Education was one of the trusted means our parents thought it fit to inculcate knowledge into us as their children. The White man's way as it was so generously called back then, was something every parent wanted a taste of.
At that time, you would find parents whose kids attended missionary schools walking with their heads held high like they had just won Olympic gold medals.
What about the children themselves, they paraded themselves like peacocks in heat, flaunting their crisp white shirt and brown khaki shorts. Oh! Those were the good old days.
I was privileged to be born in a family that valued education. My parents doted every I's and crossed every T's when it came to my education. My dad never failed to remind me of his successes as a mathematical genius in school while my mom simply wanted to be called mama doctor in the future when I would eventually become a medical doctor.
I was allowed a beautiful childhood but things got serious the moment I stepped foot into Secondary School. As the eldest of five children, I had to set an example by being very studious.
“No more fun and games for you. You are now a big girl” My mum would say to me. It soon became her mantra.
To be honest, their strategy worked. I was always amongst the top five students at the end of each term. I made my parents proud but I lost some potential friends along the way. Whenever they would call on me to play, I would decline because of my studies.
Some students in my class thought that I was a snob, others couldn't care less about my studying and they tagged me with the nickname Efiko (meaning nerdy or book brain). I was fine as long as no one disturbed my studies..
But soon, fate showed up with a different plan of her own.
I remember that I was in Junior school class three when a TV station began showing some Mexican Telenovelas. The most loved of all was titled When you are mine. The series featured two lovers named Paloma and Diego, who were criticised because of their difference in status.
I learnt about this movie from a classmate and I decided to allow myself some fun . I would sneak to the sitting room in the wee hours of the morning to watch some episodes of the telenovela, so that I could narrate the episode to my friends in school.
Majority of my classmates were always eager to hear my narration of the new episodes that I had watched.
“Becky, did you watch a new episode today? Come and tell us what happened”.
That was said by a classmate who sat at the back and before I knew it, I would start to spill all the juicy stuff. To my peers, they thought that I had eventually joined their fun & games department but they never suspected that it was temporary.
In order not to affect my studies, I would have extra study hours with my books during the day, leaving me some spare time at night to watch the Telenovela. This way, my grades did not drop but the others did not know.
“Becky, is there something you are not telling us? Your grades are still up despite the amount of time you spend watching Paloma and Diego. How do you do it?” Stella a classmate asked me one day.
“My dear, there is no secret. I read when I have time. There's really no trick up my sleeves” I replied her.
I could not tell her that I added extra time to my study hours just to make room for my fun time.
She didn't press me further, rather she smiled and left me alone.
Unbeknownst to me, I was trailed back home by Stella and two other girls in my class. They saw me arrive home and immediately brought out my books to study on the balcony where I would not be disturbed by heat or my siblings.
I was doing my thing at home relaxed as I placed my afternoon snacks of chin-chin and 5alive juice beside my books and got down to studying. I never knew that my actions were seen by them.
Getting to class the next day, no one called out to me to inquire about new episodes like before but I decided to take initiative and go find someone to gist.
While I was busy narrating the recent episode I had watched to Fadekemi, Stella walked into the class. From her countenance, I could deduce that something was off.
“You guys should not listen to Becky. She has been deceiving us all this while. The wind has blown and the anus of the fowl is exposed for all to see.
“What do you mean by what you said Stella?” Aminat asked Stella.
“We caught her reading her books yesterday after we trailed her home. She didn't even rest from school. All she did was sit down to read” Stella responded.
“Really!”
“Yes. Becky was studying hard at home then later she would watch the telenovela episode and come to school to have fun. She has been deceiving us”
“Are we not being fooled by her into enjoying some fun and games and being entertained while she keeps working hard at her studies?”
“I have decided not to listen to her telenovela anymore. I also want to buckle my belt”.
Stella concluded and walked to her seat.
“Me too!” Amanda, Jennifer and Nkechi chorused.
From that day on, no one asked me to narrate the ongoing telenovela drama and I soon lost interest in it as well since I had no one to share it with.
Soon, things returned back to normal. The slight difference was that my friends in class became serious with their studies as well and they only opted for fun and games only after examinations.
It wasn't until senior year that I learnt to loosen up in my dealings.
Thank you all for reading.
Images were imagined with Meta Ai.
