Breaking the law is not something I’m really conversant with, seeing how much of a stickler for rules I am. Right from a young age, I’ve always been a person who tried my best to avoid trouble, both at home and everywhere else because to me it was just not worth all the hassle that came afterward.
When it comes to rule-breaking, I think the only ones I did repeatedly without fear was coming to school late. I was a chronic late-comer back then. And this was not because of traffic or distance. Many times, I came even before assembly but because I didn’t want to take part in the assembly, my friends and I would stay outside to gist while listening from outside the school. The moment we heard the drums signaling marching song, we’d run in like good students and join the march back to our class.
We did this so often that it became a habit. To the point that many teachers began to notice how we always came only when the assembly was over. And even worse, others were joining us. So, while about a hundred students were on assembly ground, another hundred could be outside, just perambulating and doing nothing at all, waiting for the assembly to be over. The moment we hear the drums, we flood through the gates like a broken dam!
Eventually, the school stopped it by placing teachers at the two ends of the street and it was made compulsory that once you got to the school’s street, you ran until you got into the school. If you walk, you’ll be flogged at once. That was how I stopped breaking that rule, but that’s not the one I wanted to talk about.
The one I did was even more serious at the time and the risk was way too high for me to attempt it.
This happened when I was in SS3 and we were preparing for WAEC. These were the last weeks of our time in school so our teachers had nothing more to teach us. We were left to our own devices, so we had to revise and prepare for our final exams on our own. At the time, we basically had one leg out of the school already. However, many of the rules still apply to us and an infraction could mean suspension or even expulsion, depending on the gravity of the offense.
Anyway, on one such day, my friends and I got bored with the constant reading and doing nothing at all. We decided to go to the house of one of us. This meant we had to leave school way before closing time. Even before break, sometime around eleven that fine morning. And we knew that was something that would never have been allowed.
Everything just seemed to work in our favor that day. We began to think of the lies we could tell to the security man at the gate to allow us through. Unless you were sent by a teacher or you had an emergency, you couldn’t step even a foot out of the school until closing time. We considered lying about being sent by a teacher, but we knew he would want to confirm that before letting us through. And that would only get us into more trouble.
But then, as luck would have it, while we were contemplating, he was summoned to the Principal’s office, and he left his station for a few precious minutes. My friends and I didn’t even think twice, the moment he was out of sight, we hurried out and closed the gate behind us. We ran as fast as we could until we were off the school's street.
When we were far away enough, we began to laugh because our heart was beating so fast. It could be from the running, or from fear. Eventually, we went to the friend’s place and had quite a good time. We ate and played games. However, all through that moment, the enjoyment was overshadowed by the fear that something could go wrong.
I was scared that maybe our principal would notice we were gone and it would spell doom for us. I was terrified that a teacher could come and decide to take attendance or mark scripts, or drive a car through the classroom and teach us how to fly a rocket…😤 all through my time there, I could only think of impossible things happening and all of them ended in us getting in trouble.
Eventually, we had to return to school because our school bags were still there. We got there just as school closed and the gates were opened so no one questioned us when we walked in. That was a law successfully broken, but I swore never to do so again. The fear and uncertainty that plagued me all through the process was nerve-wracking and I don’t think it was worth it.
I never did it again until we wrote our final exams but that’s not where it stopped. I guess it followed me into my Higher Institution as well because to date I find it hard to skip school when I know that there’ll be lectures going on. I’d always be wondering if they were having a test, if the lecturer was taking attendance, or if he was giving everyone free marks… Lol😂.
Either way, that’s why no matter how stressful I find it, I still force myself to go to lectures even when I’d rather not. If only I had known, I would not have broken that rule all those years ago, maybe today I won’t be so scared of losing a few lectures today.
But then… everything happens for a reason, right?
