The Externals - Chapter Ten

The Agbado Champions🙄🙄🙄

Schooling at Johnson College wasn't as fun-filled as GMC final year students expected it to be. Their new classmates wouldn't stop mocking them because of their school building and only few of them could afford the meals sold in the cafeteria. Then again, they were solely responsible for the cleaning of the classroom and markerboard. The most annoying part was that their homeroom teacher raised no objection to the oppression these poor students suffered.

During lunch, Zach and Omma went to check on Lily at the hospital. Omma was Lily's classmate who loved acting like the mother of the whole class in book one and Zach was her neighbor's stepson who had a crush on Lily.  Omma didn't get to follow the rest when they visited Lily the previous day because she had a terrible headache. Zach on the other hand, didn't get to know of the incident till a late hour.

"Oh my God! Thank you so much for coming", Lily smiled when she saw them.

"What's the need to thank us? This is what we are obliged to do", Zach responded.

"Yeah. I know but still. How's your health now?" Lily turned to Omma. She still found having long conversations with Zach awkward, despite their history.

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't fine", Omma hugged Lily. "I've missed you so much, daughter".

"Same here", Lily almost shed a tear.

"Zach deserves a hug too", Omma whispered and made Lily move close to him. Else, she would never have carried out her request.

"Your presence means a lot", Lily hugged him slightly.

"That's good to hear. I'm still mad at you for not telling me what happened on time but how have you been?" Zach made them sit on a long reception chair.

"Fine. Thanks. Sorry, I didn't tell you what happened on time. My head was preoccupied, you know", Lily sighed.

"It's okay. I understand. You're forgiven", Zach smiled. "So what would you like to have for lunch?"

"Nothing.."Lily was actually still suffering from appetite loss.

"It seems her mind is still preoccupied so I'll decide for her. Abula is okay", Omma spoke for her.

"I'll be right back", Zach dashed off.

"Omma, you've come oo", Lily slapped her head with her right hand.

"Iwo lomo. Mole lajumi le, ki talubo kowo. Okun inu lafi n gbe tita (I don't care what you stay. I can't watch you starve. You need energy to do what's necessary", Omma spoke like an elderly Yoruba woman.

When Zach was away, Omma made Lily aware of Mr. Johnson's decision to allow them receive classes in his school as long as their school building was unavailable. Lily got excited as everyone else, she was particularly happy about the unlimited access they would have to their science lab but her excitement died down when she heard about the unjust treatment they received on their first day. Nevertheless, she hoped things would change before she resumes. Still, Omma told her she had nothing to worry about since she was sure Zach would defend her if those wicked souls didn't change their ways. He had also registered in Johnson College to rewrite WAEC - Lily wasn't so pleased to hear that.

The twins slowly ate garri with sugar and coconut when they got home because they were not eager to join their mom at her salon. Miss Adebamigbe wanted her daughters to be experts in hair styling so they would take over the business from her but none of them showed interest. Martha felt the motivation she needed might come if Quinn followed them so she begged him to come with them, promising to do whatever he wanted yet he declined her offer.

Worse still, he told her he couldn't let Mrs. Pat down after promising to watch a movie with her and went there shirtless. Well, Martha was too blinded by pain to see Quinn was hiding a shirt behind him and Mary's mockery didn't make things any easy. For once, Martha wished murder wasn't a sin so she would have made both Mary and Mrs. Pat disappear from her life.

On Wednesday, more students of Johnson College resumed school but that of GMC reduced because they couldn't stand being treated unfairly. The major reason why Johnson students actually came was because they had missed the fun derived from the physical activities directed by their super-talented sports teacher.

"So, what's our first agenda for today?" Khadijat asked no one in particular as she settled on her seat.

"Don't you know Wednesdays are for sports, fool? It's not your fault. You guys don't do much in your wretched school", Tade, a Johnson student cared to answer rudely.

"Says who? I can bet with my life that we do better than you in football. You ajebos not get energy na...just fat and lazy", Kenny fired back.

"You dey craze? Who you dey follow talk like that?" Dare clenched his fist and moved to Kenny's seat with other male classmates of his, ready to pounce on him.

"It's okay, guys. There's no need for fighting", Martha quickly came in between them to prevent a replica of the WWE show from taking place.

"Only those who lack skills fight to defend themselves", Mary supported her twin.

"What do you mean?" Dare furrowed his eyebrows.

"If you're so sure of yourselves, a match is all you need to show who's boss", Mary explained.

"Besides, the captain of any team that wins this match gets to date one of the buses for a week", Fatima added.

"Let's do this!" Kenny screamed.

Quinn, who thought his new school had no means of carrying out sporting activities was impressed when he got to the field Martha told him was theirs. It was big, had neat grasses with toilet facilities and a changing room for athletes. Besides, a basketball court was also being constructed beside it. The only problem was that the site for spectators to sit had no roof yet so everyone suffered the effect of a blazing sun. It was way worse for Quinn and Mary who forgot to bring an umbrella since she already knew the state of the field. Her conscience wouldn't stop pricking her.

