"Mathew is outside waiting for you." Mum says as she enters. My heart skips.

"You mean he hee, he's there, really?" I stammer.

Mum looks at me, hisses and walks away.

"Hahahhahhaha, today is the judgement day." My big brother shouts and sends out a wicked throaty laugh.

"Nonsense." I mutter under my breath as I scramble around for my shirt to go out to him. Nervousness has gotten the better part of me.

A year before now, I lived in this same house; a gated house where we never had visitors on weekdays, so you can imagine how surprised I would have been when I came back home from work sometimes last year, to find 3 young boys sitting by our verandah. I moved up to the boys and instantly recognised one of them. His mum owned a provisions shop down the next street and I had been there to get coffee a few times.

"Good afternoon, sir" the boys chorused.

"How far, guys?" I asked and went inside.

I found my big brother frantically searching through the old box where we kept our old books.

"Una wan do lesson?" I asked in pidgin English.

"Urrrm, yeah, I promised to be tutoring them mathematics." he said.

My brother is a computer programmer; a maths wizard. But, he was just a young man too and I wondered if he would have enough time to be tutoring the boys.

I almost asked him if he had enough time to tutor, but I decided against it and just set my bag on the chair and went in for a cold shower.

I saw the classes happen for about two weeks. The boys would come in the evening and Brother would sit with them, tutoring them. Then one day, I got curios and decided to eavesdrop on the class.

"Well, that's the end of class for today. As from tomorrow, I think my younger brother will be tutoring you guys." my brother said.

I was dumbfounded. Did this shrimp even ask if I would be able to tutor the boys? My heart started beating in an ultra-fast rhythm and I started pacing around the room till he came back inside.

"Did you ask if I'd be able to tutor them before telling them I'd be tutoring them?" I shot at him as he opened the door.

"Oh! You heard," he said, then grinned.

"What!" I shot at him again.

"If you won't be able to tutor them, just tell me." he said, and stormed his way to his room, and slammed the door.

Honestly, as I stood there, utterly dazed, I realised that the boys' class could actually be a chance to revise some of the books I last touched in my secondary school days, which was a pretty good idea, but........

But, I don't have time.

But, I can't teach.

I knocked on his door twice and he opened.

"Urrm, how many minutes do you spend with them? I mean; what's the plan? What days do you have classes?" I asked.

"That's for you to decide. You can decide to teach them for 5 hours everyday." he said in his usual sarcastic tone and grinned.

"I'll do it" I said.

"There's no pay, Boy." he said and grinned.

"I know." I said and walked away.

*to be continued.

Never knew you write this good.

Nice!

Bring it on!

I took up the job and shifted the class to weekend evenings. On my first day in the class, I was amazed at what I saw. The trio was in J.S.S.2 and they had no idea how to add fractions together or round off a number to the nearest ten.

"Next week, come with the mathematics textbooks of Primary 3. That's where we'll be starting from." I said.

From the funny look on their faces, I realised that the boys were disappointed and even amazed at that.

"Yes! Till next week." I said, and picked up my textbook and pen.

On our next sitting I was surprised to see that only one of them had come with the textbook that was required for the course.

"Rubbish. Una think say una know book?" I asked them?

The boys were dumbfounded.

"Look here, boy" I gestured at the only boy that came with the textbook and I started the class facing him alone. We went through the main topics in the textbook together as the two other boys gawked at us.

Na my fault say una no get sense? I thought.

The next week, the two other boys came with the required textbook too, but they both stopped to come after about three weeks.

"Wetin be your name?" I asked the third boy.

"Na Mathew, sir." the boy stammered.

"Why your guys no follow you come again. Why them no come since last week?" I asked him.

"I tell them make them come, them talk say you be witch sir. Say, you go and promote them to small class wey dem done pass since 7 years ago." He said.

"Chai! Them get sense like this? Dem think say dem know book?" furious and angry, I asked a rhetoric question.

Mathew just laughed. The classes continued for weeks as I tutored Mathew alone. Weeks evolved into months. I developed a liking for the young boy and we got so close. Gradually, our relationship transformed from a teacher-student one to a friendship and I got to know a lot about him.

I got to know that he was from Warri and he was that he was the 7th one out of the children his dad had. I got to know that he had repeated classes twice for failing mathematics. I got to know that he had big brothers who had passed out of secondary school but couldn't even help him. I got to know he had a girlfriend. Then, I got to realise too as time passed that Mathew was brilliant, that he was very brilliant.

Within months, we had covered the primary school syllabus and started with the junior secondary school syllabus. That was by the start of the third term. We couldn't finish with the J.S.S.2 syllabus. He was doing awesome. He started scoring high in his maths tests in school.

