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By samwrite
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26 July 2006 |
A young boy's life characterised by truancy and disobedience changes dramatically when he comes to stay with his uncle in the city. Discipline is therefore birthed from a shift in the environment and ways of doing things Uwi never likes to wait for a teacher to conclude his class before he jumps out through the window. His class happens to be on the ground floor. All he has his eyes on is the clock on the wall and his ears to the sound of the bell signaling the end of the school day. Uwi gets to the bicycle first and waits for Ise who is now feeling very reluctant to hurry up to get his bicycle because Uwi always beats him to it. Ise hurries his steps as Uwi sights him. Today, like every other day he will watch helplessly as somebody else rides his bicycle home while he carries two heavy bags filled with books. “Be quick you stupid boy” Uwi screams at the top of his voice as he gets on the bicycle. Ise grabs the bag and follows like a sheep whose shepherd is oblivious of the prey that his sheep had become Just about three houses to Uwi’s house, he gets down to avoid being spotted by his parents the Osadolos who know the bad things that he is capable of doing. “Good afternoon ma” greets Uwi in a thick voice that is synonymous with that of a bully. His mother pulls out a small pot and hands it over to him “go fetch water from the stream and make sure you are back before your father gets home.” Uwi smiles without allowing his mother see him so that she may never suspect him going to pluck fruits with friends in the Sakpoba forest, after all, he had become used to the rod of his father and knows certainly that his wrongdoings will never attract a death penalty. It’s four hours and Uwi is not at the stream. He quickly devises a means of ridding someone else of water. No one will fall cheaply for someone who can single-handedly disrupt a council meeting at the village square.
“Please, help me assist this friend of mine, He is being bit by a scorpion and he needs treatment” says Uwi as he approaches a girl with a pot of water on her head. She quickly drops it to assist a boy who is feigning injury and conniving with Uwi to steal from her. Uwi carries her water and takes a small bush path to escape as the other boy runs away.
As he approaches the house, he hears loud shouts of joy and gladness and he is eager to find out what is going on. His father’s brother in Lagos, Uncle Ehigie had just come for a visit. “What have you been doing at the stream, why are you just coming now?” says Mrs. Osadolo who is so furious. “I know you were swimming or busy fishing with your friends.” “No I misplaced my pot and later found it,” Uwi tries to defend himself.
“That’s a lie. You took that of someone else because this pot is not ours”. His mother places a good knock on his head as he drops the pot of water; uncle Ehigie watches for a while and doesn’t say anything until Uwi goes out angrily. He doesn’t even exchange pleasantries with someone he is seeing for the first time in almost eight months. “Madam, how about taking this boy with me to Lagos,” says uncle Ehigie as he awaits a favourable reply. Mrs. Osadolo is quite happy but doesn’t show it quickly. She will be even happier to see Uwi move out of the house if it is for a month. And she is determined to do anything it takes to make her husband give his consent to it, “Please discuss that with my husband, I’m sure he will not refuse you, Uwi will be better educated in Lagos than he is here in village” After the well-served dinner Mr. Osadolo quickly affirms his approval of the migration of his son to Lagos. “Don’t worry about the transfer certificate from his school. He should start from form I. After all what does he really know in his present class,” as Mr. Osadolor talks loud giving his stubborn son a chance to listen well even without being in the room.
Right from the first day, Uwi admired the tall buildings and bridges. He loved the supermarket and never wants to do anything else whenever he watches television. To him, paradise was only miles away from his village in which he was a popular local champion. On one of those days that he sat watching his favourite cartoon shows on television, his uncle got him involved in a life-changing yet intelligent conversation. “Uwi, I cannot put you in a new school here in Lagos,” says uncle Ehigie as he pretends to look in another direction. “Why uncle but you promised me last week to register me in the best school in Lagos. “ Uwi replies his uncle and moves very close to him ignoring the colourful pictures on the screen.” “The main reason is that you are too stubborn and will cause me a lot of problems. I don’t want all of that trouble.” “But uncle I promise never to be stubborn again,” pleads Uwi. “Are you sure” as uncle Ehigie continues to tease him until he is sure Uwi now knows himself better.
It is more that six months since Uwi enrolled in a new school not too far away from the house. And the teachers have been making positive comments about his behaviour and attitude to learning. Uwi is the best pupil among the new intakes and could be amongst the best in the class in the next session. |
Written by anna_svit-kona (42 comments posted) 2nd August 2006 | I liked it all right. I think you should have touched a bit more on how Uwi's life was changed though.
Keep Writing!~
Anna |
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