Chapter 1: Childhood
Looking back my childhood, It hasn't always been rosy, I wasn't born with a "sliverspoon". My ealiest memories takes me to a time when I would trek long distance to my primary school, carrying a handmade sewn bag from a leftover cement packaging. Filled with books that I may or may not need that day but wore be tide you a teacher comes in & you don't have the exercise book for his subjects or perhaps you're caught not writing, it's not like we don't have a time table it's just that the teachers are so random it's safer to bundle all the exercise books just to avoid koboko.
Earliest that morning before going to school, you've got fill a 300 litres of drum, failure to do so result in your 1 naira or 5 naira been withheld meaning no breakfast niyen.

If you're not lucky & there's scarcity of water in the area, you may have to contend with a long line of people which often degenerate into a fight especially when queues are abused, I tell you, it wasn't fun.
Having conquered that hustle, you may have to walk a long distance to school, pray you're not late. A long line of teacher's await at the gate with kobo kobo, like they care, they ask their usual rhetorics with a whip 'why are you late?' With a whip on your back, it's worst during harmattan, the whipping effect taste different, but somehow we had to survive & to survive, we had to improvise.

Chapter 2: Survival; Part one. Young Dumb & Broke
Survival either makes you or mar you. In our case ,we were young, we were dumb but we had heart. We knew we could quit, it's no Bradner, we had friends who gave up & don't resume, but we heard nasty stories about them, they became nuisance, petty thieves and whatnot but that wasn't going to be us or so we thought. We thought we were different, our parents told us of countless stories of how they regrets not going to school, it was the early nineties, 96 precisely, for some our parents things were looking up for them. The economy was once opening up & we were taught from early childhood that all we needed to make it out of the slumb was education, nothing else, apparently there were government jobs and whatnot & so we listened.

To survive late coming we scaled through the fence, to survive extreme whipping we had double clothings underneath our uniforms. I recall onetime in primary five, My friend & I, failed a math home work. The teachers rule was simple, he marks over 10, the number of whip you got determined the number of marks you got.
Well. Well, well, I had involved my Dad in the maths Home work. I went to school that morning confident, infact my undoing that day was my over confidence, it was during harnattan, the north western region of Nigeria those days usually have it share of extreme to average weather conditions, thar day, was a bit though. Got to class after a long wait, standing on the assembly. My class mate who weren't able to do their homework were busy copying from each other, I didn't bother.
My friend on the other hand had his day all planned out, we weren't much, it was easy for the teacher to just sit & mark his work.

My friend like he knew he wasn't going to get a lot of marks, that day, he had worn two extra underwear, afterwhich he wore a pair of torn cement packaging bags, he had done this to the most sensitive areas of his body, his buttocks & his back. I knew he looked unusual that day, he had suddenly added weight over the weekends but I didn't know his game plan until he got caught. We laugh about that day till this day. Crazy guy.
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The teacher was done marking, he calls your name & as you walk out to pick your your book, he mentions your marks & how much whipping you've earned. It wasn't long my name was called, "Gbaigbor Afeknokare" the teacher had called out, I echoed back immediately "Present Sir" as I left to pickup my exercise book, too confident to think that I was getting a whipping that day, 5 out of 10 marks, 5 whipping was allocated, I took them in good faith, the harmattan wasn't making it any less painful worst of all was to watch my crush look me gets whipped 😢

Not long, my friends name was called out "Salihu Anderson" he echoed back immediately present with such a loud presence you think he got 10 of 10, as soon as he approached, the teacher told him to hold on, apparently the teachers attention was needed outside, a new student was transferred to my class, not just any students, the prettiest girl I've seen in my childhood years, as she made way to sit, i didn't know when i locked eyes with my crush looking at me with that don't you dare. Women. Jealous from childhood. Anyways. The teacher was back in action & immediately his attention turned to my classmate, he had scored 2 out of 10. Menh...The teacher was about to have fun, the whipping started on his buttocks but each time the whipping touches him, some kind of unfamiliar sound is heard like "kpa" the teacher had given him 5 strokes, student were trying hard to avoid laughing, wnen the teacher decided to try his back only for my friends guard to fall off on the last stroke. The whole class busted out laughing....well he was taken to the teacher's room for a special punishment.

