Teacher Nwachukwu (Criminal Love) 1

Part 1 – Desirable Lesson

His height, if not measured, could compete with that of Goliath’s. You cannot differentiate his baldness from his skin cut that sparkles like a ray of light in the darkness. His two cheeks are overpopulated with black and grey hair like that of Rick Ross, a popular American hip hop artist, but he was a dark-complexioned Igbo man with overflowing intelligence. He doesn’t talk much, but when he does, his words come like two-edged swords; they will not only pierce through your soul but also brainwash and transform your life either positively or negatively depending on what he wants you to believe. His name is Teacher Nwachukwu as he preferred to be addressed.

The sunset reflected on his face as he spaced out through an aluminum window, wearing a black caftan with flat matured footwear. Though he could see bushes through the window, his presence was absent because he was lost in deep thoughts. He could remember how he brought up eight orphans to teenage hood; now ready to tutor them for the same purpose he raised them. Therefore, he came back to his senses, put on his medicated eyeglasses, and stepped out of the window, walking through a passage. He could hear the noise of the orphans, or you could call them his children or better still, his students. Nobody knows his true identity or his current location, not even his students.

Stepping out from the passage to another room where the students made the noise, he stopped at the door, looking at all of them. His presence alone and eye contact diminished the noise to zero frequency.

The room had the setting of a classroom. Everything in it was painted white; a whiteboard, white lockers, walls, windows, ceilings, bulbs, and tiles. Only the students’ wear looked odd. They were in black trousers that joined with their tops like a swimming suit. On their feet were also black canvases -three boys and five girls.

Nwachukwu quietly walked to the board. They barely heard his footsteps. The only thing that filled the ears of everyone was the whistling sound of a black marker on the whiteboard, like the sound of a passionate kiss, as the man was writing on the board; LIFE.

He turned to the students. “Where does life come from?” his voice intelligently paved around the sanctum.

“Pre-existing life,” Daniela, a female, responded.

“That’s science,” he flipped his fingers for more answers.

“Life comes from God,” another replied from behind.

“Good!” he took a step away from the board to substantiate. “The Son of God came that we may have life and have it more abundantly. Why did he come?” he asked.

The teenagers looked at one another as if the man was stupid.

“Teacher, you just answered the question you asked. He came for we may have life,” Dave, a male replied.

“I’m not stupid, Dave,” teacher Nwachukwu changed tone. “In every question, there is an in-debt answer, hidden so only those with smart and deep initiatives can answer. Think deep!” he flipped his fingers again to show how serious he was. Those fingers alone were another form of motivation that set the student’s minds focused and more active.

“Thinking deep is what makes you different from others,” he continued.  “You look at a white shining bulb; yes, you can see it, it is white, but you cannot just say it’s white if you’re asked whether it’s white. You think!” He flipped his fingers again. “Because, according to physics, all colours have all the seven colours but only one is vividly seen and noticed. So when you think and look at the white bulb, you say, ‘No! The white bulb is not just white but has the other six colours. Only the white is obvious.” He paused for that concept to sink down into their subconscious minds. Truly, it was sinking, judging from how amazed the students were looking at their teacher.

“Now, I come again,” Nwachukwu began. “The son of God came for we may have life and have it more abundantly. Why did he come?”

The students didn’t look at one another anymore. Before, they took the question as a stupid one, but now, they wholeheartedly believed they were the ones that were stupid.

Not a single sound was heard from the classroom as all made use of their initiatives. For approximately two minutes, the falling pin could be heard inside the classroom.

“Wake up!!” The teacher flipped his fingers again which startled many of them. “You’re wallowing so deep that you may drown in your own initiatives and I may not be able to pull you out,” he added hilariously.

The students giggled.

That was to ease the tension and to prove teacher Nwachukwu’s efficiency in what he knew how to do best. Just then, Judith raised her hand up.

“Teacher, I know the answer.” Everywhere became quiet for her to continue. “He came because he loves us.”

“Terrific!!” the teacher reinforced outrageously, walking back to the board. “Love!!” He wrote it in capital letters. He turned back to the students with the same velocity.

“Life equals love! When you have life, you have love. And when you have love, you have everything on earth.”

The kids became confused once more.

“Teacher, how?” One of them obnoxiously queried….

Meanwhile, in the main city, Kali city precisely, the sound of a school bell paved through the air around the school premises and students began trooping out like a formation of bees. It was a high school, Kali High School, actually. They do not wear uniforms.

Stephen, a young boy of seventeen, glanced at his wristwatch inside a classroom, and hastily hung his bag to stand up, but a hand from behind pulled him back to the seat saying, “Not so quick, Romeo.”

