I remember the first time I learnt the word “nincompoop.” Well, I didn’t learn it, I heard Daddy wa, our landlord, shout it out at his son, Bro Tunde when he scored a goal during compound football.

Bro Tunde has obviously made his father proud.

I used to read a lot of books,

I was in primary 5 but I had never heard the word, “Nincompoop.”

Wawu! The word sounded big and fancy and I looked forward to using it at the appropriate time. Daddy wa spoke a lot of big grammar, I admired him greatly for that.

It happened on inter-house sports day,

I never planned to use the big word but my favourite teacher had just won the teacher’s race.

Mrs. Adebiyi was the one who recommended me for double promotion because I was ahead of my classmates.

Going forward, she earned my love and adoration.

I saw her triumph coming,

Mrs. Adebiyi had left a wide gap behind her, the other teachers didn’t stand a chance.

It was exciting to watch, I couldn’t sit still. I got up and clapped excitedly as Mrs Adebiyi crossed the red line drawn with red chalk. “Nincompoop Mrs Adebiyi...” I clapped excitedly.

Mrs. Adebiyi ran past me ceremoniously and gave me a high five.

Just as my palms met with hers, I said again, “Nincompoop.” Mrs. Adebiyi looked at me in admiration, she high fived me again.

I was so happy, I had used the big word and I felt strangely proud of myself.

It was in Jss2 that I understood what “nincompoop” really meant. Since then, I’ve had occasional flashes of Mrs. Adebiyi running towards me, admiring me admire her, as I called her a foolish woman, twice.

Till today, I’m obsessively curious to know when Mrs. Adebiyi found out,

the true meaning of the word.

Don’t ask me about Daddy wa,I’ll tell you more about his grammar bastardisation later.

Let’s get back to Mrs. Adebiyi.

Do you think she still remembers that moment? Do you think she’d be mad at me?

HAY GOD!

#DANGFlashbackfriday #FlashbackFriday