Gabriel Dedji - The Escape: A Tale of Change and Revolution

The time is 14:57. Humphrey Anit, a language teacher, is taking care of a class that is full of students who do not listen.

Humphrey Anit was a good teacher. He was a man of Indian descent, but he had clearly spent most of his life in England. In the eyes of the students, he was seen as a gentle giant due to the fact he was around 64". Humphrey was also frustrated. He sat at the front of the class observing the ongoing mayhem. Usually the class would misbehave until Humphrey told them to be quiet and sit down. They usually listened to him and respected him, because he listened to his students and respected them. Today, however, his students had gone crazy. They were wild as they ran around the room rampant (all 26 of them). He tried helplessly to control his learning family. The term made him sick. In other schools, the term form group was used. The term learning family indicated that a learning guide had some sort of moral responsibility for these students apart from doing the register, telling them off and occasionally praising them. Despite the fact that he didnt really have any moral responsibilities, Humphrey took it upon himself to make sure every student he taught felt happy in the school. Humphrey was an angel for all the students: a true Godsend. So it was a shame that he was keeping the secret that he was leaving the students at the end of the year.

Two boys, one of them Congolese and the other English, caused a kerfuffle as a class discussion progressed into an argument and others chimed in too. Another boy sat in the corner of the classroom, throwing pens and scrunched up pieces of paper at people across the classroom for no apparent reason. He hid and ducked under his chair as people proclaimed that they would beat up the person who had thrown something at them. Three Kurdish boys shoved each other around and kicked each other for a 1 scramble. Another group of girls screamed as they caught up on the latest gossip. This classroom was wild. A girl named Violet although innocent and sweet was incredibly annoyed at Maverickthe mischievous troublemaker of the classfor taking her pencil case and water bottle. She chased him around the classroom, and they threw chairs and tables around in the process. The room was in disarray, and the noise was deafening.

There he was: Mr Anits favourite student. He was a young boy who was far from well behaved but nowhere near the troublemaking standards that were set by Maverick. Today he decided to refrain from taking part in any unruly behaviour. He looked at Mr Anits face and comprehended his frustration and tiredness. Mr Anit couldnt wait to go home and see his wife and his son. The boy had a light bulb moment. He took a small keyboard looking instrument out of his bag. He connected a whistle to the keyboard-like instrument and blew into it whilst playing the keyboard with his right hand. Suddenly, music started to play. The sound was peculiar. The melody was a syncopated and slowed down combination of traditional afro beat and jazz (so out of place for the scenario). It was almost musically perfect, but it sounded as if it was missing the percussion of Tony Allen or another similar musician (which was extremely hard to find). The source of the sound was alien: like the hybrid of a harmonica, accordion and recorder. Everyone stopped their noise. They were all mesmerised. The boy was like a pied piper, using music as a mystic tool leading his audience to quiet. He ended the piece with a perfect cadence. There was a silence for a few seconds. It wasnt an awkward silence. It was a silence that contained the amazement of the class at this odd instrument. The Congolese boy who was arguing with his English friend was intrigued.

What other songs can you play? he asked in excitement.

The boy with the melodica thought to himself. He then thought of the perfect song. He played a song off of Kendrick Lamars newest album. This instrumental was a simple melody built off of three notes, but multiple students smiled as they recognised the tune. The buzzer went.