Chapter 2' continued it was 97' we've written common entrance & we were preparing to go to secondary school, I was at home helping mom to hawk at the market, then one day my dad came home & said they couldn't find my name on the list of people they've given admission too, I was perplexed, how could this be possible? Had to spend 2 years at home.
Then the waywardness began. It was early 2000's, the gsm was beginning to penetrate into the Nigeria fabrics, my dad was given one from work and a sim card, alot has happened since i wrote my common entrance.

Computers Drugs & Sex....
Ring Ring Ring....it was 2017 and my friend called me on the phone. Him: howfa "G?"
Me: i dey alright
Him: guy...breathing on the phone ...
Me: howfa this one you dey call me this early morning, wetin dey happen?
Him: you know that Job wey i pay my uncle 700k to help me secure?
Me: chin up, smiling, he don sup?
Him: sad tone, not really bro, he don cast & my uncle say he no fit refund me
Me: omo
Him: but he say he go find another options for me even if na for Gambia.
Me: guy take m easy, you know say that your uncle don try for you. No forget how he see yoy through school.
Him: hmmmm, guy sure we no go enter G so?
Me: thinking deeply? Why you dey talk so?
Him: Time no dey again & this money i must make am.
3 months later his uncle has been unable to secure him the both jobs, his money gone, his heart broken then the temptation to do Computer fraud became stronger.
My friend, lets call him Dembele, became insecure, the women in the village won't talk to him, the younger ones won't respect him, he was ambitious yet the future looked bleak, we had graduated from the same university prior, he graduated with a strong second class upper, you can understand his frustration, not long ago before we both graduated, he witnessed how's uncle had given jobs to both qualified & less qualified individuals but why's his turn different? I've graduated with a first class on my part, we were different or so we thought but life has a way of humbling the most of us especially those of us too naive to recognize that times may have changed yesterday but still clinging unto it, refusing to change.
It wasn't long in November my phone rang,
Him; G i dey Angola like this, from here i dey go south Africa, no worry, when everywhere set, you go come join me.
Me: stammering, that was fast D.
Him: no worry, i don too suffer for this life, I been don enter Abidjan, we run one deal, them pay me 20million naira, i don settle police & all na 10 million remain. I wan use this one buy logs from one Dubai guy, say na like 100 million usd deal we go clear.
Me: omo.
How he feels comfortable telling me stuffs like this, I immediately checked, it was a whatsapp call, i muttered to my self I hope this end-to-end encryption works. This matter, evidence choke, e dey sound like confession.

The following month my Journey around WEST AFRICA will begin, At first I was curious then I got hesitant but then, I hadn't anything much going on for me, it was now or never. I called my girl friend then in the area, Kuma. She came immediately, startled she asked to where, i told her i don't know, but my friend has asked me to join him, I only know it isn't Nigeria ,i was so naive.
She became really emotional, she had always been kind to me despite my shenanigans, Kuma had been the most sweetest girl I've been with, sumptuous boobs, big backsides, hardworking university girl & young too, i had thought if wishes were horses we could get married not that I've ever told her that, out of the Kuma started kissing me deep kisses like it was good bye, she removed her crop top, unhooked bra all while kissing me, she had always known i was a boobs guy, she pointed large sumptuous boobs in my mouth, her hand were in my boxers almost immediately, i wasn't the biggest guy down there, but i had just enough to make a girl moan, she was caressing me down there while i was busy on her boobs, then she grabbed my boxers & was about to slid my hard rock D into when i muttered to her "Condoms" she had no care, she whispered back, she needed something to remember me by, we've never had it raw, this was different or so i thought, it was warm, wet, slimy & welcoming, i didn't have to do too much. We weren't having sex, we were making love.
She made dinner, helped me pack & left.
I called my friend and asked him howfa?how's my journey going to be like? I've obviously never done this before.

