THE HEART OF TALL BILLIE

PART ONE

         TALL BILLIE’S CHILDHOOD.

      Hey! Boy gets off the sand, it getting dark already, go grab a bucket and take a bath, Tall Billie’s grandparents howled a thousand times at him before he did as he was instructed. Billie quickly rushed into the house. He grabbed a six inched deep plastic bucket, ad quickly rushed to the tap to get some water for himself, and to keep the eyes of his grandparents from prying at him as well as avoiding the rhetoric lecture of: ‘scrub your knee,’ ‘wet your back,’ ‘trot your shoulders’ and so on which irritates him a lot.

   Tall Billie lived with his grandparents in Ohio after his parents died. He was an orphan. His father died in the military after a GRT- Palestine missile hit their jet at 120-degree altitude, with reports from the Palestine government of supposed encroachment on their airspace on their way back from a peace-keeping mission in Israel. His mother died while given birth to him and part of the reason been that she had received the news of her husband’s death earlier before she went into labour which had already paralyzed her strength to even go through a normal delivery other than a cesarean session(CS) which took her life. Billie's grandparents assumed the responsibility of nurturing him from his infant until he was old enough to start his pre-primary education. Billie's grandparents were kind and loving people and they never made him feel the absence of both his parents so; they were acting as his grandparents and parents. Taking care of a child, as Billie was the greatest responsibility Billie's grandparents ever had. Since they had lost their daughter and son-in-law, Billie was all they had left, no son, no daughter, no other grandchildren, just Billie and him alone. Billie’s grandparents lived in a two-bedroom flat in southern Ohio in the USA. They had lived there all their lives, Billie’s mother grew up and got married there, and now Billie coming to live there was legendary. Their compound was slate from the gate with garlands of different flowers and species. An array of coconut trees at the adjacent part of the house and some other fruits like guava, oranges, pear, and strawberries. The climate was nice and always cools. Trips of sand always wedge on the soil due to the beach ahead, about fifteen to twenty kilometres away. The compound was the most treasured in the whole of southern Ohio. While it was considered by some persons to initiate romance and ideal for lovers others thought of it, an arena of quiet. It was far from the brinks of gossip neighbours, and automobile disturbance. Every morning and night Billie plays on the sand and sometimes makes effort to climb dwarf trees. He was not yet enrolled in school, at age four already. His grandparents gave him so much freedom being the only child they had left and too scared to let him out of sight. His grandparents did not go to college and they barely passed high school but when it comes to morality and the dints of training a child, they were medal deserving and college was never a requisite for achieving that.

       One night Billie’s grandparents talked after Billie had gone to sleep. The gravity of their discussion was cencentred the need to enrol Billie in school. ‘He was growing far too quick and responsive to changes around him and if we must negotiate a bright future for him, education must become a key factor in his life,' Billie’s grandmother politely suggested. His grandfather immediately concurred with his wife's idea of getting Billie enrolled in school and made all the necessary arrangements, all the inquiries he needed until he was satisfied enough to settle for the best school in all of South Ohio. Early In the morning the next week, Billie's grandparents broke the news of the new development to Billie. It was so sudden, more than his grandma even expected was. His grandfather had the habit of handling tasks very fast most especially if it has to do with his grandson. Billie wasn't happy with the idea of going to school; he had grown too fond of working around his grandparents that he considers anything that deprives him, the luxury of their presence a menace to him. He could not afford to disobey his grandparent, so the best he could do was to cry, making moves that suggest he was displeased with the idea. Nonetheless, he needed to go to school. Early that morning, his grandmother took the responsibility of bathing him. She tried convincing him into accepting their decision of him going to school.' Going to school is fun, you get to find new people, make new friends, sit under new teachers and get new orientations and ideas and most importantly, it is the ticket you need to make the greatest achievements, what we never had or couldn’t afford. My boy cheer up is not that you are living us forever, it is just a matter of hours and you will be back to us and we will start eating our delicious ice cream and sweet cheese.’ Billie’s grandmother spoke amorously. That was enough to brighten his countenance for a while. His grandmother kept dressing him up while he kept pondering the outcome of his new school in his little mind. He had heard that children were flogged in school and enforced hard discipline. When you are asked to stand, you stand immediately: sit, you sit, no mistakes, no errors or excuses were tolerated, making faces before your principal was taboo most especially when he or she is wearing an unnerving moustache, and a bifocal lens that imbricate on his or her nose is sure enough to give you a hiding. Thoughts of all these willowed challenges kept flipping over the pages of little heart while his grandmother was busy getting him ready for school. The dress-up was all over and his grandparents were amazed at how good he looked in his new clothes talk less of his school uniform when they eventually get him enrolled. Billie and his grandparent got to his new school called “ST Never Quit High school” considered under credible analytic data and statistics to be one of the best in the whole of southern Ohio.

