Not This Time, Love Pt 4

When the day came that I had to go to school, I packed my bag and baggage and sent them into an awaiting taxi. My mum was attending a program so I had to go with the taxi driver. I had never been to the school, but the taxi driver assured my mum that he knew there so he would take me there safe and sound. I sat at the front seat, with my chop box, luggage, bucket, mattress and my school bag at the back seat. I didn't like the idea of going to school in a taxi, but I took solace in the fact that it was a brand new car. I sat comfortably in the car, and the country music the taxi driver played just blew me away.

"Seein' you in my dreams
Holdin' you close to me
Oh, what else can it be?
It must be love.
It must be love
It must be love
I fall like a sparrow
Fly like a dove
You must be the dream
I've been dreamin' of
Oh, what a feelin'
It must be love."
That's my favorite part of Don Williams' song, "it must be love." it was as if someone had whispered into the ears of the taxi driver that I was faced with a love conundrum, so he should play the song over and over again to heal me.

When I finally got to the school, the taxi driver helped me to take my stuff to the boarding house. He helped me through all the necessary processes until I was shown my room and got a bed. I thanked him, and he went away. It was the first time the school was housing students as boarders. Although it was a mixed school, the boarding house was for boys only. The school was built on a piece of land, so one could take a tour of the school in 10 minutes. I sat on my bed and started arranging my stuff. We were supposed to be thirty students in the room, but only ten had reported.

After arranging my stuff, I laid on my bed and rested for a while. While I was on the bed, one boy came to my bed and initiated a conversation. He spoke so maturely, but his face looked young. I kept wondering if he was old or young. Although he was a first-year student like myself, he seemed to know a lot about life in the boarding house. He advised me to pray always, and read my Bible regularly. He said one more thing, and it got me frightened. It shook me and made me suspect every student in the school. He told me that some of the students carried bad spirits so I should be very careful. When I heard that, I became afraid and petrified. I decided not to make friends with anyone whether male or female.

The following day we went to the classroom. One senior came and handed over a bell to me when it was time for our first break. I felt ashamed. I wondered why of all the form one students, I had to be chosen as the bell boy. I told the senior that I wasn't going to ring the bell. He forcibly put the bell into my hand but I dropped the bell, and it fell on his left foot. He got infuriated and dragged me out of the classroom. Within a twinkle of an eye, I was surrounded by five seniors. They pushed me around until I fell very hard on my butt. I wanted to fight them, but I remembered I wasn't that strong to fight five well-built seniors. They made me kneel down. I started sobbing. Tears were running down my cheeks. I saw a girl approaching. Her face looked familiar. I quickly wiped away my tears, because I didn't want her to see me crying. That would be a sign of weakness. "But who could be this girl? She's definitely not one of my JSS mates.  She's not my church member, but her pretty face is very familiar," I muttered.
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Not This Time, Love Pt 3

Before Lucy's mum left my room, she gave me an envelope. She told me to keep it on me and use it when I go to school. I thanked him profusely because I knew definitely that what was in the envelope was a lot of money. When she left me in the room and I was finally alone, I opened the envelope carefully, and I couldn't believe what I saw. All that while I knew that a lot of money was in the envelope, but I never imagined it was that much. Gh₵1000? Wow, I couldn't believe it. I had to count and recount the money several times before I accepted the fact that that was the amount of money she had given me. I spread the money on my bed as if it was my bedsheet, and slept on it. I couldn't lie still. I rolled from one end of the bed to the other. It was then I realized that money is sweet. While I was practically swimming in the pool of money on my bed, my mum entered the room.

She didn't look surprised or shocked. She just ordered me to arrange the money and put them back in the envelope. I did exactly that. Just when I was about to put the envelope in my school bag, she told me to hand over the envelope to her. Wait a minute! That was my money. It was given to me by Lucy's mum. Why should my mum take it away from me? She thought I could not keep that amount of money on me? Well, I didn't have any other choice than to hand over the money to her. When she finally got hold of the money, she took Gh₵50 out of the envelope and gave it to me. "Take this, and take good care of it. You will not get any money from me until you have vacated. If you lose it, you have lost the money meant for the whole term. I'll keep the rest of the money for you," she told me that and left my room right away. My head was pregnant with unanswered questions, but my mum wasn't ready for my "unnecessary" questions so she went out.

I didn't agree with her plans, but I had not much to say because she was my mum and I was depending on her for everything. I sat on my bed, and I started to imagine how secondary school life was going to be like. I have heard a lot about how the seniors molest and maltreat the juniors. I have also heard the extent some boys go to win the hearts of girls. It's true I had promised myself never to fall in love with any girl apart from Lucy, but I was wondering if I would be able to keep this promise, especially after Lucy's mum told me there would be beautiful girls in the school, and I would get the opportunity to make friends with some of them. The more I thought about how campus life was going to be, the more I became tensed and confused.

I fell on my bed, and in no time, I was asleep. About one hour into my sleep, my mum came into my room and woke me up.

Not This Time, Love Pt 2

I sat down and cried. I cried because I couldn't believe I wouldn't get the chance to learn in the same school as my friends. JK, EK, and MA got OWASS, while Frank got Prempeh. And me? ADASS! Yeah, that was the school I got. I had not even heard the name before. I was so embarrassed to tell anyone about my school. I also didn't want to lie about the school I got, so I chose to stay in my room. I locked myself up in the room and refused to speak to anyone. Not my mum. Not Frank. Not EK. Not MA. Not even my pastor. I felt so disappointed. I had the same grade as Frank had, so why would I not gain,  admission to the same secondary school he did? The funny part was that I didn't even get the Science program I was looking for, but they gave me General Arts.

