CHAPTER THIRTY

 

The Real Deal

The rehearsals we later went well. There were no arguments between Shola and loverboy, and even with the witch makeup on her face while we were shooting the video for our advertisement, Rose still looked like the Queen of England.

That got me really scared for every girl in Marie's high. What if we wake up one day and see all the guys kissing her feet😂

"Sis, Senior Cleo is waiting for you downstairs", Gbemi came to inform me on the day we were both going to submit a proposal for sponsorship at Protect Groceries, and Mrs. Martins promised us it was going to be strictly official.

"Ok, thanks", I wore a formal outfit and joined him." How's it going today, Mr. Martins?".

"Very well as you see, ma'am", he struggled to have his hair properly combed yet kept on smiling.

"Why not just have a haircut?",I shook my head.

"Let's not go there today, again", he kept the comb in his front pocket and took his car keys from there as well.

"If we lose this contract because of you. I won't forgive you", I threatened him.

"We won't. I assure you", he opened the passenger's side door on my behalf".

The moment she set her eyes on me, Mrs. Martins declared her love for my outfit but still didn't act as she knew me. Despite the fact that we were partners, Cleo left me to do most of the talking and made me go through the stress of trying to figure out if he's just trying to act like a bad boy or teaching me how to relate with external bodies. Well, Mrs. Martins decided to show us some love in the long run. Her company supported our project with a sum of Five hundred thousand and promised to supply free parfaits for the event.

After the meeting with Mrs. Martins, we went to Mrs. John's office. Despite what happened the other day, she treated us well. She didn't wait for us to talk too much before agreeing to support and took us to have lunch at a nearby Italian Restaurant.

Of all the proposal meetings we attended, the only one which turned out to be the real pain in the ass was that which we had with the chairman of Melvins Corporation. He thought we were trying to scam him even though we showed him documents which proved that we were officially contracted by Marie's high to organize the event. In the long run, he agreed to support us like the others but made us sign an undertaking that if we don't use the money for necessary things, he was liable to sue our parents.

Still, I couldn't get mad him. Sometimes, one can't even trust a day old baby in our wonderful country.

"Congratulations, guys", Michelle told us in the theater hall the next morning." We've sold over twenty tickets"

"Good job, pumpkin", Cleo smiled, yet still looked worried."But our aim is one thousand".

"Chill, bro. It's just a matter of time. Shola and I are working our butts off to ensure it gets more attention", She rubbed his right shoulder.

"Do you intend to do a giveaway?"I asked him.

"We're in this together, aren't we?" He fired back.

"Every student in Marie's high can afford the ticket so doing a giveaway is a waste of resources", Michelle replied.

"If he can't totally rely on our people, can't he go find other people?" I added."I think most of them are still on  Kelly junior's side.

"Yeah. He's the life of the party type, and you've been a nerd since your first day here..serves you right", she laughed.

"Then what's the point of having a Marie Angel as a sister? "he scrawled.

"I think we should still do the giveaway if we've sold enough tickets, there are lots of people out there who would appreciate this event a lot though they don't have money to buy tickets", I insisted.

"Yes, Miss Samaritan", his cheerful facial expression towards me made me happy.

For the rest of the week, we transported ourselves to other high-class high schools around us to tell them our carol plans. They received us warmly and promised to support in whatever way they can; they were surprised that our school would invite them for such an event, our school management has always been against partnering with other schools. Still, they were happy that they finally got the chance to enter the building of the prestigious Marie's high school.

With that, the number of people who purchased tickets for our carol went up to 500! Our own students were forced to sit up because their pride wouldn't let "nuisance" as they say dominate their own territory. However, Cleo and I were determined not to let anyone influence our decision making on grounds of inferior complex. Once all the tickets were sold, we decided not to print more. I was particularly looking forward to seeing those nincompoops bite their tongue in regret when they realize how much they missed by not attending the event.

Since I suggested that we do the giveaway at my old neighborhood, Cleo had to take me there on a Friday morning. That may sound biased but the people there meant a lot to me. No matter what happened, I never regretted being a part of them. And at every little opportunity I get, I tried my best to sow into their lives.

"What was it like growing up here?" Cleo asked as we alighted his car.

"It's just like growing up on the island...duh" I replied and we both laughed.

