Chapter 1: Salty and Warm
The palm fronds thrashed against the restless wind, their jagged edges quivering like a warning carved in nature’s script. The air pulsed with an uneasy charge, a harbinger of the rains gathering on the horizon. Scattered clouds drifted, thin and slow, yet their sluggish dance masked the brewing storm.
From the schoolyard, the children’s laughter cut through the air, sharp and quick, as we waited for their break to end. Only about half the students came today, their numbers lowered by rumours of attacks and kidnappings. We were far from safe, but I forced a smile, copying the weak courage we showed to hide the children’s fears.
Miss Mary, just eighteen, clapped and cheered, her young energy a small light against the growing fear.
I sat beside Ade, our eyes scanning the school’s perimeter, alert for any shadow out of place. “These ones no even know wetin dey,” Ade muttered, his voice low, the strain in his smile a thin veil for the children’s sake.
“This is not the service I signed up for,” I said, my thoughts drifting to my mother. Her face flashed in my mind, vivid with worry. “My mum would collapse if she knew I was in a northern village school, waiting for an attack at any moment.”
“Bros, the thing tire me oo,” Ade replied, his voice heavy. “Na only me be the only son for my mama. This is not what I bargained for.” He tugged off his cap, his gaze fixed on the palm tree as the wind grew fiercer, the clouds now thickening with intent. “Omo, this rain means business today. Cloud is forming real quick.”
The tin roof above us shook, a soft shake under the growing winds. The air got cooler, but the sun burned with strong heat. “The sun no gree am,” I said, squinting at the sky. “See how it’s fighting the wind.” I stood, stretching my arms, a yawn coming out. “Please, let this rain wait. Let the school close first. I’m not Indiana Jones o.”
Ade’s smile faltered, his face tightening. He had heard it too, a sound that sliced through the wind’s howl. He sprang to his feet, moving to the window, his eyes straining eastward toward the noise. “Is that thunder?” he asked, his voice, almost a whisper.
The second sound answered him. Not thunder. A gunshot. This time, even the children froze, their laughter silenced. The headmaster, a man in his mid-forties, burst from his office, his face etched with urgency. “Corpers, I heard gunshots. We must close up. It is still far, but we cannot wait.”
“Sir, weren’t the local vigilantes supposed to be here by now?” Ade asked, his fear clear like the children’s. Miss Mary, surprisingly calm, gathered the students, telling them to pack their things. Her smile, though tight, showed quiet strength, a weak attempt to make everyone feel safe.
Another shot rang out, closer now, its sound sharper. The headmaster’s voice broke through the growing panic. “Everyone, into the classroom. Lie on the floor, in the middle.” The school’s only classroom, its walls falling apart and roof sagging, became our shelter. We followed without question, huddling on the cracked floor as the children’s quiet cries turned into sobs. Heavy footsteps came closer, steady and slow, with chants of “Allahu Akbar” and more gunfire. My body shook, my mind racing with quick urges to stay, run, scream, or play dead, all crashing together in one tense, breathless moment.
Ade’s whispers of “Jesus” mingled with the children’s cries. The headmaster, his voice rising in Hausa, stood slowly, hands raised in surrender.
“What is he saying?” I whispered, my heart pounding.
“Don Allah, kar a harba,” Miss Mary murmured, her voice dry but steady. “It means do not shoot.”
“Yes! Please do not shoot!” I shouted, the words spilling out in desperation. I was begging for my life, a reality I never imagined. My eyes locked on the headmaster as he neared the door, his hands still raised.
I wanted to join him, to do something, but Miss Mary’s grip on my arm was firm. “Do not go,” she said, her voice low. “Stay here. Let him speak.”
Before I could respond, a sound tore through the air, not an explosion, but something sharper, more visceral. The back of the headmaster’s head shattered. Its fragments sprayed like broken glass. Blood and tissue splattered across my face, some into my open mouth. It was salty and warm.
The Principal stood for a moment, impossibly, before collapsing, his body twitching, legs jerking in faint convulsions. His eyes turned pure white, blinked rapidly, unseeing, as blood pooled beneath him, creeping toward me.
The gunfire roared relentlessly, rising like thunder, mingling with shouts and the children’s screams that tore through the air. My mind grew heavy, caught in a storm of fear and noise, trapped in a limbo where time seemed to hold its breath. A shadowed space filled with silent panic engulfed me. It was like words vanished and hope felt like a fading light. Nothing else mattered, not the blood tracing cold down my face, not the headmaster lying still as stone. Only the quiet, haunting reality that I have entered into uncharted territories of fear and uncertainty.