  Billie's grandparents along with him quickly made their way to school to process the enrolment on time and to ensure that nothing is left out of the picture. Billie’s grandparents were never known for late coming in any event most especially his grandfather. He was the swell view of punctuality and never jokes with his time and whatever disregards the value of his time automatically becomes an enemy. Times without number in his little way had fostered the education of time value and management to both his wife and grandson. At the gate of the school, the décor of flower garlands, spring falls and the array of wild species of fruits such as coconuts and oranges directly opposite the main entrance were an intriguing and remarkable sight. Remarkable air spinners directly overhead the first roof of the principal office, which extends to the playground and refracts air bubbles during summer was a sumptuous terrain of technology every parent would lobby to ensure their children and grandchildren gets to experience its luxury.  In front of the civic centre colloquially considered as their conference hall was a sculpture of Tutankhamen reminding the student of the power of wealth and the need to study hard enough to become a

 wealth legends. The sculpture also highlighted the enormity of greed that not only blinded a man into death but also mitigated his possibility of enjoying the liberality of eternal rest. Billie and his grandmother were wowed by this sculpture and glyphic writings that their mouths were wildly open but not enough as compared to the consensus of Zeus, Gorgon, Pegasus and the legend Hercules and pharaoh’s five thousand armies of death represented in art lurking at the entrance of the main library plying to dim light. The exhibition of the school temporarily distracted young Billie's mind for a while but everything became a close chapter for unconsciousness immediately they stepped into the principal office. Billie was already wearing a frown and feeling intimidated by the flushing, lashing rind of the principal’s musmoustached his venting eyeballs hopping from the top of his glasses, which were imbricate, on his nose rather than the full length of his face. That alone sunk fear into his little bones and increased his loathe for education and aversion for schooling.

  “Good morning principal,” Billie’s grandfather greeted the principal in a genial but more polite manner wearing a smile on his face along with his wife, Billie’s grandmother compensating it with a flimsy but educational gesture by stretching out her hand to take the handshake meant for her husband. The principal naturally reciprocated both gestures. Been an educationist, owing to his reading versatility and terrain of literary exposure, he believes piousness was the best way to express seriousness and responsibility and was only representing an ideal impression for both himself and his school. The expression on the principal’s face was more of a disciplinarian and an ardent enemy of children and Billie never liked his face not even a little. Billie’s grandmother was not that comfortable either, with the principal’s facial expression and with his consistent correction of her vocabularies, making her feel less of a learned or educated person. Contrary to both Billie and his grandmother's conflicting idea of who the principal was as well as his kind of attitude- Billie’s grandfather was more than inundated in his spirit, feeling proud of himself for having made the right choice of school for his grandson. He immediately believed in the credibility of the unseen teachers and the capacity of the school on a derived conclusion from the little conversation he had with the principal. He never needed to meet the teachers or any other person; he believed that ‘if the head is good the body is complete.’ He was feeling rest assured that his grandson would get the best from the school. They analyzed all the necessary qualifications and good deeds of the school and teachers ranging from awards, medals, the competition they had attended, and enormous victories they had secured to character, learning, and child programming. Billie's grandparents were amazed by the principal’s explanation and display of sophistic skills. Billie was just seated there, speechless, and waiting for the principal’s attention to finally find him. With bated breath and a solemn expression on his face, he kept on waiting. Suddenly, the principal decided to end his conversation with Billie’s grandparents most especially his grandfather and deal with the primary motive of their coming to his office, which was, getting Billie enrolled in their school. Hey!  My boy, how are you? The principal asked Billie politely with his bifocals imbricate on the edge of his nose while his eyes were gulping from the top of it and conversely staring directly into Billie’s eyes. Billie could barely reply to his principals’ gestures or attempt correctly any of the principal’s questions. Chills were already running through his head that he could barely get a grip of himself when suddenly, he busted into tears. The principal quickly stressed one situation and considered it an act of timidity and less passive expression of hidden potentials and incurred productivity, and it was the duty of their school to correct that by building a degree of active courage in him so he could fight and defeat his fears. The principal assured his grandparents that he would come out of it in no time. Billie’s grandparents felt bad for Billie and wondered what the outcome would have been if they had delayed any further in enrolling Billie in school. Part of the enrolment was coordinated by the principal including a little test of psychology while Billie's cocounsellornd class teacher under the supervision of the principal and grandparent handled the rest of the exercise. At the end of everything, he was enrolled in the school. The principal assigned them a resumption date, which was two days ahead. Billie and his grandparents left the principal office with a combination of odd and even feelings. While his grandparent felt fulfilled, he felt like he was about to be caged. Children are usually afraid of going to school. What they feared the most was the idea of living in the comfort of their home and venturing into an environment they believe will limit their freedom, curtail their excesses as well as compel them into obeying strict and unquestionable laws. Children by default will never give in to what is best for them hence, only parents can persuade them into a blissful future. Billie arrived home with his grandparent after they had spent about three hours in school. His grandfather quickly ordered some water. Billie quickly went off his thoughts and dashed to the kitchen to get some water for his grandfather per his request. In a moment, he had already arrived with the water. He presented it lovingly to his grandfather while staring at him cutely and childishly relaying an expression of innocence. Billie’s grandfather considered children as a gift from God. He believed any parent who had a child should live in everlasting appreciation to God. Billie’s grandfather was not a core believer in God but he never misses a chance to recognize 

