The girls finished serving in no time and quickly everyone around me made a grab for their plates. Some boys looked unsatisfied with the portions they were given and subsequently made verbal complaints to everyone's hearing with a vow to revenge during supper. Most people deserted the table as soon as they got their food to join their friends on other tables. Soon I had enough space to seat comfortable and I pulled my plate nearer to myself so I could examine its content. It looked pathetic and if I were hungry I probably would have been mad at the girls who had dished out the meal as well. My serving of rice was less than a hand full, much lesser than everyone's portion. It may have been because I didn't raise my voice to join while everyone else tried cajoling the girl food servers to add a bit more to their plate. The stew danced round the plate; a display of red oil on light orange liquid with tiny flakes of tomatoes skin wedged between strands of rice. I was afraid to touch the food in front of me.

'Are you doing iyanga for food again?'

I looked to my side and noticed Jovi was sitting next to me and eating from a plastic plate with a generous portion of rice and about five pieces of meat. He was dressed now in a red chequered shirt just like me, but his shirt was rumpled and not exactly clean.

In a strange way, I was relieved to see him again. Though I was sure I couldn't like him, he was still the only person I knew in this school for now.

'I'm not hungry.' I answered hauntingly. 'I wasn't doing iyanga.'

'Na you sabi!' He said and without asking permission he lifted my plate off the table and emptied its content into his already full plate. When he replaced my plate, his plate looked like a mini mountain. The boy sitting across from us eyed him wickedly and it occurred to me then that he may have wanted to ask me for my portion had Jovi not turned up.

'When I woke up today, I knew it was going to be a good day.' Jovi said with his mouth full.

I turned away from him, as I could not stand the sight of the mixture of rice, bits of meat and saliva in his mouth as he chewed openly and scratched his head.

'You have a lot to learn.' He said to me.

'What?'

'Only the prefects and some seniors use breakable plates'. He continued. 'This may break before the month runs out and then what will you do?'

'I have another one.' I replied.

'And when that one breaks too?'

I didn't answer him.

'You have to listen to me.' He said. 'I'm always right, you know.'

I sniggered sarcastically at his last comment. He raised his eyes to look at me.

'Why are you laughing?' He asked. 'You don't believe me?'

'No.' I said boldly. 'You told me earlier on that I would not be in the same room with the house prefect and you were wrong. Not only am I in his room, I also share a corner with him.'

He shook his head pityingly and smiled a secret sort of smile.

'Do you have a lot of provisions?' He asked.

I nodded slowly.

'He would ask for your spare keys, you wait and see. I'm always right.'

He spooned more rice into his mouth and chewed with his mouth half open. I felt disgusted by him and looked around me to make sure no one was looking at us and thinking we were friends or something. Now I wished he would simply go away and leave me alone.

I was irritated by his avowal that he was always right. I hated the way it had sounded when he said it. It had a certain conviction to it that evoked nervous feelings within me. But I didn't believe him, he had been wrong the first time after all and he had not explained to me why his earlier prediction had not come to pass.

I looked at his plate and he had already gobbled up more than half of its content. This was surprising to me. I looked round and observed some other boys and girls still nibbling on their paltry portions. I wonder how he could eat so much and still be so skinny.

'Will you be eating tonight?' He asked me, joggling rice, saliva and mashed meat in his mouth. I was disgusted.