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[quote author=Martinsmine post=127033833]Keep on[/quote

Thank you

This my first attempt in writing a story. I am planning on publishing this work by next year. The title of the book is "The trouble with Richard".
The story is about a boy who would not adhere to instructions. He ended up wasting his life. My target audience are the primary and secondary students.





Chapter one



The troubled boy


Richard has been sent home from school after he fought with a child from the upper class. It started when the boy could not allow him to play on his football team. Richard became infuriated and punctured the boy's ball and that was not enough he hit the boy on the head with a stone. The school headmaster flogged Richard mercilessly and sent him home and never to return without his parents.
At home his grandmother has not returned from the farm, so Richard took off this rickety school uniform, and off he goes.

Richard is in primary 3, And he's widely known in school and the village as a bully. The grandmother whom he stays with is tired of getting complaints from people. So whenever people come around to lay a complaint the old woman will ask them to do whatever pleases them because the boy doesn't take instructions.

One faithful Saturday morning a woman from a neighboring village came, asking people where Richard's parents were domiciled and having been directed rightly, on arrival, Richard who was outside parking sticks for firewood, upon sighting the woman, took to his heel into the house.

The house stands adjacent to a thick bush which serves as fodder for goats and other domestic animals. The house is built with the Earth and a well-arranged roof made from a rafter. It is a typical building found in most villages in the southern part of Nigeria.
Houses in this area are sparsely localized leaving a huge land for farming.

It was obvious from the way the woman walked into the compound that she came to lay her grievance. In her hand is a dead hen.

"Who's here?" She asked. The tone of her voice is not friendly.
"Yes, I am here," the woman from the other end responded.
"You can come in," she added.
The woman walked in through the narrow path that leads to the end of the small house. At the rear of the house, a small house is erected which serves as the kitchen. Richards's grandma was in the kitchen fanning the early morning fire to the flame.

On sighting the woman with a dead hen in hand, and how suddenly Richard ran into the house, she did not wait for a prophet to tell her that she was here for a report. Just as she presumed, the woman thundered,

" Good morning ma'am,
I was in the market yesterday when your son Richard came to my house and kill my Hen'
She didn't land when Richards's grandmother interrupted.
"How are you sure that Richard killed the hen since you were in the market"? The old woman asked.

"Who is not aware of all the terrible things that your son is doing in this village"? She fumes as she explained, my younger sister was in the garden cutting waterleaf when this your strong-headed son took a stone and threw it at the hen and eventually killed her"

The old woman stood for a while, thinking about what to do, and with her two hands resting on her waist, he screamed at Richard to come out of the house, and after several attempts with no results, she addressed the woman.

"Auntie," she said with tears flooding from her eyes.
'I have done everything within my reach to ensure that my grandchild is responsible and to live a reasonable life, yet all my effort is yielding no result at all. '

The old woman couldn't control her tears, she explained to her how the boy has made her life so miserable that she hardly stays in peace for a whole day without people complaining about his misconduct. She apologized to the woman and promised to punish him.

The hen owner dismissed every plea and insisted that the old woman must pay for the dead Hen else, she will resort to another means to get justice for the hen. It's very painful to kill the mother Hen leaving the chicks which might likely not survive without the protection of their mother. The fear of the unknown gripped the old woman, and would not want anything negative to happen to her or her grandson even though he is recalcitrant hence she agreed to pay for the dead Hen.

"Please, I will pay for all damages caused by him, but let nothing happen to him." She begged.

In the end, the woman threw the dead hen to the ground close to the old woman, she left without saying a word.

Not long after the woman left, Richard came out of the house bragging.

"I killed the hen because she was disturbing the peace of the environment"

As young as Richard is, he seems not to take orders from anyone. He disregards the advice of his grandmother on all occasions.

Some concerned women from their church came to visit the old woman. The news of her grandchild's misbehavior has been heard in all nooks and crannies of the village.

" your boy has joined a bad gang"

The woman leader mumbled with all amount carefulness, for fear of being heard outside.

"The other day I saw him with Effanga, the son of the most wicked man in this village" another woman interrupted.

All the women said their own experiences about Richard and then drifted to giving their pieces of advice.

