IV

"My mother spoke to me yesterday. She said something about a betrothment. I'm to be married off to a merchant. A gold merchant. Yeah, at least I'll never lack. But, you know, I thought I'd have more of a say in it. Kunle is handsome, accomplished, and he has a title. I would never lack. And to her defense, she made sure my dad didn't give me out to the minister who came for my hand." I wasn't mentally present during her speech, but I got the gist. " And, why exactly are you telling me this? " " You are but one person, opposing a multitude. Opposing people who, although slighted, never oppose tradition, and also, a vast majority who seem to control a good number of us. Your effort is futile, but, I'm impressed by your courage. I wish you all the luck. But then, to fight a war, you must have an army." Kene made a valid point, something I had ignored. I didn't have an army, my mom thought my cause to be pointless, and Ekene was my only known supporter. So, I rose, with head held high, and heart stilled in determination. I began my ascend to the top of the locker. Well, that's how I imagined it. (Scratchy sound) I arose, my rise, punctuated by the scraping of my seat on the concrete floor, then, during my ascend to the top of the table, I slipped. Merciful God, I slipped, I almost fell. But then, with the determination in my heart slowly chipping away, I got my grasp on the locker. Then, stepped on the top of the table.

"You know, there's absolutely nothing wrong with actually acting like a teenager when you need to. For instance, we're stubborn. There's nothing wrong with using the word 'NO' , sometimes, it can be your saving grace. All the idiotic boys here that have stupid opinions, shut the fuck up. No one cares, if you want, you could go home and cry like the wee little boys you are. I don't care. Now, to business. I'm not saying you should insult your parents ohhhh, nobody sent you to go and sass them, but here's what I'm saying. Most times, women think they are powerless because of what men feed into their ears. Some of our mothers know that there's everything wrong with how girls are forced to behave. Some of them want their daughters to have the space to breathe. Some of us, like me, actually have parents that honestly do not care about our want for equality, and some of us have parents that support it. We're lucky. But some, they have parents that obey the unspoken laws of the society like it's the Bible. Maybe, for once, we have to be listened to. Girls, dream big. You've been made to think that marriage is your ultimate goal. But there's more to life, there's so much out there. Why would you fight for the attention of an insignificant human being that won't do anything spectacular for you. Why are you so content, you detest hardwork, and you belittle yourself. How dare you assume you can't do something if you haven't tried. We have to speak up, our voices must be heard, we can never be silenced again. Abigail, I know you're beautiful, in fact, you're stunning, but I also know there's more to your personality." " You're intelligent. Extremely smart. You aren't just a pretty face. But I know one thing, you feel subdued, empty. I can tell. Stop being the stereotypical init girl, you know you're more than that. And the same goes for you all, for every female in this room. None of you are lesser or greater than the other. We make enemies amongst ourselves over nonsense, we let the stupidity go to our heads. Loyalty has ceased to exist amongst us. We betray our sisters, backstab them, hurt them. And that, that is terrible. I'm not perfect, and you see me, I didn't send you home to slap your parents. Speak up for yourselves. Do not let them run you down." I was panting, really panting. But I felt better this time, I felt less embarrassed. The disdain on Abigail's face had been wiped off. Her eyes twinkled, a very obvious twinkle. Then, I looked around, I saw scowls, no doubt, but I saw them, they didn't look down at the floor, and they weren't in a haste to exit the classroom, no, they stood. Rooted to the ground. I could never ever, forget the look on their faces, because, for once, what lay in their eyes wasn't contentment, it was rage.