"If someone told me you grew up here, I wouldn't have believed it. But look what we have here, an amazing person every teenager in this neighborhood should look up to", he patted my shoulder.

"Will you please stop flattering me", I tried to stop myself from blushing.

"That makes me wanna do more", He was about to say another word when we both got distracted by a noise.

"Oh my God!!!! Are my eyes deceiving me or what? Is it not Nifemi that I'm seeing?"

It's showtime!!!!!

"Yh, it's me", I gave one of my relatives a slight hug.

"Good to see you again", her face lit with joy and I can't help but wonder why because we weren't close before I left. Blood really is thicker than water."I thought you'd never come back to this Shithole. Well, I would have done the same if I were in your shoes".

"That's not my kind of person", I told her.

"So now you can talk", we both laughed. "I guess this mister is a good influence on you", she winked at me, and gave Cleo a big handshake." It's nice to meet you. I'm Olabisi".

"Cleo Martins", he smiled.

"Oh my goodness! That's one of the coolest smiles I've seen this year. Do you want me to start crushing on my Lil sister's boyfriend? "she said playfully.

"Did I hear someone say something about a boyfriend?" I heard grandma's voice all of a sudden

Olabisi is the first daughter of her mom, who was birthed by grandma's immediate sister. She left high school way before I left the neighborhood, but wasn't able to secure admission into any university. Nevertheless, she didn't lose hope. She got herself menial jobs to support her low-class family for the time being. They were forced to move into our old home after we evacuated it because they couldn't afford to pay house rent anymore. Her mom had another baby then so Grandma had to stay with them now for about a month, in the name of "omugo".

Despite grandma's warnings, meant to make Bisi keep her mouth shut, she wouldn't hesitate to comment about how "good together" Cleo and I looked with her bouncing baby brother in our midst. Moreover, she also liked the fact that he knew how to treat babies right. We both knew most guys hated being burdened with the responsibility of feeding a baby or changing its diapers, but Cleo loved and enjoyed it. But that wasn't enough reason for me to want to bear him one immediately😆

Cleo helped to lessen the stress on the three women who have been taking care of the kid since day one, and that affected my own plans. I wanted us to go to my former school quickly and tell them about the event, then take him on a tour around the neighborhood. But he spent too much time tending to the baby so we didn't have much time left.

"Something smells very nice", Cleo sniffed as we walked to my previous school later in the day.

" Yh. There's a nearby shop that sells tasty popcorns", Bisi answered.

"Can we go get some?" Cleo asked giving me an apologetic look because he knew how late we were.

"Fine", I sighed.

"Relax, babe",Bisi laughed. Nobody is taking your boyfriend away from you. The girls in this neighborhood are no match!"

"That wasn't what I meant", I made my intentions known to her, though I knew she wouldn't agree with me.

"Good afternoon, buddy", Cleo greeted the teenager put in the care of the shop with a handshake and a smile which made him look gay. Funnily enough, he was the same person I spent months crushing on in my previous school.

"What's up, man? Thanks for stopping by", he turned to Bisi, and made a mockery of her"Congratulations! You got a cool boyfriend this time. He's different from those hungry men you've been following"

"How dare you!" She hit him with her flip flop.

"Bisi, how can you be abusing my boyfriend like this? I won't take that from you", A short lady with a fair skin interfered then turned to us," We're so sorry for wasting your time. How much do you guys want to buy?"

I couldn't believe we walked home from school every single day, but Toby didn't recognize me. I would write his notes, and even help him with these assignments sometimes! He was never willing to bail me out of a punishment but could help his so-called girlfriend sell popcorns.

"Hmm..hmm", Cleo said  as he drove back home." I know something's wrong, so don't even try to deny it".

"You can never understand how to feel, Cleo", I felt like crying.

"Well, I know how much you loved or still love Toby", he sighed.

"How did you know about that?" I asked, feeling very embarrassed.

"You told Shola and me on the airplane, remember?" He replied.

"Yh", the event which took place that very day replayed in my mind, but I wished I didn't tell them about it."But I've gotten over it".

"Fine but even if you haven't, don't push it too hard. If you do, you'll hurt yourself badly. At the appointed time, it'll go away by itself".

"Okay. I get it", My face lit up with joy, then I try deviating to another subject." Did you see how happy my former principal was when he saw?"

