The rain then burst forth, and struck the zinc roof of the little classroom hard. It was Friday afternoon, and the smell of wet uniforms and chalk dust filled the interior. The final exams were underway among senior students and the entire school appeared to be on edge.
Chika sat in the corner of the room and stared at her mathematics paper. Questions and numbers were alike as she felt her heart beating at a quicker pace than the rain falling on the outside. She had learned, without learning enough. Her brain was blank and panic was knocking at her chest.
Then it happened. She had a sheet of paper that was folded and was sliding across her desk. She peeped and found tiny handwritten correct answers to the exam. Her eyes widened. She peeped up soon and spotted Ifeanyi her classmate nodding at her to use it. For a moment, Chika hesitated. The rain roared louder. The teacher's back was turned. Gradually she made two copies.
By the time the paper was picked, Chika was attempting to restrain her shaking hands. She said to herself it was just two questions, and no one had noticed her.
Then one week later, all blew up.
At morning assembly the voice of the principal cut through the field. "The SS3 maths examination cheating has been found out", he told me. "Answers were passed on during the test. The entire class will have to rewrite the paper until the culprit is located."
A heavy silence fell. Later on there were murmurs, students groaned and complained. Faces got angry, eyes hunted to find one to blame.
By break time names were flying about. There was some murmuring that it was Ifeanyi, as he always knew exam runners. It must be Chika, said others, since she had seemed too nervous that day. A crowd of students were fighting around the mango tree.
"It was Chika", said one girl in a sharp voice. "She was fidgeting all through."
"How shall I accuse her of having no proof?" another replied. "What if it was you?"
The class was divided. Suspicion was like smoke and nobody was safe.
Ifeanyi rose later on in the classroom. "Let's stop pretending," he said. "Everyone knows there are some people here who are too proud, and pretend to be innocent, when put to shame, but they are the ones who caused this shame". His eyes darted toward Chika.
Chika's heart thumped. She had something to say, yet she was afraid to say it. She was aware she was guilty but she despised the way Ifeanyi gazed at her as though he was innocent.
Her mother realised that she was quiet when she arrived home that evening. "Chika, what is wrong?"
Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Mama, I copied during the exam. Only two answers. But now we are all suffering on account of me."
Her mother sighed and put her hand on her. "To make mistakes is the hardest part, my daughter, but to confront them as they arise. Finger pointing will ensue one after another, yet peace will be achieved when the truth is told."
The following day Chika decided.
As the principal walked into the classroom, she stood upright shaking. One of us, "sir, I'm the copyist. I only took two answers. I am sorry. Forgive me, sir, may I not be punished on account of the entire class?"
The room went silent. Eyes opened; there was a whispering round.
The head mistress stared at her for a long time. "Chika, you have done wrong. But you have also been courageous. Others would run away and leave the blame to others. You will be punished, but your classmates will not rewrite the paper."
The reaction was relief, although not all people cheered. She also sneered as she was shaken by some students. She was looked upon with a new respect on the part of others.
Ifeanyi approached her after school. "Why did you confess? You could have kept quiet. There will be no one who will forget that you cheated as a girl."
Chika gazed at him with composed air, but with the tears still in her eyes. "Maybe. But they also will remember that I told the truth."
As she strolled out of sight the rain came back, and fell upon the school roof like a downpour. But this time round, Chika was not so heavy because she felt that the storm within her had finally passed.