Deceit.
In trying to deceive others, you deceive thyself.

I ate the last meat in my soup bowl, savouring the last super taste of the eba and egusi soup that my mother kept for me after leaving for the school farm. The school farm in a school I hated. Because my mother was a cleaner in the university, they let me attend the Staff School full of feeble brained kids who knew nothing about sipping garri with palm kernels or chewing half ripe mangoes. I knew I didn’t belong there and I never felt like I belonged.

As I stooped to wash my hands in a bigger plastic bowl, my eyes fell on the ropes of fresh vegetables in a stainless basin under the spring bed.
“Heeeeeh! Ooooohm! Mama. I just hope she doesn’t mean I should carry this vegetable on my head again to go and meet Chika in the market. Ooooooohm.”
I complained and whined around our old block room until I fell on the bed. My legs hitting the springs and making me bounce my weight up and down in irritation.

I recently turned 14 and all of a sudden carrying vegetables to the market seemed like something shameful. My voice was getting deep, my scanty beard itching me and besides I wanted to talk to a girl.

The next thing I did was wear a fresh polo on my school trouser and made to run away. I jumped out of our room which was very much above the ground outside. I backed the world out there and struggled to lock the door. Our house was so close to the road that most times I shied away from staying outside for fear of being spotted by my school rich kids.
I was always conscious of my low life and forever I hid it.

Just when I was done and took three steps into the road, I heard my name from the left. I fidgeted first and turned slowly.

‘Aargh! Chineke!” I reacted and adjusted myself to comportment.
It was Helen.
I wanted to talk to her about helping her do our home works or following me to the canteen for fanta and bonce but I couldn’t. I was always lost whenever she appeared. Most times, she made the class too small for me to compress my magnetic feelings.

“Ikechukwu” Helen greeted politely.

“Helen. Eehm. What are you doing here.. I mean…what..”

“Ikechukwu it’s not that bad that I came around your house”

“Noooo! No. It’s not around my house. I don’t stay close here seriously, my house is so out of this dirty street. Hah. I just rushed in here to one of my friend’s house. I wanted to call him for football but he is not ready so I’m going back to my house in an estate not here.”

She accepted my lies quickly before saying,

“OK. So where is your house let’s go because your Mum is in our house and she sent me to you so that you can bring the vegetables under the bed. My Mother bought all. We are cooking vegetable soup for our visitors this evening. But don’t worry. You can go and play football. I will carry the vegetable home.”

I looked up. I looked down.

Heaven or Earth. Which one will help this my lie now?

For more:
http://egbechofaith.com/unfortunate-me/