Though Mathew always talked and talked about how appreciative he was of the time we shared together, I wasn't getting paid a kobo. He even tried to teach me in-line skating and I fell twice skating, so I gave up. I knew it made him really disappointed that he wasn't giving back anything.

Until I asked him, I wasn't even sure his parents knew or even cared about him being tutored. His parents only cared that he went to school. They didn't even ask about his grades. That was what he told me. One day, I went to their shop to buy some coffee and as I paid his dad for what I bought, I heard Mathew shout from the inside of the shop.

"Na the bros be this! Na the bros be this!" and he pointed at me, looking to his dad.

"Which bros?" his dad asked.

"The one wey dey teach me na." he said, obviously disappointed that his dad didn't remember.

"Oh na you! How you dey na? Your boy dey always talk about how you dey help him. I dey very very grateful my brother." he said in his thick Warri accent as he extended his hand to me for a handshake.

He shook my hands tightly. The demons in me were already having a feast as I had thought that would make the man give me my money back, but the next thing I hear jerked me awoke from my silly dream.

"Em, oga tisha, we no get change. Maybe you go come back."

"Okay, sir." I smiled and said, trying to play civil.

This man na confirm kala ooo, I thought as I walked back home dejected.

I continued to tutor Mathew until the real test came; the exam. Mathew was nervous. He had failed this twice. I encouraged him to study more and more and always told him I was sure he was going to pass into J.S.S.3 with good grades. He never seemed to believe me.

He took the exams and went through the questions together. As we awaited the result, we continued our classes.

So last week, he told me they would be collecting their results yesterday. And today, he is by my door knocking. If he didn't pass the exams, I know I'll be a failure. I'll hate myself and he'll probably hate me too. I say some silent prayers and his words jerk me back to life as I open the door.

"Bros Lekan!" he shouts.

"How e take be?" I ask and stare at him with my dangerously suspense-filled eyes.

"Make we sit first." he says and smiles

"Guy, how e take be na?" I am gradually losing my patience.

"74." he says, laughs and hands me his sheets.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" I shout. I am filled with joy. I run inside. I run past my brother. He asks, while cleaning his glasses as he stares into his computer; typical of a nerd, if Mathew passed. I ignore him and run past him into the kitchen. I run to the freezer. I force-open the cover and grab two cold cans of Pepsi. I run out again and Matt, as I fondly call him, is just laughing all through my drama.

"Guy! Make we drink first, make we drink first!" I shout.

"Lekan, are you okay at all?" I hear Mum shout from her room.

"Mummy. I just dey happy!" I shout back.

Matt laughs on. I collected his sheets and saw that he passed English with only a 54.

"Oh boy, this English thing, my guy na close shave wo." I say.

"How Mukaila and Ope paper take be na?" I ask

"I no know about Mukaila own, but e be like say Ope fail am, as I dey hear for inside school. Na so we see am ooo. Thank God say person still pass." he says and laughs again.

"Maybe we go add English to our lesson from now on." I reply and we gulp down the liquid in the Pepsi cans thirstily, still laughing hard.


Brother comes out and gives Matt a handshake.

"Congratulations, Boy." he says, as he cleans his glasses again, and now, just now, all the tears come. My eyes well up.

"We no even do toast. Abi, Warri boys no dey do toast?" I ask jokingly, trying to distract them.

We both raise the cans high.

"To Matt! Two empty Pepsi cans to Matt! To Matt passing!" I shout and as we raise the empty cans to our mouths, I hear brother laughing at us from the parlour.

THE END
Copyrights reserved.
©2015

This story opened a way to a thought that never ever crossed my mind before; the thought of becoming a teacher. It was the best time of my life, seeing Matt improve. It was real joy. If I could become a teacher, I could feel this joy just everyday, I thought.

Now, I don't stay at home anymore so the classes have discontinued. It's so sad. So, last two weeks, when I visited home in the weekend, I heard someone shout 'Bros Lekan' from the top of a moving bike. It was Mathew, and I saw him wave from the bike as he faded into the distance. Seeing him again actually prompted me to write this piece.

timpaker
LarrySun
miccoy
TrishaP

laykorn:
This story opened a way to a thought that never ever crossed my mind before; the thought of becoming a teacher. It was the best time of my life, seeing Matt improve. It was real joy. If I could become a teacher, I could feel this joy just everyday. I thought.

Now, I don't stay at home anymore so the classes have discontinued. It's so sad. So, last two weeks, when I visited home in the weekend, I heard someone shout 'Bros Lekan' from the top of a moving bike. It was Mathew, and I saw him wave from the bike as he faded into the distance. Seeing him again actually prompted me to write this piece.

timpaker
LarrySun
miccoy
TrishaP

It's okay, carry on...I'm seated already.

