Echoes of my youth

Chapter Three

On the 25th of September 2004, was the day my dreams of becoming a priest was yielding fruit, it was the day I joined the seminary,A boarding school. I wept so bad, because it was the last time I thought I would see my parents and siblings.

Honestly I felt happy leaving home because I wouldn't be able to receive those scolding from my mom.

The day I set foot into the seminary was the day I realized I made the biggest mistake. Thing's went well the first week, since it was my orientation, I got to know some of my class, we chatted as usual since we were new intakes from different backgrounds, we joked about almost everything, we ate the School food that was served at refectory. our provision wasn't spared one bit, since it was normal among kids, because it made us feel at home and we were given different functions by our respective dormitory prefects.

But at night especially during lights out, the unexpected usually occur.

we were requested by the housemaster to always switch off our torch lights in accordance with the rules of seminary.

It was lights out and everyone was fast asleep including me, I immediately heard someone walking around the dormitory, that sound was that of a woman on high heels, she was called "the lady of the night" by everyone in that school

As she walked pass each bunk, it began to shake , causing outrageous reaction from everyone in the dormitory.

This continued through out our orientation and I started missing home.

There was one time I felt someone touching me on my private part, but I couldn't see who it was, it was dark and since I was scared of the dark, I had to scream the name of Jesus to be free from its bondage.

During visiting day, I would beg my parents to take me home with them, but they said I should get use to it. that it's one of the cycles of Life and I won't be the first to enter boarding school. I had no choice at all but to stay.

After that time, my biggest fear in the seminary started to manifest, I would start stealing again, ranging from people's school uniform to their provisions, exercise books and text books. I totally forgot about the promise I made to my headmistress, She would be so mad at me wherever she was. There difference between my primary school and secondary was that I was overlooked, he's just a kid, some seminarians would say. He only needs counseling on how to control himself in the face of material things

I once stole my classmate's money that his parent gave him for the term. He wept so bitterly, asking for the culprit, but I kept mute, it's just five hundred naira, I needed it to buy snacks in the school canteen. I sound heartless right?. but I could get a grip of my life.

I wasn't a good company to keep, I would steal from my friends and still act like I did nothing. Throughout this period, I felt someone was watching my every move, from my dormitory to the chapel for morning mass, right to the refectory and to my classroom. Guess you know the person.

In the space of three months of my stay, I became notorious for the bad reason, every corner of every dormitory spoke about my escapes, either it's the stealing of provisions or the school uniforms. I became ashamed of myself that I always skipped mass for sometime and when I skipped mass, I was flogged mercilessly by our school perfect in front of the school during assembly. After that I was given a portion of clothes to wash. But it didn't stop me. I was loving it. I felt I was popular for committing such hideous stuff. I could remember one of my classmates laying curses on me for stealing his bathing soap.The words he said, echoed in my head every time.

"if you don't stop this your attitude, you won't have peace "

I would call my mom to explain to her what was happening to me, but she would just brush me aside. if only my headmistress was here to listen to me.

But she would have been ashamed of me and also scold me as always, I felt like she wasn't with me. All her pleading for me to be a better person was becoming my bad. my urge to pray, go to chapel and seek God's intercession was going down the drain.

I still saw the boy in my dreams, this time he wasn't threatening me, he would just smile at me sheepishly and tell me that it was just the beginning of my chaos and that I would die sooner than later.

I reported the dreams to our chaplain and he gave me some words of encouragement to pray and do penance. in which I did and everything normalized for a while, I started going for morning masses, I stopped stealing, I became accommodating. I made a good friend, Elijah Ekok. We actually shared the same aspirations, to become a clergy in God's house. we did our functions wholeheartedly, we ate together, we shared our almost everything. He was quite a prayer warrior, he loved reading the Bible and urged me to start serving Mass. Finally I have gotten a friend who loves to see me grow, other's saw me as a plague.

Everyone in school were stunned by my latest development, All thanks to my friend Elijah. But something was lurking in the dark, waiting for the right time to pounce.

We went for a midterm break and during my stay at home, I would visit my headmistress graveside to ask her for forgiveness. it became a norm that after mass in the morning, I would stroll down to her compound to speak with her. Passersby thought I was crazy. Immediately we resumed from our break. my friend Elijah lost his father, that sudden Demise meant the end of my friends academic pursuit. The day we said our goodbyes, I felt so emotional. He assured me that he would be praying for me to not fall into my previous sin.

The whole school felt the absence of Elijah, because he wasn't only their student, he had this gift of seeing visions and as such he was treasured by the chaplain