My Dad had noticed I was beginning to mingle with area boys whenever I'm not hawking for my mom or doing house chores, but I knew I still needed some education, so back then, I did buy an exercise book, go around the area especially the markets looking for left over chewing gum wrappers. Back in the day, chewing gum wrappers had current affairs questions & answers on them, some where randomly maths, others were history & so on and so forth, I thought to myself pending when I coud go to school this will suffice, I had a 30 leaf exercise filled with everything i could find on those chewing gum wrappers, back when the internet was for the elite class, one day my dad saw me looking for those wrappers he didn't say nada, just shaked his head, when i got that day, my dad asked what i was doing on the street, i told him about my collections & showed him my exercise book, the next day my Dad brought home an English essential text book & said he had gone to the ministry of education & hopefully I could start anytime, I was so happy, my friends were already in school that term, when I visited them they would gist me about life in secondary.
Until then, my Dad had complained to my mom about my roaming around, my mom had quickly secured a job for me at a provision store in the area markets owned by an Igala couple, they sold bread & retail Coca-Cola. I was to be paid two hundred naira back then, I didn't know what await me in that store but it was crazy....to be continued

I've alot of editing to do please forgive me. I know this is the literature section.
Disclaimer: this is a pure work of art fictional & any resemblance to real world occurrence is merely a coincidence. Kindly critique.
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I wasn't always the extrovert, infacts I hadly made any friends earlier, but when I eventually do it's a ride or die movement, no questions asked. I recall one time when it was almost time for me to take payment at my earlier job, that month I've worked more than I was going to earn, I've been asked to go coca-cola retail runs when one of those times almost caused me a muscle pool, it wasn't long I will be tasked with cleaning & fixing things at the couples home, thereafter come back to the shop & make sell. I already vowed to myself that there was no way I was going back to the job after my pay. Then the unthinkable happened, they accused me of stealing, Oh my God, what did I steal? At first they denied they didn't know, they just knew something was missing, then they later admitted I has taken money, no way I would take money & still come back to that shop especially not to the tune of the amount I was accused of. I was a young child bearly out of primary school, I began to cry, went home to call my Dad, My Dad came expecting him to support me so as to boost my emotional confidence, my Dad would rather sides with them, it intensified my anger and that resulted into more tears, I couldn't believe myself, everything I've done, everyday I've worked, I've had episodes where customers tip me a token but u still end up submitting it to my Boss. How could this happen to me? Not long though while they were discussing with my Dad, they admitted to have found the money stashed beneath the carpet in the Boss's office. Why my Dad did not immediately side with me was a confusion at the time, but whatever it was, I decided not to question his wisdom.

WantsandMore:
[center] A Caterpillar's Journey

From a tiny egg on a leaf
A caterpillar emerges with hunger and grief
It eats and eats, growing bigger and stronger
But its skin is tight, it can't stretch any longer

It spins a cocoon around its body
A shelter of silk, a place to be
Inside the cocoon, a transformation begins
A caterpillar becomes a butterfly within

It breaks free from its prison of silk
Its wings are wet, its body is limp
It rests on a flower, waiting for the sun
To dry its wings, to make it run

It flutters and flies, exploring the world
A beautiful creature, a wonder to behold
It sips the nectar, it spreads the pollen
It dances with the wind, it lives in the moment

But its life is short, it has to lay eggs
To continue the cycle, to start again
It finds a mate, it chooses a leaf
It lays its eggs, it says goodbye with grief
[/center]

