Chapter 6: The Introduction.

While I withered under Dr. Dogonyaro's creepy grimace, a knock at the door broke the tension.

"Enter," Dogonyaro said.

A girl walked in wearing a white jump suit with white leather sneakers. The suit was mono-colored except for a badge of two golden diamonds pinned above her breast pocket. She closed the door and stood at attention, hands behind her back. She had

a low haircut which made it impossible for me to guess how old she was.

Fair girl with an athletic build. Hard looking. Not the kind of girl who would interest me.

Mom always drilled into Ayo and me that we shouldn't judge people by their looks. I respected that, but at sixteen, I couldn't help categorizing girls. They were either hot or not.

This girl was not.

"Ekaiteh," Dogonyaro said, "this is our new pupil. His name is Phood."

She glanced at me for a second then fixed her gaze at the shelf behind Dogonyaro.

Dr. Dogonyaro turned my way. "Ekaiteh's job is to take you on a tour of the academy and get you squared up with basic things here. I'll check in with you later. For now, that will be all"

"Yes, sir," Ekaiteh said crisply to Dogonyaro.

To me, she said, "This way, pupil."

I followed her out the door. "Keep up, pupil, but not too close. If you Scuff the heel of my shoe, and I go make you lick'am clean'clean with your tongue." She said in pidgin.

Definitely not hot of her at all.

"Pay attention," she snapped. "First thing to know. Always obey orders."

"Big black guy at the door already told me that." I snapped back.

"That's Mr. Porter and the other man, Mr. Luke, is the desk guy. Take my advice, pupil, whenever you see those two men, turn around and walk the other way."

Mr. Porter and Luke or look, definitely not a friendly name to me, I thought.

"Why does this place need so much security?" I asked.

"This school ain't a country club or a missionary school. Never forget that everyone here is a delinquent. Many of us can be extremely violent."

"How about you?" I joked. "have you ever become extremely violent?"

She glared at me. "Pray that you never find out yourself ."

Got it. She don't look like the type that could take a joke.

"So, the security is here to protect us from what?....Each other?" I asked.

"Don't concern yourself with security. Just do as they say."

"Where are we going?"

She ignored me. The hall led us from Dr. Dogonyaro's office past a room marked 'Records' then past a double set of wooden doors painted bright red.

"What's that room?" I asked.

She halted and faced me. "All of the rooms in this wing are strictly off limits to students, especially the Red Chamber."

"Red Chamber?"

Ekaiteh glanced up. I followed her glance. Along the ceiling hung dark, dome shaped objects.

"Cameras?" I asked. "Are we being monitored?"

She lowered her voice.

"Everything you do in this building is monitored and recorded at the security station. Remember that."

The hall ended at a T intersection just beyond the Red Chamber. Ekaiteh turned right and led me to a door with a glass panel. Painted on the glass, a red cross.

"The infirmary (clinic) ," she said. "Mess with me and that's where you'll end up and your mama no go no u again."

Before I could think of an annoying reply, she walked to a double set of doors across from the clinic and pushed them open.

A gym.

Four boys wearing white gym shorts and matching tee shirts played two on two basketball.

"No chairs?" I asked.

"The academy doesn't participate in athletic

competition with other schools. Nobody comes here, no spectators, so there's no need for bleachers."

An instructor wearing a whistle around his neck watched the kids.

"That's Mr. Oneh, the P.E. teacher. You can

introduce yourself later."

Ekaiteh let the doors swing closed and retraced her steps past the infirmary to

the other end of the hall. She pointed to her right.

"Those doors lead to the school's food storage room and Kitchen.

We kept walking until the hall dead ended. To the left, another set of double doors appeared.

Ekaiteh said, "This is the dining hall. The food isn't bad here, I give it five star."

I kept track of the domes in the ceiling. Like Ekaiteh said, cameras were everywhere. A door with a crash bar and red EXIT sign faced us as we walked past the dining room.

"Emergency exits are located throughout the building" Ekaiteh said. "Don't ever use them unless there is a fire or a real emergency. All students must enter and exit the building through the front

door. Oh, and don't ever try escaping through those doors. They're all alarmed and the guards are extremely swift. They'll tackle you before you reach the fence."

Ekaiteh led me up a staircase located adjacent to the emergency exit. When we got to the second-floor landing, she said, "Classrooms are on this level.

Dorm rooms are on the third floor. That's where I'm taking you now. To your room."

The dorm level had a carpeted hallway that

smelled a little woody. The air temperature also seemed a few degrees warmer than downstairs.

"We just walked through the girls' wing," Ekaiteh said. She pushed open a door at the end of the hall into a pleasant looking place with large windows, a massive skylight, and a dozen or so comfy chairs.

Students filled two of the chairs, reading. Both were boys. Both wore the same white suits that Ekaiteh had on. They didn't bother to look our way.

In one corner, near the ceiling, hung a large screen TV.

"This is the Hub," Ekaiteh said, "a coed student lounge and solarium."

I looked at the ceiling. A camera dome hung dead center above the lounge.

Out the window I spotted a long, low building behind the academy. Before I had a chance to ask, Ekaiteh spoke. "Those are apartmernts, a place for special students who stay on after graduation."

As soon as those words escaped her lips, both boys jerked their heads from their books and stared.

Unable to resist, I had to ask. "Who are they? Why would they even want to stay after they graduate?"

Ekaiteh shot a nervous glance at the two boys. "You'll find out about that in due time, pupil. Come."

