Likumbi

Right after Mr Ingham made his request, there was a rattling of pages and opening of zips. Soon after that, everyone had a blue textbook on top of their desks. I examined the page, and it had colourful illustrations of flowers, a man and a woman holding hands, and standing among them, on the centre, was the title written in bold: “West Side Story”.

“It’s probably something romantic and cheesy,” I thought to myself.

After a few minutes of reading, Mr Ingham asked questions, but I was too busy fantasising about being whisked away by a very hot, I mean HOT, man. You see, the story revolves around two characters, named Tony and Maria, and they are caught in a forbidden romance. In my head, I was playing the role of Maria, singing on the balcony while Tony climbed up to come get me. I then clasped my hands, pressed them to my heart, smiled, and took a deep breath. I was lost in my thoughts.

“Likumbi, Likumbi!” Mr Ingham yelled, snapping his fingers on my face as he did.

“Y … yes sir,” I replied in slow motion, still stuck in my fantasy.

“What can you conclude about the story?” Mr Ingham asked.

“Tonight, tonight, the world is full of light, with suns and moons all over the place …” I slowly and mindlessly responded.

“That does it! Detention for you,” Mr Ingham said, and he then carried on to his desk.

At the mention of the word detention, I was back to my senses, but it was already too late for me to answer his question properly and explain myself. Now I was going to be stuck in the detention room for an hour right after classes. Such bad luck, and most of it was self-imposed!

At break time, my happy vibe was literally dead, so I walked around while gently gnawing on the chocolate bar I had bought from the snack bar in the school cafeteria. I then realised that Trident High was bigger than I had thought.

After classes, it was getting very cold. I knew I had said I enjoyed cold weather, but that one was just too much for me to handle. By the time I was making my way to the detention zone, my exposed arms had goose pimples all over them, so when I got there, I hugged my bag for warmth and sat at the back.

In the detention room, I saw many kids my age. In the first row were three girls, all dressed in black, and they looked like Beyoncé wannabes. Apparently, they had gotten into detention for gossiping during class. Served them right, though. You do not blab out super sweet secrets, especially during class time. They ought to be shared when you are having manicures and pedicures, with your face covered in nourishing avocado masks.

To the left of the room, were jocks with very deep voices, and they were laughing loudly. I wondered what they had gotten detention for. Lastly, at the door was the monitor. There was nothing interesting about her. She was snobby and rude and … let us just say she was not your everyday type of girl.

I was feeling very cold, so I began to shiver. I then suddenly felt something tap me, and I gasped a little. I was probably going to be given a black eye. I had heard that the children in detention were not people, and that they were animals, savages, and barbarians, so I was probably heading for the worst. My thoughts halted when I felt the tap again, and I wondered who or what it could be.

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Tell us: Is there a story you have ever related after reading?