The Thorny Path - Episode 7

 

Ms. Aliyu walked out to the stage to call the names of the basic five students that had performed well during the spelling bee. She blinked twice, as she tried to look at the list. She stopped blinking.

"Eh, I am starting from the third position. She got forty. The second highest, she got forty-one and the first position, she got forty-two. They are all girls!" she said in pure shock, looking at them surprised.

They all walked out and stood on the stage . All the students clapped for them and they smiled looking at the students.

"For now, only the first position qualifies to the final stage. We changed our rules. I am proud of you, Cynthia," she said pointing at the girl that got forty-two and she smiled back.

"Now, I will be handing my students to the proprietress," she said and smiled.

Tolani's heart began to beat and she turned to her mummy. Their eyes met and she looked away. She wanted to be among the top two and also qualify for the best student to represent the school. Since she learnt about it, she had been doing revisions. Her mummy bought her a vocabulary textbook. She loved the quote, "What is worth doing is worth doing well". She began to learn everything

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. She did letter by letter and crammed a lot of words every day.

She turned and glanced at her classmates. They were waiting for the proprietress to say something.

"I am impressed by what I saw from basic four students," she said.

They all smiled and turned to themselves. Tolani didn't. She covered her face with her hand. She was expecting their teacher to say something.
"The third position got forty-four," she said. 
Everyone shouted and the teachers were surprised. "That is nice," one of the teachers said.

The proprietress smiled and continued talking. "The sad part is that no one qualifies from basic five," she said and made a face.

The basic five students looked disappointed from their faces. They began to whisper. And their class teacher looked more disappointed. The noises stopped and the proprietress began to talk again. "The third position was, Tega," he said.

Everyone in basic four looked shocked. They expected Tega to have been the first position. He walked to the stage and people clapped for him. The teachers shook him and he smiled. Tolani closed her eyes and thought she stood a chance to be the highest. During the spelling bee, the highest had always been Nnenna and Tega. Nnenna performed better most of the time. 
"And the second got forty-six. I loved it. This is beautiful. She is, Tolani," she said.

Tolani's mum smiled and she jumped up immediately. Her classmates smiled at her. She walked up to the stage smiling while showing her teeth. She whispered, "thank you, mum" but her mummy didn't hear it.

"And the first position got forty-seven. There was no much difference but this is extremely good. Her handwriting is so beautiful," she said and looked at the paper, then called Nnenna's name.

Nnenna walked to the stage and everyone clapped. The proprietress said only four people will write the general spelling bee to get the best two. She said it will happen in her office. It would take place on Saturday.

"As things will go, it will be the assistant head boy, Fuad. The head boy, Nonso and our two brilliant basic four students, Tolani and Nnenna," she said.

After school, they heard that the head girl was angry she was not among the best four in the school. Tolani didn't care. People began to tell her she won't be among the best two. Some said it will be between the assistant head boy and head boy. Some said it might be Nnenna instead of the head boy. She hissed and walked away.
When school ended, she went home with her mummy. On getting home, she began to learn the vocabulary again and told her mummy she needed to learn more. Her mummy gave her a phone and she searched for vocabulary on Google. She began learning and cramming words every day until it was Friday. She told her mummy about what people said that she won't be among the top two. Her mother laughed.

"You should be proud of yourself. You made the top four in the school and you should be very proud of yourself. They are only jealous of you. What is worth doing is worth doing well and you always do well to learn every day. I trust you will shock them," she said.

Tolani did not want to believe her mummy but she did. She continued studying until the spelling bee day. Her mummy loved how she studied. She had never studied like that before.
On Friday, Nnenna's mummy took her to school and told her to perform well. She walked into the principal office and they were given a hundred spellings. They finished and all went home. Their parents were to be in school on Monday to announce the result in the school hall. They were all excited.

On Monday, the hall was neatly arranged and students sat down on their chairs. They waited for the event to start. There was food and drinks. The nursery classes danced while Basic one, two and three acted drama. The head girl gave a speech.

Read " Resuscitated Hope " by the same author ( Obinna Tony )

. And one of the teachers gave a speech too. The teacher called out Fuad, Nonso, Nnenna and Tolani's parents to sit on the chair in front of the hall. The proprietress gave the school chairman a microphone to talk. He started by greeting everyone. "I am so proud of the students and the two best will be representing our school in the state spelling bee competition. I am sure they will perform well," he said. "But apart from that, we have gifts for the top four," he said and everyone clapped.

"The best student will be a two-day principal and it's a good thing," he said again. They clapped. "Now, it is time to announce the result."
He called the vice-chairman to call the third position. The vice-chairman walked out and began to do riddles with the students. They answered along.