My name is Chukwudi but my friends call me Chudi. I was born in the beautiful city of Enugu where I lived happily until July 2010. And then my whole life changed! My mother had walked into my room one evening to tell me that we were relocating to Ibadan to stay with my grandma. It was a permanent arrangement. Expectedly, I was saddened by this news; for how could I just suddenly have to leave all my childhood friends behind to a place I barely even knew? It was just too much to bear. And as a result, I threw tantrums in a desperate bid to convince my mummy to change her mind about the relocation. But then her mind was made up. She got a new job at the University College Hospital and couldn’t possibly turn it down. Moreover, her mother needed her. And then to crown it all up, she was tired of staying in Enugu.
Sullenly, I came to Ibadan, determined to dislike everything about the town. But then with each passing day, it became clearer to me that I was stuck there…possibly forever. Before long, I was enrolled at one of the secondary schools in the city and life couldn’t be any more hellish. Not only were my classmates all Yoruba people, they were also very unfriendly; at least so I thought. I also thought the teachers were simply biased towards me.
On several occasions I had problems at school. Some kid who felt too full of himself would always try to superimpose themselves on me and then I would retaliate. And by the time the matter got to the teachers, I would be blamed for it. Of all my tormentors, Tobi was my biggest challenge. I was determined to resist him for a while before finally dealing with him…
TO BE CONTINUED…
