aduragbemisteve:
this update is just like when you were given just one piece of akara made with honey; of course you will want more

lol

[b] CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

A VISIT TO VICTORIA GARDEN CITY

Blossom was dying with jealousy. Her sister kept on achieving while she kept on losing. She gave her brain much work, thinking of just one thing--how to make Bella suffer for all her loses.

Each time Benson called to ask of her children's performances in school, Blossom would act as though she was still attending MBC.

Blossom and her mother had planned the way forward. They had arrived at the conclusion she would commence with S.S.S 3 class as soon as a new session began.

"Blossom don't worry because all things work together for good. I shall enroll you in a bigger school where they pay millions of naira per session. You will be happy you left MBC, I bet you."

"That will be cool mum!" Blossom was excited. She couldn't wait for the summer holiday to end so that she would start the school as her mother promised.

Bella and Benjamin didn't stop composing and rehearsing more and more songs. John had also written many songs. He would send the lyrics to Bella's phone to work on them. He would also send the voice recordings to her, even though they always sounded very bad because of his voice. However, as soon as Benjamin and Bella had taken it up, the song would turn out to be a very melodious one.

Bella and Benjamin's names were already synonymous to music in their church such that Blossom began to come late to church so as to miss the choir renditions.

"I will make sure she lose her voice," Blossom determined wickedly.

Bella got a call one day. It was Christie on the line.

"Christie, long time. How are you doing?" Bella spoke excitedly.

"Speak French with me," Christie instructed. "Or don't speak at all."

Bella was shocked that Christee now had much confidence than herself speaking French. She was far better than even herself the teacher.

"Christie, how did you know so much of French?" Bella exclaimed.

"It was a long story, Bella."

"I am ready to hear it, so go ahead. I know you have sufficient airtime to speak with me for hours without interruption."

"Of course I do have, always, but Bella, this is not something we could discuss on phone. Would you mind coming to VGC?"

"VGC? What for?" Bella asked. She had heard the name of the place before but people said it was on the Lagos Island.

"That's where I live!" she said. "Would you mind coming to pay me a visit someday?"

"Yes!" Bella said.

Bella and Christie reached a compromise. Bella would pay her a visit at VGC. They had chosen a date.

[/b]

Felinize:
Sammy u re a gr8 writer, one of d best in nairaland keep up d good work, # need a welcoming update#

Thanks for lionising me. WE ARE ABLE story is out in printed form now and marketers are needed. Can you help to market it?

LogoDWhiz:

Yea I am.
Tnx.
Is this the end of the story?

This is just the beginning

LogoDWhiz:
Wow! This is interesting!
Weldone Sammy!

Oh my gentle friend, u're here. Welcome on board.

dammygoody:
Smart kids.... SHARP kids .....like this very much....
....Didn't know another meal was on its way....

Thanks Prof....

It's my pleasure brother. How u doin?

[b] CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

FREEDOM FOR MISS MARY

Fiona showered much encomium on the children. She didn't believe it. The children took their leave while she drove to Frank's home to tell him everything that happened, including what the policemen told him.

"Ah!" Frank got angry. "Who are these Orochimaru? Ah! They must smell hell!"

It was already late, since it was 9pm already. They would take action the next day.

"Frank, could you believe that the police station is the same one we reported the case to?"

"What!" Frank bleated. It was incredible. "All these policemen must be arrested."

"By whom? Who shall we arrest police with?" Fiona said ignorantly. Frank glanced at her and said, "Don't worry. I know how to handle the issue."

Fiona could not hold back her joy. She had called Bella on phone to tell her that Mary had been found. Bella almost threw off the phone in excitement. She met Fiona at the church and asked to know more. She told her all and asked her to join the two young detectives who would be visiting her cell later in the day.

Benjamin and Bella met Michael and Jennifer at an agreed point and they all moved down to the cell to see Miss Mary. A policeman asked them what they wanted.

"We are from Mrs Orochimaru of OMG."

"Oh Madam! Twale for madam oyibo. What did she say you should come here to do?" the young man asked.

"Are you Gbenga?" Jennifer asked, pronouncing the name as 'Bengba'.

"No, do you want to see him?"

"Not really, but madam said we should give either Gbenga or Uche this money," Jennifer produced #5,000 from her pause. The man appeared not to be any of the two names mentioned.

"Or Lawrence or Ganiu," Michael added and he smiled.

"I am Ganiu," he said. "Help me thank madam."

"No problem," they said. "We came to see madam's slave that is here."

"Oh! You mean one lady who shouted at madam and left her school? That girl will die here for sure. No one dare shout at madam and go scot-free." He began to lead them towards her cell.

Michael instructed that only Benjamin should go and see her while they all remained behind.

"Why?" Jennifer whispered.

"She will scream for joy when she sees us and this police will know our secret."

"Okay, it's the truth," Jennifer replied with a smile.

The policeman brought Mary to a corner. He was surprised when he didn't see the rest of them.

"Where are the other people?" Ganiu asked.

"They are in the courtyard. They will soon come back."

Mary looked lean and unkempt. She was blinking her eyes as she saw the strange boy staring at her.

"You! You were challenging our mentor, Mrs Orochimaru? You will rot in this cell!" Benjamin stood up and pointed at her face.

Ganiu began to take his leave.

"I will slap your face!" Benjamin shouted and then clapped his hands together. Ganiu heard the sound and smiled. He thought Benjamin had just slapped Mary on the face.

"Madam oyibo tormenting her teachers since 1930BC," he whispered to himself.

Benjamin peeped to see that Ganiu had left. He came back to Mary and whispered, "I am a friend, Miss Fiona's friend, your friend."

Mary almost screamed for shock, but Benjamin was fast enough to seal up her mouth with his right palm.

"Keep quiet," he whispered to her. "We are here to rescue you. Bella and two other friends are outside."

Benjamin clapped his hands three times and the three children entered.

"Bella Benson, Jennifer and Michael, how do you get here?"

"We told you we are detectives when you asked us, didn't we?" Michael and Jennifer said. They brought out there phone and put on their video cameras. It would serve as an evidence later.

Quickly, they declared their plan to her and assured her she would be rescued soon. She wept when they were departing.

The next morning, Frank and Fiona were at a TV station. They had just finished telling the story of Mary's undeserved punishment by the foreigner. Mrs Orochimaru's voice was played out for everyone to hear. Then the video of the kids discussing with Mary in the cell was also played.

"We placed Mary's Missing Person's pictures everywhere, not knowing that she is right there in the police cell. The same policemen who collected #100,000 from us and in the end told us that Morning Bell College was responsible for Mary's miss. We, the citizens of this country, treat ourselves like animals and treat outsiders like God. What an irony in the black race!" Frank sobbed passionately.

"My friend must not suffer in vain. If this country is serious at all, it should take action immediately to get my friend out of cell!" Fiona yelled in anger.

Frank had no intention to do anything further. He knew it would be a case of everyone trying to save its head in shame. The police would have no choice other than to bring all the culprits to book. MBC would also want to sue the police for mentioning that they were the one who kidnapped Mary.

Mary was released immediately while some of the policemen were arrested by their superiors. Orochimaru Montessori Gakkou founders were sued by many bodies. Jennifer and Michael were rewarded by many bodies. There was peace for Mary at last!

After then, the Sendforth party/Welcoming party was organised for Fiona and Mary respectively.

