They continued discussing and bragging as though they would be able to face the school authorities, if the opportunity was given to them
until the rising bell rang.
I got up from my bed in my pyjamas and went to the mob and said in a peaceful voice", It
is time for school morning devotion".
It was as though I was not talking to anyone. However, I was not harsh on them seeing the state of their mind. In a minute, the hostel Master, Sir Ronald came With his cane and
they swaggered out of the hostel, claiming to be above flogging.
Later, after the morning devotion, one of the students, Anthony Kenneth whose name was mentioned along the line that night came to me. I had preached to him and tried to convert him to be a born-again Christian. However, he had not
actually shown much interest even though he responded each moment I called on him. "Nnaa,
Thomas, I am in big trouble o! he sald.
"What is the problem?"I asked him.

"They told me that my name was called and an allegation was laid against me so I thought it wise to let you know my offence
they misunderstood, he explained.
"What happened actually" I curiously inquired.
"It happened that I met a girl in the School by name Joyce. She takes the same Subject as me, so I borrowed her notebook to copy had not copied the note. 1he boys in my class saw the book with me and began to call me Joyce to make jest of me. Maybe the girl misunderstood the whole thing and began to
think of something else; probably, thati was in a relationship with her.

Again, my friend Clement Bassey, took my picture and put it in his album. I do not know how the album got to the girls hostel, but Clement said he gave the album to his sister. I don't know how even Joyce got my picture but after a while, she returned it with a message that she did not like me again. Daniel Rufus who brought
the message said it in such an amusing way that
everyone in the class began to laugh at me. Christopher paused and then continued,"What I heard now was that she told Sir Robinson and his group that Daniel and I were fighting over her he concluded waiting for me to speak. I didn't know what to say at the moment, so I kept silent.
After some seconds, he broke the silence and said, "Since you preached to me, I stopped
following Daniel's group, that was why they kept opposing everything I do".
There was silence again as I kept thinking of what to say in the matter. Joshua continued, "I
want you to help me and explain these things to them since they will believe you. let them know that I have stopped talking to thie giri for a long time especially after you preached to me", he
pleaded. I was thinking how difficult that would be. It was just like hitting ones head against a
brick wall. But I knew I had some privilege which I could call on to speak on anyone's behalf.

"Well, I am pleased that at least you respected me and told me this. However, I don't know exactly what to do but I'm sure that with God all things are possible. I am going to see
what I can do about that", I promised. Then I began to chide him.

"This is why I keep warning you about the kind of companý you keep". Actually, Cement is
not bad sort but because of his past conduct, the school looks at him with a suspicious eye. Some
staff had wanted to find out from me if Clement was a troublemaker. Well, from my own point of view, he has no problem with me and the prefects. However he defaults in some minor issues such as flying out his shirts when it is supposed to be tucked in and putting on bathroom slippers instead of sandals on school days.

"Joshua, what I am trying to say is that your relationship With him would make the school see you as a bad boy because it is
generally believed that birds of a feather flock together, show me your friend.....", I paused giving
Joshua the opportunity to complete the adage".....
and I will tell you who you are", he completed and I continued.

"So it would be a good thing for you to make friends with boys of reputable character. l don't mean that Clement should become your enemy. No, but at least, a person is influenced by
his friends; the company he keeps influences all aspects of his life. That was why you also started putting on slippers to school even when your wounds which was your initial excuse for putting them on, were healed. Again, you began to fly out your shirt and so on. These were the
unwholesome influences of your friendship with Clement including Pidgin English". I explained a
lot of things to Joshua and went ahead to counsel him as a friend even though our lifestyles were
different. I tried to tolerate some of his shortcomings and consistently advised him to
live a righteous life. I promised Joshua to do everything within my power to help him but we
must wholly lean on God for help. His will alone would be done. I said a few words of prayer with him and then gave him some instructions.
" I want you to leave that hostel where you are, I said and then began to explain when I
noticed his look of puzzlement.

"This is to curb the level of your association with these friends who have nothing good to impart to your life. So are you going to do it?".

He nodded his head and said, "Yes, I will do it"

"Okay, I will get you a bunk very close to my cubicle. Meanwhile, get your belongings to this hostel this morning". Joshua left for the hostel where he was residing to transfer his belongings to my corner.