Sing Of A Tree In The Wild

Insomnia

28th of April

12:07

Dennis

Two days into the third and final lap of Year Five and I still don't feel the resumption vibe. Everything feels...normal. Or better still, I choose to see things exactly that way: normal.

For three days, I haven't enjoyed the rewarding sleep I always crave and treasure. Yes, sleepless nights. What's the point of dozing off by 3 a.m. and waking up a moment later to see 6:02 staring coldly at me, reminding me of the necessary evil globally known as 'school'? To make matters worse, my mum has started waking me up again, based on recent developments. Trust me, her methods beat whatever hell Amarachi could ever invoke upon me.

What have I been up to these nights, you may ask?

Elfrida once told me that if you constantly tell yourself a lie, it will appear as the very truth in a matter of time. So yes, I have been sacrificing my sleep time in efforts to deceive the very person I can never truly deceive: myself.

In the course of my personal deception, I have been reminiscing terribly. And I keep ending up on the same dead end of a question: Who was Dennis before the 21st of February, 2015? Seems like an easy nut to crack, is it? The truth is, it is an easy nut to crack.

Now, the answer I have all been waiting for.

Before that fateful day, I was just a regular 15-year old, soccer-loving Nigerian boy who hadn't quite gotten over his ex. After the 21st of February, this very soccer enthusiast took on a totally unbelievable and bemusing crusade: trying to uncover the past of his mysterious neighbour who he'd just 'met'. Things haven't been the same since then; things will keep changing. The painful truth from Saturday's exposition is that I won't see Elfrida James-Omowole the same way ever again, plus, I might never truly accept her for the beautiful disaster that she really is.

I have kept late nights repeating the very opposite of the truth I will one day be forced to accept.

"When are you ever going to resume for third term?"

That was startling, to say the least. Ehis doesn't hesitate before sitting right next to me. "And why aren't you at the cafeteria?"

"I'm not hungry, guy." Is all I can say as I gaze listlessly.

Ehis gives me a disgruntled look. "Deep sunken eyes. Slow gait. Despondent look. And now, loss of appetite. I smell girl trouble."

I really don't know what to say at this juncture. It definitely is girl trouble.

He hesitates for a while; he's taking in as much fresh air as he can salvage. "Did she tell you no?"

Rather than face Ehis with widened eyes, I close my eyes in self-composure before saying, "It's far from anything romantic, trust me. It's much more personal."

It's Ehis' turn to keep mute; invariably my cue to fire on. "Ironically, it was in my place to say yes or no BUT it's not what you're thinking, Ehis. Not that." If I didn't put Ehis in check just now, things would have gone overboard for certes.

"If it isn't that, then what is it?" His eyes are still widened, fixed on me.

"It was a question of personal acceptance, a question I've spent late nights pondering on." I stand up and recline on the adjacent wall, before sliding my palms into my pockets. From a side-eye view, I can sense Ehis shifting on the platform he's seated on.

"By 'personal acceptance', I want to assume that Elfrida finally let you in."

"Yes. She did." I and Ehis have a good view of the whole eating business from this spot. I can even see Najite, Adunni and to my greatest surprise, Kofo, sitting together at a table. Elfrida isn't with them.