[/b]

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

OUTSMARTED

Jennifer and Michael had read much about OMG! from Miss Mary's book. They shared it with Fiona.

"Did you know the school, OMG!"

"Oh My God! That damn school?"

"Yes," they said. "Don't you think we should find out if it was the one who kidnapped Mary?"

"They are untouchable," Fiona said. "I just hope it is not OMG that kidnapped them. If it is, then I'm sorry we may not get Mary back," Fiona said. She dreaded the Asians so much.

"Miss Fiona, relax," Michael said. "According to what we have here, they school owned by Japanese. But that's nothing to be feared. I thought we are no more in a colonial era."

Fiona was not satisfied. She didn't want the kids to run into trouble with the dreaded foreigner.

"Please kids, don't go near the school of Mr and Mrs Oro!" she said pleadingly. "Let's just hope they have no hands in this."

"What if they have a hand in it?" Jennifer said. "Michael, let's go!"

The kid detectives began to take their leave. It was already 2pm, yet they still wanted to get to the school, because according to what they had read from Mary's book, Orochimaru Montessori Gakkou would not be closing till 6pm.

Jennifer and Michael were not obstructed at the school gate because the security men thought they were coming for extramural lessons. At OMG, there was no lateness time for students. They could join the teachings anytime as long as they had enough money to pay.

Mrs Orochimaru was the one collecting money from the students.

"What you come learn?" she asked them.

Mrs Orochimaru had two long teeth protruding out of her mouth like a vampire teeth. She had a narrow face and a small head. Her eyes were so small that one would hardly see them, yet the flesh fold beneath their eyes made sure they were almost covered. Her neck had a big Adam apple.

"Anything," they said.

"Anything go cost #3,000," she said. It was already #3:30pm, yet she wanted to collect such amount. They gave it to her. She directed them where to go.

Jennifer and Michael began to explore the whole environment instead of staying in a class to learn something. They began to take selfies and also unending snapshots of the school vicinity.

Jennifer and Michael met a school teacher sitting down isolated in a classroom. They decided to approach her. At first she thought that they were being sent by Mr and Mrs Oro themselves. But in no time, she realised that they came independently. She was willing to speak with them, having seen the touch of wealth on them.

Why are you here today?

I am here today because there is school on Saturday here. We close 6pm on Saturdays.

What is your name?

I am Zainab.

Are you from Asia? Why are you dressed up like this?

Because that is how the school authority wants it. Today this is the type of uniform we must put on.

And the hairdo too?

Yes, definitely for this week.

Why are you still working here despite all these tedious conditions

Because there is no job out there. I don't want to leave because I am afraid that it could be more difficult out there. I would rather stick to the rules here, save money and then get my shop and be an entrepreneur.

The children laughed and then asked, "
And how much do you think you can save every day from your #30,000 meagre salary? And since when have you been teaching here?

This is my fourth year of being here. As for how much I save daily, I don't know what to say because it is not regular and since we are not paid daily, I do save monthly. Sometimes I save up to #20,000 in a month but you know, commitment here and there, the money is gone.

"Hmm," they sighed. "Can you work for my mum? She will pay you well," Jennifer said and Zainab thumped up for joy. Her countenance fell back when she pondered upon something.

"I could be jailed for leaving this place," she said sorrowfully.

"By whom?" Michael asked angrily.

"The school owners."

"What the hell!" they yelled. "Why can't you involve the police? Are you going to be working here forever?"

"Involving the police would worsen the issue. They are more connected than even the president of this country. You won't be surprised that the police you involved would be the one to jail you eventually."

Jennifer opened her pause and gave Zainab a business card.

"That's my mum's. Come to the address below tomorrow, right?"

"That's right," Zainab said humbly.

The children left her. They had heard too much already. Jennifer suggested that they should speak with the proprietress herself.

Mrs Orochimaru felt like a celebrity when the children came to her, demanding the secret behind her success.

"Sit my children and hear," she said as she began to open up.

Mr and Mrs Orochimaru were almost beggars in their own country. They were not recognised at all in the society. However, they began to think of how to relocate to Nigeria when they began to hear how their colleagues were making waves there. They sold their property and came down to Nigeria to settle down. Things were very easy for them as the citizens of Nigeria treated them like kings. They were being easily attended to by all the government officials and had more security than the citizens themselves. They were regarded as first-class citizens of the country by the first-class citizens themselves.

Mr and Mrs Orochimaru had enough things on credit from the Nigerians because they believed in them more than their own people. They believed that a foreigner would never steal or tell a lie. They believed the lies of the foreigners than the truth of their fellow citizens. Mr and Mrs Orochimaru capitalized on the weaknesses of the citizens to acquire everything they needed. The land on which they founded their school was acquired by a loan they got from a bank, which was ready to grant it to them without any collateral security, believing that they were honest people.

Mr and Mrs Orochimaru began to have friends who were very rich and then they had great connections. Rich parent would prefer to send their children to the school and pay two million naira in a session rather than sending them to a better school owned by a Nigerian and pay two hundred thousand naira per session.

Mrs Orochimaru thought that she was sharing her secret with some rich kids who were going to be bad like themselves but never knew she was telling it to some kids detectives.

"Thanks a lot Mrs Orochimaru," they said. "So have you paid the bank loan?"

She laughed and said that she only paid to make sure that the bank loan was erased from the database of the bank.

The children finally asked if she disciplined her teachers. She told them that she would not joke with that. Then she cited three examples. Miss Mary was the last example she gave:

"Mary shout to me. She leave the Gakkou. I find her with my police friends. They carry her, keep her inside cell. She will die there."

The kids laughed and she laughed with them for a long time.

"The cell, can you tell us where? We wish to go their and torment her."

"Alright, I go give you. My friends, Ganiu, my friends Lawrence, my friends Uche, my friends Gbenga. They work all for the police station down the road. Tell them me say you to see Mary. Help me slap am face my children."

"We will do that," they said happily. The woman called them back and gave them their money back.

"Take your money back because you two is good for bad. I like
people who is good for bad. Please make you come here everyday."

Fiona was shocked when she heard the audio played to her by the students. It was unbelievable! The children were smart enough to have recorded everything they heard with their phones.

[b] Benjamin called Bella through the phone to ask how it went in her school. For his own school, DoubleSpring International School(DSIS), it was a good news. They made it as the champion of their local government.

"We made it too!" Bella said in excitement. They yelled over the phone.

"How about Crestland College? You know they won this competition nationwide consecutively?"

"They made it too, took second position."

"What! So your school took first afterall. I thought you said you were not prepared for it."

"Yes we didn't, but we employed a nice concept."

"Okay Bella, I'm coming over to your home now."

"Maybe not today," Bella said. "I'll be busy taking care of my ill sister Blossom."

"Alright then, let's meet in church tomorrow, okay! Wish your sister a good recovery for me. Bye." He hung up.

Meanwhile Bella was having the contest, Michael and Jennifer were making waves with their investigation. They had been to Miss Mary's house. Surprisingly for them, the door opened when they turned its handle. They got in and found the room without a soul.

Jennifer spotted an exercise book on a stool close to her bed. She picked and looked into it. It seemed she was writing a story.

"Michael, come and see what I saw," she said as Michael adjourned towards her. Michael began to read the first page of the book.

