Izu grinned happily when Mama squeezed in 2 twenty naira notes in his palm so that his mum wouldn’t notice. His grin met with Mama's “Shh, ozugo (its okay)”, as she wouldn’t want his mum to notice that she gave Izu money for school. Mama quickly helped Izu with his bag and held his palm while they matched out of the corridor with Izu leaping from left to right. “Mama, you don’t need to take Izu to school, he is old enough to find his way there. Besides, he is almost late for school” Izu's mum, Mrs Obioma said while moving towards Mama and Izu. “Mummy please, I want Mama to take me to school today”; Izu said while still clinging to Mama. ‘No, she won’t. Any day you want Mama to take you to school, you must eat your meal quickly and never play with it’ Izu’s mother replied while pulling him away from Mama’s reach. Mama drew the little boy closer to herself, gently rubbed his head and promised him that she will buy him candies once he returns. Izu smiled happily and bade goodbye to Mama and his mum and marched towards the road to his village school.
School has never being Izu’s thing. He disliked the very thought of it. He has always longed to be a Senator, a President or anyone who occupies a high position but doesn’t wish to go to school to become one. He hated the fact that he must go to school first in other to be a recognised person. All Izu wanted to do was sleep, eat, play and rest every single day. So, as he trekked down the dusty road which leads to Imoh community school, the only thought that kept him moving was Mama’s promise of candies once he returns. While trekking, he met with other children his age trekking to school and joined them . They soon increased their pace as they noticed they were almost late for school and wouldn’t want their backs to be hurt by Mr Stanley’s cane.
Mr Stanley is the schools disciplinary master and he was known for the way he flogs pupils mercilessly. Most kids feign sick once they notice they will be late for school. They do this to avoid getting flogged by Mr Stanley.
As Izu and the other children arrived at the school gate, the were immediately halted by Mr Stanley who was already sitting behind the school gate with canes on his hands, both left and right. Fear gripped the children as the stood still looking at the disciplinary master who was already walking towards them. ‘Why are you all late?’ he asked Izu and the other pupils. One of the pupils, started narrating how he couldn’t find his socks on time and all the other kids took their turn, as instructed by Mr Stanley to narrate why they were late for school. When it got to Izu’s turn, he told the teacher that he was sick and has been hospitalised all through the weekend and that he only managed to make it to school this morning. The other pupils were surprised at Izus reply and told the teacher that Izu was only lying to avoid being flogged. Izu kept pleading and even swearing that he was not lying. To find out the truth, Mr Stanley flogged the pupils whose reasons were not good enough and sent them away. Then, he asked Izu the name of the sickness he was facing over the weekend.
Izu boldly said HIV, but that he was getting better as the doctor already said. Mr Stanley was shocked and asked Izu if he really knew what HIV was all about. Izu kept insisting that HIV was the sickness he has been battling with all through the weekend. Mr Stanley told Izu that HIV was a very serious sickness and that he needs to be taken to the school headmaster in order for them to be aware of his health condition.
Suddenly, it dawned on Izu that he has made a big mistake. Before they could arrive at the headmaster’s office, Izu was already sweating profusely. “Good morning Sir” Mr Stanley and Izu greeted the headmaster whilst bowing as a sign of respect. The headmaster acknowledged their greetings and asked the disciplinary teacher to sit. ’I hope everything is fine?’; the headmaster asked Mr Stanley. “Not really Sir. I came to report to you about the health condition of Izu” Mr Stanley started. “He complained about having a deadly sickness called HIV. ‘Ah!!’ screamed the headmaster as he stood up from his chair. ‘When did the sickness start?’ the headmaster asked while looking at Izu.