THE LEOPARD'S MIRROR (Part I)

. His school sandals tapped rhythmically on the stone path, his heart light. Today was the long-awaited Induction Ceremony-the official welcoming of first-year students into the life

oak in every word, every

to ask someone-anyone-about leopard

to unravel the momen

expressions. Instead, the room was filled with new boys like himself and a throng of form two studen

g to surprise us later," Ugo

short, revealing long shins that looked as though they'd been carved from bamboo. He didn't need

can-Nigerian boy with high cheekbones and a

ou. Come up and ta

ames before his alphabetically should have b

c. He simply wanted to start with Emeka. And in t

Don't plant your stinking mouth on the

off guard. He hadn't spoken a wo

it loud. And don't nod like a mute spirit

id flatly, swallowing t

'My name is Professor...' a

w but complied. "My na

come from the mudhole of-w

Emeka mutte

l that a village? What bush grows t

trying to pat the MC's shoulder. A peace gesture. But

spat. "Keep those faggish, lo

ing!" Emeka sa

his foot. "Bring me Solution A! Th

Squash. From it, the MC poured a yellowish liquid into a cup that once

is!" bark

He retched into his palms and bolted from the stage, stumbling out

r him. They found a broken-down latrine behind the

e whispered, his voice

ng. His silenc

all, the MC w

or Obi," a new voic

"Where people eat toads for supper. I am a stinking fag. I am to be seen, not h

over generations, written

in you with a piece titled

ter, not because the performance was

left the

humiliation masked as tradition. His first day as a student had felt like an a

ities and foreign lands, it sounded "local." "Igbotic," they hissed. Some even mimic

akara with the night before-joining in the laughter. A l

ounce that he hailed from O

e mud village where students sit on banana trunks a

im that SMG had a habit of teasing every new student.

ol," Ugo mumb

-all forbidden in corridors, dining rooms, dormitories. You even had to dream in English, if po

rks and knives ruled. You had to grip the fork with your left hand and knife with your right, all while slicing plantai

ir forks upside down, scooping rice as though it were sacr

sts," Ugo tho

re dreams were forged. Every child from every hamlet, town, or estate wanted to wear its striped blazer and polished shoes.

d said, "will turn you into

rt of this great forge,

he re

uld e

Because beneath all the hazing and the hierarchy, he sensed something else-some

thing to do with cutl

g... leo

ere for

m mock

would s

at the boy who wa