"Oh My God! This is unbelievable!" he cried out after few minutes.

They decided to see Fiona immediately, taking the book along. She had a lot of questions to answer," they said as they closed the door again and left without anyone noticing them.

Miss Fiona yawned as she stepped out of her car. She climbed the staircase and got to her apartment. She was wishing to just be on her bed. She inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it. The door opened.

Fiona was surprised. She didn't meet her living room exactly how she left it. The EBIAG magazine she left on top of her table was now on the chair. The calendar on the wall, which was earlier displaying JULY 2015 was now displaying JUNE 2015 which was on an entirely different page.

"What's happening here," she whispered to herself and held her head in pain. She had headache.

Fiona felt she was hallucinating, so she decided to clear her head under the shower. She was shocked when she opened the door of the bathroom and found someone there.

"Aaaaaargh!" she screamed. It was Jennifer.

"Surprised?"

"How do you get in?" she asked critically because she was sure that she locked the door with a key while leaving in the morning.

"Abracadabra!" Jennifer said, laughing. Fiona was still scared.

"--do you h-have magic?" she asked. Jennifer burst into laughter.

"I used a key, your key," she said.

"How?" Fiona asked. She still didn't get it. She walked back to the sitting room to check her bunch of keys which she just used for opening the door. She gazed down at the bunch of keys and discovered that one of the three keys for the living room was missing.

"Oh! You pulled out one of my keys and put these?" she said, holding up another key which was strange. It didn't belong to the bunch originally.

"Yes Miss Fiona," she said. "That was yesterday in the car."

"Criminal," she said and began to leave for the bathroom again. She heard a sound from the kitchen and quickly went there to check it out. She was shocked to see Michael drinking her beverage.

"So you are here too," she pointed at him. Michael was sipping an orange juice when she got in. He could not talk back. "Out of there, thief!" Fiona acted as if she was coming for him and he fled.

"This children won't kill me, I hope," she whispered and then began to go to the bathroom again.

Jennifer and Michael had read Mary's manuscript halfway already.
It was an autobiography.

When Fiona returned to the sitting room, they sat her down and questioned her:

"Has Miss Mary had a fiance in the past?"

"Yes, how do you know?"

"Did we say we know?" Jennifer said. "We are only asking."

"Okay, she has," Fiona reiterated.

"Is he dead already?" Michael asked.

"Two years back!" Fiona said. "Did Mary tell you all these? I guess no because she hasn't known you guys so much to tell you these."

"How did Chuks die?" they asked.

"Enough of these pranks and tell me if you have found Mary already!" Fiona said and rose up in haste to call out her friend. "Mary! Mary! Come out here and stop playing pranks on me with this kids!" Fiona was expectant. She was exasperated when they told her they were yet to find her.

"So who gave you all these information?" she asked.

"This book," they said simultaneously, pointing at the exercise book.

"Where did you get this from?" she said as she collected it from them to glance through.

"Miss Mary's room," they said.

"Oh! Those policemen must be very wicked. Didn't they padlock the room back after forcing it open?"

Jennifer and Michael looked into each other's eyes and laughed.

"Don't tell me you guys also stole a key from her. Did you do that?"

"No we didn't," Jennifer said.

"We were laughing because you have been deceived by the police," Michael said. "There was no sign of any force used to open the door earlier."

"And there isn't any space for padlock at all at Miss Mary's door. So they must have lied to you."

Fiona opened her mouth and could not shut it back. She had just realised that what the kids were saying were the truth. Mary's door wasn't making use of padlock at all, but the policemen had testified that they broke her padlock to get into her room.

"Police are thieves!" Fiona generalised in anger when she remembered that she had lost #100,000 to them already.[/b]

Eeshfar779:
Amazing I must confess. been a silent reader all dis while.
u're doing a great job sammy

Thanks and u're welcome

[b] CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

THE E-MIC CONTEST (ROUND TWO)

The Monday after the Friday MBC ended their examination was the day scheduled for the Local Government round of the Music Competition. Only two schools from the same Local Government would qualify for the next round of the competition.

Miss Fiona, in the company of other teachers in Crestland College arrived the venue. They came in the school bus.

Mrs Dorcas also came with her students but they were not prepared for the contest due to the examination period which had dragged itself deep into the time scheduled for the music. They had to rush things up that same Monday morning.

In the bus, Bella sat close to John who had already dozed off. Bella tapped him back to life.

"John, are you sure of what you told me?" Bella asked.

"What?" the boy asked.

"That you sleep within a minute of lying down on your couch."

"Of course Bella," John replied. "Why asking me this again?"

"Because I'm scared," Bella replied. Her face showed how scared she was indeed. Obviously, Bella wasn't scared of John but something else which the boy himself seemed to understand. In his sleeping realm, John said, "You don't have to be scared Bella. It will..." he spoke drowsily and began to snore.

The stage was soon ready for the contest to commence. This time around, the song to render would be an Acapella. No musical instrument would be used. Only human sounds would be improvised as musical instruments.

Crestland College, Opebi, commenced with a very beautiful Acapella song and they got a standing ovation for it. Four other schools also performed; in all, there were six schools.

"Wow! What a day!" the moderator said excitedly. "Five gone and one left--Morning Bell College of Magodo. Let's give them a hand!" Everyone clapped to welcome them upstage. Fiona smiled when she saw Bella and her colleagues filing out.

Fiona looked around, scared. Her colleagues were not different in composure as well. Mrs Dorcas' heart thumped where she was seated. She was unsure of securing a qualification spot, going by how all the other contestants had performed already.

"Em...I don't know if we could be permitted to use just one musical instrument," Bella spoke into the microphone and there was an outburst of laughter.

"Musical what? Aren't you aware this is going to be an Acappella?" the moderator queried.

"Yes we know...but maybe we could use just one...just one instrument..."

"Not at all," the moderator said.

"Maybe you should see the instrument first, perhaps you would consider it."

"Sure I won't accept any but where is it, let's take a look."

"He's coming with it," Bella said, smiling.

John entered the hall, carrying a huge mattress. The hall roared in laughter. It was a funny sight to behold.

"Is th--that the musical instrument you are talking about?"

"Yes," Bella replied. "Is it allowed?"

"As long as it performs it primary function, then it's allowed," the woman said, still unable to recover from her shock.

"Alright then, John go ahead!" Bella spoke into the microphone. John set the mattress and lay on it. Everyone in the hall was yelling in excitement and suspense. "Please stop yelling!" Bella yelled into the microphone herself and there was relative silence in the hall.

Within one minute, John had slept off. Bella and one of her colleagues gently tiptoed to his bed with a small microphone and its stand. They set it between his mouth and nose and the sound of his snores engulfed the hall immediately. The laughter knew no bound such that Bella feared that he would wake up, but he didn't.

Bella joined the rest of his band. They were going to sing to the rhythm of the snore. She had earlier studied his snore rhythms to discover that there were two different rhythmic patterns and any of them could come up at the expense of the other at any point in time. Bella had composed a song each to the tune of the two rhythms, so all she needed to do was to listen to the rhythm and start the song.

"Rhythm 2!" Bella said and then they started singing. John's snores sounded like the sound of the combination of a drum and a tambourine and rhymed very well with the music rendered by his colleagues. The song lasted for five minutes before John suddenly stopped and woke up.

