Present day

Present-day. Open earth.

“don’t… now… drink… night...” incoherent words like these were the only thing Tony could make out from the argument of his parents. His mother’s high-pitched voice woke him. He already knew what the situation was, but he wasn’t going to interfere. He knew what would stem out of him interfering. He could hear his dad’s sloppy voice. He didn’t bother standing from his bed. The Christian early morning criers haven’t begun ringing their bells. Nor the Muslim’s crier. Not like he needed to worship their God, but those people were just some sort of alarm.
The sudden creak of his door’s room sent chills to his spine. He jumped. He switched the light on.
“Are you still sleeping, boy? Your father wasn’t home last night and you didn’t bother asking for his whereabouts?” his mom screamed. He looked at her pitiable appearance. Her hair tangled all around. Even her pajamas are rumpled. He knew she must have been in some sort of scuffle with his dad. Well, at least she isn’t having a sore voice and a red face.
“I am sorry Ma. I thought he was going to be home early. That was why…” Tony tried defending himself.
“Will you keep quiet?' I knew it. You have no emotions in you. You are just…” she shot her bloodlust eyes of regret at him.

He already knew what she was going to say. This wouldn’t be her first time, so she should have completed it. It hurts more that she tries censoring her words by calling him a disappointment. After all, he was the one that was born the day his two elder brothers died. They couldn’t dispose of him because of his grandfather.
“Listen, son… nothing will happen to you. You will be better off staying with your parents. And the sight of you would be therapeutic for them.” His grandfather once told him when he reported his parents to him.
“They both love each other. They are just being hard on themselves.” his grandfather told him.
But who shows each other aggression and contempt for seventeen years? Who on God’s green earth would perceive their only surviving son as a threat to their happiness? Well, if not his parents, he doesn’t think anyone else would.

“stand up from that bed and go clean the front yard. Your dad already vomited there, even though he is still in the toilet retching.” his mom said and turned away. His mom isn’t proud of her son, but his father is worse. His mother probably sees him as a source of pain and deprivation. But his father believed he was a bastard that showed up from nowhere. A cursed one.
He doesn’t know the cause of his brother’s death. It’s like there has been a form of law passed on everyone in his family, both extended and nuclear, to never speak of them. He had only seen the pictures of his two elder brothers. He could say they all look alike. He wishes they were alive so he could live a normal teenage life.
“That woman and her bastard son probably think they can treat me like garbage. I am the man of the house.” His dad was murmuring to himself in the toilet. He had his face in the water closet, and he gave off nasty scents. Ever imagined what it would be like when you miss Faeces and alcohol? That was what his father reeks of.
“dad! Let me help you.” Tony said covering his nose with his left hand and stretching his right hand.
“get away! You bastard.” His dad said, standing away from the water closet, he punched the air towards Tony drunkenly. Tony looked at him disgustingly, he pulled him towards the shower.
“I said don’t touch me.” His father ordered him drunkenly. Tony kept pulling him.
His father touched Tony's hand, traced it to his shoulder. He dragged Tony close with every ounce of strength in him. Tobi’s right leg was in motion and he lost his balance. His father tried lifting him. Tony stopped moving and rested on his father, to prevent himself from falling. His father, who wasn’t well balanced, tripped and both fell.
The thud from the bathroom got to Tobi’s mother, who was nearby.
“both of you are at it again?” She sounded disappointed.
“he wouldn’t allow me to carry him,” he said, with a voice begging to be free from the humiliation and pain he witnesses every day.
“Well, you should go clean the front yard. It's past five AM already.”
Tony stood up. He dusted his cloth and stretched his arm. He left the toilet sniffing in catarrh.
“Debby! That boy is cursed. That boy isn’t my son.”
“Maybe till we leave this country and get a DNA test from another world, you will believe he is your son,” she replied, pushing him away from her into the bathtub.

It's only five forty-five am, and more than half of Lagos has geared up. They have begun cleaning, dressing, and commuting. And yes! The criers are out now. This used to be the normal time Tony would wake up to start his chores which always include sweeping the front yard. While doing that, he would see his neighbours. Those who are his age mates and those older than him. But he definitely won’t be interacting with them.
He is living proof that society makes us and in turn, we make people’s perception of us. If he had been born to a different family, Tony would not have been an introvert. He would have been the kind who loves partying and making friends. But his parents have already decided what sort of person he would be by being as wild as weasels to themselves, him, his neighbours and just everywhere he has been. His neighbors would have greeted him for the gentle-going person he is. But if his mom should catch a glimpse of him talking to someone she doesn’t like, which is everyone, she would cause a scene. So in the neighbourhood, everyone avoids him.
And yes! Finally, It came to him. The real reason he had been looking forward to going to school early the next day. Wendy Bayn. The new girl who just joined. The new girl whom the principal had brought in yesterday. She was the reason he prayed to God -to keep him alive- for the first time in a long while.
“Hello class!” the principal had entered their class with a girl on mufti.
“good morning Sir” Tony’s class cried in Unison.
“ morning. This is Wendy Bayn. A new student. Wendy, these will be your classmates”
“Good morning mates,” Weny said. And only then did he notice something off about her whole being. Or it's not something off per se, but something interestingly odd. Her being in the class has a whole new feeling about things. He could feel her breathing despite being far from him. He could perceive her. His nose couldn't stop sniffing her in. She doesn't have perfume on but has a distinct and overwhelming scent around her. He doesn’t know why it is that way. He has never felt any other person’s presence this way. And at that moment, he made up his mind to talk to her before his classmates did.
His classmates were like everyone else. They judge him based on his parent’s behavior and not for who he is. He once argued with the owner of a pharmacy about what determines people’s fate.
“Boy. It's funny you mentioned that. Our fate has been decided by God.” The old pharmacist said.
“So we are like robots? Without the ability to make our choices?” Tony asked the pharmacist.
“ We can make our choices. These choices are what leads to fate itself.”
“And don’t you think other people can control what happens to our fate?” he asked the pharmacist one more time.
“I don’t think anyone can interfere between what is destined to you by God,” the pharmacist replied, giving him a broad smile, hoping Tony won’t ask any more questions.
“This man definitely doesn’t have an overwhelmingly difficult parent like mine,” he thought to himself.
It was from then that he realized that internal factors and external factors can shape people’s fate and how others see them.
In his case, the external factors are his parents, they shaped how his classmates view him. His classmates already have a particular personality that they expect from him. He cursed the days his parents had come to school to fight the school authorities.