Before the match started, the members of each team were given the chance to host a meeting to allow them to decide who would play on their behalf. Johnson College's final-year students didn't have a problem with that because their football team was complete. However, an important member of the GMC football team, John, was missing and someone had to replace him. Aza was nominated to do that but that idea didn't go well with him.

"Aza, you have to join the team", Kenny was bent on making him change his mind.

"That's not possible. I've never been a keeper before. How do you expect me to survive out there?" Aza complained.

"All you need to do is prevent kicks from getting into our goalpost. How hard can that be?" Kenny said it was the simplest thing to do on earth.

"Why not just call John over?" Aza replied.

"You think I wouldn't have done that if I could? John is currently out of town", Kenny explained.

"What about Zach? He might be a Johnson student but he's closer to us. Besides, he won't be playing for them either", Aza was looking for all possible means to avoid his new task.

"As long as he's a Johnson student, we can't let him join our team. If we win, they'll claim it's because of him", Kenny countered his idea.

"Fine", Aza finally agreed to do everyone's bidding. "But you can't blame me if we lose".

"You'll be fine. Quit acting like a baby and start being the man that you are", Kenny patted him on the shoulder.

"So let's do this boys!" Omma encouraged them with a scream and others followed suit.

Of all names, the GMC football team chose to call themselves the "Agbado Champions" and Johnson students wouldn't stop making mockery of them. Their team chose a more sophisticated name, "Johnson Eagles", which most people in the field loved. Quinn couldn't really get the Nigerian meaning of both names yet loved the word "champion", only because of its meaning.

The one who was most excited about the match was Mr. Maxwell, JC's sports teacher. It was the first time his team was playing against another external team. Mr. Maxwell wanted to see how well they were going to perform since they had been refusing to carry out the professional training he'd been giving them. They were a set of, "I too know" players.

There was nothing Aza could do to stop himself from panicking. Yet, he resolved to use every football tactic Kenny gave him well. It wasn't about his team winning the game to prove their worth to Johnson students alone. He was also making efforts to impress Jess since she was into athletic guys. After all, he thought one of the reasons she must have agreed to date her current boyfriend was because he was a member of Barcelona Football Academy in Lagos.

Three times in a row, Dare attempted to score goals but Aza blocked it in astonishing ways and got acknowledged by the spectators, Jess especially. On the other hand, Kenny who easily scored three goals stole the show from the Johnson whom most people thought had a better chance of winning since they had good facilities for training. Eventually, the match ended in a physical combat between both captains because Dare could no longer hold his anger when Dave (also a GMC player) scored the last goal and the referee blew the final whistle. He claimed they cheated yet had nothing to prove it. Even spectators from his own school disagreed with him. Everyone said it was a fair match.

The smiles Aza got from his peers were one of a kind because he was one of the major causes of their victory. After they got a small trophy Mr. Maxwell arranged within a short notice, they carried both him and Kenny up high, then moved them across the field singing, "Winner oh oh oh". Jess was most happy about Aza's achievement. She had been waiting for him to do more manly things and finally got what she wanted. Though weird, seeing the injury he got on one side of his face and left leg while playing was thrilling for her. To her, it meant Aza was starting to quit being a mama's boy. Despite all this, Aza was worried his mom was going to kill him because he got injured and stained his clothes.

"I had so much fun today even though watching our team lose wasn't funny", Martha whispered as she walked back to school with Quinn and her twin.

"I'm glad that son of a bitch didn't score any goal", Mary was referring to Dare.

"Ah, ah. Don't be so mean, Mary. He's our classmate after all", Martha uttered sympathetically.

"Do I look like I care?", Mary rolled her eyes and turned to Quinn. "Aren't bad boys like you supposed to be gifted all around, both in various sports and academics?"

"Yeah..You even have the body", Mary smiled, remembering the first time she saw him shirtless. His abs had left her speechless for minutes.

"You both seem to have forgotten I'm from a country with unlimited sports options. It's nothing like your Nigeria where football is the only sport recognized by most people", Quinn replied.

"So what sport did you major in?" It's funny how Mary chose not to insult Quinn despite his rude reply.

"Basketball, Poindexter", Quinn couldn't afford to take things easy with Mary.

"Oh my God!" Martha chuckled.

"What does that mean?" Mary asked her twin, frowning with every strength left in her.

"You don't want to know", Martha ran from her side.

"Well, I bet you're not any good in basketball either. You couldn't even choose an extreme sports cause you're a sissy", Mary was ready for the consequences of getting on Quinn's nerves.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
As always, thanks for choosing, "The Externals Reloaded"😁🥰Note that the English translation is to give non-speakers of Yoruba language an idea of what Omma meant. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please, don't forget to drop a comment. It helps me know if you enjoyed the chapter and if there's any other thing I need to work on. I'm begging again....pleaseeeee drop something

It's my birthday today🎉 Kindly drop a wish😁😍

Your dearest Writer,
Eniola Oluwamuyiwa🥰