All Chapters of Just Do It: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

I'm backkk!! ??Even in the dark, the compound still looked pretty much the same as it did a little over a year ago.  I caught sight of white hair illuminated by the yellowish orange glow from the kerosene lantern that was placed at the foot of that armchair I was sure I’d recognize anywhere.Alade looked up from the paper he was reading. He squinted and adjusted the glasses that were perched on his nose.‘I’ve told you not to read with the lantern. Look how hard you have to squint just to see me’. I said as I ascended the stairs.‘Ayo mi. Is this really you?’ He inquired.‘Yes baba’. ‘My Aramide?’ ‘Flesh and blood’.He pulled me down to him and hugged me as tightly as his aging body allowed him to.&l

Needless to say, the holidays were boring. Christmas had never felt so lonely. When I stayed with Alade, Iya and her friends would cook and exchange food amongst themselves and she’d spend half the day talking about our next door neighbor whose entire family were Jehovah witnesses and did not celebrate Christmas.‘So if I buy motor for this woman today, she no go collect? Because na Christmas’. Iya would always say, leaned on the half-wall, staring at our neighbor as she carried out her usual chores.Despite being an unbeliever, Alade would always ensure I had a dress to parade the neighborhood in with my friends, singing, dancing and collecting gifts from all the houses we visited. We had age-grades; associations were children of the same age bracket would come together and contribute money for refreshments at the end of our patrol.Abike tried to get me to attend the carnival with her and other friends from school but I

   ‘Hello’. I said ‘Hey brown eyes’. The voice undeniably belonged to apex feared demigod. ‘What do you want?’ ‘Now is that any way to talk to your senior prefect?’ I could envision the smirk on his face.  ‘They’ve handed down the power’. I stated. ‘Not that dumb, I see’. ‘Well congratulations SP. You didn’t have to go through the trouble just to brag’. ‘Congratulations to you too, they made you sports prefect for the girls. Ms. Flora insisted I passed down the good news, she didn’t want it to come as a shock to you after your sabbatical’. That explained how he got my number. ‘So this is an authorized call? With the school’s phone?’ ‘Of course hon.

           I couldn’t stop looking at the slip in my hand. They had improved, my grades had improved, just a little anyway.‘You don’t have to keep staring at it, it won’t change if you take your eyes off it’. Rasheed said. We were seated at the front of the administrative block with Abike, waiting for Mrs. Dapo to come pick us up for the Easter break. Vivian had left already and Rasheed should have too but he insisted on waiting till we left.Henrietta stood a couple feet away with Chris, they had grown tight over the term much to Vivian’s annoyance. I didn’t approve but Hen was happy and I didn’t see any harm in it.Chris hugged her tightly before moving to join Marcel who was leaned against the wall, impatiently tapping his left leg.Hen sulked to us and dumped herself beside Abike. After the midterm test, they hadn’t be

   I tossed and turned for minutes but couldn't drown the noise out. I would have placed a pillow over my head but I didn't want to suffocate in my sleep. Marcel and his father had made it a tradition to settle their scores at night leaving me with no other option than to wait for them to conclude and go to sleep. I was never able to make out what they said but the gravelly undertone of their voices travelled through the walls.  I wondered if my mom slept through the whole thing or just decided to stay away from it. For the past couple of nights I'd wanted to go out there and find out what the problem was but I always managed to hold myself back. I knew they had their differences and didn't exactly see eye to eye but neither did my mom and I but you'd never find us disrupting nightly peace so, letting my curiosity get the better of me, I tiptoed out of my room to the front of the visitor's room.&nb