The Externals - Chapter Nine

Quinn knew better than to get his hopes up when it comes to Nigerian matters yet wished the school Miss Adebamigbe planned on registering him into at least had a basketball court. To his utmost surprise, it didn't even have a mini football court. It was so small that his bathroom back in the U.S was bigger than the proprietor's office. Yet, the twins claimed it was the best in their neighborhood.

The day Quinn did his registration was the same day Grace Model College experienced a heart-wrenching fall. Since there was a cordial relationship between both schools, the proprietor of Johnson College visited that of GMC. Miss Adebamigbe had earlier informed him the presence of Johnson's proprietor would speed up his admission process since they were childhood friends so Quinn was happy he wasn't around. Later, he was disappointed because that didn't stop his admission because the admission officers were of course fascinated by the idea of having a white kid in their school. Although, they could see the anger in his eyes because he wasn't ready to start attending a Nigerian school.

It shouldn't surprise you that Quinn was the center of attention for the whole day. Students couldn't stop talking about how long and well-nurtured his brown hair was, how smooth his golden skin glowed, how the softness of his lips would make him excel at a kissing contest, and how the scent of his Versace perfume gave his classroom a magnificent aura. They had enough time to examine him since it's typical of Nigerian secondary school teachers not to take classes during the first week of resumption.

Quinn didn't want any association with Nigerian students so he refused to let anyone sit beside him and they respected his decision. Still, the girls were depressed about it. They wouldn't have minded him being a flirt as long as that meant they would be able to get soothing compliments from him and get a feel of his gorgeous hands on their skin. On the other hand, the boys were pleased, hoping his bad attitude would soon make them hate him and forget he even exists. Little did they know the girls even planned on fasting and praying with the hope that it would make him stop being uptight. They felt calling him a jerk would be too gruesome for his comely face.

During lunch, Martha went to Quinn's seat with the hope of making him escort her to the cafeteria like the gentleman in his birth country do. Even though she knew there was a slim chance of him accepting her offer, she still felt greatly dejected when he eventually rejected her offer. Quinn was actually curious to know how a cafeteria would fit in his new tiny school yet didn't go with her, aware that none of the meals sold in there would interest him. Also, he wasn't properly ready to embrace his Nigerian identity.

Since the cafe was a place for all the students in the school to eat, he was also slightly tempted to go there, thinking he'd derive more pleasure in seeing more students droll over him. Then again, Mrs. Pat already proposed to take him out for lunch, of which he agreed. She had shares in Johnson College, so getting him out of the building was no big deal for her. All she needed to do was put a call through to the proprietor who feared her more than he did with his birth mother. Only in paper was he the grand dame of Johnson's College.

"I can't believe Quinn chose that old hag over us", Martha kept complaining at the table she was with her friends.

"What more does he need to do to prove that he's an asshole?" Mary ate part of Martha's jollof rice since she was too upset to eat.

"He isn't into girls with small busts", A girl passing by said. She was Fatima the leader of a girl's squad called, "The Busties". Yeah, they had big busts.

"Even though I'm enemies with Quinn, I would never go for you blockheads. Wetin you suppose use get sense na him you just use pack useless breasts", Mary said mockingly.

"E dey pain you cause na boil you get instead of the breast", Fatima laughed at her while high-fiving her peers.

"Ouch, Fatty. That was a bomb", Dare, the well-known flirt in their class almost touched Mary's chest to confirm if she was still breathing or not, then ran away quickly.

"Are you mad?" Mary flung her water bottle at him.

"You no go allow person press that boil wey dey your chest so better breast go grow", He kept on talking and Mary went further to hit him with her cutleries.

"You all should meet me at the staff room now ", Their disciplinary prefect flung her long golden brown braids and turned her back on them.

