Pantie Rule

14 | Stranger Things

"You're kidding me right?" I spread my eyes open.

I was sore disappointed, but I had to put up with it and act like I was excited about the whole ordeal if I didn't want any malice for maybe at least a week and two months. And maybe I widened my eyes too much in pseudo-surprise because they were stinging and moistening up already, but my dear Lewechi hadn't noticed.

"It's true!" She said, twice as excited that she had gotten some emotion out of me. "The wall is nine feet high." She winked.

Okay. First things first.

Just in case you didn't understand 'the wall is nine feet high', girls and guys of Saint Maria have conquered the School's twelve feet wall. Professional wall jumpers are what they are, and now nine is just child's play(until one of them dies).

I don't think I'm ready to wear black shades on a black gown, the last time I tried that it was for grandma's burial. The heat was highly unbearable considering the fact that I had made sure everything was black. Every cloth a human could ever imagine on a twelve year old.

Okay, so I had to react as expected to her second speech. Oh God, pretence is hard torture!

"You don't mean it." You could tell that wasn't me. No, not even close. I sure was a whirlwind of an actor, but there she was, Lewechi, beaming with smiles. At that moment wondered how we both became friends in the first place. Well, in life accidents happen.

"I mean it." She tapped my hand.

The juniors were chattering at the background.

Look, enough of this pretence, I'm a bad actor and worse still, I would be a bad friend if I did not warn her. I wasn't going to support any act which would make her break a leg, or two, or even lose her life or make her pregnant!

Horrible!

I mean, it's better to die a virgin than to lose your virginity on a excursion trip - in a bush - and die afterwards. That way, I wouldn't attend your burial.

We may have met in the most unlikeliest of situations but she's still my friend.

I remember two years ago when I met her with a knife in her tummy. A literal knife, dipped in her flesh, her uniform stained with red and her eyes evil-like. I was horrified and I screamed. That had been my first day in Saint Maria.

"Lewechi." I said her name like I was her Godmother. For God's sake I was her Godmother! She wouldn't have survived without me. She'd have probably stabbed herself to death, and maybe I wouldn't have to wonder about anyone whispering 'boyfriend material' into my ear. "I'm not happy." I said, stern-faced.

"Why?" Her pretty face wrinkled in surprise.

"I'm not just happy." I stuttered.
I was quite surprised to hear her concerned and shocked. She was usually very insensitive and annoying.

"Why na?" She watched keenly with her chin bent to one side.

I breathed in and breathed out. "What do you intend to do with the fence?"

"Erm..." She looked to the ceiling and then down at me in mock-disgust. "To climb?" Her questioning tone made me sound foolish.

"You know what?" I barked. "Forget it, okay!" I snatched my bucket and whisked away from the room. I had wanted to say something. Something that meant so much to me. Something I had been brooding on for the whole of my amateurish teenage years, but anger had quenched my fire. But I'd thought anger was fire, too. Fire quenches fire. Now, I wasn't sure to say it in a long while.

* * *

I had a warm bath. If the sun had been intense during the afternoon the water would be heated up and during an evening bath your skin would be met by a warm mass of water, and trust me it was soothing.

It happened only once in a while, and I cherished every rare moment of it. Like now. I carefully splashed it on my skin and watched it cascade its way down to my feet, forming bubbles with the soap and eventually bursting. In my small life, I've come to realize that most times beauty is in the small things. The tensioned drip of water from a leaf to the brown, spongy earth and eventual splashing of several other droplets, flying in the air and vanishing in the sand. The beauty of blinking, the eyelids- crowned with pompous lashes, rising in pride and elegance to reveal the most beauty aspect of the human body - the eyes. If there were no eyes I wonder if there could be love or lust or life.

As I pondered, I could literally see coffee brown eyes, straight, jutting, daring with shades of ecstasy, hate, adventure, life, courage, toughness, mischief and manipulation

Suddenly, there was a loud bang on the door.

Quickly, I cleared my throat to signify I was present. Then the feet shuffled away. I poured the last mass of water on my body, and stepped out to the bathroom corridor with my hands clutching my bucket and a towel draping my body and was about to go when I saw a girl in faded hostel wears shuffling past the corner of the building.

I creased my eyes. Who was that?

And why was she hiding?

I sauntered to the building's corner and peeked, only to see the her move behind the wall.

I could go one more time and check, right? So, my feet went after her again, and right at that moment, she crossed to the other edge of the wall. A surge of fury and frustration rose through me and I hurried angrily to the other edge, my feet slapping loudly on the floor. There! My heart stopped. My face was glued to the image that stood before me, as I saw her more readily this time before she vanished again.

She had blood on her checked purple uniform. Her face was very pale as though it was painted with harmattan dust. For a few seconds, she looked at me with an impossible expressionless face, the face that carried no emotion. It gave away nothing. Not even fear or hate which made her all the more disturbing.

My teeth were chattering in my mouth. They couldn't stay still, and horror-inspired tears were running up to my eyes already. My heart beat picked up again, racing this time. I breathed with my mouth as curiosity boiled in me.

Omotara calm down... And find out what's happening.

Then urgency took over.

I had to see her again. Whoever she was. What was she? I half-walked half-ran to the other edge, returning to my initial position.

She wasn't there either. Not even a shadow.

Maybe one more try. Maybe if I checked one more time.

I hurried off to the other edge, with full hopes of seeing her again, just catching a glimpse, but when I got there, she'd gone. It was like she never appeared; like it never happened. I was beginning to look insane. What the hell was I doing?

I turned away and hurried back to the hostel, occasionally looking back to know if she was still there, the girl; pale faced and expressionless. Then her face appeared right in my eyes, it was a hallucination I was sure, but did the (un)expected all the same.

I ran.

But as I did one question lingered in my mind:

What if that was Fatima? What if she was trying to tell me something.

Thank you for reading.
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