I looked at my guy with a great sense of humor, knowing very well that the environment we found ourselves had to do with being fit just to survive.
Whatever you do, has to be for your survival.
But it's heartbreaking when some of the actions taken to survive happen to land us in serious trouble that instead of surviving we end up being disgraced or punished.
*Fred sprang up with his eyes wide open, picked up his sportswear and made his way straight towards the principal's house since he knew what would happen if his info got to the principal. That will be the beginning of his predicament.
But why will the boys still go to report to the principal even though their stolen mattress was returned to them in good and sound condition?
Chuks who brought in the message asked, we all sat perplexed not knowing what to say.
Fred hurriedly followed the boys before they could get to the principal house. Thanks to his stars the boys were already in the principal’s house but the principal was not at home.
So he pleaded with the boys to allow the sleeping dog to lay without waking it.
After much persuasion the boys agreed to keep it to themselves without notifying the principal who happened to be their school guardian.
*The origin of all these was when Fred’s mattress was stolen. The boarding house is a place for no jokes, especially in my region and it's even worse when it's a public school.
You dare not keep your items carelessly or you won't find it again. But then the mattress was not kept carelessly. It was in our room when someone walked into the room and picked it.
We came back from class to discover Fred's mattress is not in a position where it was when he left for classes.
We made an effort to search the whole of the hostel but I guess whoever took it must be smart enough to keep it in a place where we will not find it. So Fred decided to make away with someone’s own as well as that is the pattern of lifestyle that goes in the school.
But unfortunately for Fred, he made away with the mattress of the wrong people.
This single act almost landed him in the most trouble of his life, while in school as this would have led to public disgrace and then probably expulsion.
The boys who's mattress was moved got information from someone who saw Fred take the mattress so they approached Fred and when he discovered who the boys were, he quickly gave them back their mattress without any arguments even though he was in a senior class and the boys were his juniors.*
He came back with the boys after pleading with them not to report the case to the principal.
We had no option than to ensure that these boys are convinced not to report the case so we made them our favorite boys making sure they get whatever they need that is within our capacity to give to them this act was to save our friend from the incoming danger from Adamu Baba( The principal) who can give a minimum of 13 strokes with his “koboko”, a rolled animal skin that serves as a whip.
And this stroke will be done on the Assembly ground directly on your skin. It means you will have to pull off your shirt before you receive those strokes.
And that's how we managed to handle the situation at hand without it escalating.
But then don't judge Fred for his actions, the boarding house in my region is like a jungle so you have to take some irrational actions to keep yourself moving in that vicinity. Most of the actions taken are now history but then we had to survive.
Good script here and I want to assume your context is Africa and perhaps Nigeria.
Fred taking another's mattress happens to be a similar pattern in boarding schools here also. It was like a jungle where the fittest survived.
Thank goodness Fred was able to curtail the incident from escalating
This offers the reader insight into a rather sad condition at your boarding school. It seems everyone scrambles to survive and in doing that may transgress on others. It's not really a humorous story, but it seems to be reality for you.
Thank you for sharing this with us, @iyimoga