Martha was lucky the teacher who dealt with her case was her 'padi', so he didn't call her mom to talk about what she did and inflicted more pain on Dare for being disrespectful towards her. Dare, however, didn't care if he got the world's greatest punishment as long as had gotten what he wanted. Martha was beyond shocked that her twin would exchange words with girls who used to be her friends for Quinn's sake and teased her about it until Mary said it was obviously for her and the former loved that. Yet, the latter hid the fact that she had been hating on Quinn because he'd been taking her feelings for granted. Also because she hated the idea of treating white people like mini gods and hoped to put him in his place whenever a golden opportunity comes knocking.

For lunch, Mrs. Pat drove Quinn to a nearby Pizzeria. Despite all she did and said he refused to take anything. Yet, he somehow enjoyed watching her chew the steaming open-face Italian pie. She reminded him of his mom even though they had nothing in common. Maybe not facially but were bounded by the fact that they were both longing for the presence of a child. That feeling of dejection radiating from her made him resolve not to have a child. It was quite easy since the only woman he wanted to have one with no longer wanted to.

You miss your mom and her cooking don't you?" Mrs Pat took a break from eating and searched Quinn's eyes inquisitively.

"You miss your husband and even the kids you've never had, don't you?" Quinn's voice was subtle. He said it to sympathize with her and because he needed to make a strong comeback.

"I've never denied that", Mrs. Pat smiled. The expression carried both pain and pleasure.

"If you want kids that bad, why won't you let another man in your life?" Quinn was becoming more interested in her.

"It's my business, not yours, young man", Mrs Pat fought her emotions the tough way.

"I don't have a Nigerian mentality so that won't work on me", Quinn said confidently then slowly became irritated, "Tell me, did they make you feel guilty about his death and you feel that's the only way to repay him?

"Your lunch break's over", Mrs Pat got up and walked to the spot where she parked her blue SUV in the parking lot. She didn't even stop to check if Quinn was following her.

When Quinn got back to school, he heard what happened during his absence from a bunch of girl gossipers who wouldn't stop running their mouths like taps. He was thrilled Mary was smart enough to defend Martha yet didn't pitied her for what Dare did. Before the timekeeper rang the bell for closing, students were asked to pluck out small weeds around the school and do other dirty jobs but Quinn was exempted. During this period, he couldn't sleep well because the class was silent. When school closed, Mrs. Pat returned to pick him up and ignored the twins who had to walk home. More reasons for the busties to mock them because they knew her personality, found out she wasn't related to Quinn and she was also busty.

Upon getting home, the twins immediately changed into casual wear and went to their mom's salon to help out. Barely five minutes later, Martha asked her mom why she was being lenient about Quinn's issue, scared that Mrs. Pat might use charms on him. Miss Adebamigbe claimed she was letting Quinn make his own decisions since he was an adult but Mary didn't believe it. She accused her mom of being biased because he was white, which she denied. In reality, she didn't want to do anything that would make Quinn insult her so her daughters won't lose the respect and fear they had for her. To make the girls stop dwelling on the issue, she switched to warning Martha to stop whatever feeling she was developing for Quinn, to avoid trouble.

Mr. Ayoade, the proprietor of Grace Model College slept in the home of Nathan Johnson, the proprietor of Johnson's College the day his school building collapsed because he was too weak to drive home after everything that happened. Besides, his bosom friend insisted. Mr. Johnson told his wife to prepare a special meal that would cheer him up for dinner and found a way to make him eat though he claimed to have lost his appetite since heard the news. In the morning, he also made him coffee and they both sat down to read some newspapers on his porch.

"I'm grateful for everything you've done, my friend", Mr. Ayoade said after he took his first sip.

"Come on! After how many years? Akin dupe ara eni" Mr. Johnson rolled his eyes, demonstrating an act he learned from his eldest daughter.

"Ah ah! You don sabi my language pass me wey get am sef", Mr. Ayoade smiled, remembering his bosom friend was from the eastern part of the country.

"Abi oo. I learned it to understand you better", Mr. Johnson smiled.