"I hate to spoil your mood but Toby and his girlfriend will be in charge of popcorn distribution for our event. I had to hire them because they're damn good and have told them about it", he drove with more speed.

"Sure", I exhaled loudly." I don't have any problem with that".

"So you were saying...."

"Nothing.." I fired back.

"Don't do this to me mademoiselle", he whined.

A few Days Later...

Simbiat did well at leading the whole choir to sing "one time ago in Bethlehem" for the commencement of Marie's high 25th Carol service. Seeing her in person, you wouldn't believe she was old enough to be in high school in the first place but her voice says otherwise.

At the red carpet, Ayo interviewed prominent people like the Mrs. Adeola(our school's proprietress), and the chairman of the school's board to know their expectations for the carol. They wanted something out of the blue, and she assured them that we had the potential to give it to them!

Here goes the storyline for the carol drama:

In a Yorubaland, there lived a great but young king who had a knack for borrowing people's stuff and taking something of inestimable value from them, in return for it. One morning, one of his subjects asked to borrow one of his numerous lands for farming, and pay for it within an estimated period of time but he wasn't able to do so.

At that time, his wife gave birth to a bouncing baby girl, so he proposed to take her as his bride, and he had no choice but to comply. So, they both agreed that they will have a formal wedding when the baby clocks 18. Moreover, the baby grew up to a pretty, pure, and chaste young woman. Then, both families began to make plans for the upcoming wedding, although some people like the king's first wife were not quite pleased with it.

But few days to the wedding, Romoke found out she was pregnant. This was very disheartening to her because she's never had a boyfriend talk less of making love to anyone. She was very confused and sad because she had no one to confide in.

But unfortunately, the evil queen was able to get that information from her by pretending to be a great friend and confidant. She was a great spiritualist in the village, who found out before anyone else that Romoke is going give birth to the male child she never had, and that same child is a special one that will liberate the village from her bondage. So, the queen managed to convince her to drink some herbal concoctions, which was meant to terminate the pregnancy and permanently make her barren.

The wedding still took place. Dignitaries from neighboring villages came to grace the occasion, and there were surplus foods and drinks for everyone. More also, various cultural groups and local musicians were there to entertain the audience with great art performances.

After the wedding, the king also discovered that Romoke was pregnant but he was quite confused because her parents claimed she was a virgin. But, he didn't say anything to her and proposed in his heart to have her and her entire family publicly humiliated. While he was asleep, an angel of the Lord ministered to him and urged him not to send this newly wedded wife away, because she carried a great child who wasn't a product of formication, but God's will.

Though the King has never seen that kind of creature before, he still obeyed its voice. He spoke to Romoke who was very sorry for what happened, and they both decided to keep the pregnancy a secret.

In the long run, the evil queen found out that her earlier plan to terminate the pregnancy didn't work. This time, she even staged a guy to pretend he was Romoke's lover, so people can believe the child she was carrying belonged to him. Yet, the king refused to renounce her as a wife. Thereafter, she made the news of the pregnancy known to everyone and even bribed the council of elders to make the king change his mind but he still refused to do so.

As punishment for taking the concoction she wasn't supposed to take, Romoke carried the pregnancy for thirteen months because the evil queen used it against her. The king also developed feelings for Romoke. He couldn't bear to see her go through more pains, though the mysterious being told him to wait patiently for the baby to come at its appointed time.

One morning, he woke up from his sleep and decided to take her to a powerful herbalist in a nearby village so she can be freed of her pains permanently. On their way, Romoke gave birth to a bouncing baby boy and they returned to the palace where three strange and visited the new Prince with unusual gifts, and praised him in their local dialects, entertaining the audience!

When the drama ended, student poets were given the opportunity to recite some good poems based on Christmas. Then, Kelly Junior was also invited for his own performance, but he left Melvin (a very shy and talented student in the Junior class) to sing hip hop while he did Fuji music (to welcome the savior) but they still sang well together the end.

In between watching the stage play and singing interesting Christmas songs along with talented musicians, the audience ate delicious popcorn with 60cl bottles of Coke. They couldn't stop smiling or laughing throughout the event because they had a great time.

A/N:
Please be reminded that this story is a work of fiction. If you have any questions to ask about it, you can send me a message. My best part of this chapter was when Kelly Junior chose to sing Fuji🤣...what's yours?
Yours teenfictionly,
Eniola Oluwamuyiwa