Secondary School Experiences: The Nasty Letter That Got Them All In Trouble (Story)

Sometime ago in a certain secondary school, one naughty student decided to anonymously insult the English language teacher by addressing a very nasty letter to her. The author of the controversial letter described the teacher as “a fat, ugly idiot” and then proceeded to call her several other profane names. And then to worsen the matter, Tobi threatened to physically harm the woman unless she ceased to terrorize students. The letter was signed off thus- “A concerned student for S.S.1.”

Expectedly, the English language teacher was pissed off when she got to work the next day and saw the letter waiting on top of her table. She threatened to deal with everybody in the class unless the author of the letter was produced before mid-day. Unfortunately, twelve O’clock ultimatum elapsed without any knowledge of who the author was. And this prompted the teacher to punish all the students by assigning them large portions of grass to cut. That was first in the line of punishments unless the author of the letter was found, the teacher said.

 Meanwhile, there was a certain student who was determined to find out who the culprit was. His name was Chukwudi. He thought long and hard about how to unravel the mystery. And then just as he was about to give up, an idea struck him; he was going to investigate the case. And to do that, he would need to have access to the letter which had caused so much trouble for everybody. Chukwudi’s plan was to painstakingly examine the handwriting by comparing it with the notes of everybody in the class. So he went to the teacher to ask for the letter.

 “How may I help you, Chukwudi? Have you come to confess?” the teacher asked the boy as soon as he walked into her office.

 “I didn‟t write the letter, Ma. But I am investigating to find out who did” the boy replied, causing the teacher to laugh out loud.

“You are investigating the matter…”

“Yes, Ma. And I was just wondering if I could get that letter so as to use it to facilitate the investigation…”

“Look at me very well Chukwudi…do I look stupid to you? What makes you think I could ever give the letter to you so you could go and destroy it?”

 “I do not intend to destroy it, Ma. I just want to compare the handwriting with the notes of everyone in my class; that is the only way to find out who actually wrote it.”

 “I must admit that’s a brilliant idea. But I’m sorry you may not have the letter. It is the only evidence I have. As a matter of fact it is my property. I can’t just give it to you. You may have to figure out another way to fish out the culprit…”

*Do you think Chukwudi would find out who the culprit is? Will the teacher reconsider? Check this space for the concluding part of this story.