Hard tiny lumps that took the semblance of 'bon bon' sweets had begun to take shape on our chests, the boys had started making hissing sounds as we passed. Visiting days were no longer the same because it became a taboo to wear black bras, the prints of our pink bras must be made visible against our immaculate white outing shirts- that was the normal for us.
Everyone had dreams, places we hoped to be in the near future. Some doctors, lawyers, engineers, historians, economists etc, but never teachers, there were two other professions- PERPETUAL READERS and PERPETUAL BEAUTY QUEENS. The perpetual beauty queens are the professional instamodels we have today, some never made it to the toplist of ladies who were serial neck- twisters- life took over, and age tarried along, wowo even became a recognized word in the Nigerian dictionary. The perpetual readers became all they ever wanted to be, they became the FUTURE.
The lady from the first paragraph has a name, she was called 'CUNCJBRK', that's like an acronymn for the names of all the bookworms and nerds that existed in those days. As the boys took notice of us, some old he-goats couldn't resist the lure of lusting for their daughters, they bleated too. But these girls sha, the first lady's look alike, they didn't want to flow with the game. Hideous dressings were their style, there's this hairstyle called 'Low cut' which had a longer version called 'all back', they were known for that too. While we were becoming conversant with the names of the boys that were separated from us by a huge wall, those girls were making out with Ababio, they mastered the sequence of names in the periodic table, we no fit hear word for them H, He, Li, Be..... dem over sabi sha!!!. The teachers liked them, as if no be the same school fees we pay. To us- they didn't belong, they struggled too-we didn't know their names, but they secretly wanted to be recognised, so they never hesitated when we asked them to do our assignments for us- that was the only way their names could be remembered. Users sha!!!
I saw her today- yea, the 'First lady'. Remember how I told you that she became the future, the future eventually came, she toushed up. Her make-up was wow, in all my years of experience, I never could maintain that style. Her cloth clung tightly to her skin, the specs were gone, she later told me she traded them for contacts. One fine bobo,the types that ran after us and licked our feet, yes, that type married her. Do you know that she doesn't struggle to leave her name anymore, me sef, I proudly tell people she is my friend. She became a medical doctor, the one who had beauty and brains woven together.
I won't tell you what we became, but I will tell you that we hanker to be like her.
There is truly time for everything. Most times we pursue shadows and forget that that to get to the roof, a foundation has to be laid. Humble beginings should never be forgotten or underestimated, they should never be jumped over. When the chips are down, and what really matters is taken into account, we will know that there is dignity in labour, there is dignity in doing the right things at the right time.
Lest I forget, "that FAST car crashed.........."