My mum was getting worried. She went out to call someone again. I wondered who else she would bring to my door. I was inside my room, still sobbing. I felt cheated. Yes, cheated. I couldn't get the school of my choice. I lost the only girl I had ever loved. I lost the opportunity to talk to that cute girl, who helped me find my post office box key. And now, I'm about to lose my friends. My partners in crime. Our beloved friendship would now be lost. Now, I would have to start afresh and make new friends. I wanted a single-sex school, but the school I got was mixed. If that wasn't an attempt by an invisible person to make me unhappy in school, then I wouldn't know what else he/she was trying to achieve. Just when I was crying over my woes, I heard a tap at the door. The person called my name. It wasn't my mum, but someone else. Who could it be?

At first, I didn't want to respond, but the person kept knocking and calling my name. I went to the door, opened the door gently but not widely. I was shocked to see her. She was the least of the people I was expecting to see in my house at that particular point in time. I knew my act got my mum worried, but I never imagined it would drive her that far to go and convince her to come and speak to me. I didn't even know she was in the country. That was the first time I was seeing her after I saw her in the car some time ago. I didn't know what the motivation of her coming to my room to talk to me would be, especially now that she had succeeded in sending Lucy abroad to continue her education there. Oh, wait a minute. Has Lucy returned to Ghana? Did she come to our house with Lucy?

The thought made me open the door widely and invited her in. She looked happy to see me. I wanted to ask if she came to our house alone or with someone else, but I couldn't ask. She sat on my bed, while I stood there speechless in my boxer shorts and singlet. How I wished she wasn't Lucy's mum, but Lucy herself. "When your mum told me you were acting weird because you didn't get your school of choice, I became worried. I couldn't finish my food. I stopped eating and came here right away. You know, Lucy had the same way of protesting against my decisions. She would always lock herself up in the room and not come out for days. Yeah. It took persistent pleads before she opened the door. I'm glad her dad came for her. She was becoming uncontrollable." I sat beside her on the bed and listened to her long speech.

Eventually, she was able to convince me that it wasn't that bad to attend a mixed school. The part I didn't like about her advice was when she told me I would get an opportunity to make both male and female friends. I wish she knew what I had planned. I wish she knew that I had promised myself not to fall in love with any girl again. I wish I could tell her that I loved Lucy so much so that I would not be able to love any other girl aside from her. I wish she knew the only person who could mend my broken heart was Lucy. I wish I could also convince her to bring Lucy back to Ghana, but from what I heard her say, it would only take a miracle for that to happen. A miracle? Yes, a miracle. How do I make a miracle happen, so that I can get back my Lucy?
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Not This Time, Love Pt 1

Not This Time Love

When Frank, the new guy, told me he had received a letter from Prempeh College, I knew definitely that I would also be picked by the same school. I took our post office box key and rushed to the post office. I was so nervous I missed a step, tripped, and fell very hard on the ground. I heard one of the women selling by the roadside scream, "You are the fourth boy to fall at the same spot today. What could be wrong with the boys of today? Do you always have to stare at my sweet granddaughter? Can't you just look at her once and move on? ," she screamed.

I didn't even notice the girl that the woman was talking about, until I got up from the ground and set my eyes on that beautiful girl, laughing uncontrollably at me. I thought I should explain to the woman that I wasn't staring at her granddaughter, but I just kept mute, smiled, and walked away quietly. I decided that I wasn't going to take that route on my return. Why? Our elders say, "it is only a fool whose testicles are stepped on twice." But wait a minute, the girl I saw beside the woman was really pretty. When did such a pretty angel fall from heaven? I don't want to believe there has been any other banishment apart from that major one that saw Satan and his cohorts being driven away from heaven.

So who could this girl be? I haven't seen her in our not-so-big town before. Could she be spending the vacation with her grandmother? Oh, how I wish I could see her and.... ermmmmmmm maybe get to know her better. But I had made the decision already not to take that route on my return. I only hoped against hope that one day, someway somehow I would get the opportunity to meet her, and have a chat with her.

I got to the post office and dipped my hand into my pocket, but the key wasn't there. The only thought that came to my mind was that the key might have fallen out of my pocket when I fell. I didn't like the idea of going back there to search for my key but I had no option. I went back to the place to search for the key. Luckily for me, the woman wasn't there, except her granddaughter. I told her about my missing key, and she readily offered to help me in the search. A few minutes into the search, she found the key. Just when she was about to hand it over to me, her grandmother appeared. "You again? What is it that you want from my granddaughter? By the time I count to three, you must be gone," she told me angrily. I didn't want any "wahala"  so I took the key from the girl and vanished.

I got to the post office and opened the box. There were several letters in the box. I took all of them and went home. I started glancing through the letters. The only letter I was expecting to see was the one from Prempeh College, but sadly, it wasn't among the pile of letters. I was so disappointed. Suddenly, I remembered. I didn't use our post office number. I used that of my church. Just when I was about to go out to the mission house for the letter, I met the pastor's son at the gate. He handed over a letter to me and went away. I knew since even EK and MA got admission to pursue their secondary education at OWASS, there was no way I wouldn't be picked by my first choice school, Prempeh. I looked at the postal address that had been written at the back of the letter and I was shocked. I couldn't believe my eyes. "This must surely be a funny mistake," I said to myself. Yes, it was from a secondary school, but the school wasn't Prempeh College. It wasn't OWASS. It was from an unknown school. It was the first time I was seeing the name. How on earth will I be posted to such a school? Guess the school I got.
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