Courageous Nerd

We'd Never Heal... The scars would never leave, etched on our hearts. Mama’s voice, pleading. Papa screaming into her face. Each night, the belt would leave his trousers and caress Mama’s skin. We’d huddle in a corner, our breaths hitching, afraid to make a sound. We’d learned, from the day Dimma had tried to intervene. The welts gifted to her lectured us. Mama’s voice soon stopped. She took it, for days, without a sound. She should have known better. Papa liked her pleading. He dropped his beloved weapon and picked up the stool. I still hear the crack when it landed on Mama’s head. I kept hearing the crack when I picked up the fork on the table. The crack got louder when Papa looked at me, shock on his face as I rushed to him, my weight knocking him down. The crack became an anthem, in sync with the fork as I stab-stab-stabbed Papa. All the fear, the hate, the pain, flowing through those three prongs. I was still stabbing when Dimma dragged me away, the crack resonating in my head...

Genesis Chinelo's laughter rang out. The fact that I was attracted to Genesis seemed ludicrous to her, along with the fact that I, a girl, was planning to ask a guy out. She'd stop, then crack up again. It was beginning to get weird. When she finally stopped cackling, she simply said, "It's your choice, do it if you feel he's worth it". So it began. Genesis, Chinelo and I have become close friends since then. He'd turned me down, and I still beat myself up about it, but I have hopes. We get along pretty well and, after a girl was raped to death in campus, he made it his duty to escort us back to the hostel. Chinelo's hostel is before mine, so we had a window to talk before getting to my hostel. We'd make small talk, deep talk, and I'd get to see his dimple. I lived for those windows. I think he's beginning to like me. He asked Chinelo for permission to 'borrow' me for the evening, and we went to see a movie that I'd been singing...

REMINDERS Each time people ask me why I don't get mad angry, I see her grin. The before and after, merging together, slicing a bit off my heart... Saturday mornings. I hated them, still do. That Saturday though, was way more irksome. My (not biological) elder sister had gone to the village to visit her parents, so I was stuck cleaning the rooms. My ire was palpable. I was done with the living room, the kitchen and my parents' bedroom. It was time for the parlour upstairs, and I confronted it like a girl possessed. My younger sister came upstairs to watch movies and I told her to go downstairs and do it. She told me that my elder brother was already watching a movie downstairs, and plopped down on a chair. My resentment was growing. She didn't clean anywhere and she wasn't going to, because she wasn't old enough to use a mop, but she was old enough to disregard me and comfortably watch movies when I explicitly told her too. I saw red, and yes, I know, but it...

The 45th Matriculation Ceremony The 45th Matriculation ceremony of the University, which was earlier postponed, has been scheduled to hold on Saturday, March 28th, 2020. Thank you. I.A.S Onyeador(Mrs.) For: Registrar

Last Day of February Mood - Nostalgic 29-02-2020 The worst part about remembering is the pain It's bittersweet sometimes, rips you apart most times though How things were before the rain We were all close before reality came like a foe You'd think of how happy you were, and weep Those days are gone, never to be gotten back All the laughter, the escapades, the talks that were deep The sync, the glances, the love we didn't lack It's nobody's fault, the way things are now Life happened, we grew apart Really, I'm living as good a life as I know how It's just, the memories seep in, twisting this heart Funny thing is that I know we'll have nothing to say If we run into each other Cause we're not the same again, at least not that way We'd smile, make small talk, and it'll kind of be a bother I just hope that wherever you guys are, you're good And that you cherish these memories like I do I want to know if you ever get in...

THE MATCHBOX PROBLEM It's been two months and one week since I came here. Funny enough, I can't remember if we had lectures on the first Monday, but I do know that I was hungry in the evening. I'd packed everything, or so I thought. I was even feeling myself for getting a gallon of kerosene cause I didn't know where to buy any at the moment. You know when you're so hungry you already dream of eating the food before you've even started cooking? I felt that way. Unlocked my cupboard, brought out my stove, and guess what? No matchbox. Yep. I'd packed everything except that little yet important thing. I went to bed hungry that night. Let's see how stupid I was. We all know the first case of stupidity was forgetting the matchbox, but I didn't have to go hungry that night. My roommates hadn't come back (the last person didn't even come back until... I can't remember, but it was a long time), but I had neighbours. When I was relating the s...