“Wendy will be joining us tomorrow. So Class monitor, prepare a seat for her by tomorrow.” The principal said.
Wendy was not so beautiful that she would leave him in awe, but she had a smiling face even if she wasn't. He saw from behind the class how shy she was. He wished to talk to her, the overwhelming presence around her was calming. He wanted to enjoy the first week with her but he couldn't. He knows the second day or at the most, the second week of her resumption, she would have been fed lots of stories about how his parents were. And how he might tend to exhibit the same thing as his parents.
He remembered the first set of students who joined them early this session. They were twins. He was the first person they made friends with. He had been nice to them. He had given them his notes and they appreciated him.
"You are such a nice person" Tyr -one of the twins- said.
"Calling him nice is an understatement." Arnold complimented, putting his arm around Tony's shoulder "Are you sure you would be able to help us write the Biology note?" Arnold asked.
" It's... It's nothing. I have nothing to do at home. I should finish it this weekend" he had replied to them but the next week, they collected their note and distanced themselves from him. He wanted them to see him for who he is, not who his parents were. He wants to be with people. He knew and understood the kind of person his parents were but he had built himself to not be like his parents. He understands that an offspring of social delinquents tend towards being one himself. He understands that people fear that he might truly be antisocial in a violent way. He knows people expect him to be wayward and careless but that's not what he had become. But not any of his classmates understood that.
Despite remembering all about her, he still needs to prepare for school this morning.
"Wendy Bayn," he thought
"Excuse me?" The lady beside him on the same bus asked. He thought he had been thinking within himself. He didn't know he just called the new girl's name out loud.
"Sorry, ma! I was just thinking. I guessed I thought out loud" he apologized with eyes on his feet
"It's fine sir! You need not apologize"
"You don't need to use sir for me. I am just a high school student" he blushed, still not looking at the lady. He was now resting his head toward the iron of the seat before him, pretending to dust some dirt off his shoe.
"You should not use ma for me too. I finished high school last year" she paused but he didn't respond. "I can see that there is no speck of dust on that shoe of yours. Why keep cleaning it, after mentioning my name?"
What? Did he mention her name? Could this be Wendy Bayn? The girl he has been so interested in seeing. Is this the new transfer student of Penfield college? But why isn't he having the chills he had yesterday. The feeling of camaraderie she gave off. He remembered he had not even seen the lady beside him.
"You are Wendy Bayn?" he said, raising his head to look at her. But he was rather disappointed. No! He wasn't disappointed that she wasn't beautiful. She is as beautiful as a lady should be. Even more beautiful than whom he was expecting. He was only disappointed she wasn't Wendy Bayn.
"Oh no! I must have misheard. I am Ada. Ada Springfield." She said revealing her gap tooth which Tony had always considered sexy. Her dimples became obvious as she smiled broadly. She had a flat pointed nose and a well-carved hairline which seems more natural than what you would get at a Barber's shop. She wasn't the kind he felt anything towards but the kind he would only respect. After all, one of his principles as against that of his father is "respect all ladies."
"I am Dave Tony. Nice meeting you" he said returning her smile. Immediately, he turned his face away from her.
"I can see you are from Penfield college. Your school uniform is easy to recognize. Your school's alumni were always competing with mine. We gave them tough times, even though they won more trophies than us. I only parti...." She kept on talking but he was no longer paying attention to her. He is interested in something different from the discussion. He needed to see Wendy. He would tell her all about his family and who he is before anyone else would. He doesn't mind if she would see him as weird or dumb. But it's better to hear the truth from him than hear rumours from others.
He got down from the bus at Chemist bus stop still smiling at Ada Springfield. He only waved her goodbye out of courtesy not out of good luck. He hopes no one would judge him for his thoughts. At least that is the only way he is safe and not expecting anyone's judgment. He hurried down the street and entered Sheila Avenue where his school is.