He turned to see a fair damsel that got his thirty-two shinning, “Stephanie.”

The girl sat beside him. Both kissed instantly and passionately. The girl was everything to Stephen. He loved her so much that he could give his life for her to manage. Stephanie quit the kiss.

“Now, tell me where you were rushing to,” she requested.

Stephen smiled broadly at her. “Come, let me show you.”

He grabbed her by the hand, running out of the classroom. As they surged through a populated passage, Stephen shouted, “Make way for a queen is running through.”

The young girl couldn’t help but blush. “Stephen, where are you taking me to?!” she asked but didn’t get an answer.

Outside the building, Stephen climbed his bike, giving the love of his life a protective helmet to join him. She collected it and climbed in like a squirrel before speeding away.

They were next seen running up a staircase found in Stephen’s house until they barged into his room.

Stephanie gazed out the door. It wasn’t her first time going there, but she wondered why Stephen had to take her there that evening in such a manner.

“Okay, what is this thing you want to show me?” she asked.

Without replying, Stephen horridly brought out his phone. “My phone picks up a bizarre signal at this time whenever I turn on the radio. I discovered that only my phone does that. I don’t know why,” he explained.

“What’s the signal all about?”

“It’s like a class; a teacher teaching about love.”

“Love?”

“Love in a different dimension. You’ll enjoy it. We’re already late.”

Both sat at the edge of a bed as Stephen captured the signal. They could hear teacher Nwachukwu, but not clearly, unless they listened attentively….

:

:

Back in the secret land, the teacher was still tutoring the kids.

“The concept of love is broad. Look at it from this angle; For God so loved the world, and he gave his only begotten son…” He rushed to the whiteboard. “Given!” he wrote it out. “He gave because he loves; that’s sacrifice!”

He turned back to the students. “Look at it this other way; intimate love. Some use it to steal someone’s heart…” he rushed back to the board. “Stealing!” he wrote it out. “You don’t give because you love anymore. What are you doing now? You steal! You take!! Using what? Love!!” he flipped his fingers again.

He looked at all the quiet students. “Now you wonder why the bible said love is the greatest. When something is the greatest, it supersedes every other thing! So with love, you have everything on earth.” He bent down with a lower voice, pointing fingers at each of them. “But I want you to concentrate on the second line that says with love you can steal or take. It’s very important…”

:

:

After listening through the signal, Stephanie stood up surprisingly. “That’s interesting, but why do I feel that the teacher is directing the concept towards a negative path?”

“A negative path with a clear and convincing backup; that’s what drives me crazy!” Stephen stood up too.

“I must find where this class or school is. I can’t wait to meet this teacher.”

“Really?” she disdained him. “I know you like bad things.”

“His teaching might be bad, but it is mind-blowing. If not for his teaching a few minutes ago, how would I have known that you stole my heart with love?” He giggled and hugged her.

“You’re hilarious,” the girl giggled too.

Teacher Nwachukwu was inside his office with a voluminous sheet in his hands. The office was dim and sophisticated. Suddenly, a knock came at the door, and Daniela walked in. She was the most fearless of them all, bold and smart too. She had a black complexion and long natural hair. She was stubborn too. She was just sixteen but talked like a forty-year-old. Teacher Nwachukwu removed his eyeglasses when she came in.

“How may I help you, Daniela?”

The young girl stretched her neck to see the building images on the sheet in her teacher’s hand. She sat down on a chair opposite the man.

“Daniela, I never offered you a seat.”

“Teacher, I offered myself. Moreover, the seat is meant for sitting.” She gazed at the images again. “Teacher, when are we moving to the main city?” she asked.

“Is that why you came?” the man shook his head. “You’ll move when you’re mentally ready.”

“Hmm… that’s what you normally say. Anyways, what are those buildings?” She pointed at the images.

“These are why you’re here.” He placed the sheet very well for her to see. “You and the other kids will be invading these houses to steal or take something out from there for me.”

Shocked, Daniela looked at her teacher and then back to the sheet. “Is this one not a bank?” she pointed at one.

“It is.”

“You’ll give us better guns, teacher.”

The man exhaled. “You still don’t know why you’re here. You’ll carry this operation with zero weapons. The only weapon you’ll use is ‘Love'”

The girl stared at her teacher as if he was insane. Though she realized the main point of the day’s lesson; using love to steal or take.

“Mind you,” the teacher continued. “You’re not going to the bank to steal money.”

“Then what could that be if not money?” The girl relaxed in her seat to know.

(Story copied from another source).

To be continued in part two…