We walked through the door at the other

side of the Hub and entered the boys' wing. On each door hung a plaque bearing a room number.

"The academy can accommodate 24 students, 12 boys and 12 girls," Ekaiteh said. "Girls' rooms are numbered 101 through 112. Boys' rooms are numbered 201 through 212. Bathrooms and showers are located at the far end of each wings.

This is your room." She stopped in front of Room 210 and twisted the knob.

"No lock?" I asked.

She scoffed. "The doors on this floor are controlled through a central locking mechanism. Remember You're in custody. The goons can enter your room anytime they need to." She cleared.

My room was just big enough for a single bed, dresser, and desk. An air conditioner unit hummed beneath a window.

Ekaiteh hit the light switch and a set of fluorescent light tubes buzzed from the ceiling. Beside the light tubes hung a camera dome.

"You're kidding me. They monitor our bedrooms?"

"You neva see any thing'self, even your Bathrooms, too," Ekaiteh said.

"That's disturbing"

"At night, two guards sit in the security room and watch the cameras. Any trouble and they respond quicker than you can spit, so don't ever try anything stupid. There are also random nightly foot patrols in and around this vicinity. Don't be alarmed if you even sight snipers."

Not that I entertained such thoughts about Ekaiteh, but I had to ask. "Do boys and girls ever find a way to visit each other at night?"

"Not with all the cameras constantly watching. Besides, doors at the hub end of each wing get locked at lights out."

She opened my top dresser drawer and pulled out a bundle of clothing and a pair of white sneakers.

"Your uniform. Everyone gets a white jump suit and white leather sneakers. You come in Monday morning, empty your pockets, get scanned and change out of your street clothes. Then when you leave Friday afternoon you change back into your

street clothes. Keep the sneakers in your dresser drawer and dump soiled uniforms down the laundry chute. You're allowed two uniforms every week. Laundry is done by a service over the weekend."

She folded her arms across her chest. "What are you waiting for?"

"You want me to change now?" I asked

"Do it."

"You mean in front of you?"

Ekaiteh rolled her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself. You got nothing I want to see. If you're shy, I'll turn my back." With that, she turned around.

I slipped into the uniform and leather sneakers and stowed my street clothes in the bottom dresser drawer. I ran a hand over the front of the jump suit. Didn't make me feel like a prisoner.

Actually, it made me feel special, kind of

important, like I belonged to something.

Still facing away, Ekaiteh started tapping her foot against the floor.

"What's taking you so long?"

She didn't have to be so damned impatient.

"Done." I said.

Without another word, Ekaiteh led the way out of my room. That sounded nice. A place of my own.

"How come everything fits so perfectly,

even the shoes?" I asked. "How could they have possibly known my size?"

For the first time, Ekaiteh smiled, but it didn't make her look any prettier.

"Remember how Porter scanned you when you first got here? Special software takes your measurements, height, weight, everything. Get used to the fact that there is no privacy here, pupil. They know everything about you before you even know it about yourself."

"My name is Phood. Quit calling me pupil."

Ekaiteh snarled. "You haven't earned the right to be called by name yet, pupil."

"What's the matter with you?" I asked "Did you get up on the wrong side of bed this morning?"

"Don't mess with me, pupil, or I'll make your life a living hell." She snarled.

I almost laughed. My life was already a living hell, but I didn't press the issue. Didn't want her to go she-Bruce Lee on me.

"Let's continue with the tour," she said. "Follow me."

Down the staircase we went to the classrooms. Peeking through the windows built into each classroom door, I noticed students engaged in various activities.

"Classrooms are small," I said.

"Only 24 total students," Ekaiteh reminded me.

"Biggest class size is eight kids."

We stopped in front of one of the doors. From a hip pocket in her jumpsuit suit, Ekaiteh pulled a folded sheet of paper. She unfolded it, gave it a glance, and handed it to me.

"Your schedule. Don't lose it.

Classes are about to change and you'll be in this room next period. Tenth grade Algebra."

We entered the empty classroom.

"One more thing," Ekaiteh said. "You've probably noticed the only thing different about student uniforms are the gold diamond badges. My two diamonds mean that I'm ranked as a level two.

You earn your rank here, and it has nothing to do with your grade level. Theoretically, a tenth grader like yourself could become a level four, that's the highest rank, although it's highly unlikely. On the other hand, a twelfth grader could still be a level one, but that's equally as unlikely."

What a weird-assuming place this was.

Ekaiteh went on. "Rank has its privileges. For example, as a level two, I get to be a mentor. If I do a good enough job as a mentor then I might earn a promotion to level three. As a level three, I would

be permitted to leave the vicinity at lunch."

She put her hands on her hips and squared up to me.

"So, don't screw it up for me, pupil."

"Why don't I have a badge?"

"Level zero," she said. "You're a nothing yet. No privileges at all."

"What does that mean? I can't go to the bathroom without asking permission?"

Ignoring my attempt to lighten things up, she said,

"Orientation is over. I need to get to my next class. Lunch is afterwards"

The bell rang. Ekaiteh legged and left the room.

"Wait," I shouted suddenly feeling insecure, but she ignored me and kept walking. My throat went dry. I felt like a typical new kid, JJC, not knowing what would happen next.

Glancing around the room, my eyes settled on the glass dome in the ceiling. Cameras in the classroom, in the room, even in the bathroom according to Ekaiteh. What are these guy's upto here? I wondered.

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