your story is interesting
waiting for the next update

The Formative Years

I always wondered why my life turned out this way, traumatized, as a Nigerian frustrating & somehow exciting in a way I cannot particularly say.
One day, as our conversations digressed into the night, my Dad had finally opened up why I couldn't start school early. In my defense, I thought i did so well in my common entrance to not have gotten an admission, ive always wondered what happened, did i fail? Perhaps i shaded so roughly that my papers were canceled heck I even thought i was invisible cause i felt no matter how badly i had written been posted to a secondary wasn't sometimes a matter of pass or fail it was a filtering process, Ive felt at that time even if I had failed woefully i still stand a chance of being posted to the most least popular or rated school. I was just curious how i thought i tried my & my common entrance was nothing to show for it. Until that night, My Dad in his usual story telling manner, quietly muttered, you were posted to a boarding school but I've vowed to never let any of my kids go to a boarding school. Damn. I wish I was consulted before such a far reaching life decision were taking on my behalf, back then children's fate rested on the decisions of elderly(Brothers, Aunties,Sister's, Father's, Mothers) anyone's cared enugh to have an opinion was qualified to make a life changing decision on your behalf they only had to be older. Finally, I've gotten my answer, I didn't protest I just accepted my Dad's conclusion on the matter.
Moreover, I was excited to start school, those interesting stories I've been told by my peers was good enough reason to just want to start, moreso, I was already tired of hawking for moms.
In the early 2000s, my journey into secondary school would start, albeit, I've resumed late due to one or two administrative inconveniences my admission process would cost me, I've been introduced that morning by the Computer Science teacher, of whuch I'll come to understand that was the same year computer science as a subjects would be introduced into secondary school syllabus across the northern education board. Her kindness in the manner she welcomed & introduced me to the class would've a lasting impact as her subject became one of my favorite as she became one of my favorite teachers naturally.
My School was one of the top rated secondary school back then, naturally the kids of elites would prefer that school if they weren't taken abroad, in my first day in School, I met Aisha a kind hearted lady who had offered me a place to sit, pretty, introverted, fairly grown but always covered in hijab. Another interesting person I met was Solomon, small in physique, we would later turn out to be competitive in class because what Solomon lacked in height he made up in intelligence. First, we would compete on whose handwriting was the finest, scratch that, who spoke the best English, then we would compete who had the possibly highest score of all the eleven subjects, I wasn't particularly the most rated academically but I had social skills that doesn't qualify me as an extrovert but just enough to spark intimate conversations
I had developed these skills, first from hawking; which required an intense level of agreement & disagreement especially when it comes to pricing, secondly; my good friend had introduced me to this NGO whose sole purposes were to teach young people Behavioral change communication (BCC) as they were often termed. It was no brainer that I easily jump in & out of a conversation, because half the times we are thought to be assertive,self confident, declare values & most importantly draw our space bubbles to avoid confusion about what a person is to you in terms of intimacy & what can or cannot be shared.
All of these people I've met earlier unfortunately, by the we got to the second year, they've all left the school, as I got to find out from a friend of a friend, Aisha particularly whom I had huge crush on due to her kindness was quickly married off, infact by the time I got to third junior year, i was told she had given birth. I just muttered another disadvantage of early marriage, what a waste of intelligence. Solomon on the other hand, I've been informed that his parent relocated, back then there was a tension of unrest between the northern Muslims & the southern igbos to the extent that a petty disagreement could lead to a full blown riots.
I was alone once again, in my third year I had buried myself in books, took extra curricular activities prepared and wrote third junior to senior year promotional exams. Few weeks before schools were to be closed for the holidays, rumors began to filter in to select students, especially those girls students who were unnaturally attached to teachers for God knows why, One time I was in the classroom I over heard them calling my surname, giggling, some of them stealing glances at me, I wondered why but I wasn't bothered. It was long my junior third year computer science teacher came in, he had an announcement for us, due to my schools performance in the Third Junior Promotional Exams in computer science, we've been selected as one of the schools to enjoy a computer library & internet service. We were all banging the table in excitement & laughter then he said he's particularly happy that he called my name right in the presence of everyone that i had the most highest score statewide as reported by the Ministry of education, he took pride in this as he was my teacher, of course naturally he was made the HOD of computer science & the head of the Computer & internet laboratory but would my fine teacher let us have access to this technology we would eventually find out after we resume our senior year. Soon afterwards school dismissed , result day & resumption days were scheduled. It was going to be a long break. I guess two-three months precisely.

sageb:


you story is interesting
waiting for the next update

Thanks bro. Appreciate the kind gesture. I dedicate the update above to you