Decades ago, during my primary school days, troublesome boys like me used to settle scores after school hours by fighting at isolated locations within the school compound.
An unforgettable day came when unknown to me,
the arrangement we made to settle a score with another classmate was twisted.
No sooner than my challenger and I started wrestling at the back of one of the school’s classroom blocks
than two other boys who were already in hiding came out to join my challenger and the three of them gave me the beating of my life.
I returned home with swollen eyes and bruised arms.
From that day on, I stopped accepting challenges to fight in isolated areas within the school premises. I switched the venue of my fights to the open school’s football field.
My crowning day came barely two months to my graduation when I accepted a challenge from a feared bully in the school. Caleb was a light-complexioned big boy who used to beat up small-statured classmates like me whenever we dared to hold a view contrary to his on any issue.
That one day, I opposed his view during a discussion in the classroom. He attempted to shout me down but I stood my ground, squared up and accepted his challenge for a fight on the school’s football field with schoolmates as spectators.
In no time after we started fighting
I wrestled him to the ground and started punching away at his face till we were separated.
That was how I gained the respect of my juniors, classmates and seniors till I graduated from the school shortly after.
Fourteen years later we became good friends when, by providence, we were both commissioned into the army. To date, both of us giggle understandingly when he calls me the “Champ”.
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