"Where am I?" he said as if he was dreaming. The microphone carried his voice and everyone laughed and clapped.

The moderator smiled to the microphone and said, "In five minutes time we shall announce the two schools that qualify for the second round. Just relax a little while."

Bella was satisfied with their performance. Mrs Dorcas was glad about it too. John kept asking Bella how it went, because himself was not aware of what was happening.

"Sincerely I was having a bad dream," John said. "Maybe you sang a bad song."

The moderator was up on the stage. She set the microphone close to her mouth as she said, "We have the runner-up and the winner of this contest: and the runner-up is..."

Fiona hoped it was either her school or Bella's. Bella held her breath. John almost collapsed. Mrs Dorcas was sweating. Everyone was silent.

"Crestland College!" she announced. The students of the school thumped for joy because the performances were so close that it would be very difficult to conjecture which two school would make the cut.

"And the winner of the Ikeja Local Government E-MIC Contest 2014 is...Morning Bell College!"

The hall was set on fire as the students of MBC ran helter-skelter in joy. Earlier, they thought they would lose out because they had no time to prepare for it due to their examination which ended just three days back. The only day left for them to do the practice was Saturday. Many of the school students and staff didn't show up because they feared they would not make it.

Mrs Dorcas went straight to John and said, "Precious snores those you made. Never knew snores could be useful in music. They really helped."

"Lol," John said, feeling shy.

"I'm sorry for not permitting you into the music club at first."

Fiona came to rejoice with them. She had screamed for joy at the mention of MBC as the winner. Mrs Dorcas was glad to see her colleagues again. They hugged.

"Mrs Dorcas, you are hereby sued for piracy and plagiarism for making a second version of my love poem," Fiona said playfully.

"Who told you that?" she asked shockingly.

"Mr Akin," Fiona replied. "He said yo gave it to him to fix his marriage."

"Hmm. All the credit goes to John who actually wrote the second version. You can arrest him instead." They laughed.

Fiona never had an inkling that John could compose poems or songs at all. She was happy John had finally discovered a talent too.

"Congrats John!" she said. "Congrats MBC!"

"Congrats to you too," they said as she got ready to join her people from Crestland.

A little trophy each was awarded the winner and the runner up. They also got some material prizes.



[/b]

[b] Michael and Jennifer posed questions at Fiona as they had always been doing:

"Ma, how is Miss Mary to you?"

"A friend of course," she replied. "Departmental mates at the University of Lagos."

"Has she had any history of mental illnesses before which you know of?" Michael asked. Miss Fiona looked at them in awe. Even the policemen didn't ask her such question. How come her kids were now posing such at her.

Mrs Fiona replied, "My friend has never been insane."

Michael and Jennifer were very serious about the interrogation, jotting down whatever responses she gave. They proceeded further to ask, "Where do you think she might have been to?"

"I don't know," Fiona said. "Please kids, I'm somehow not in the mood for questions now, okay. The police are handling the case, not you too."

"But don't you think we could help the police?" Jennifer said.

"Maybe, I don't know," Fiona replied bluntly, yawning. She had wept so much for her friend, Mary. Certainly, she was not disposed to attend the Sendforth party that would have held that day, being the last day of examination at MBC. She had earlier asked for the suspension of the party till further notice.

Miss Fiona wanted to drop them off on the way, but they insisted they wanted to remain in the car.

"We will alight at Bella's home," they said.

"My home?" Bella was stunned. However, she did not resist them.

Miss Fiona dropped them all off in Bella's home and left for her home. Bella was shocked to find the house locked. She had expected to see Blossom at home at least, even if Lucia hadn't returned from her sisters' school.

Michael and Jennifer suggested that they strolled. They all had some money with them, so they decided to call at a restaurant to relax. They bought some drinks qnd continued with their chats.

"Miss Fiona said that Miss Mary had not had any history of insanity, so it means she couldn't have walked away by herself. She could have been kidnapped," Michael deduced.

"Kidnapped? But by whom?" Bella asked cluelessly.

"We don't know yet," Jennifer said thoughtfully. "Do you know where she lives, Bella?"

"Y-yes," Bella replied slowly. "Miss Fiona has once taken me there while dropping her off from our school." The two young 'detectives' asked if Bella could take them there. She agreed reluctantly. They got up to leave immediately. When they wanted to pay their bill, the waiter told them that someone had paid for them already.

"Who?" they were surprised.

"Over there," the waiter pointed at a teenager drinking pepper soup with some bottles of beer. They asked her whom she was and why she paid for them.

"Don't you know me guys? I'm Christie's friend at MBC. You may not actually know me because I practise two days on, three days off in school. My dad is a commissioner."

"And why do you have to pay for us? We do have our money to pay?" Jennifer said.

"I'm not paying for you alone kids. I've told the restaurant owner to put the charges of all the customers on me today."

"Why?" Bella asked.

"Bella the magician, go check that out with your evil sister. Of course she's the reason I'm here celebrating," she grinned wildly, chewing a toothpick. "I beat her silly in the boutique today."

"Boutique?" Bella was surprised.

"Yes, herself and her mum were shopping. I guess she'd be receiving some treatments in the hospital right now, ha! ha! ha!"

"How dare you!" Bella was angry. She held her by the collar, yet the girl kept on laughing. Michael and Jennifer helped the girl get rid of Bella'a grip and held her back as they thanked the girl and began to leave.

Bella was not at ease at the news anymore. She wanted to go back home immediately.

"Are you not coming with us to Miss Mary's home anymore?" they asked.

"I have to be home," Bella said. "You can locate her place yourself. I'll tell you how to get there."

Bella gave the home address of Miss Mary to the two young detectives and began to hurry homeward. Her mother and her sister had just arrived from the hospital.

Bella almost didn't recognise her sister anymore. Her face had swollen double and her legs were on bandage.

"What happened to her?" Bella asked. Readily, but in a weeping tone, Mrs Lucia said, "She slipped in the bathroom and gashed her forehead against the tap."

"Really?" Bella was disappointed to hear that. "I thought she was being beaten by a girl in the boutique."

"How do you know that?" Lucia was surprised.

"She told me," Bella said. "I was home, everywhere locked up, so I went to the restaurant down there to refresh myself. There was seated a strange girl who told me this."

Mrs Lucia was speechless as she stared at Bella.

"Mum, is it true you took Blossom out for shopping all alone?"

"Y-yes my daughter, but--"

"But you told me you've got no cash when I asked you to take me for shopping!"

"Not like that Bella. Benson sent some cash this morning. We actually went for shopping on behalf of everyone, not for Blossom's sake alone. Bella, you would need to see some pretty dresses I picked for you before that silly girl came to spoil the day," Lucia managed a smile.

"How soon did you start selecting cloth for me mother?" Bella asked. "I may not like them, you know. Why didn't you wait till tomorrow, Saturday, so we could all go for shopping together? My exams ended today!"

"Blossom suggested making it a surprise package for you and your sisters. But unfortunately..." Mrs Lucia sobbed. Bella was compassionate. She put an arm around her back. Blossom was just looking at them like a toy. She was in grave pain.

Bella adjourned to her sister's side to feel her body. She was running temperature.

"Get well soon, Blossom," she whispered and the weak girl nodded her head like a lizard.

Fiona got the shock of her life when the policemen told her that her friend was probably abducted by the MBC school authority themselves.