"I feel honored. Thanks", Mr. Ayoade lifted his mug again.

"So, what are you going to do with your students?" Mr. Johnson changed the subject. He had a feeling Mr. Ayoade didn't want to burden him by talking about it.

"I don't know yet and I'm more concerned about the SS3 students. They can't fail because of this. I can't afford to entertain curses from different sources", Mr. Ayoade said that which he didn't intend to utter in the first place.

"Don't trouble yourself. They can transfer to my school for the time being", Mr. Johnson seemed sure of his plan.

As the two proprietors were having their conversation, the SS3 students of GMC had already gathered inside the school compound to know their fate. Their principal didn't know what to tell them at first, but when Mr. Ayoade called to inform him of Mr. Johnson's plan, he quickly called them together and announced it. Immediately, the students forgot about what happened to their school building and started rejoicing. They were overjoyed about being identified as students of a renowned school for the first time in their lives.

Without awaiting further instructions from their principal, they paired themselves and started making plans on how to get to the school, since that involved using various means of transportation. They also considered trekking there to have enough time to gist and save money for more snacks to act like big boys and girls in their new school.

At Pat's Hospital where Mr. Allen was receiving treatment, Lily could be seen having an intense conversation with Mrs. Daramola, her elder sister. A few minutes earlier, Lily heard her begging someone who she imagined was her boss not to fire her because she had been skipping work to assist Lily in looking after their dad - His second wife who should have done that had a sick mom to look after in her village, their other sibling also had a delicate pregnancy, and their dad's siblings couldn't take leave from work.

Even though Mrs. Daramola said she could handle her boss because she didn't want the whole burden to be on her sister alone, Lily begged her to let her deal with it since it was her fault. They argued about it for a while, but Mrs. Daramola finally agreed to resume work having realized that they needed any amount they could get since their dad wasn't working at the moment and the hospital bill was the least of the responsibilities they had to cater for. However, she still made Lily promise to resume school the following week, that she wouldn't abandon her studies under the pretext of watching over her dad.

The SSS3 students of Johnson College were greatly displeased after their principal and class teacher came into their homeroom to inform them of their proprietor's decision. They felt it was unfair to be receiving the same quality of education as students who were paying school fees lower than theirs and vowed to do everything within their power to make studying in their school unbearable for them.

The first action this silly bunch of high school kids carried out was to make fun of their worn-out shoes, and clothes. As if that was not enough, they made them stand throughout their classes, claiming they weren't fit to sit on the same kind of chair. This made Quinn mad. He saw no reason why they should feel superior to 'those poor kids' because their school was shitty as far as he and US educational standard was concerned. However, he didn't have a word to express his opinion. He still chose to keep his opinions to himself. He chose not to get himself involved in a rivalry between Nigerian students.

"Johnson's College is ours..." Dare said with every iota of pride in him. "And we can't let some riff-raff steal what belongs to us". His temper level rose as he banged his fist on his desk.

Nonchalantly, Kenny walked to his seat and dropped his bag.

"You don't belong here", Dare threw his bag away angrily.

"How dare you?" Kenny punched his nose, which resulted in an intense physical combat between the two of them.

"Kenny, please stop. You know we're in another school", Omma tried stopping him but he wouldn't spare a second to listen to what she had to say.

"What's going on here?" Their class teacher walked in furiously. "It's only your first day and you're already causing trouble?"

AUTHOR'S NOTE
Thanks you all for sacrificing part of your precious time to follow this novel. I don't take your love and support for granted.

I'm specially dedicating this chapter to one of my biggest fans, who also happens to be my coursemate in the university of Ibadan - David Darby, I appreciate your support😁🥰

So, yeah, it's about to go down soon. Which team are you rooting for? The Externals or the Johnsons? Don't forget to drop your comment!

Do enjoy the rest of your weekend😎

Your Dearest Writer,
Oluwamuyiwa Eniola✍