Tale of an African Woman

Chapter Fourty Two

261 42 ith Achini and his friends gone, I opened my box and took out some sheets and a blanket and proceeded to make up my bed. I selected those things I needed the most and locked up the rest in my box which I temporarily slipped under my bed. While I was busy making up my bed, another girl came and selected the one just next to mine on the left. After watching me for a while, she started to copy my example. I had barely finished what I was doing when a senior student, whom I had already seen when I was sitting in front of the principal’s office, sauntered into the building, clapped her hands to attract everyone’s attention and proceeded to announce that she was the dormitory head. She introduced herself as Assumpta Neh but insisted she should be called Assunty. She told us, the new students, that it was time for supper and asked us to take our plates and complete sets of cutlery and hurry to the refectory. I did as we had been instructed. When I got to the refectory, I found other first year students huddled in a corner while a burly fellow whom it turned out was the food prefect was busy assigning them tables. When everyone took a seat and grace was said, my plate was filled with some rice and stew but I did not begin to eat immediately. I had never used a set of cutlery before. I looked around discreetly and watched the older students eating and then proceeded to do the same. I was not alone, for many of the new students had also never used a complete set of cutlery. The clumsy manner in which they handled and manipulated it sent derisive giggles rippling throughout a group of senior students who had been watching in silent anticipation for the blunder. Thoroughly amused, they immediately styled such a poor performance CFC W 262 special. Some students, who were too embarrassed and could not put up with the mockery, decided to give up their meals. As I ate my food, I paused from time to time to survey and appreciate my new surroundings. The refectory was a long, immaculately white hall with rows of benches on both sides and a wide passage in the middle. It was awash in a flood of light from overhead fluorescent bulbs. Even though many students had still not returned from holidays, the hall seemed overcrowded, with not fewer than fourteen students at each table. Each table was assigned a top-form student who served as table head to ensure there was order, equitable sharing of food and respect of proper table manners. While we were eating, the food prefect announced that students interested in watching the movie should take their seats to the auditorium after the meal. Since the first form students still did not have chairs, they were instructed to go into any of the classrooms and take one. I was still eating when Achini and his friends showed up. They had changed into even more fashionable attires similar to the ones they put on in the afternoon, except that their trousers had a flap in front with two rows of shiny buttons on them. Even though I felt a bit uneasy to be seen the very first day with boys I barely knew, I felt I needed them for any urgent assistance, as well as to have a proper understanding of the workings of my new institution. I could tell from Achini’s enthusiasm to assist me that he wanted more than just mere friendship. However, I did not want to scare him off with any unfriendly conduct, harkening to my grandmother’s advice that it was not from underneath a bed that a lion was caught, tamed and used. As soon as I was done, Achini and his friends accompanied me to our dormitory and while they waited outside, I went in and stored my plate and set of cutlery and then joined them outside. Together, we went and fetched seats and headed to the auditorium where the movie was to be projected. The classroom I was instructed to go into to get a seat had bright overhead fluorescent bulbs and rows of empty desks. The desks were set in a linear pattern, with narrow passages in between. 263 At the back of the...