My life has never been one of much talk.
Pretty plain, and filled with very unique highs and lows too, but there is yet one story that stands out of some interesting ones, the one I am about to relate to you now.
My name is David by the way, and I am about to tell you one story that changed my life.
It all started in my final year of secondary school, the prestigious SS3 class, the class where budding teenage students are at their wildest, feeling above control and being above control too, with the tired and exhausted teachers letting the students do their will.
Our class was SS3B, apart from SS3A and C, mocked by SS3A as being below them, although the mockery was heavier on C. They were named the Sicklers too, because of how alike it sounded with "C-class". But the other students couldn't deny, the best students were in SS3B.
Our class was famed for having the most intelligent students, despite being the Arts class, with the A class dedicated to Science and the C class dedicated to Commerce. We also held the most beautiful girls, and guys from the other classes trooped in to tap from our blessings. But there was especially one blessing they could not tap- that of our class representative.
Her name was Blessing Izuchukwu, truly a blessing, but we preferred to call her "On Point", mainly because she was always on point. In grades, or beauty- easily one of the most beautiful girls in our Abuja school because everything of hers was on point.
She came to school with her immaculate white shirt and below knee skirt, all crisply ironed to a high degree of neatness, and her fair skin and thick black hair was one to defeat any other girl. Her height was the only thing not on point, being average, but it was overlooked and she carried her title of On Point with all magnanimity.
Sadly, guys baiting their hooks for On Point were bound to be let down, but let down in such a way that they held no grudges. She simply told them she was not interested, or she would be distracted, as she was also the Head Girl of our school, and they had to leave her anyway. She was a beloved of every teacher including the Principal.
Surprisingly, On Point was a beloved of everyone, and nobody was envious of her for being her simple, neat, Christian self. She was rather loved by everyone she came across and wowed everyone with her personality.
It was on a Tuesday morning, and I was making my way into the school by 7:58AM. I was not the sainted On Point to be always at school by 6AM on the dot, a point our Principal liked to stress on, for those students who usually went to the assembly. I hadn't been there in three months, and I had no plans to go, not at any time in the nearest future.
I also had a personal obsession with being different from the crowd, which was the reason why I wore black sandals instead of the brown our school recommended and also enforced, and a tie when every other boy was donning chains on. Same reason why I only carried a small sling bag to school, instead of the burdensome backpacks everybody else had, and needless to say, I was fine with it too.
I walked into my class and made my way to my seat where Obi, my seatmate and closest friend was already seated. People joked that we rather contrasted each other, and I secretly agreed-- He was tall, plump and fair skinned, with an ill-fitting nose that made him look a bit ugly and ears I teasingly called Devil Ears, because they reminded me of a goblin's. I was average heighted, slim and dark skinned, and according to people, handsome. I never saw myself as handsome anyway, the fact that Obi had a girlfriend while I was still single proved that fact for me.
Thankfully our Fine Arts teacher, the teacher for the first lesson of the day had not yet arrived, and I settled down. We had no need of going to the Arts gallery this time because in our last class he informed us that he only planned to give us a note. Obi was reading when I sat down, another reason why we contrasted. I got my good grades easily without reading much while he had to read hard to hold his ground as an average student.
He often told me I would unseat James, the top boy in our class if I read hard. No sensible person truly liked James, he was vain, rich and spoilt and had other boys trolling after him all the time, while he led them like a pack of wolves, buying things for them to secure their loyalty. He also had girls after him too, we all couldn't deny that for his many flaws, he was a ladies magnet, a reason we called him Magnus.
I was happy he had never really been able to charm On Point, and she had rejected him as many times as Man sinned against God.
I did not want to disturb Obi, so I sat quietly next to him and let him read. He realized I was there and then closed his book, pushing it away while acknowledging my greeting.
"Dave the man, perpetual latecomer," he hailed and I hissed, provoking a short laugh from him.
"Guy you sef know say I no like stress na. You know say my motto na No Stress." I replied him in Pidgin English.
He mimicked me in a way meant to annoy me and I hissed again. I turned around and noticed that most of our classmates were huddled around On Point's seat. My never-follow-the-crowd instinct stopped me from going to check why.
"Omoh why On Point seat choke like this na?" I questioned Obi, my closest source of information.
