Eunuch

Was Eunuch the strongest boy I knew? That is the question I always ask myself whenever I remember him. Certainly, he was the smallest boy in our class. He has an expression that is hard to read. I have never seen him laugh or smile.

^Source

You could never tell a joke that would elicit any form of emotional response from that boy. But that is not what the story is all about. Before we get into this story, I just have to mention a habit our class teacher, Mr. Afoka, found particularly annoying. All the pupils were expected to arrive the school before 8 AM for sanitation. This involves sweeping the whole compound and making sure its free of leaves and other debris. Cutting grass, especially the school's football field. Those who came late, after 8 AM, are punished for late coming, whereas those that came early must participate in this clean-up exercise.

However, there was no punishment for those that came at 8 AM. Eunuch decided to exploit this loophole by arriving 8 AM every day. There was a kiosk directly opposite the school gate. There he would sit on a tree stump with his face as expressionless as a hole in the wall. Something about the smugness of his face always reminded me of our dog, Lafiya.

At 8 AM every morning Eunuch would wait until the school bell rings. Once the bell rang, he would hurriedly take his bag and rush to the assembly ground before most of his mates who arrived earlier than him. There he would stand and patiently await the other pupils to converge. Mr. Afoka hated that Eunuch outsmarted him, but he was powerless to do anything about it. I did not like Mr. Afoka because he took special pleasure in delivering punishments. Every morning, it was my pleasure to watch Mr. Afoka fail at trying to control his despair and annoyance. My joy was cut short. Mr. Afoka figured out a way to nail Eunuch. But that in itself laid the groundwork for one of the reasons that I would never forget Eunuch.

One particular morning, Mr. Afoka decided that each class Prefect should write the names of every pupil that participated in the sanitation exercise. He took the time to call out the names of everybody and at the end, only Eunuch remained standing.

Mr. Afoka asked Eunuch to choose between being flogged in the presence of the whole school or cleaning the school toilets. Mr. Afoka deliberately gave him this option with the hope that he would choose to clean since he was confident that his reputation for flogging would scare Eunuch. The boy, however, had an Ace up his sleeve and he chose to be flogged.

"Very well", Mr. Afoka said. "The young man chose the cane". He smiled wolfishly. Then he began flogging Eunuch. As each stroke of the cane landed on him, the other pupils counted out aloud "One!", the second landed, "Two" and so it continued. After twenty minutes and about two hundred strokes, the pupils became bored and started leaving the assembly ground.

Eunuch never cried out or flinched in pain. He just laid on the table with his expressionless face, his eyes shining so bright as if he is seeing something that we are not privy to. He became a legend after that day. How he endured the pain is one thing we may never know.

---

---

^{You are welcome to my blog. Please do leave questions and comments below. If you find this interesting please resteem. Thank you.}