Right off the bat...

I had an abnormal childhood. Weirdly, it seemed I and my peers were cut from the same cloth. Particularly folks that grew up in my region.

I'm no writer. This is just a piece of my childhood I'm putting out here. It was a struggle deciding to do this. Well, here it is.

I'll do my best to limit typo and grammatical errors.

Cheers.

Episode #1:

I woke up feeling weak. A bit of finger-like scratches around my thighs. It was the second night in a row I was having the same disturbing dream.

I shared it with my mom but as always, she'd dismiss it and tell me dreams are just my imaginations gaining expression.

However, these dreams were vivid and felt so real. They terrified me a great deal. I slept in same room with my mom cause I couldn't bear the thought of being alone.

"Why do you keep seeing her in your dreams, and what did you do when you saw her coming towards you?" — my friend, Nonso asked me.

*It was the first day of school. The new session had kicked off. Primary 4. Second term. Here I was, narrating the weird dream I had to my friend—who was too excited to indulge me.

Nonso was my seatmate and coincidentally, my best friend. He was my partner and coexecutioneer in the dubious deeds we perpetrated.

People called us twins. Same complexion, close heights, and similar interests.

Nonso and I met frequently during the hols. This was possible cause our parents were extremely busy. Hence, getting out of the house wasn't a hurdle. We had unresticted freedom when our folks were off to work.

Despite the close friendship we shared, our parents had never met. There was never a reason to. However, they knew their kids were friends.


"When she was coming towards me, I tried to..."

*Was still in the process of narrating the dream I had to Nonso when the bell sounded for morning devotion (It was popularly called Assembly).*

All the pupils were out. Arranged according to their classes. After the praises and worship, we recited the "Lord's Prayer", and the National Anthem was sang to culminate the exercise.

The headmistress mounted the podium to formally welcome us back to school. She cited our performance last term and urged those who did poorly to try harder this time around.

*My last term's result was the biggest shock of my life! It wasn't just a surprise to me, but also to all those that heard about it.

Up until that point, I had always performed poorly in school. I always competed for second to the last position with Esther.

But things took a dramatic turn last term— I took the first position and Esther came out second— the two dullards now topped the class.

In our little world, it was the biggest upset in the school's history! No one had ever had a leap from 25th position to 1st.

This made me popular at school. I received accolades from my teachers and a great deal of admiration from my peers. All of a sudden, people wanted to hang out with me. It was weird. I liked it.

I couldn't exactly explain the reason behind my drastic change in performance. I wasn't ab avid reader. As far as I can recall, I never picked up my book to read for an exam in primary school. For some inexplicable reason, I just got smarter. Probably because I developed a keen interest in listening while my teachers taught.

However, this was not always the case. I have an active imagination. While in class, I could zone off and veer into my own world of fantasies.

While having one of my periodic 'moments', the bang on the desk jerked me back to reality when everyone stood up to greet a lady who came in with a girl.
*We banged the desk to call the attention of the students to greet whenever an elder comes into our class*

Our class teacher had a brief chat with the lady. Apparently, the young girl was her daughter who had just enrolled with us.

After the lady left, our class teacher, Mr. Chris ushered the girl into the class and asked her to introduce herself.

"My name is Tamara and ...."

While she was talking, the class was awfully quiet. And the reason was simple. Tama (as she would popularly be called), had something different about her. Right from the point she opened her mouth, there was a tone of maturity that permeated how she laced her sentences. Sure, we were age mates. But she didn't speak like it, and as it'd later become glaring to everyone, she didn't act her age either.

Everyone was transfixed as she spoke. Her long weaved braided hair ('all-back' as it was popularly called) which appeared to have been touched with ointment, blended perfectly with her caramel skin and slender feature. She was beautiful.

"Nonso, she's the one!" — I uttered while tapping him on his shoulder with my mouth opened in shock.

"What do you mean?" — Nonso replied looking confused.

"The girl I saw in my dream. She's the one" — I responded while pointing to Tama.

"Mayv are you sure?" — Nonso replied with his eyes popped up.

*My dad named me Maven. But for short, people often call me 'Mav', pronounced /may-ve/*.

"Dude. I'm not even trying to be funny. She's the one. I saw her last night. She was the one trying to touch my pe..." — Me.



To be continued...

I couldn't post today. Promise new update tomorrow morning.

Episode #2:

Tama wasn't a stranger to me. I had seen her just once though— during the holiday— It was at my mom's friend daughter's birthday party.

It was a fun party. There were lots of games and abundant gifts. I didn't exactly get to speak with Tama at the party. We were all just busy playing and running around. However, Tama didn't participate much. She stayed glued to her mom. I guess the futility of childish rabblings didn't appeal to her.

*In the eve of school's resumption, I had dreamt of Tama. It was the second time. A disturbing dream which a kid still in primary school shouldn't be having.

No, it wasn't a wet dream. However, it was intimate. She'd reach out for my joystick and we'd embrace. It was uncomfortable. Weird. I had never had such a dream before.

I was uncomfortable to tell my mom. So I'd tell her of one of the nightmares I had.

I often woke up in between sleep sessions. Hence, in a single night, I could have up to 2 or 3 dreams, and at least one would be like a replay of a horror movie. Sometimes I'd wake up screaming.

This particular one was different from what I had ever had. More so, I seemed to like it. Sure, it was deeply uncomfortable. But it felt good.

Here I was, staring at the girl I had seen in my dream.

"I guess she's your dream come true" — Nonso said jestingly.

Tama didn't seem to notice me. Or did she? I mean, I could bet I saw her pass a couple of glances at me. Or probably I was just seeing things. Besides, I lost count of the number of times I nervously looked at her direction.