"Her twin sister follow her come today oh. I no know say anybody go fit fine pass On Point for this life till today. You need to see the babe."
"Omo On Point no try oh. She get twin sister and she no tell us."
"Why she go tell you, una no dey even talk sef."
I knew Obi was right. We barely ever spoke. My obsession with being different was the cause, I didn't like talking to her because everyone else did.
I looked at On Point's twin sister, a girl with a darker and more contrasting shade than On Point, and more beautiful. She a sensuous mouth, with a small nose, all crafted with a perfection that would have made Monalisa envious. She was also curvier than On Point. I also noticed she was wearing sunglasses and asked Obi about it, why she felt the need to wear sunglasses inside a class.
"The girl blind oh." was his reply.
The entry of the Fine Arts teacher silenced every discussion and put an end to every gathering that had been holding in his absence, including those that had been around On Point's twin.
He was a tall lanky man in his forties, bald headed and having a short grey beard with white sprinkles. His name was Mr Femi, a name we fondly called him, instead of a nickname, because he was good natured and very funny.
He had started dictating the note to us when he noticed the presence of an odd student in sunglasses, sitting in between two students, instead of the regular two per seat. On inquiry, On Point filled him in with the details of her twin, that she was blind and her School for the Disabled had closed down briefly due to a cholera outbreak, and she chose to bring her to school instead of leaving her home alone since their parents were often busy of recent, and that their Principal was already aware of it.
I was not surprised, no one was in truth, when she said the Principal allowed it, because On Point was easily her favorite student, because she was the Head Girl, and because of the sympathy anyone would have showed to a blind girl.
He responded her story with an 'ehyaa' and asked the blind girl to stand up and for the class to give her an official welcome. She stood up and I saw her clearly for the first time that day. Her tightly braided hair looked beautiful, but not as beautiful as her own face, with a small mouth and a smaller nose. She rather reminded me of Ariel in The Little Mermaid cartoon that my little sister was addicted to watching, only that this mermaid was a black beauty.
She looked like On Point fairly enough, but was way more beautiful. She was very curvy too, an hourglass shape, and I took the liberty to whistle amidst the noise everybody was making in the name of welcome. If I had not known Blessing 'On Point' Izuchukwu better, for all her moral and godly ways, I would have said she didn't advertise her twin because her twin was the more beautiful one.
"Obi," I tapped my seatmate and best friend gently when the noise had died down and Mr Femi was back to dictating his notes.
"I swear God no try oh. See this kind fine girl and she still come blind. If say she fit see nobody for dey look On Point two times fa." I continued speaking in Pidgin English, easily the most spoken language in Nigeria.
"Shey I tell you say the girl na babe. Everybody wey dey look her dey pick her over On Point. Even James talk say if he know her before On Point he for no dey waste him time."
He was talking to me while watching Mr Femi intently, like a stalking lion would for its prey. I could trust Obi for having the latest news in town, all thanks to his girlfriend and her incessant chattering.
"Amazing how Mr David here has his own private class in my own class," Mr Femi interrupted our flourishing conversation. "I would like Mr David to come out here and explain the basic features of Nok art, so I can know if he has been in this class."
I explained it correctly, and the nodding of Mr Femi's head confirmed how correct I was. However I knew he was still going to punish me. I was among the top five students in the class though, and I knew my punishment would not be harsh.
"Go over there and kiss your bride, and by your bride, I mean the wall. You will be doing that until I leave this class, since you seem to be ahead of us."
I walked to the wall, took out a pencil from my pocket, and quickly depicted a female face on the wall, before slowly placing my lips on it's, and the whole class burst into laughter. Even Mr Femi was amused.
"That is real Art class material. Thankfully all of you will be repainting this class before your graduation. We are just in First term and I can see how artistic you have been with our walls." Mr Femi bellowed proudly.
When he finally released me from my cold kiss, I tapped my bride's cheeks before returning to my seat, provoking another round of laughter. Even Obi tapped my back as I sat. But the only image on my mind was the one of On Point's twin laughing too. I found myself wishing she could see me.
Every other teacher that entered our class had the same reaction to On Point's twin, and by the time I was walking home, she was on my mind too. I raised my eyes upward, as if to look into Heaven and muttered the words 'God you no try.'If Obi had been with me he would have stepped away, warning me that lightning would strike me one day for all my blasphemies.
