CHAPTER NINE
1251 Words
"Welcome miss Kimuta!" She ushered me in with her hand. "Take a seat Anathi!"
I sat hesitantly. I was scared. Deathly scared of what was to unfold before me. I sat shaking, oblivious to what she was about to utter. She sat ramsacking the files on her desk.
"Well miss Kimuta, do you know why you're here! " She asked me with a serious look on her face.
"To le...lea...learn?!" I said in a shaky and intimidated voice. Even the Dumuzi who would have mocked me or chuckled at my discomfort sat obedianty, without reaction at me stuttering in front of our academy's principal.
"I'm sorry what's that?" She said as if she didn't hear me! I was so scared i dint dare repeat my self. She looked at me disappointed.
"You say you're here to learn yet I don't see you come to school to do what you are meant to do!" She said.
"Pardon me ma'am, what do you mean by that?" I audaciously asked her. I was tired of being a push over. I decided I wanted to be bold and confident. It was like the events that had unfolded the previous days were meant to be. To help me become part of my own destiny.
"I mean to say, I know nobody can control rumours but I want to inform you that this school has a zero tolerance for bullying. If you're being bullied or if these rumours are affecting you in anyway, please. .., you're obliged to say the names of your bullies and that's an order! " She said.
I was scared. I gazed at Dumuzi who looked back at me with begging eyes full of regret.
"Does this young man have anything to do with what we are discussing right now miss Kimuta? "
I shook my head. I wasnt ready to reveal anything in case I ended up getting into trouble. Dumuzi was from an affluent family. His father was influential. His parents were highly recognized by the academy for their numerous and generous donations. People feared them. Dumuzi would get into minor trouble for what he did to me but what would happen after that? He would ma,e my life a living hell. He would make sure I regret ever snitching on him. He would make me pay. I wasn't ready to test his river's of rage and vengeance as he had a bad manner about him. Dumuzi wasn't exaclty just a bad boy. He was dangerous. He was into drugs and alcohol at the tender age of eighteen. He would have his orders met. He had managed to ruine the lives of those who opposed him. He got rid of girls who rejected him.
"Well, its good that he personally came here to report what was happening to you . Otherwise I would have never known." She paused and smiled at Dumuzi Who bore a smile of pride then he looked in my direction and smirked in an evil way.
"Miss Kimuta has been stressed lately and I thought of her well being. I know we are not close Anathi but I was deeply worried when I saw all those people bully you in the cafeteria." He confidently said looking at me.
What?! Dumuzi pretended to care for me? He just wanted to look good in the eyes of everybody yet he was the reason I was being bullied in the first place. He had managed to make my life a living hell in such a short space of time. The principal cut my train of thought short .
"You have this young man to thank. If it were not for him, I would have never come to know!"
"Listen Miss Kimuta!" The principal continued. " I know you're here on a scholarship. I know you think you don't match up to the people of this school financially but many people feel that way!" She held my hand which surprised me very much. She was always strict and would have never thought of making such a gesture. " But at this school, one's financial status isn't accredited, a student is recognised by his or her capabilities. You won this scholarship because you deserve it. But you have to abide by the school's rules and honour our prestige. You know the academy had zero tolerance for any sort of bullying and it can lead to expulsion. You know you're meant to report any wrong doing wether its happening to you or another student, but you chose to not tell anyone about the injustice happening to you. Not even the school concelor. Which makes me very disappointed in you Miss Kimuta. You are obliged to name those bullies now!" She paused looking at me with a serious look in her eyes. "Now!" She demanded.
"I don't know who began the rumours ma'am but I'll assure you they aren't true!" I begged.
"I never asked you if they were true! Gossip is something we detest in this school. Look around Anathi, this isn't some village school or ghetto/shanty high school, this is one of the most prestigious academies in Atlantis. Now I'm not asking you who is bullying you, you're obliged to tell me this because the reputation of this school is at stake!" She demanded.
I thought I was grown up. I thought I was strong emotionally but I found my self overwhealmed in tears at her fit of terror.
"Oh I can understand the pain that comes with what has happened to you Anathi, just say the names and they will be punished!"
"Rydian!" Dumuzi's voice rang out in the office. "It was Rydian ma'am. Ma'am Anathi told me Rydian lured her into the woods to be with her ma'am but I call it assault!"
What??!!! Did Dumuzi just utter those words. He was also twisting up things and making up lies. Was he jealous that Rydian had taken a liking to me? Did he know I had been rejected by him too. I could not stand this! Dumuzi was pointing fingers yet he had hurt me the most with his words. They pierced my heart, vile and cruel words in the form of a sharp blade that I had felt the damage was unrepairable. I has slept in my room unwilling to do anything in a state of depression just because of him. I had pulled my self from the hallows of an agonising pain, a heartbreak that could have wounded me even more but here he was, unmoved, unfeeling, having no regret for what he did to me, except pointing fingers. I had been reprimanded for the first time ever in my five years of learning at Mamilantis academic. I was sad, my perfectly clean record had sort of diminished in my eyes.
"Carly!" I said coldly. "My bully is carly Menka! She makes my life a living he'll and those of others as well."
The principal suggested I meet up with the school's therapists to get over my ordeal. I walked out feeling shame. I was feeling guilty for having ratted out Carly for bullying me and other kids. I wanted to give her a second chance to a new beggining. She could change, become a better person in university but I figured evil people never changed. I walked out of the principal's office with mixed feelings, but I was happy that this meeting had led to nowhere in particular though my secret lurking in the ears of mundanes brought me great unease.
- Writer