the place of the supernatural when he encounters one and Billie was sure, more than a supernatural gift to him. Billie might be a boy but his grandparent saw a reflection of his mother in him. Children are the path of innocence, the purest of love that streams from their heart unfeigned capable of magically transforming a heavy soul into wonders, a lost person into reclamations. Their voices bring ailing to the sick and succour the depressed. He considered the earth full of waste but the footprints and blueprints of children, which condenses into conservation, purgatory, and holiness is what makes us safe and healed from a broken and wretched world. Billie’s grandmother called him and offered him her lap to seat on in a bit to cheer him up. On their way home from school, she had secretly gotten some chocolate for him. Therefore, she offered it to him inona p matter and Billie was delighted to have them. Amid his delightful moments with chocolate, his grandmother told him a story about her past life. How she lost her precious dream of becoming a politician in the future. Like him she despised school and the love her mother had for her made her a culprit of ignorance and a victim of mediocrity which infested her life and swayed her from the light of civilization that education provided. She lived in regret and anguish when her mom, the only source of support she had, died due to poor prescription of drugs and lack of funds to have her admitted to a good hospital. Until she met his grandfather who brought salvation to her and literary gave her a reason to live and she vowed within the hankering of hope never to allow her children to undergo any of such abuse again. While telling Billie the story she became emotional and began to sob. Billie could not understand anything her granny was saying and was very busy eating his chocolate to have even noticed the state of her granny. His grandfather quickly consoled her and gave her a shoulder to cry on. When Billie noticed her granny’s mood he began to tend his little chocolate helve-scrap on his grandma’s cheeks along with his hand rubbing over her granny’s face to console her. His granny was delighted with his sweet and tender hands which he curdled over her face and shoulders. Gradually her mood brightened up while Billie fell asleep on her laps. She quickly took him inside at the request of his darling husband and sort that opportunity to make dinner. Later that evening they all ate their dinner with happiness and went to bed after dinner.

 The next day, early in the morning, Billie's grandfather was the first to wake up from bed. He had a routine he follows unfailingly, early to bed, early to rise was one of his 'summer poems' and he practised it for forty-five years. When he wakes up in the morning, he goes to the mine and after viewing it he lights a pack of cigarettes to digest his worries. He believed that as long as anybody can draw breathe, worries were inevitable. All we needed was a way to subvert its action. We can’t destroy it but we can at least outlive it for a while. His greatest worry was Billie's future. He had a secret he was hiding from both Billie and his wife. Every morning, he wakes with it and every night he sleeps with it. This was the heart of a man, full of worries, contemplation, anguish, obscurity, and fear, and most frightening was the fear of the unknown, a welcoming destructive blueprint of man. Smoking early was the only way he could get it off his chest for a while. Running away from our problems never solves them. Telling people about them never rids us of them either. While a few people do not care about our problems, the rest are glad that we have them. Repeatedly, confronting our problems, fighting our fears, overcoming our worries lies in our willingness to courageously face them with all temerity and guts of faith by leaning on the inspiration of the truth. That truth is the combat against evil, the freedom that we desire, the hope we never saw, the inspiration we never had, the position and daring power of actions, and Billie’s grandfather found his type of truth in smoking. In times of distress, one can believe anything even the greatest lie can become your manifold truth. And every lie comes with short-term or eternal consequences and Billie’s grandfather never saw his coming.

 To be continued in episode 2 of season one