What Happened To Senior Gigi?

Everybody knew that Senior Gigi was a bully. A ranting, domineering bully. She was an asshole, but had no one had the guts to say it to her face, so she walked around the school feeling like a demigod. That is why I will never forgive her for what she did to my best friend, Faith.

That faithful night, I laid in my bed pretending to sleep as she walked into our dormitory and to Faith's bed, shaking her vigorously and dragging her out of it. Faith was her school daughter, but they had more of a predator-prey relationship. 

I had always heard of Senior Gigi's bully stories, so I was eager to see things for myself that night. I quietly pulled up my bed cover to cover my face, slightly turning to face the direction of Faith's bed, which was adjacent to mine. The bed cover was translucent, so I could see body figures and movements.

“You still have the guts to sleep, eh? Didn't I tell you to not sleep a wink until you fetched all my bucket? You are very stupid!” she barked as she dragged and twisted Faith's ears, making her wince in pain.  

I clenched my fists as my heart raced, I wondered if nobody could else hear them or if they were all scared of being caught awake. And of course, it was the latter.

Weaklings—I thought as I kissed my teeth, not realizing that I said that out loud. I froze as my eyes widened in fear.

“Who said that?” she said. Her voice was low, and I could tell from the sound of it that she was raving mad.

“I didn't say anything” Faith quavered.

“Shut the hell up!”she yelled, slapping faith on the right cheek, Faith let out a scream and even though she tried to suppress it, I could felt her pain in my bones. As Senior Gigi moved to slap her again, the dormitory lights went off, and she hissed in frustration.

“Follow me to the Ss3 block now. I will teach you lessons there myself. Let me not get there before you. Bastard”. She said, and Faith got down from the bunk bed, following her like a cattle to its slaughter. 

The next day, as Faith limped out of the school premises in her mother's arms with a black eye, I felt my blood pressure rise in anger. Our eyes met for a second and at that instant, I knew I was the only person to put Senior Gigi in her place since no one else had the balls to.

...

19 days later

...

“On behalf of all staff of Lorey Johnson High School, I wish all students a safe trip back home and a happy Easter celebration to mark the end of the second term session. As we all know, according to the school tradition, the Sss3 and Js3 students stay back for an extension of one week. This is so they can prepare seriously for their external examinations, which are just around the corner”. 

The Vice-Principal, Mrs Adenuga, paused and looked around the crowd of students from the rim of her glasses and let out a broad smile.

“Have a wonderful holiday, girls and don't forget that Jesus is the reason for the season, not the food or the hangouts. Behave yourselves. Goodbye!” she added as a huge round of applause commenced. 

As I clapped, I could not help but smile at the influx of happy thoughts that crowded my mind. I was going to become a senior student in less than six months, my best friend was back from the hospital after I spent fourteen long days missing her company. There were days I had to feign illness just to get permission to leave the school. 

Seeing her lay there on the hospital bed broke me in many ways I cannot explain; that's why I am excited for what the following week brings for not just me or Faith, but all Jss3 students alike. I was going to be Senior Gigi's Karma, and I would make sure she tasted a bit of what she always dished out.

I glanced around and held my eyes looking at where Senior Gigi with her friends giggling and making fun of the shoes of a Jss1 student who was walking into the staff room. I squinted my eyes in disgust as I watched them, not realizing that I was staring the whole time and that we were already dismissed from the assembly.

“Bukky! Bukola!”, Faith said snapping her fingers twice against my eyes, making me jerk back to reality.

“What?!” I snapped.

“Nawa for you oh! Of all people to stare at, I thought you hated her. Don't tell me you are admiring her” Faith said in a mocking tone, wiggling her eyebrows in amusement. 

“Let's get out of here. See Mr. Tunji approaching. I am sure he is looking for who will help him copy his lesson notes again”. I said, dragging her by the arm, out of the assembly ground, pushing through the crowd and into our classroom.

“Are you okay?” she asked once we were in the classroom, staring at me intently.

I shrugged, settling on my desk, which was right next to hers.

“I know a suspicious Bukky when I see one. You are definitely up to something, this girl. What's up?"