"Madam, we can't keep looking for what is not lost. Your friend worked in that school for just five days and got missing. From our investigation, the last time she was seen by those in her house was when she left the home on Friday morning for her workplace. Her students also confirmed that she came to the school on Friday. So she must have been kidnapped by the school herself because she didn't return back home that Friday."

"How do you know she didn't return home?" Fiona queried.

"Because her neighbour said she didn't see her since that Friday. We even met her door shut when we got there. We had to break the padlock to get in."

Fiona was disappointed in the police. She knew that Frank would not take it cool with them if he heard that. She was worried because it was two weeks already without anyone seeing her friend.

Fiona was contemplating on whether it was the right time to tell Frank what the police said or not. Her doorbell rang. She was surprised to find Michael and Jennifer at the door. They told her they got her home address from the Secretary of MBC.

"I was smart enough to occupy her in a conversion while Jennifer was going through the staff's files, unknown to her," Michael said, smiling.

"So Miss Fiona, you are 27," Jennifer said. "May 2."

Fiona looked at them in awe. They had all her profile now.[/b]

Pukka36:
Wow,I might be korrect sha

Shorter than short update!

Short update? I guess that's an irony or isn't it?

[b] CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

THE KID DETECTIVES

Fiona was worried when she heard of her friend's disappearance. She had to report to the police station at once and then they swung into action.

The police began to interrogate the staff and students of MBC, thereby interrupting their examination. They collected a lot of information and promised to set out to find her.

Fiona reported to the police station every day after school to know how it was going. The policemen kept on demanding more money.

"Madam, calm down, we will find her," they assured. "But you need to give us more money?"

"More money?" Fiona exclaimed. "What about the #30,000 I just gave you three days back?"

The policemen laughed and then said, "Do you know how many places we have visited within these one week we have been looking for her? We have gone to the North, East, South and West looking for her. Now we don't have fuel in our vehicle again to look for her.

Fiona was very angry. She had spent enormous cash over the week in an attempt to make sure that she was found. She had made posters carrying the title 'Missing Person' and had also paid many bloggers to help put her pictures on the social media for everyone to see. She had even promised to pay anyone who saw her as much as #200,000.

"Madam, wetin you tok? We need to fuel our car if we wan continue looking for ram."

"My friend isn't a ram!" she shouted at them in annoyance as she began to search her purse for money. She gave them #10,000 which she had in her purse but they demanded for me.

"Madam, if you don't add something on top, we no go fit do our search pass this local government."

Fiona promised to give them more money, which she would obtain with her ATM card. She kept to her promise eventually, giving them #10,000 more.

Frank was annoyed when he heard that the policemen collected such amount even after collecting what they called consultancy fee of a sum of #50,000 before they accepted to take up the task in the first place. In all, she had given the policemen #100,000 without her friend in sight.

Meanwhile Bella was writing her examinations, Mrs Lucia was busy taking Blossom out for shopping during the early hours of the day. She was doing these all because she didn't want Bella know that Blossom and herself were shopping behind her back.

Bella had lately asked Mrs Lucia to take them out for shopping, but she had given her the excuse that her father hadn't sent any cash home for a long time.

On a particular morning while Blossom and her mother were shopping, a girl suddenly confronted her. Her mother was not aware because she had gone far into the large boutique in search of nice clothings for her children.

"You wicked girl! Here you are!" the girl spoke angrily.

"Where do I know you?" Blossom asked critically.

"I am Christie's friend, you fool!"

"Christie? That proud girl?" Blossom said and hissed.

"Shut up your mouth you plonker! You let the school authority expel my friend, didn't you?"

"And you shut up too!" Blossom screamed at her. "Give way let me go and meet my mother."

"Do you call that shameless thing your mother? Mother indeed!" the girl said with disgust. Blossom was annoyed. She made to slap the girl on the face but she grabbed her hand and quickly gave her a punch on the face. Blossom screamed in pain and her mother heard her and began to rush towards them. However, the girl didn't let it end like that. She had upended Blossom, kicking her ruthlessly. She fled when the cashier and Mrs Lucia were approaching to intervene.

Blossom's face had swollen up. She could not stand on her own due to the serious kicks she got. Mrs Lucia had to abandon everything and carry her into her car. She took her to the hospital.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Michael was Bella's classmate and the most brilliant student in the class. Mr. Tony had told him that he would be good as a detective. Everyone had expcted to hear Mr. Tony say he would be good as a Doctor or as an Engineer, but they were shocked to hear otherwise.

Shockingly, Michael had promised the man he would love to be just that. Since then, he had linked up with Bella's friend and seatmate called Jennifer, who was also discovered by Mr. Tony to be a very observant person.

Jennifer was Bella's best friend. She was always very inquisitive. She was the one who first told Bella that she was noticing that Blossom was changing towards her (Bella).

Why is your mother not taking you in her car to school anymore? Why is Blossom not joining you to take the South Gate during closing hour? Why is it that she now has someone bringing her to school and taking her back home just immediately your mother stopped bringing you to school? Don't you think your mother and Blossom planned it together? Why did your mother stop taking you to school in her car just immediately your father left Nigeria?

Jennifer's questions were never ending. Bella's answers to all her questions seemed insatiable to her taste. Bella had to cut off from her those days when she (Jennifer) asked if she could follow her home to pose those questions at Mrs Lucia herself.

"Bella, you don't look like your mother but Blossom does. Why?" Jennifer had also asked in her inquisitive manner back then.

"Mind your own business, Jenny!" Bella had yelled at her.

It was not strange to Bella at all when Mr. Tony told Jennifer that she would make a very good detective, someone who had confronted the man herself to ask him for the reason why he picked up the job of a 'talent hunter' at MBC.

"Because talent-hunting is my talent," Mr Tony had replied with a smile. "But why do you ask?"

"Because I like asking questions," Jennifer replied him immediately. That day, Mr. Tony smiled and said, "Come with me, I'm going to try you out as a detective."

Michael and Jennifer met after their last paper to discuss how to find Miss Mary, the missing new teacher.

"Jennifer, what do you discover about her the first day she came to our school?" Michael asked.

"She came in a strange dressing and hairstyle; she was in a kind of Asian attire. Her face looked troubled, her voice rough and faint. She looked sick, unkempt, emaciated..."

"Enough Jenny, you have observed very well," Michael said. "So what do you think that could mean?"

Jennifer began to think deep. At last she said, "Maybe she was in a trouble before coming here that day."

"Good observation there," Michael said. "Her dressing style that day didn't portray her as someone who was coming to look for a teaching job with good salary such as the one of MBC. She should have dressed in a suitable English dressing, knowing she was coming to take up a job here."

"Perhaps she was coming directly from somewhere which wasn't her home. She must have had no time to go home to dress up," Jennifer said.

"Oh yes! I heard her say so that day!" Michael exclaimed. "She even said her attire was a slavery one. Is she a slave to someone somewhere?"

Michael and Jennifer brainstormed. They ended up meeting Bella to take them to Mrs Fiona's home after the school hour.

"Don't bother, she is coming to pick me up herself with her car after the school hour," Bella said.

"Does she now have a car?" they said surprisingly. Bella replied, "Yes! She's been using it for a month now."

Michael and Jennifer were glad to see Fiona ride such exotic car. They jumped in uninvited.