*The bell sounded for Break time. I, Nonso, Emma and Payi went to the cafeteria to get snacks. These guys were my clique. In school, we always moved together. We were inseparable.

Unlike my peers who brought food from the house, I never took a lunchpack to school. My mom always gave me N10 or N20 for lunch. Digestive biscuits was my favourite. I'd always buy two and have it with water. My clique would escort me to the cafeteria and we'd come back to the class and eat.

On our way back to the class, I saw Tama approaching with two other females. They were our classmates.

My heart skipped a beat! I tried scouring the perimeter to see if it would be possible to evade the imminent encounter. There wasn't. Moreso, I didn't want my friends to know this girl made me feel uncomfortable.

"You're Marvis, right?"

I didn't answer. I tried, but the words wasn't coming forth.

"No, he's Maven. Not Marvis". — Nonso interjected.

"You were at that birthday party, right? I think I saw you with Peace and Segun during the dance competition." — Tama.

"Yes, I was there. I didn't think you'd recognise me."— I muttered. Almost stammering

You can't blame me. This girl had appeared in my dream in which we were doing unmentionable things. And here she was, talking to me in-person.

"Yes, I saw you saw you looking at me during class."— Tama.

The giggle from Nonso and suprise from my other friends made me feel embarrassed. I had only shared my dream with Nonso. Hence, they had no clue why he was giggling.

"May I borrow your English note? I missed first period and I'd like to copy what was given. Mr. Chris told me I could ask you" — Tama.

We proceeded to class and I gave her my note.

"So you were looking at her during class abi?" — Emma teased after I had given her the note.

"I wasn't. Why would I look at her? She's not even fine sef." — I lied. She was beautiful.

Breaktime ran fast and after three more subjects, the bell sounded for closing.

......

#Continuation

I had arranged my bag and was already prepped to go home. While exiting the class, Tama hurriedly approached me and handed me my note. She thanked me and suggested we walked together to the gate.

"My seatmate told me you're the best in class." - Tama uttered smiling.

Me: I don't really know. Up until last term, Akpan always came out first. He's always topped the class since kindergarten.

Tama: So how did you do it?

Me: I have no idea how it happened. Akpan is very intelligent. I don't know what happend that he came third.

Tama: You're obviously intelligent too and I'd like to suggest something, if you don't mind.

* At this point, my mind began scrabbling as to what she possibly had in mind. However, as we spoke, the nervousness in my voice had faded. My confidence had returned.

"Let's become seatmates." - Tama.

*My ears was probably playing tricks on me. Or is this another dream?

"Ehn, what did you say?" - I replied with a puzzled look.

"Let's sit together starting tomorrow. I'm new to this school and you're the only one I know. Besides, Bisi talks too much (her seatmate)." - Tama replied.

"Ermm. I don't really know. I've always sat with Nonso. Besides, Mr. Chris will have to approve." - I responded scratching my head.

Tama: It's easy. I'll tell Bisi to find somewhere else. You can come over. Or Nonso and Bisi could sit together.

*I was skeptical about this arrangement. I knew my classmates quite well. How I decided to change my seat to go be with the new girl will be the talk of the class.

While I was muling over what Tama suggested, she didn't seem to be seeking my permission. More like she was informing me about what she had decided and I should get on board.

"Tamara, I'm not sure I can be your seatmate" - I uttered.

Tama: Why, don't you want to sit with me?

Me: No, that's that's not the reason. It's just that....

*As I was about trying to tell her the reason this arrangement wouldn't work, she interrupted...

"My mom is here already. See you tomorrow. Bye. "
*She reached out, gave me a quick hug and waved me bye.*

I was shocked. I was expecting a hug. I was so engrossed in our conversation that I didn't realise we had already gotten to the school gate which is quite a distance from the school's class block.

After watching her get into her mom's car and seeing the vehicle drive off, I looked around me whether someone other than me witnessed what just happened. I hoped no one was paying attention.

*While I convinced myself that no one saw what just transpired, I could not have possibly fathom what was waiting for me the next day. My childhood was about to change.

___________
I arrived home at about 2pm. My school wasn't too far from my house so I always walked home.

My compound had two blocks. The first block housed a family of eight. They were very much older than me. The last child was probably 19 or 20 then. His name was Matthew, and he was a very spoilt fellow.

I was close to him and everyone in their house. I probably spent more time over there than I did in my house. This was because my mom left the house early for work and got back late. So during the time my mom was away, I'd be at my neighbour's. This was where I got early introduction to some of the obscene things a kid could possibly be exposed to. More on this later.

The second block had two flats. The left wing housed my mom's uncle, his wife and three kids– a girl(first child) and two boys. I was just a year older than the girl.
My mom and I occupied the right wing of the flat.

*When I got home, I made my way to the back of my flat where my mom usually hid our house key. I retrieved the key from under the mat and made my way to the front door.

I got inside, took off my uniform and put on some house clothes. Headed straight to the fridge, took out bread and went to the kitchen to make Milo.

After eating, I zoomed off to uncle Matthew's house (we always referred to our elders by 'uncle' or 'aunty').

When I got there, the door was usually left unlocked. But this time around, it was locked. I knocked and no one answered. I knew folks were inside cause I could hear persons muttering quietly. I decided to go through the back door which led to the kitchen. Viola! It was opened.

I made my way from the kitchen and stepped into the living room. What I saw shocked the brakes out of me!

First, I saw uncle Matthew, his elder sister Eva who was probably in her late 20s, and two of my mom's uncle kids who lived in the West wing of our flat (I was older than them).

My jaw dropped with what I saw. They were...

Hmm, hope they were not engrossed in the evil act of paedophilia with those innocent kids