Chapter eleven.

Omotayo.

"Tayo,come back here! I am still talking to you."

"But I am done with you!"I replied my father back smoothly. 

Omotayo,one. Father, zero.

"When did it become okay to talk to your father that way?"

"Since you decided to move your family around like poultry."

Mehn!I am on fire today.

My father grunted in frustration but I couldn't care less. He lost my respect and love when I started to lose reason.

"I don't see a big deal in this,Omotayo."My father replied,his voice losing all anger that was there before.

"Of course you don't see the big deal in it!"I exclaimed incredulously. "You never see the big deal in anything."

My father raised his hand to smack my face but judging from the look on my face,he stopped and brought it down. Perhaps he thought that if he slapped me I would slap him back. Perhaps, he was right.

"Watch your tongue,Tayo!"

I rolled my eyes and ran upstairs while ignoring calls of my name.

From my room I could still hear my father talking to my mother"Talk to your child,Maria or I will....." He left the threat hanging.

"If I didn't know better,"My mother's French laced accent floated through my ears"I would call that a threat!"

"Well do you?Do you know better?"My father's words came, taunting my mother and it took me a lot not to storm there and slap his frigging face.

Pardon my French.

"Get out of this house,Samuel and don't come back till you see reason!"

I waited for a full minute before I heard the door slam and I could tell it was my father going out. 

He is probably going to work!

"Omotayo!!"My mother's tiny voice pierced my ears"Come down here. This instant!"

I groaned and push my way forward and prepared for my mother's outburst.

"What were you thinking?How dare you speak to your father that way?"

I ignored her and looked away but that seemed to fuel her anger.

"Are you dumb? Say something. Give me one valid excuse for what you just did now."

I ignored her again and stared at my feet.

She grumbled in frustration and said to me"I love you,Omotayo,and your father loves you in his own way."

I stared at her for a while,determined not to talk to her when she gave me her signature teary eyes.

"You promised me that we wouldn't move again. Now this man who calls himself Dad is telling me bullshit!!"

She narrowed her eyes at me to indicate her displeasure at  the foul language I used, but I couldn't care less.

"I will discuss this with your father,I promise you that.."

"Enough of your promises,mom."I cut her off with my loud voice"I am tired of getting my hopes up every fucking time. I am tired of thinking that he is going to change. He clearly won't."

I walked to my room quickly so as to avoid looking into her eyes and I started preparing for school.

**

Stop staring at her,Omotayo.

I ignored my subconscious and continued looking at the beauty in front of me.

You are a human rights activist and she is a human rights abuser.

I didn't listen to the battle raging on in my head. I just continued staring and staring and staring.....until she caught me.

Her throat bobbed up and down in nervousness as she tried to speak. She opened her mouth to talk but before words could come out I turned my head and focused on the boring Further Mathematics teacher.

Why is  this damn school making me take further mathematics when I certainly don't need it!

"Do you understand the formula now?"The teacher asked.

"Yes sir"The students all chorused and I turned to look at them but some weren't even looking at the board. Some were on their phones doing only God knows what and some of them were just gisting together.

" Yes, indeed", I thought...

"Well,I don't understand."I spoke up getting the attention of the whole class including Simone's.

"Finally!"The teacher exclaimed after the surprise washed off him"Someone sensible enough to challenge me. Come and show me what you do not understand,Tayo."

I stood up,not even minding the peering stares that I was getting from my classmates.

I moved over to the whiteboard and tried to explain all the things I didn't understand.

The Further mathematics teacher whose name I learnt was Mr Elton,explained as best as he could.

"Hi,"I heard a voice above me. The further mathematics period was over and we were having a free period at that time.

I raised my head slowly and my eyes met another pair of blue ones.

The boy was fair skinned,a little bit too much. His school uniform was a little bit bigger than him because he had a really small stature. I think he was the smallest boy in the class.

"Hello?"He greeted again,and I realized that I have been staring at him for too long.

"How are you doing?"I asked as politely as I could but I just wanted him to leave me alone.

He took my seemingly polite tone as an invitation because he dragged another empty chair and sat down. Then he said:

"My name is Cliff Hangers."

I froze for three seconds,looking at him to see if he was joking but his face was as serious as before.

I burst into laughter. I clutched my stomach and placed my head on the table. Few of the students turned to us but I didn't even care.

"Yeah yeah. Laugh it off."Cliff said. He didn't look annoyed. If anything,he looked amused.

When the laughter died down,I said"Sorry."

"No problem. I actually get that a lot."He replied.

"So,where are you from?"I asked.

"Well,my dad is a white man,the same goes for my mother. But my dad died when I was nine years old. Then my mother married a Nigerian man. So that's why I am here."

"OK."

We were silent for a few minutes because we didn't have any question to ask each other until he said "Why is Simone staring at you?"

I didn't even bother to look at her side. I just shrugged not even bothering to see if it was true because Cliff didn't seem like the kind of person who would lie.

"Ifvi were you, I would stay away from her."Cliff continued"She is part of the populars."

I raised my head and my eyebrows "What?"

"Our class is classified into groups. We have the footballers,emo group,the choir,reporters and the cheerleaders. Then the populars. The ruthless bullies of our school. They are led by Caitlin and they are all girls."

I let all that he had told me process in my brain before asking"Where do you fall in?"

He let out a bitter laugh"I don't belong to any group and that is the worst. I have been slapped by Simone a lot of times."

The anger and disappointment I felt literally made me weak. 

How can a girl so beautiful be that evil?

But now my mind is made up!

Stay away from Simone Adeboye at all cost!