The Seat Of Eckstein High
Erasmus stood tall at the staffroom balcony, staring down at the students reciting the national anthem for their morning devotion. Everyone of them sang every word audibly while standing at unshakable attention. They knew the consequences if as little as their hair flinched would be worst that whatever even the devil could think up. And the bearer, the inflictor, the conveyor of that grave repercussion would be none other than the 67 year old vice principal, Erasmus Crown. His eyes were so sharp they could catch a loose button on a students shirt from over a hundred feet away. His voice so loud they shake the foundations of the school and the heart of the students, they even woke the birds of the air from their feathery slumber whenever he decides to do his morning calls.
His 6.2 feet build could not match his intuitive intelligence and kind strictness. He dressed as sharp as he could see, clothes always neatly ironed and a lovely cane always in hand to add colour to his dressing. Then that hunky smell of oud perfume, that was his calling card, you could smell it from a mile away. 36 years he had been at Eckstein High School, right from it's inception, he was part of the school's history, he was it's backbone.
He stood there until all the singing and reciting and praying was done. The students didn't still move an inch, they waited for one of two things to happen, he either walked into the staffroom or... He takes a deep breath and says something motivational and yet threatening to them. But you dare not move until he does one of the both.
"Hmm... It's a new day!" His voice danced around in loud echoes "Listen to your teachers and learn something, at least a thing and..."
His speech was suddenly interrupted by the sight his eye caught, he saw members of the school management including the principal and the school's founder/owner, they were all familiar faces. Then he caught an unfamiliar one, a young lad, sharply dressed for one of his generation.
"Perhaps he's coming to enroll." He thought to himself.
The parade waltzed with the with the pompous elegance of a peacock, disrupting his flare for dramatic announcements. But that wasn't what bothered him. If management was meeting, he would have been informed, he should have been informed.
"Exams kick off in two weeks, make good of the time you have now, because if you fail..." He paused while gripping the rails "All your girlfriends and boyfriends will know, because I will be pasting all the results on the notice board this time."
This announcement threw the entirety of the student body into a frenzy of cantankerous murmuring.
"Off to class, all of you." He spoke louder as though he had increased the volume of his voice.
He quickly yet charismatically walked up to the principals office, where the parade had gone. He knocked twice and opened the door, they were all staring at him when he went in, it was as though they had been waiting for him. He greeted with his usual upbeat deep voice and they responded but not with the same enthusiasm.
"Um, I didn't know there was a meeting this morning."
There was such a thick silence in the room that you could almost see it. He waited for the a reply for almost a minute before the school's founder, a 71 year old woman cleared her throat and said.
"Mister Crown, this is my grandson." She said pointing at the unfamiliar young man "he will be taking over from Mr Kayode as principal and from me as owner."
"What?!" He expressed shocked but very calmly, he always believed in calm reactions.
"He will handle things from now on. And you are to answer to him."
"Haha." He let out a little laugh. "Answer to, haha, answer to him? How old are you boy?"
"Twenty five. And it's Doctor to you." He replied with unwavering boldness.
"Feisty! At least you have that going for you. I quit." His voice sank when it got to those two last words. He turned and walked out of the office.
Reference
bulbappio article: The Seat Of Eckstein High by Yhudee https://www.bulbapp.io./p/62580d13-b83e-46cd-bcb2-ca8df596855f/the-seat-of-eckstein-high
