Short Stories
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BY COMMENTING
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE As A Member OR Visitor
Message Writer
Hire Writer
Report Article
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE As A Member OR Visitor
Message Writer
Hire Writer
Report Article
HEADMASTER:
One matter stood tall for attention before the community. The pupils ran on the streets shouting. Hours after the protest began, they refused control. Rain has just fallen after months of dry season. With their wet school uniforms, they assembled at the Councillors house.
Ken had been posted to his community primary school as Headmaster. A promotion he had expected for long. Even though it was a belated one, he welcomed it, oblivious of any obstacle to becoming the head of all the masters in this small village school. The young pupils whom he was coming to serve in such esteemed capacity took to the streets in immense disappointment. He has not been accused of murder, rape or any heinous crime to deserve such demeaning treatment: A harsh one you will say from the village of his ancestors. To add insult to injury, the aggrieved pupils protesting his transfer and promotion were far younger than his own biological children. Ken saw beyond the smokescreen of disrespect coming from those kids. He felt an enemy; a wicked one must have incited them to tarnish his image.
Ken, a trained teacher was the first son of a farmer of great esteem. His father had several stakes of yam in his barn and wanted a good education for him. When Ken graduated, he got employed immediately. Pupils that he taught saw commitment; teaching skills in him and those noble qualities endeared him to many families. While in school, the place of his first posting, he had shown great diligence in the discharge of his duties. Blessed with a good body with a brown complexion, clothes give him a good fitting. His carriage was princely. Maybe, that could explain why he got life partners that gave him many children.
Ken embodied passion in developing people and could not be easily be discouraged. In the face of incessant delays in salary payments, Government ban on promotion, Ken continued to teach, supplementing his meagre income with farming like many others living in the village. After school or work at farm, he would relax with some bottles of palm-wine served from big containers. He used his drinks often to wash down chunks of goat and cow meat delivered in locally made rich pepper soup. He was not alone anyway. That was the habit many reared in this place of his birth.
Alcohol ordinarily has a subtle ambition to get her customers deeper and deeper into an inseparable perennial relationship. It finally caught Ken. He began to get more enmeshed in the habit. Palm wine seemed not to intoxicate him to satisfaction again. He began to subscribe to kai-kai- (illicit gin) beer and its brothers. Like the pig that does not require a loud speaker to announce what it has eaten, alcohol began to advertise him. A day could hardly pass without a prepared visit to a joint to feel high. Maybe, he knew he was not helping himself and family. The role of teacher, father and brother began to suffer tremendously. Parenting his many children with a mind always taken captive by alcohol was pretty difficult.
Some of his children knew his weak point and began to exploit it. Salaries paid to him could hardly stay to the end of the month. With the whole amount in pocket, he habitually went to a beer parlour, to render his unalloyed stewardship. The remaining part could either be lost on the road, picked by his children after a bout of drinking. Whenever he recovers from stupor, the internal thief could hardly be known or found.
The rioting children succeeded and he was sent to another school. His drunkenness was their dissatisfaction. It was evident to all. Since the school inspectors could not recommend him for sack, the children felt, they must have a say in who becomes their Head Master.
Ken’s brother in-law, a leader in the Teachers’ Union was fingered as mastermind of the riot. Some however believed the children protested of their own volition. The news came one day that he died and the burial arrangement was made known to people. Before his death, he was very ill. His hands and legs looked tiny but the stomach had assumed the status of an expectant mother. You know even the wicked, foolish hardly get mocked when they die. The dead are respected and sometimes eulogised to great surprise in the eyes of people that know them.
The mockery was great. As one of the daughters was being driven, the ambulance carrying Ken’s remains was at the front. ‘Ah! Alcohol has finally killed this man o’, someone said. Hot tears began to cascade from her tear glands. She cried and cursed the mocker .The convoy was still in motion passing a big market. Words meant to pacify the young girl began to come. Even though they were not armed with an autopsy report, they knew in their hearts that palm wine et al gave him a deadly blow. The grief was heavy. Ken’s progression to addiction was slow culminating to the stigma that robbed him armless of his honour amongst his people.
Members of his Assembly carried him in a single file to the graveside. They were all dressed in unique apparel. The Burial ceremony looked organized, but the man in the casket was not an organised person while living. A bereaved member of the family struggled with tears with an interruption of a pat at his back. As he looked to the rear, to see who wanted to console him, a woman with a familiar face greeted. The paths of the tears on his face were still visible when she requested, “You will give me bread o”. The bereaved man nodded his head in agreement as several orations began to pour in.
One of them, a lengthy one from his daughter who allegedly used to picked money from the deceased’s pocket.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE AS A MEMBER OR VISITOR
Reader Count & Comments
Date
The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com. This is especially true with articles that
deal with personal healthcare and prophecy. We encourage the reader to make their own decision in consultation with God, His Word, and others as needed.
This article has been read 576 times < Previous | Next >
Read more articles by Onyejiaka uchechukwu or search for other articles by topic below.
This article has been read 576 times < Previous | Next >
Search for articles on: (e.g. creation; holiness etc.)
Read more by clicking on a link:Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.