Sometimes reacting back can be the answer

Short skinny kids entering a boarding school sometimes do call for attention from bullies, because that was how I looked when I entered the boarding house.

Not to brag I was one hell of a fine boy, which draw the attention of many seniors wanting to be my school and of course which made me popular and also made me a target for bullies, and that went on for some time.

I was a favorite for some seniors, and that gave me some privilege of getting more food in the dining halls, missing out on some prep class and enjoying more siesta, avoiding labor day, and relaxing in the dormitory whenever there’s need for a general punishment as it is done in a most boarding house for no reason at all just to prove seniority and power they have.

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The school I went to was Edo College, located in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. The school frowned at bullying but when in the hostel there’s nothing they can do. All we had to do is endure, the ones we can and those can’t report to authorities during school hours and when coming back to the dormitory they get double of what was done before.

Have mentioned in my previous posts, how one of my prowess is playing table tennis. In the early days when developing my skills in school, my friends and I usually play table tennis outside the dormitory by setting down lockers sideways to have a flat surface, because we can’t go to the game hall where the seniors are and request they allow us to play. Playing table tennis after the afternoon prep was a normal thing for us to have fun with and while way time, sometimes when we play some guys do walk up to us and demand they play even if we are in the middle of a tournament, they still take the bats and play till they are satisfied and by the time they are through, time for fun is over.

As usual, another day came for us to enjoy our time together while playing; some guys walked up to us and demanded they play again, and the funny and annoying thing is they are our classmates and because they are bigger than us they bully us and take the game away from us.

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But on this faithful day, when they came around and started demonstrating their menace, suddenly I had an adrenaline rush and hit the bat away and scattered the lockers arranged on the floor, smashed the tennis from one of the bullies hands, everyone was surprised as what a skinny kid was doing challenging a boy twice his size, but honestly, i was surprised too and didn’t know what came over me.

But one thing was for sure, I have been building the anger for quite some time and I just had to let out and I honestly don’t know where the courage came from, after some heated arguments and them trying to bully/beat me and snuck under a bunk and ran outside and trust that week was a tough week for me, hiding and trying to avoid them, but I couldn’t continue like that until I reported the issue to some of my school fathers and they had to warn them to stay away from me and they never bothered me or my friends when playing table tennis again.