hurt and angry. “It’s about that book I found in the attic and gave to her!”
“Mommy, Matthew fought today!” Stephanie began.
“What?!”

Chapter 6  
MISSING!

When he got home, he quickly inked two more names into his black book. Anderson and Barbara. They deserved nothing worse!
Matthew had realized this exercise was a kind of psychological relief for him, and his own secret way of getting back at all of them. He was so pleased with this new ‘punishment’ book of his that he had created a special place for it on his shelf of Spiderman models, Spiderman comic books and detective novels.
“Matthew! Matthew! Mom’s arguing with Nora!” Stephanie shouted from his door and he closed the book. “What are you doing?!” she queried.
“Nothing?” he replied, getting up. He failed to see the book’s edges beginning to smolder as he followed Stephanie out of his room and closed the door behind him. Now Nora’s voice was audible from down below since she was shouting. Her mother appeared to be trying to reason with her in a lower voice.
“I won’t, Mom!” she repeated angrily. “He’s not my brother and we all know that, and less we forget, I lost Leonard because of him!”
“Don’t you think Leonard must be a fool to have left you because of him?!” Lora pressed on and this peeved her daughter. How would she understand?! It was all more complicated than just Matthew’s adoption. Patricia’s trick had contributed immensely to Nora’s loss, but she didn’t want to mention this, because it would implicate her in no small way.
“I don’t think so, Mom!” she challenged with much vehemence. “Leonard is…under pressure from all this! He’s really trying to…understand it all!”
“I feel you, but you must apologize to Matthew, Nora! What’s gotten into you?!”
“I won’t, Mom!” she screamed loudly, freaking out, and stalked away sulking. “He’s not a Quentin and will never be!”
“Nora’s angry!” Stephanie observed beside Matthew and he sadly nodded.
“She’s a misfit,” he told her unconsciously.
“Who’s a misfit, Matt?”
“Dunno!” he confessed. “Anybody c
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Nobody: 5:47pm On Feb 03, 2009
Some really gifted chaps on NL
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by bluespice(f): 7:07pm On Feb 03, 2009
wow!
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by bluespice(f): 8:31pm On Feb 03, 2009
peaceworld
i read ur book n i must say i really enjoyed it
good job man
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Epi: 9:20pm On Feb 03, 2009
BlueDiva:

Some really gifted chaps on NL
Yep, Nigerians are gifted and talented.  We can't deny that. Example Gamine is an author(book-writer)

Just have to work on their "touchy emotions"
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by SeanT21(f): 9:40pm On Feb 03, 2009
See,Now U got me all hoked~~Who is the "sow"?
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by maedan(f): 11:47pm On Feb 03, 2009
hey georgeshadow, ur book is really nice, i think i downloaded from the lulu site one time & read a bit, it was really cool, the kind of book u read when u're stuck at home on a rainy day. Also, it makes u feel like a kid again reading such stuff. You could easily have made the kids more like Nigerians though, that's the only "comma" i could find. All in all, great job, u're very gifted. smiley
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Peaceworld(m): 8:50am On Feb 05, 2009
Thanks, maedan. Ikechukwu's a Nigerian immigrant from the UK with his parents. Help me spread the word about the free stuff? Ciao.
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by Peaceworld(m): 8:52am On Feb 05, 2009
Thanks, maedan. Ikechukwu's a Nigerian immigrant from the UK with his parents. Help me spread the word about the free stuff? Ciao.
Re: My Book: Soon To Be Published by osmoses(m): 12:34pm On Apr 25, 2009
Hi fellas.

All you need to publish a book in Nigeria ia a good story and the right publisher. I'm a published author anyway, chck out my web www.thereaders.bravehost.com


Author: Imuli's Journey

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