I hesitated. No way this girl was going to get words running out of my mouth.

“Nothing jare. I have not just been in the best of moods lately. Let us go and buy minimie chin-chin before that busy body basic technology woman walks in”. I said brushing off the topic. It was better working with my demons in solitude, no way I was bringing anyone else in.

…

“Please tell whoever asks that I am not feeling well. Don't forget to lock me on your way out. Also, tell Faith to see me after refectory”. I hear Senior Gigi say from a room in the Jss2 dormitory as her friend, Senior Jombo walks towards the front door.

“You and this your school daughter. Sha don't finish my cabin biscuit oh, see you lerra” She said as she stepped out of the hostel, locking the main entrance door and ran down the stairs. 

I hid behind the curtains on the stairway, watching her leave before I stepped in to open the dormitory using the spare keys I had stolen from the school matron.

As soon as I am inside, I quietly close the door and stooped low to remove my school shoes, making sure to make no sound while at it. I was sweating seriously that I could barely grip my shoes, but I was hell-bent on getting things done and leaving before the refectory period came to an end. 

I stayed still as I tried dictating what Senior Gigi was up to at the moment. Peeping through the corridor, I noticed that she was on a towel, applying a facial scrub and ready to hit the bathroom. I squeezed the bottle of Hydrogen Fluoride scared that it would break any moment from then because my hands could not stop shaking.

The initial plan was to get it into her food, but when I saw that her bucket of water was already inside the bathroom waiting for her, I quickly had a change of plans. On getting into the bathroom on my tiptoes, I opened the acid container. 

Just as I emptied the content into the water, I heard the door open. My eyes widened as I saw Faith standing there glaring back at at me.

“What are you doing here?” I whispered, still in shock, as I quickly hid the bottle behind me.

She hesitated for a moment like she couldn't believe her eyes too.

“Bukky, I knew you were up to no good! I noticed how isolated and shady you looked all day so I followed you!” She snapped, keeping her voice low and getting into the bathroom. 

“You have been following me?” I asked but she didn't respond.

“Faith, Are you crazy? You could have been caught! What if someone saw you?!” 

“Really?” she said, crossing her arms above her chest, raising her eyebrows.

Then I realized that even though she was the scared cat in the friendship, she was twice as smart.

“How did you get in there?”

“I slipped the keys from Senior Jombo’s bag when she went to eat. That is not even the point. What are you doing?”

Just as she finished that sentence, we heard footsteps approaching. 

We quickly hid behind the bathroom walls, letting our uniforms sock in the soap foams and water that were on them. Senior Gigi hummed happily as she settled to take her bath. As soon she bent over and started washing her face, I slowly dropped the bottle on the ground as Faith and I took to our heels. Everything happened so fast that before we knew, we were at the school's garden with the rest of our classmates carrying out an Agricultural Project.

…

Not so long after, we started hearing loud cries and screams from the Ss3 block.

“Gigi! Ginika! Your skin! Somebody help! Oh my God, it's peeling! Somebody help us!”

A frenzy began and had most of your classmates including the staff running towards where the noise erupted from.

“I knew what you did”. Faith muttered as I looked up and our eyes meet. She gave me a knowing look, but I could not decipher her emotions.

As I opened my mouth to speak, she reached out for my hands and squeezed them.

“And I couldn't be happier” she added, pulling me in for a hug. 

THE END.

Benecca’s Tales

2022

All Rights Reserved.

Picture credit : Twitter - KetaSHS

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I attended a boarding school, so I didn't have to do a lot of brainstorming or thinking while writing this. I already had the mental picture stuck in my head as I wrote. I hope I conveyed the message properly :)

One of the bad things that happen in boarding school is Bullying and, sadly, it is still rampant these days. 

Having said that, this story does not pertain to any of my experiences while in secondary school. All my characters and their names are virtual and are only products of my imagination.

The “What Happened To Senior Gigi?” story is inspired by the song, “Do yourself” by Angélique Kidjo ft Burna Boy.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comment section. 

Thank you so much for reading!

- Vanessa Anakor

thevanessawriter@yahoo.com