On a day like this, he would be on top of the world. He would regard David's outing as evidence of the good education springdale offered, a which, he believed, every American child deserved. The students also expected him to highlight some terms David might not have articulated so well. They were eager to hear something special from the tall, light-skinned principal, nicknamed THE GREAT NOMAD, because if the way he longed for adventure's and he never left the students behind he always guides them through every step. Sometimes, springdale students called him 'Principo', because he never got tired of saying the pronunciation of 'principal' should not end with 'pa'. It's "Principal", Justin would emphasize.
But of course, Mr. Justin, this morning, was not on top of the world: he was under the world of tears.
At her office on the second floor of the Admin Building, the MD aimlessly removed her glasses and aimlessly dropped them on a tea stool by her right. She never envisaged the frustration fast beclouding what, ordinarily, should have been a pleasant morning.
She had driven down to the school hurriedly, after te VP raised the alarm about the principal's strange behaviour.
Only the previous day, te school had celebrated it's over 90 percent success in the last West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). The event ought to be held earlier, but it was postponed because the management could not immediately decide on the star prizes it wished to give.
The school surprised all members of the staff with snacks, bottles of wine, and $750 each for all SSS 3 teachers. Those who handled subjects where candidates scored distinctions, however, took home $1,000 each.
The only teachers who as questions to answer where Mr. Reeve ken and Mrs. Kareem Vera
In whose subjects - Chemistry and Geography, respectively - two candidates had Ds. But all teachers escaped real trouble as no candidate scored F9. The previous year, not even a cousin of the MD, Mr. Sylvester Daniels, was spared an abrupt exit.
Following her arrival at about 9:30am, the MD had invited Justin to her office, asking what the problem was. Thirty-something minutes later, he had yet to state any reason for his distraught disposition. Instead, he kept muttering: "Thank you I will be alright."
"Mr. Justin, you keep saying you will be alright, but you are not saying what the problem is. You are aware that, given your position in this school and the excellent performance you have always put up, you are central to everything that goes on. You are supposed to be the embodiment of sanity, the balm to troubled nerves. In many cases, these are what you have been. But by would you suddenly turn the source of our anxiety?"
"Madam, I...." the principal managed to say, then broke down again.
The MD became more agitated. She picked on of the three handsets on her table. She made a call, which, three minutes later, produced the physics teacher, Mr. Miller Smith, who also a pastor.
" I am here, ma," Miller said as he walked in. He had missed the morning assembly and besides the gists gathered from colleagues, he was only seeing Justin for the first time in y day. "Principal, i hope all is well," he asked.
" Not really. And that is why I invited you," the MD said. Miller stooped beside the principal and began to speak to him in a subdued voice. He asked what the real matter was, and assured he would keep secret whatever information Mr. Justin gave concerning his plight. Just like the MD had done, the pastor-teacher also reminded Justin of his cardinal position in the school, and the fact that news of the matter had already begun swrlirling, miles away from the premises.
Miller spoke to the upset principal for close to 10 minutes. Realising he might have been talking to a brick wall, he turned back to the MD and said, " Ma, have we called Mr. Justin's wife? I think we need to. And urgently too." Mrs Evelyn Claire did not object to the advice. She asked the principal or his wife's phone number. This, Mr. Justin wrote on the back of a card fetched from the breast pocket of his grey suit. The MD studied the card, hesitantingly, before dailing. It was an international number.
"Principal's wife now lives in London, ma, Miller affirmed.
"I should know. I wonder if he is missing her badly," the MD said. The comment was supposed to be a joke. Yet, it elicited no laughter. None of the two lines the MD dialled rang. " Pastor, please accompany the principal to his office. I think he has to go home, really," she said.
" I understand," pastor Miller said. "But I think there is a little problem with that. It might not be a very good idea if he is left to go home alone in this circumstances."
The MD understood the sentiment in the teacher's fear. But she felt pressed to move the drama away from the school as soon as possible. What would the parents think if they learnt that the principal was weeping like a child? The school, an impatient spirit told her, was not an a rehabilitation centre but a place for learning and earning money.
"Please, guide him to his office and arrange to take him home," she said, emphatically, adding: "I learnt that the guidance counsellor was with him earlier.
Perhaps, he can go with him. He might also visit the clinic ASAP."