[/b]

Pukka36:
Choi


That was the first thing that came to my mynd

I hope am wrong

You'd rather hope u're right.

Pukka36:
Huh? I guess OMG is still hell bent on making Mary suffer

Are you a detective? How do you know it's OMG at work?

[b] "Fiona, what are you doing here again?" Mary said in shock.

Everyone stared at Mary who had already walked towards the stage. Her outlook was strange to all. She was putting on a red kimono, a Japanese woman type of dressing. Such was the dressing for Mondays. Her hairstyle was a kamimado, covering up her face. She had to keep on brushing them off her eyes every now and then.

"Mary, you are here! A job is here for you," Fiona said excitedly.

"Can a black Asian have anything to offer?" someone shouted from the crowd. Fiona defended her friend, telling them she was not an Asian. Mary spoke for herself in her usual phonetically-oriented accent:

"I forgot I was still in this slavery attire of Orochimaru Montessori Gakkou, the school where I thought. It was for the urgency of the call from Fiona, else I would have pulled this off before coming. Anyway, I won't put them on anymore. I don't know what's happening here but it has always been my long-time wish to be a teacher in MBC here. I am ready to work at the optimum level here, develop talents and help the school according to my capacity. I promise not to disappoint you. I am Mary Osaze."

The proprietor was impressed. He loved her accent, just like Miss Fiona's.

Mary was endorsed by the proprietor to replace Fiona, even though she didn't present any CV. She was only employed by recommendation. However, it took a lot of persuasions from the proprietor before the students could let Fiona go. Some of them wept.

Obviously, the examination would not hold that day, since many of the students had not prepared for it. The school authority decided to postpone the date of commencement of the examination by a week.

Miss Fiona's Send-forth party was fixed for the last day of examination. She would be celebrated by her students that day.

Bella remembered to spank John and said, "John, didn't you say that she will come back to MBC? Thank your stars I didn't have that bet with you." John was speechless.

When Fiona was departing, she instructed Mary on what to do and her speech were recorded:

"Mary, teach my kids in the best way you can. Treat them like kings and queens because that's what they are and don't spoil them. Teach my kids to believe that there is one treasure in them which they have not explored. Teach them to know God as much as they know their own parents. Teach them to know that the highest altitude could be climbed with the right attitude. Teach them to think like some great inventors. Teach my kids to turn deaf ears to their weaknesses and strengthen their strong points. Teach them to set goals and go get them. Teach them to set targets and go get them. Teach them to know that their are hidden treasures in books and only the readers and not just the owners of the book, get the treasures. Teach them to violate the rule of normalcy and do extra-ordinary things. Teach them to overcome their shyness. Teach them to love..."

Fiona broke into tears midway her wordy talks. She would miss MBC a lot.

Miss Fiona called out Bella and handed her over to Mary.

"Mary, here is Bella Benson. She was the last talent I discovered at MBC. Please pay quality attention to her and make sure she improves her talent. Through her was I raised from the dead..."

Fiona could no more hold back her emotions. She was being led away by some of the female staff. They would miss her too.

The examination at MBC commenced on the 5th of July as it was rescheduled. Mary had commenced revision classes with the students as earlier scheduled. They equally enjoyed her teaching methods. Mary had taught from Tuesday to Friday preceeding the examination date and had also promised to teach them on Saturday(since she was used to doing that at OMG) but surprisingly, she was absent and her students were worried. They were even more worried when they didn't see her in school on Monday, which was the commencement of examination.

"What could have happened to Miss Mary?" everyone asked one another without anyone to give an answer.
[/b]

[b] Fiona had assured MBC that a better teacher was coming. She had adjured them all to be patient for the arrival of the person in question.

"She is better than me. You will like her when you see her. Please just remain calm. I have called her. She would be here soon."

Fiona had dialled Mary's phone to tell her to start coming to MBC immediately. Mary was not sure of the reason why Fiona had asked her to come, because as a matter of fact, she didn't expect Fiona to be in MBC herself since she had been sacked some days back.

If only the wicked proprietress called Oro hadn't made the phone to fall off her grip, she would have asked Fiona some further questions to know what she was doing at MBC where she had left and also to know why she had to go there herself.

Mary hit her phone against her palm as it rang and rang over and over again without being able to pick it up, since the screen had damaged. Mary was frustrated.

"But I prayed this morning before leaving home, why are all these happening to me?" she lamented. When she thought of her 28-day labour at OMG that would now go without pay, she yelled "Oh My God!"

Fiona kept on calling but her friend wasn't picking up the call anymore. She sent her a text message but there was no response from the other end. Fiona was tensed.

"Em...ladies and gentlemen, I have been calling my friend but she isn't picking her call. I think I will now take my leave and come with her tomorrow. I promise I won't fail you. Mary is good; better than me. I'm sorry I have to leave now."

"No! no! You can't leave! Bring Back Our Teacher!" they screamed.

A parent collected the microphone and spoke, "Fiona you won't leave here without us seeing that friend of yours in question. What do you want me to tell Christian, my sick son dying of nostalgia at home?"

"But madam, my job is at risk over there. I didn't take permission from the management for God's sake."

"I will personally pay your salary, Fiona!" the woman spoke critically. "How much, #200,000? I will pay you, just stay here for my child's sake if not for anyone else' sake."

Fiona was tempted to remain, but Frank's instruction came back to her mind.

"I--I am s-sorry I can't..."

"Fiona!" a familiar voice screamed from among the crowd. It was Mary.[/b]

dherbee:
[color=#990000][/color]following....................

U're welcome

[b] While Fiona was busy rejecting to remain in MBC, someone was busy weeping at the corner of a the classroom of another school, wishing she could be a teacher at MBC. Her name was Mary, Fiona's schoolmate who was the best graduating student of her set.

Mary was equally very good at child mentoring. All her pupils loved her so much, but only two people hated her like a plague--the proprietor and the proprietress of the school where she was teaching.

Just five minutes back, Mrs Oro had just finished tearing her apart and leaving her in tears by pouring harsh insulting statements at her at length.

Mr Orochimaru (Oro for short), was in no way better than his wife in terms of addressing the teachers. They always took turn to visit the school everyday as if not coming to monitor the teachers at any particular day could make them lose the school to thieves who could come with a bulldozer to uproot their school building and drive away with it.

Mrs Orochimaru's days of visiting the school were Monday to Wednesday while Mr Orochimaru would be around from Thursday till Saturday. Then on Sunday, they would both be present to observe their worship service, though they were neither christians nor muslims.

Mr and Mrs Orochimaru were Japanese who were fortunate enough to set up a primary school at Ikeja. The school was named 'Orochimaru Montessori Gakkou(OMG). Funny enough, no one would hear the rules and regulations of the school without yelling 'Oh My God!' which abbreviation tantamounted to OMG, the name of the school.

At OMG, there were no break periods for teachers. Teachers had to teach some sets of external students who would only come into the school by break to learn and pay the school for the part-time teaching rendered. The teachers do not get extra pay for such service rendered. Little wonder teachers leave the school almost every week, forfeiting the extra days they would have done before eloping.

Another rule at OMG was that teachers were always on uniform Japanese attires from Monday to Friday. Only on Saturday was a teacher permitted to come to school in mufty. Saturday was always the busiest day of all, because the teachers closed by 6pm as opposed to the 4pm on other days.