"Mama, ensure that you whip him whenever he renegades," said the elder's wife. "Remember," she continues "if you spare the rod, you spoil the child".

" It's very true, " said the pastor's wife. "The Bible says to train up a child in the way that he should go….", she was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Richard. The women summoned him and he refuted all the claims laid on him. He was asked to kneel. They prayed for him.


The last time Richard's mother came for a visit, the old woman pestered her to go with him else she would send him away. According to their neighbor, Richard's mother gave birth to him out of wedlock, by then her mother was still in secondary school. She was also the type that would not take instructions from her mother. The boy that put her in a family way did deny responsibility for it.
Subsequently, Richard was born, and his mother Magdalene left him in the care of his grandmother and traveled to the city in search of a means of livelihood. Richard only met her mother once, during one of the Christmas holidays. By then Richard had just turned three years old. She however visited with a man who had promised to marry her. It can be recalled that Magdalene had cautioned Richard from addressing her as his mother but as his Aunty.

From birth, Richard's grandmother had taken responsibility for his well-being. The financial capacity of the old woman is insufficient and hence can not afford a lifestyle compared to those living in the city.

The old woman has never raised her hand to the boy, this could be a result of the culture prevalent in this part of the country. Here, grandchildren are usually pampered and not allowed to be maltreated, or flogged. This might have given the boy the motivation to misbehave knowing that he won't be punished by the grandmother.

'Richard is becoming a wayward child' Mrs. Felicia told mama Magdalene, Richard's grandma as they returned from a Sunday service. 'Hmmm…I have tried to fix the boy yet all of my efforts have resulted in nothing '. she said. 'The Lord will help you. As both women parted ways.

It was unbecoming of Richard to always bully any person that crosses his way at every point in time. At the football field where the villagers gathered to play football. The children too will organize theirs in a separate space behind the pitch. Their play went on well until Richard started a rift. His side was losing, and while the boy from the other team skillfully tipped the ball past him to score, Richard deliberately slid his leg against the boy and he fell to the ground with minor wounds on both legs and elbows. The brother of the boy who was of the same age as Richard rushed to the scene, pushed Richard to the ground, and immediately a fight ensued. Others scampered for safety.

Birds of the same feathers flock together, this adage was nothing but a true definition of whom Richard was growing up to be. He has a few friends whom they go out with. Their friendship started in school and extended to the community.
One day the three friends were walking down the road which link to the village stream. One of the boys crossed over to meet with another of their schoolmates who were returning from the stream.

'Did you ever think that I will meet you? Akpan interrogated. ' I will beat you up and nothing will happen '. He said walking close to him.
The boy was stunned. With a filled to the brim twenty liters of water on his head, he appeared diminutive. It was obvious that Victor was tired.
'What have I done? The innocent looking victor enquired.
The two friends had crossed over to find out what was going on.

' you had the guts to report me to Mr. Benson the mathematics teacher that I copied the assignment from someone, today I am going to teach you a lesson. He boasted.
'Victor let's go' his younger sister said, clasping his hand.
'Will you leave his hand or I descend on you both'? Richard interrupted.
'Who do you think you are?' the other boy said forcefully, dragging Victor's hand from his sister. Suddenly, a yellow pale of water that rested on the girl's head slipped to the ground, the water moistening the boys.

Victor, who would not stand the sight of anyone touching her sister wrongly dropped his water container and muscled the three street boys. Although he was overwhelmed, he proved that he was a man. Victor was dragged into the bush, beaten mercilessly and his bucket of water shattered. He cried calling for help but the little sister rushed home to inform the parents of what had happened.

Immediately, Victor's parents arrived at the scene, the boys were gone, his father came with a machete while his mother with a long stick like a hunter who goes after a tricky squirrel.
The younger sister accompanied them.

' They should count themselves lucky that I didn't meet them, today their blood would have touched the earth' his father said panting heavily.
Victor's mother held him and asked him to stop crying
" stop crying my son, God in heaven will pay them back in the full dose".
Victor couldn't explain what happened because of incessant tears that dropped from his eyes.
'"I will certainly get to the root of the matter," he said as they went home.