Short Story Galore serialization continues 5


THE HIGH SCHOOL PLAYBOY

Tunde Thomas awoke to the familiar loud sound made by a piece of stone drummed on one of the many iron poles supporting the jutting roof of the hostel.

The sequenced rhythm produced permeated the stillness of dawn and shattered the complacent silence.

Tunde wasn’t frightened by the sudden sound as he was already used to it and knew what purpose it was meant to serve: wakeup call to the students of the dormitory for morning devotion and portion distribution.

He was a handsome boy with a crew cut and medium height for his age. He was in the third and last term of his junior high school final year and was also the captain of his room.

He sat up on his bed as his room members, both his mates and juniors, in response to the summons, shook off sleep, rapidly got off their bunks and flew out the door - as was being done in all the other rooms - to assemble in rows.

He didn’t budge from his sitting position, though.

About fifty seconds after his room had become vacated by its other occupants, Niyi Ajani, one of the hostel supervisors, stormed in, holding a thick leather belt by its buckle in his right hand.

Ajani looked round quickly but couldn’t see anyone who wanted to play truant from morning chores. Then he saw Tunde. He glared at him (Tunde grinned and winked), opened his mouth as if about to say something, thought better of it, and hurtled back out of the room without saying what was on his mind.

Tunde and Ajani were not on speaking terms. They were keeping malice with each other and Tunde could vividly remember what the cause was.

It was back in the first term of the current school year.

The house captain, Lashy, had just announced the names of the new supervisors and Tunde was one of them. Feeling that the post was more of an encumbrance than a help, he later went to Lashy and said he wasn’t interested in it.

Lashy found substance in his point of view and informed them all that Tunde didn’t want to be an officer so he was slotting Ajani into the now vacant post.

The very next morning after Ajani assumed office, Tunde wanted to stab portions. Ajani challenged him and Tunde humiliated him in front of their peers by reminding him of the circumstances which led to him being made a supervisor.

A proud character, Ajani had felt the episode an insult to his personality and his reaction was to swear that he would never speak to Tunde again as long as he lived. True player that Tunde was, he had tried to make up with him, but after a few rebuffs, had taken up a nonchalant attitude himself.

Note: This is the first page of The High School Playboy, the fifth of the short stories in the Oseyiza Oogbodo book, Short Story Galore, which’s serialization began some weeks ago but had to begin again due to some unforeseen hitches. More excerpts to follow on this blog. It is available on Amazon and many other stores through the links below. Other available Oogbodo books are The Good Life, The Newell Murder.


www.amazon.com/dp/B07DJYFJ28

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DJYFJ28

www.amazon.de/dp/B07DJYFJ28

www.amazon.fr/dp/B07DJYFJ28

www.amazon.it/dp/B07DJYFJ28


www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07DJYFJ28


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