CHAPTER FIVE

"the answer is ten" the young girl said confidently amidst the impending silence in the class. No one knew the answer and they doubted this girl's answer.

"correct!!" roared the teacher and as if persuaded by a remote button, the silent class thundered with an applause. "thank you Tola", the teacher said as the young child smiled.

She took her seat with pride praising herself for how smart she was. She could answer any question even those that seemed impossible to answer by the rest of her classmates. She most definitely is a bright child.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the loud bell which rang to inform the school of its break time. She glanced at the teacher who was now exiting the class while telling the occupants to remember to do their homework and submit. She sighed and was soon back to her thoughts but was interrupted once more.

"Tola, Tola, Omotola!"

"yes!" Tola cast an irritating glance at her fellow colleague who served as her disturbance.

"I was wondering if you could explain how you got the answer to the question. I don't really understand it." Came the plea

Tola frowned at her colleague, it's break time for heaven's sake! Why such a disturbance?

"I cannot remember how I got the answer" she finally said as she turned to leave.

"please don't leave, can you give the question another look? It's on the board, maybe you'll remember how you…."

"can you leave me alone? You are disturbing me!" Tola screamed and walked out of the class.

The pupil was speechless; she stared at Tola stunned as she walked out the door. Had she said anything offensive? She was about to start crying when a voice spoke from her back;

"please let me help. I know how she got the answer"

" thanks Tolu!" the pupil smiled.

Tola walked over to the play ground and watched other pupils as they played. She was always the one her classmates disturbed and she answered them when she pleased. She loved it when they pleaded, when they begged! It was not easy at all making their dull minds understand anything! She paused momentarily; she needed to return to the class to teach that dumb girl who doesn't know anything. She began the short walk to her class; she smiled as she thought of how the girl will feel when she realized how smart she is.

Tola entered the class to see most of her mates gathered around Tolu. What was it they were doing? She squeezed herself into the huddle.

" You're so intelligent Tolu! " cried a pupil.

" yes, you have taught us almost everything. We now understand "

Was this a tutorial without her as the head? This was simply unacceptable to Tola, though she kept watching her colleagues as they worked. All were unaware of her presence in the group.

" this solution is actually very simple, I never knew! "

" thank God for Tolu, if Tola was here..."

" yes?" Tola cut in as the pupils shuddered in astonishment.

"what did Tola do?" she continued ignoring their bewildered looks.

There was silence as she glared at them. No one had the guts to reply her.

" Tola did nothing" Tolu said quietly in the silence.

Just who did he think he was? She glared at him but he seemed unmoved. She has just had enough of him.

" so you think you are so intelligent? You think you know all right? I'll show you and you will see what intelligence is" Tola said almost shouting.

" Tola, I never said I knew everything or said I had any wish to meet intelligence. I just replied the question you asked"

Tola wanted to speak, she opened her mouth but nothing came out. Her rage was a fire and her fury immeasurable. She pounced on him and the whole class began to shout.

" what is going on here?" a teacher who happened to be passing by asked.

Everyone rushed to their seats leaving the two disputers alone. Tola let go of Tolu and walked silently to her seat as the teacher looked on in amazement. No one dared to speak a word during the remaining hours of school. Tola on the other hand found it difficult to concentrate; she was busy cooking up her retaliation plans for Tolu. Is that not what a smart girl like her should do?

Tola walked out of the classroom backing her bag. School was over for the day and she was exceedingly thankful that it had ended. The episode this afternoon with Tolu was an annoying one. It ate so much of her pride, it downgraded her personality. She spotted her driver at a distance and she increased her pace towards him.

" Tola" she heard her name and halted. She turned to face the person calling her.

" Tola, your bag is opened, may I help you zip it up?" the pupil asked

She turned, " make it quick, my driver is waiting"

The pupil zipped her bag and she raced to her car and hopped in without greeting the driver. She wanted home immediately.

Her father wasn't home as usual. Her mother was watching TV; she imagined the channel to be foreign such as zee world or televista as usual. Her mother was the only one who watched Indian movies and laughed like a fool. Tola wondered what her mother found interesting in those movies. She went up into her room, undressed and showered: she then went down stairs to have her lunch. Bisi, the house maid should be upstairs in her room to care for her things and put her room in order.

After her lunch, she decided to test her mother by asking her to help with her homework.

" mum, good afternoon. Please I don't understand this homework, could you help me?"

"Tola ,love shift, you are blocking the TV" her mother was clearly uninterested in what she had said.

She left her Mum and went back up. Her room had been cleaned. She thought about her mum and wondered if her father would have reacted differently but she would never know as he was never around for her to test. She sighed and took out her books to begin her homework herself. She was the brightest in her school and the smartest in the class no matter what her classmates or Tolu thought. She did all her homework herself without any help and she still topped her class. She smiled to herself and brought out the first book, there was a note in the book.

" you are not as smart as you think Tola!" it read.

She read the note over and over again. She thought she would get angry by it but instead she felt very sad because the note felt true. If she was smart, won't her parents want to be with her, speak to her and love her like everyone else? Tolu must have all that love and attention from his parents. She knew her parents loved her but she just wished that her mum switched off the TV and her dad wasn't too busy for her. Her thoughts brought tears down her cheeks and she cried.