My teenage years

They say 13 is a weird number related to a lot of strange and horrible events, but when I turned 13, that was when my life really began. My teenage years were full of unforgettable events. From getting into trouble in school to winning awards, fighting my brother, crashing dad’s car, hanging out late with friends and of course having wet dreams. It all starts with the parents.

As a teenager, our parents are always of the opinion that we don’t know anything about life while we on our part thought we knew everything about life and thus the problem. I remember the first time I told my mum I wanted to attend a party, it was not just a party but an all-night party. She looked at me and initially thought I was joking then I told her I was serious, the next thing she did was call my dad and then asked me to tell him what I just told her now. Looking into dad’s eyes I saw trouble and realised I had made a very big mistake, I began to wonder what gave me the courage to make such a demand, I quickly turned it around and said I was only joking.

Joke or not, dad made it clear that such demand will only get me some strokes of the cane so it is better I don’t even joke with it. I guess he knew I was serious about it, parents always know but teenagers always think they know better and that was why I still attended the party without permission and the outcome was exactly as my dad predicted or even worse, because a fight broke out at the party which brought the party to an abrupt end around 10pm. So, I had to go back home after I had lied that I was going to a vigil at my cousin’s church. I’ll spare you the details of how I was duly flogged.

Another event I can’t forget was crashing dad’s car, it was on a Saturday evening and dad just gave me the car keys to bring his newspaper from on top the dashboard. The car was not parked at the

usual spot so I opened the car, sat before the steering and suddenly there was this assurance that emanated from nowhere telling me I could drive the car, and without second consideration I decided I would help dad park the car well. In my mind, I had driven and parked the car rightly, I only had to actualise that imagination so I put the key into the ignition and started the engine.

From studying dad closely while driving, I knew the basic things to do next, so I released the hand brake and put the gear on drive. Next was to match on the accelerator, I stepped on it pretty well, in fact, so well it took the help of the water tank supported by the fence to bring the car to a halt. The noise of the crash was so loud I thought the fence was going to fall and crush me in the car.

Still in shock, I saw my dad standing out beside me, he opened the door and I stepped out as gentle as I could. I had began to imagine how badly I was going to be beaten that day but to my surprise, dad didn’t lay a finger on me and two weeks later he took me for my first driving lesson and it was really fun.

School resumed after the summer holiday that year, I was 15 and in SS2, I was still enjoying the fame I earned from receiving the best literature student award the previous year, then a youth corper Jane was posted to my school. She was pretty and looked quite young, so young that I was making passes at her and I thought she was responding, not until the day she brought me before the class, asked me questions she was sure I wouldn’t know the answers, and consequently flogged me and made me serve punishment throughout her period. That was definitely her way of telling me she’s not my mate and the message was well understood.

There was also the regular after school football match, which always made me tell different lies to cover up for returning home late. At one of the football matches, my school sandal got stolen and I had to go through the shame of walking home bare footed, and lied to my mum that the bus I boarded on my way back home had an accident and we all had to rush out of the bus before it caught fire and that was how I lost my sandal, the lie went down well with my mum so much that she bought me a new sandal the following morning and even gave a testimony about it in church on Sunday. I felt so guilty watching her give the testimony, but I think God understands that I was just a teenage boy trying to avoid being flogged.

Another event was the fight I had with our neighbour’s son which I’m not so proud of right now, especially giving the fact that I was at fault and still lost the fight, serves you right, my mum said, although she had a discussion with the boy’s mum and they both apologised to each other over each of their son’s misbehaviour.

At a time, my friends nicknamed me ‘agama’ because I was serving a punishment from dad who had forbade me from talking to any of them. So, when they greet me I just nod in return, that was how I got the nickname ‘agama.’ My teenage years were filled with interesting escapades, which whenever I flashback to, I just smiled. I never regret any of my deeds for they develop into the experience that has shaped me to become the man I am today.

By: BABATUNDE ADAMS