A fate that can never be changed
In the city of Abuja, "City Hill College" is the most popular school in the city, and what makes it more popular is that most of the politicians kids attend the school. Every kid in town wishes to get a scholarship just to study there because it marks the beginning of a great destiny. The school gate is secured by state militants, and the inner security is tighter. It is rumored that if a person tries to enter the school without permission, they will never come out again. The school owns various departments and a huge stadium for all sporting activities.
Femi is the most popular senior boy in the school. He is a bit dark, has a well-built body, and plays for the football team. One thing that made him standout was that he was the wizkid of his class, and this made the teachers love him; furthermore, his father was one of the richest parents in the school. Femi was nonchalant; he preferred not to be talked to as he saw others as peasants. Because he is very intelligent, he doesn’t relate well to people. Even with his bad characteristics, his talent already makes up for them, making it hard for people to dislike him. Femi has only one friend he listens to, and his name is Felix.
Nobody really knew Felix's background because he was the quiet type; he was always on his own. What made people know him was his outstanding results; he was the only one that rivaled Femi in all academic fields and sports activities, yet Felix was nice towards all.
Femi's life was going great, and it looked like nothing would go wrong. On a particular Friday, City Hill College was having a friendly match with another local school in the city. Since City Hill is away, they have to visit the other school for the match; they wouldn’t leave without their ach. Everyone from City Hill was happy and very confident they were going to win because Femi and Felix were with the team. The match started an hour after the team arrived, and everyone was settled for the match.
During the first half, Felix already scored two goals, while none have gone to Femi. This made Femi very frustrated, as he was hell-bent on proving that he was better than Felix on the field. The second half was so fast that Femi got one goal and Felix had another. City Hill won the match, but the victory gave Femi no joy at all. Felix tried talking to him, but he refused to talk to anyone and decided to go home alone. The coach persuaded him, but he refused and went on his way. He walked for a long distance and then screamed, Pick a stone, and threw it without thinking.
Immediately after he threw it, the stone hit an elderly woman with gray hair on her head. She screamed out of pain and looked towards Femi. "Where are you, the one who threw this stone?" she asked. Femi, frustrated about his game turn, started working. "Don’t you dare turn your back on me, little one when I'm speaking with you," she spoke out in anger as she glared at Femi. With his nonchalant attitude, he told the woman, "Look, old lady, I threw the stone out of anger and did not know it would hit you. If it is money you want, I can give it to you, but I have nothing here with me for now except my transport." "I don’t want your money; I want your apology, and you would do that while kneeling," she replied. "Why would I kneel down in front of someone I don’t know, and beside, you don’t deserve kneeling; it's just a small stone, and I did not do it intentionally, so old woman, don’t get me angry?" he spoke with an irritating look. The old woman picked up the stone and said to him, "They would see you, but no one would know you."
Femi went home, met his family, and they all welcomed him. After eating, he went to his room to sleep. The following morning was a Saturday, and he stood up late. Femi went to the dining room to eat his breakfast. Upon getting to the dining room table, he met his family, and his father welcomed him with the word "Young man, how did you enter my house?" He was not concerned about what his father said and sat down to eat. Before he could look up, a heavy slap had landed on his face, and that was when reality hit him. "Daddy, why would you do that?" he questioned while looking at everyone. He saw fear in his siblings faces, and his mother pulled her children close to herself. "How did you enter my house?" his father asked again; his mother was already on the phone calling the police. "It is me, your son, Femi," his father said, jumping on him and overpowering him, pinning him to the ground while waiting for the police.
A few minutes later, the police were around, and he was handcuffed. "Inspector David, look at me well. Don't you recognize me, it me femi" he was crying as he try to talk to the police officer. "Young man, it will be better you keep quiet and don’t complicate the matter here; I don’t know you nor have I met you, and anything you say shall be used against you in court of law." The inspector glared at Femi as he responded to him. Femi turned his hand and broke free from the hands of the policeman. He ran to the sitting room towards where the family photo gallery was. The police officer ran after him. When Femi got there, he was screaming, "Look, look, look at the pictures. You would see me there." His father screamed back at him, "You take a look yourself and see if you would see yourself." He turned and looked at all the pictures on the wall, but he couldn’t find himself in a single picture. It was at that moment that he recall what the old woman said to him:
"They would see you, but no one would know you."
He knelt down slowly and whispered, "I am sorry," while crying. It was too late for him; the police took him away in their car, and no one came for him.