The Ancestor's Gift

They walked into his office, given chairs to sit on, the Principal stood in front of them vividly livid, he paced up and down the room, looking at them at intervals with his hands in his pockets,he received a phone call and stepped out, he came back after a minute and broke the silence,

"The Director will be with us shortly "zhen4 said in a rather calm manner,"Can someone tell me why you lot were fighting in the classroom today?", subsequently they lowered their heads in shame, realizing it was because of a phone they had trashed their living room, their had lost their self respect.

"Sir ", said someone, with E everyone turning to that direction found out it was Alex," Sir, my phone was broken by Idris Kampbell Jr., I demanded an apology and a replacement but he refused,it was a brand new one and my parents wouldn't be happy.... "

" So, it was because of a broken phone, you lot fought in class today? ", he said cutting Alex off and nodding his head in disappointment

" Sir, the phone is very expensive ", defended Alex

" And I would have gotten you another one, all this wasn't necessary?! ", he replied after a which he took a deep breath," It was be an understatement to say you have disappointed me, rather 'fallen my hand', it's okay the Director will be joining us soon",he walked out of the room while the students still stared dagger at each other, Chika sat down holding his left shoulder, with the atmosphere almost tense, he figured out they fought because of a phone and it dawned on him how stupid it was, he bent his head in shame as seconds became minutes, the tension in air cleared after the class clown, Ifeoluwa decided to let out one of his jokes they laughed and forgot all about thr big fight.

Then a woman in her late forties walked in, a red dress with a black handbag to compliment, as she walked in all the students looked terrified and petrified at the same time, they stood up to greet her

"Save it", she said waving her hand, as she sat down, "Can someone tell me something? , why are my students fighting in my school?, do you want to ruin the reputation of my school?"

" No, ma'am"

"That was a rhetorical question, I didn't except you to reply ", she said," Now can someone tell me why students of my school are fighting in class?,Charles will you tell me what's happening?"Charlie stood up,his left arm bruised up, his down lip bleeding and part of his shirt was torn

"Ma'am", he said in his subtle British accent, "The fight was because of Alex's phone was broken by Idris Kampbell Jr."

"A phone? ", she asked bewildered," A phone has grown men fighting in my school, so called leaders of tomorrow, this is utterly ridiculous, Alex, tell me what happened? ". Alex stood up and explained his own side of the story, so did Idris.

" Alright, all of you should get up", she said stroking back a strand of her hair, "You have two punishments to choose from, one you all will go for suspension, still contest for school positions if you like and do community service at one of the schools around for a week, secondly you will all play a million Naira and buy 5 tablets for the school"

"The second ma'am",said a tall boy with cornrows standing at a corner, they all agreed to pay the fine

"Okay", she said, "I was expecting someone to say different but I see you all are as pampered as little babies, when you cry your parents give you want you want, you don't even think for a second where that money is coming from, you just ask for it, Go to Mr. Kehinde's office and get your copy of the school's account details, that will be all, dismissed". The Principal walked in moments later and instructed them to get the account details immediately and they stand in a straight line, they walked shamed into the Vice Principal's office, took the account details and left for class, they walked in on the girls being addressed by Mrs. Taiwo and Mr. Samuel

"And none of you should ever engage yourselves in a fight ", she said noticing the boy's presence," That's will be all for now, thank you "

" Thank you, Mrs. Taiwo", they replied. She left the classroom as the boys took their seats

"I feel so ashamed, Gregory? ", asked Mr. Samuel with a frown on his face

" Yes sir", he replied standing up, holding his knee

"What happened?! ", he asked in anger

" Sir, I tried to calm the situation but I was thrown into it ", then Mr. Samuel's phone rang, he stayed on it for a few seconds

" I have been called by the Director, when I come back we are concluding this and there will be punishments. He left the class, as Chika bent his head holding his shoulder, then someone tapped him, it was Tolu, Mmesoma and their friend Salma

"Hey guys", he said getting up to hug them, they brought seats close to his

"What's up? ", asked Tolu, "Your holding your arm?"

"I think it's broken, it hurts a lot", he said with a whimper.

"Why don't you go see the school nurse, she can be of some help", said Mmesoma

"You know, I didn't think of that", he said and they all laughed, "But I don't think it's necessary, if I can get an ice pack, I think I can work it"

"I'll get it ", said Mmesoma, as she left for the clinic. Meanwhile Tolu, Salma and Chika had a conversation

" We were fined a million Naira each", he said, "and they still demanded 5 tablets", Tolu and Salma looked at each other

"For real? ", asked Salma," That fine I'd a but hefty, I mean you guys destroyed a few lockers and tablets, what's the 1 million Naira for?, my dad wouldn't pay that"

"Your right though ", replied Tolu," I wouldn't allow such an amount leave my parents pockets after the fees we pay here already, my phone doesn't even cost up to a million ", they laughed,they continued to bicker when Mmesoma stepped in with the Ice pack.

" They almost ran out", she said handing the ice pack to Salma, she put it on Chika's arm and use cello tape to hold it

"That would do until you get home ", she said examining the arm, then saw his bleeding lip,"Your lip is bleeding", then Chika locked his lips

"All better" he said, they laughed again. They had Biology and Geography before they dismissed for the day, being the first week there was no extracurricular activities like clubs and lessons, students from all classes came out to the hall to wait for the parents except the 11th and 12th graders, they stayed in their classes.

The day was so eventful most the 12th graders forgot to fill their forms for the school positions, he followed Alex to the office so he could submit his and he bumped into Mmesoma

"Soma", he said leaning in for a hug, "You haven't gone yet?"

"No, my parents haven't come yet", she said giving in to the hug,Alex joined them as they walked back to their class. It wasn't long before Alex left and Mmesoma, Chika looked at the time, 4PM and his parents weren't here for me, not even his driver. He tried their numbers but they weren't going, even tried his two sisters but nothing, he kept pacing up and down the room, looking very worried

"Chill mate ", said Charlie," They'll come eventually, if not I'll drop you off", hejad a personal driver that waited on him until he was ready to leave.

"Sure bro but why haven't they called back? ", he said rubbing his hands," I'm feeling a bit tensed, he sat down.

"That's very odd", chipped in Salma, she was always going home late too, "None of them are replying your texts or calling back?"

" Yeah", he replied as minutes turned in an hour, Charlie and Chika decided to go. They stopped at Charlie's house first, where Chika ate and played video games. He didn't realize the time until it was 8:15PM and none of them had called. This is where the real story starts.

After he gulped down his orange juice, Charlie's driver dropped him off at his place, and to his surprise he met an ambulance in front of their house, some of the medics were taking away bodies, he ran towards them and found out it was his younger brother, Ifechukwu, infact all the dead bodies being taken away were his family. He walked in to see some police men in his house

"Are you Chika Ugochukwu? ", one of them asked

" Yes, I am", he replied, "What's happening? , what happened to my family?"

"They are dead", he said coldly, "And you father sold this house before his death, I'm sorry this no longer your house", they grabbed him and kicked him out. He was still picking himself up from the ground when the house caught fire. He ran out of that place as fast as possible, he tried to call Charlie and Alex, but it want going true, the estate suddenly caught flames too,the flames ran towards him and circled him, then every where went dark