No matter how offensive a grievance I try not to hold grudges, yet I cannot help but remember Olorunfemi and at the same time the grudge I have held against him for as long as ten years.
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When I was much younger, I was nothing special. Just the new black girl who sat in front of the teacher with her head bent, always scribbling whether it was time to write or not.
I didn't have many friends, in fact, I had no friends at all, except for the scrawny girl who sat next to me and we barely said a word to each other.
I wasn't a shy child but because there was nothing important to say to the members of my class.
Olorunfemi on the other hand was the complete opposite of me. He was the male senior prefect of the entire junior secondary section and maybe that was the reason he could do whatever he wanted.
He excused himself from class in the middle of lessons,
“We have prefects meeting” he would say to the teacher and he or she would simply dismiss him with a wave of their hands, the same teachers who found it difficult to even grant permission for other members of the class to ease themselves.
When it was the day for sports and recreational activities, he would be the one to interrupt the teacher's lesson.
Excuse me ma, it's time for sports” he told our health education teacher one day. She looked at him through her glasses and shook her head.
“Olorunfemi, the position of the senior prefect does not give you the power over your teachers. You are limited to your colleagues, and the students. Now take your seat or get out of my class”
I saw how his nose and lips scrunched up with displeasure, throughout the rest of that class, his head was on the table. He didn't listen to a single word the woman was saying and as she said sometime during the end of the lesson, we couldn't blame him, some people were playful learners.
Olorunfemi did not bother me much but I didn't like him. I had grown a distaste for his character and was pleased that I would be leaving the school with his troubles behind soon enough, but not until we both joined the debates club.
The second term came with a new recreational activities director, Mr Excellent. We called him that because he used the word at every given opportunity. Mr Excellent was an excellent man with excellent ideas, he introduced the school clubs to us and asked that every junior secondary school 3 class member head every club.
There were about 5 clubs as I remember; the press club, they read news during the general assembly every Monday and Friday mornings. In the debate club; we organized debates based on assigned topics by our debate master who happened to be Mr Excellent himself and presented it during recreational activities time on Wednesdays.
There was the Arts and Cultural Club, they were responsible for all artistic and cultural displays and dances during the end-of-session parties, there were also the Boys Brigade/Girls Scout clubs. They prided themselves in being the security of the school, then there were the entertainment clubs. They comprised the singers, dancers, and actors of the school.
Mr Excellent spent a great deal of time working on the debate team. I myself represented the team twice during recreational activities and I felt proud, but the event that made me never forget Olorunfemi happened during preparation for the school's end-of-the-year party.
Mr Excellent needed someone to head the debate team since he was going to be busy with other activities concerning the end-of-the-year party, so he organized a debate among all the JS3 students in the club.
Olorunfemi and I were on the same team by chance and I brought up the idea that we should get both our points and the opponent's points so we could easily counter them.
Mr Excellent came to find out how we were preparing and Olorunfemi rose.
“Sir, we are planning to get both our points and the points of the opposing side so we can easily win”
“Oh that is extremely excellent! I am proud of you Olorunfemi. In fact, I think I have seen my leader”
My mouth dropped open. That wasn't the plan,
“I need a leader who is innovative, smart, and possesses leadership qualities” Mr Excellent was still saying.
I was shocked that Olorunfemi would steal someone's thunder in broad daylight. The other members of my team didn't think it wise to stand up for me or tell Mr Excellent that I was the one who brought the idea and if that was what he was using to choose his leader, then I was to head the club and not Olorunfemi. After all, the boy was already heading the school.
That same day after recreational activities, I left the club and went to become a member of the Entertainment club without telling anybody. Nobody asked about me as I expected and I didn't explain why to anybody either.
I cannot stop thinking of how Olorunfemi stole my thunder without the slightest regret, I still bear that grudge against him today.