All female teacher had to also comply with a uniform hairstyle week in week out. Such hairstyle would always be dictated by the senior prefect of the school according to the proprietress' instruction. Funny enough, the pupils could come to school in any hairstyle of their choices, unlike their teachers.

Another amazing rule that would make one scream 'Oh My God!' was that on the assembly ground, teachers had to form a queue beside the Basic Five students and partake fully in all the assembly routines like clapping, singing and praying just like every other pupil in the school. Then after the assembly, they had to march to the classes or staff rooms just like the students.

Teachers in OMG were not allowed to pick up private home lesson jobs. They must not do any other petty job alongside the school teaching. Also, teachers must always be present in school. No excuse whatsoever would be welcomed by the school authority for wanting to be absent in school for a day. Any teacher who had a wedding to attend on a Saturday should just know that the next place to go after the wedding reception would be his or her home to start preparing another CV.

One second lateness to school would mean a sack, as Mrs Orochimaru's eyes would be fixed at her watch as soon as 7am was around the corner. Lateness time for teachers began at 7:00:01am.

At OMG, all the teachers equally doubled as cleaners. The school authority had no cleaners at all, therefore all the teachers must be around as early as 7am to commence the cleaning, including washing of the toilets, cleaning the louvres and sweeping the floor.

Mr and Mrs Orochimaru also used their teachers as messengers, sending them errands from one place to the other during and after the school hour.

Funny enough, the school owners had more friends than enemies. Many of the policemen were their friends. They also had enough rich people as allies, so they had nothing to fear.

Mrs Orochimaru had arrested some of her teachers with the police several times just under the excuse that they shouted back at her while she was speaking. All the victims were males however.

As a matter of fact, OMG had no male teacher available anymore. No male teacher had ever spent up to a month in the school before either leaving or getting detained.

Mr and Mrs Orochimaru always regarded themselves as the first-class citizens of Nigeria while the Nigerians themselves were believed to be second-class citizens of their own country, Nigeria. Many rich people both on the island and the mainland wanted their children to attend OMG all because it was owned by Japanese, a foreigner. Even those who didn't send their children to the school would make sure they enrolled them for Saturday classes.

Mrs Orochimaru was fond of making fun of their teachers with her bad English. Hardly would a day pass without her telling someone, 'You is mad' or asking 'Is you stupid?'

Mr Orochimaru was even worse. His English could dry up the water in an ocean. Anytime he was angry with a staff, he would scream, 'Left my presence, you indiot!"

Mary clicked her Tecno Android phone to find out a particular word Mrs Orochimaru had just used to qualify her. She was used to checking them out on Google Translate each day. Mrs Orochimaru had called her 'Mazushī dorei!"

"She called me a poor slave?" Mary wept. "It is enough, I can't take it anymore."

Despite the fact that Mary had mentored all her pupils, helping them all to discover their talents, the school owners still treated her very badly. Hardly would a day pass without Mr or Mrs Orochimaru insulting her.

Mary agonised. This time around she felt like quitting. Under her breath she said, "Oh God, but I prayed that you should provide a better job for me before the end of this month. Now this month is only three days left, but no sign. What more should I do? This woman kept messing me up without doing her any wrong. Oh God I am tired of this life..."

Mrs Orochimaru suddenly came beside her and yelled at her.

"Is you not teach?" she spoke in her Japanese accent.

"What have I done again?" Mary said, sniffing. The whole pupils were looking at the drama.

"Shut up mouth you!" the woman screamed at her. "If you go, no money. You want sack?"

Mary did not reply her. Just then her phone rang and she picked it and listened. Her eyes expressed shock as her eyelids went up. Mrs Orochimaru was angry. She slapped her face and the phone fell off and scattered on the floor. She began to pick up the pieces. Her phone screen had broken such that she could not see anything displayed on it.

"You pick call when me is talk with you?" the woman spoke. "Mazushī dorei!"

"You are a Mazushī dorei too!" Mary yelled in anger. The woman was enraged as she tried to grab her and give her the beating of her life, but she escaped by a whisker and rushed out of the school compound before the security men would obstruct her.[/b]

[b] CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The students of MBC almost thronged Fiona when they spotted her. They were overjoyed to see their teacher again.

Bella was surprised to see Miss Fiona return to the school because she still assured her just that morning that she would definitely not come back to MBC.

"Bella, didn't you say that she won't come back?" John whispered.

"I'm surprised she did because she said she wouldn't."

"Thank your stars you didn't have the bet with me, Bella," John said and spanked her playfully.

Miss Fiona was led to the school auditorium, same place where she was sacked. They mobbed her like a celebrity as they walked towards the large hall, both the staff, students and their parents. The auditorium was soon filled up thay there was no space to contain them. Many people had to sit on the bare floor of the aisle to listen to what the celebrity upstage had to say.

"I'm happy to be here once again," Miss Fiona spoke into the microphone. "I feel loved here. You all proved it when I died and now again when I left and returned."

They screamed in joy.

"I have never been so honoured all my life...Anyway I have these words of advice for you all: do the best in whatever you do, because the best way to pass a test of life is to do your best. Leave a good mark in that hood you belong so that when you are gone, people in your neighbourhood will speak good of you. The good you do will count for you and the good you didn't do will count against you. Leave others in the best way they could be rather than leaving them in a worse condition. If you can't change people positively, don't change them negatively either. Live life to be loved by loving other people's lives. Impact life, don't compact it undully."

Fiona spoke motivationally for about thirty minutes and was being cheered up by the students of the school as we as their parents and the staff. Eventually, she said, "I honour this call because of the respect I have for everyone in MBC. But let me say this bitter truth: I am not returning to teach. But I bet you, everything will go on well."

The whole school went moody when she made the confession.

"Awwww!" they exclaimed.

"May I know who replaced me?" she demanded. She was informed that the man had just been sacked few hours back.

"Peter must be in his home at the moment. Such a very bad teacher," Mrs Onyeka said.

"What if we call him back and then I pass some instructions to him on how to handle these kids? He might do better than me in the long run," Fiona said but her speech was greeted with much contumelious yells:

"No! Impossible! Peter must Go! Fiona we want! BBOT!"

Some of the parents were also yelling with their children.

Fiona shook her head and said, "I wish to return but I won't, just because of some personal reasons. Please let me just...go..."
[/b]

[b] "Don't return there!" Frank said immediately without giving it a second thought.

"Okay I won't," Fiona complied immediately.

Fiona went about her business, putting the words of Mr Akin behind her. She had trainned her mind to accept her resolution as the best option.

"Progress is what we all pray for in life. I see no reason to go back to what I have left," she said.

Fiona was surprised when she was informed that someone was waiting for her in the visitor's room of Crestland College. She knew that she hadn't told many people of her new workplace, so she could guess within a few number the person waiting for her.

"Certainly that should be Mary," Fiona thought.

Mary was Fiona's best friend back in her University days. They were both products of University of Lagos where they studied English Education.

Mary was the best graduating student of her department that year while Fiona was the second best. They made 4.41 and 4.39 CGPA respectively.

However, Mary had been very unfortunate. She had only gotten a teaching job where she was being paid as low as #30,000 monthly. However, Fiona had encouraged her not to give up applying for jobs.

"You will get a better job, Mary," Fiona had assured her several times.

Fiona got to the visitor's room and was surprised to discover that it was the person she least expected.