TrishaP:
It's okay, carry on...I'm seated already.

Check. It's ended already.

laykorn:


Check. It's ended already.

I know I just finished it up now. Thank you

Wow inspirational.

lalasticlala fp abeg.

kaluuche999:
Wow inspirational.

lalasticlala fp abeg.

Lol. Thank you.
Lalasticlala moves threads to front-page?

laykorn:
This story opened a way to a thought that never ever crossed my mind before; the thought of becoming a teacher. It was the best time of my life, seeing Matt improve. It was real joy. If I could become a teacher, I could feel this joy just everyday, I thought.

Now, I don't stay at home anymore so the classes have discontinued. It's so sad. So, last two weeks, when I visited home in the weekend, I heard someone shout 'Bros Lekan' from the top of a moving bike. It was Mathew, and I saw him wave from the bike as he faded into the distance. Seeing him again actually prompted me to write this piece.

timpaker
LarrySun
miccoy
TrishaP

Wow! That was good. Keep it up!

At my first read. Very good write up. Keep it up.

My suggestion.

"A year before now, I lived in this same house; a gated house where we never had visitors on weekdays, so you can imagine how surprised I would have been when I came back home from work sometimes last year to find 3 young boys sitting by our verandah. I moved up to the boys and instantly recognised one of them. His mum owned a provisions shop down the next street and I had been there to get coffee a few times.".

The bolded words needs restructuring. You are the author, we can't imagine anything. You should display how you feel in a better way. Intact do away with them.

Please tells us your age and that of your brother and those boys. How does your house look like, you only told us it is a gated house. A brick or clay house, the color of the house...

Let us see the wheat her too...

My opinions though, not necessarily you apply them. Will read the second one later. I may reread this and give further critisms.

cisse7575:
At my first read. Very good write up. Keep it up.

My suggestion.

"A year before now, I lived in this same house; a gated house where we never had visitors on weekdays, so you can imagine how surprised I would have been when I came back home from work sometimes last year to find 3 young boys sitting by our verandah. I moved up to the boys and instantly recognised one of them. His mum owned a provisions shop down the next street and I had been there to get coffee a few times.".

The bolded words needs restructuring. You are the author, we can't imagine anything. You should display how you feel in a better way. Intact do away with them.

Please tells us your age and that of your brother and those boys. How does your house look like, you only told us it is a gated house. A brick or clay house, the color of the house...

Let us see the wheat her too...

My opinions though, not necessarily you apply them. Will read the second one later. I may reread this and give further critisms.

a very nice story with your use of simple present tense, your story is unique... Write up, proud to know a writer genius like you

Good job!

cisse7575:
At my first read. Very good write up. Keep it up.

My suggestion.

"A year before now, I lived in this same house; a gated house where we never had visitors on weekdays, so you can imagine how surprised I would have been when I came back home from work sometimes last year to find 3 young boys sitting by our verandah. I moved up to the boys and instantly recognised one of them. His mum owned a provisions shop down the next street and I had been there to get coffee a few times.".

The bolded words needs restructuring. You are the author, we can't imagine anything. You should display how you feel in a better way. Intact do away with them.

Please tells us your age and that of your brother and those boys. How does your house look like, you only told us it is a gated house. A brick or clay house, the color of the house...

Let us see the wheat her too...

My opinions though, not necessarily you apply them. Will read the second one later. I may reread this and give further critisms.

Thank you so much, sir. I really appreciate your input.

About your first point, I will make sure I watch out in my subsequent works.
our

On the point of the ages, I think you should know, sir, that this story isn't fiction.

Thank you so much, sir.

I just found another good writer

nice story

diddydiva:
nice story

Thank you!
Twaci All The Way!

laykorn:


Thank you!

Twaci All The Way!

Thanks dear!

laykorn:

Thank you!
Twaci All The Way!

yes ooooo

pls convince people oooo


it's her!!!

diddydiva:
yes ooooo

pls convince people oooo


it's her!!!

Lol. I'll do just that, when I can.
#WeHaveDecided.

laykorn:

Lol. I'll do just that, when I can.
#WeHaveDecided.

that's great.

pls tag me on any new write up.
I would love to read more of your stories.

diddydiva:
that's great.


pls tag me on any new write up.

I would love to read more of your stories.

Thank you. I'll remember to do just that.

Well narrated! I knew you were good, but now I realise you are better. Work on those parts that need to be worked on.

God bless you, Sir Laykorn.

OMA4U:
Well narrated! I knew you were good, but now I realise you are better. Work on those parts that need to be worked on.

God bless you, Sir Laykorn.

Thank you, Sir Dammy!

Can you please help announce those parts that need to be worked on, sir?