"Mr Akin what are you doing here!" Fiona spoke annoyingly. The old man prostrated immedately.

"Fiona please come back," he began to beg.

"To where?" Fiona said, fuming. "You'd better not implicate me over here, Mr Akin!"

The elderly man explained the whole matter to Fiona. It was a case of boycotting of examination. The examination which was meant to commence on the 28th of June, that present day to end on the 11th of July had just been boycotted by the students.

The proprietor of the school had attempted to sack Mr. Akin that morning, but other teachers rallied round him to beg for him. They felt it was not Mr Akin's fault at all.

"Sir, Mr Akin shouldn't receive the whole of the blame," a staff said. "As I could remember in the school rules and regulations for teachers, section 4, rule 14, it was writen and I quote: No teacher of the school is permitted to pay a visit to a student's home to assault him or her or the parents. Any defaulter would be sacked immediately such news gets to the school authority."

The proprietor was mute for a while. Eventually he sighed and said, "But commonsense should have been used in this case. You all know how Miss Fiona has been very instrumental to the progress of this school. I like her personally for her humble spirit."

The proprietor observed silence for a while and then faced Mr Akin to ask, "Okay Akin, did you ask Fiona the reason why she slapped that girl in question?"

"I...I didn't..."

"You see," the man said. "You don't even know whether Fiona actually went to the house of that student solely for the purpose of beating her up or not. You don't know if it was a case of a good visit turned bad but you just concluded that she went there for the purpose of slapping her. How could you just jump into conclusion that way? What if it was the case of Mrs Fiona going to pay them a nice visit and surprisingly that rude girl lambasted her? If it was you, won't you throw caution in the wind too and slap her face? Of course you didn't go there with bad intentions in the first place, so how does that rule apply?"

Mr Akin bent his head in shame. He regretted his action of shunning Fiona that day when she wanted to explain what actually transpired between herself and Blossom that day.

"I'm sorry sir," Mr Akin said without raising up his head.

"Anyway, all I know is that you must get Fiona back to this school today and the examination must take place," the proprietor said. "If not, then you know what will happen to you Akin. I am only giving you this chance because you are my friend..."

"Thank you sir," Mr Akin said regrettably. Then he began to make his way to Crestland College to see if he could lure Fiona back.

The thought of the impending sack was heavily weighing down Mr Akin as he pleaded with Fiona to go back MBC with her.

"Fiona please come with me immediately. As I speak with you now, many parents of these students are in the school demanding to know what is going on. In fact the car pack is jampacked at the moment.

"Sir, I can't go there with you," Fiona said. "It's not possible."

"Fiona, please just save my job. The proprietor is in school right now and he said I shouldn't return to MBC school without you. He...he said I should consider my appointment terminated without you..." Mr Akin began to shed tears. Fiona was moved to tears too. The man before her had always been very nice to everyone and jovial too. He didn't deserve to be sacked just like that. Fiona recalled several occasions when Mr Akin had assisted her homeward with his car when she was still without a car.

Fiona was in a dilemma, a catch-22 saga. Accepting to take up the MBC job again would mean displeasing her fiance and disappointing her new school. Not going with the MBC man would also mean disappointing everyone at MBC as well as making Mr Akin lose his job.

Fiona began to weigh it up. Is my fiance worth much more than the whole MBC combined together? Am I really ready to face a likely tough conflict with Frank over this issue? And then his 'Solomon' wine celebration would become useless afterall.

"I will go with you," Fiona said eventually. The man on the floor didn't believe his ears.

"You...you will go with...?"

"Yes Mr Akin, I will go with you," she reassured him. "But first let me inform a colleague."

Miss Fiona entered the examination hall where she was performing as an examiner earlier. She informed her colleague that she wanted to go somewhere so that she could cover up for her. She concurred.

Mr Akin was scared that Fiona would abscond if they didn't go in the same car. He had to let go his car and go in Fiona's car.

"Back seat Mr Akin," Fiona said. "For now let me be the driver of my oga," she said, mimmicking how the man always said it those times she was in his car too: " Back seat please Miss Fiona. For now let me be the driver of my madam."

They laughed.

Mr Akin had returned to his formal self. He asked how Fiona got the exotic car.

"So did you get this with the meagre #90,000 salary you are being paid at MBC? Sure you couldn't have saved all over twelve months to buy this because I know this car's much more worth than that amount. So tell me how you got this."

"You're right sir," Fiona said. "My fiance gave it to me."

"Oh! Wow! What a nice gift from Romeo!" Mr Akin exclaimed.

"Romeo?" Fiona laughed. "His name is Frank or in full Franklyn, not Romeo sir."

"But you wished he was your Romeo while you be her Juliet, didn't you?"

"What! Did you...see it?" Fiona said shockingly. She knew that the man was talking about her love poem.

"Not only did I see it Fiona, but I have it in a printed form in my Library at home. I also have the soft copy of both its first and second version."

"Second version? Of course I didn't write any second version," she said.

"Well...I don't know about that. But you may go and ask Mrs Dorcas about that, because those two versions were the magic which saved my marriage those days when my wife filed a suit for divorce. All I did was to edit the two versions of the poem by replacing the names with mine and my wife's and amazingly she withdrew the case with immediate effect."

"That's serious if it's the truth," Fiona doubted. "Anyway sir, you are hereby sued for plagiarism."

"I accept," the man said jokingly. "Though you've got no copyright."

They laughed heartily.

Mr Akin eventually asked for the reason why Fiona slapped Blossom and she said, "She called me a poverty-stricken teacher, all because I went there to ask for my outstanding student, Bella."

"What! She called you that? Oh, mister Jide was right afterall. That girl deserved much more. I'll give her a couple more slaps anytime I see her, for putting my job at risk."

"Don't do that sir. Just...just forgive her; she's just been childish." As an afterthought, Fiona asked, "Sir, you said Mr Jide was right. Who is Mr Jide if I may know?"

"The proprietor of course!" the man said surprisingly.

"Oh! I thought his name is Mr. Jaydee. We all call him that, don't we?"

Mr Akin guffawed and said, "JD is only a short form of Jide, which is a yoruba name. Fiona, you are very funny."

"Oh my bad!" she exclaimed.

Fiona and Mr Akin were amazed when they discovered that the frontage of the school had been obstructed with vehicles of different forms. They had nowhere to park their car outside the school get, let alone inside. They had to manage to park it somewhere.

Fiona was shocked at what she saw as she stepped into the school: Placards of different sizes and shapes raised up in the air with different inscriptions such as Fiona we want, Peter we hate.' 'Bring Back Fiona' 'Peter Must Go' 'No Fiona No Exam!' 'Bring Back Our Teacher (BBOT).

Surprisingly, some parents were also raising up some of the placards with their children. It was indeed a funny sight to behold to Fiona who screamed, "What is this?"[/b]

buoye1:
Morning sammy... Don't kill our vibes o

noted...an update is here...

Good morning readers. My phone's currently on drip at the moment from a powerbank. Thank God I have 72% now, so expect a lengthy post at the moment and pray PHCN should restore the light. Happy new day.

Good day and happy Sunday my friends. The electricity here is in a state of pitiable heegee haga, that is why i haven't updated. No light since friday and my phone has been living on generator all thru and it discharges fast such that i can't even use it to type the story. I pray the PHCN restores light ASAP. Thanks.