Hell Mary

Chapter One

"I also got letter for you," he said as he handed over to her a letter of acceptance into Queen's college, the same Ashley goes to.

"Impossible! Very impossible," Maureen rose up to rebuke.

"Mary... Ashley... Go into your rooms," Dominic said and they scooted off.

"Queen's college? Really? That school costs a fortune. I won't allow you waste your money like that," Maureen said.

"Honey it's not waste if I have that and many more to spare. She saved my life! I owe her this one thing," Dominic said.

"Take her to a government school instead. Who will be helping me with the chores when she's gone?" Maureen asked and Dominic fell silent. "Better tell me oh! Ah ah," she said withdrawing from the living room and slowly into their bedroom up the stairs. "I need to go to my pastor for serious prayers and cancelling of any money sucking demon. It's not my husband that they would rob," she added and banged her room door shut.

Dominic sat on the living room sofa letting his mind wander back to the first day he had met Mary. He was being harassed on the street by hoodlums who had camouflaged as Police officers but he hadn't known then. The sky darkened and ate up a half portion of the moon  and sadly enough, he was being attacked on a lonely street.

"Get down from the car!" One said and hit the butt of the gun on his head. They scouted his car and took out every fancy item that seemed valuable and the other one had shot him on the leg before fleeing the scene. Blood gushed out and welled up about his body soaking his cloth and skin. His heart rate had momentarily decreased and he laid there awaiting his death when Mary came. She applied pressure on the bleeding site while screaming for all the help she could get. But for her timely intervention, he would have been a dead man.

*****

"Mary!" Maureen called out as she had just returned from the market. She fell on the living room's sofa while placing the black leather bag that accompanied her by her right.

"Yes ma!" Mary replied wiping her wet palms on her skirt and running towards the living room.

"Here, these are the things you'll be needing for school," Maureen replied throwing the bag at Mary. Mary peeped inside the bag while mumbling a 'Thank you.'

The school prospectus demanded a lot more than what she could see inside that bag; a pair of uniform, a single day wear, a pair of socks and a single pair of sandals whose straps she could tell were very weak. There were no other personal items, no extra and no quality materials. They even demanded a hoe, cutlass and antiseptics for maintaining the school and when Mary had raised that up, her aunt waived it off.

She dared not raise the fact that she had no provisions as opposed to the stack of packaged drinks, cereals and beverage they loaded for Ashley every new term and during her visiting day. Mary was sure her uncle had given her aunt a lot of money to buy everything she would need for school as written on the prospectus, but as usual, Maureen hoarded up a lot and more for herself.

She left for the room under the flight of stairs which she had managed to call hers for the time being. She unloaded the contents of the leather on the floor crying while releasing long but silent sniffles so her aunt wouldn't hear. Folding the sleeves of her navy blue blazer, she slowly placed it into her bag while also folding the rest of the other things she would need for school.

Up the stairs was a different story. Ashley though not much of a talker, was very popular in school. Having the perfect long hair, perfect grades, wealthy home and the perfect boyfriend but for their recent break up, busied herself too with all the new things she had to pack into her bags. Her room was painted hot pink and so were most of her things.

"What do I pack next?" she asked herself while placing her hands on her waist and walking to and fro about her room until the notification sound on her phone beeped. She jumped unto her bed and replied the text from Stella laughing at the picture that accompanied the text which was that of Dayo that everyone had talked about for more than a month. Apparently, a lot of students had turned it into a sticker and occasionally sent it during their chats. She couldn't just wait to resume school the next day as she had a lot of things and more to talk about.

*****

Stella followed the Principal silently into her cold office as she used the opportunity to stare around at the wide space with a ton of medals and awards at one shelf by her right, a portable small sized fridge beside the Principal's office chair, a large portrait of herself which was hung behind her chair and many others with Reverend sisters from all over her many missionary journeys were on top of a book shelf. Stella only recognized the few that taught at their school.

"Please sit," Principal May requested and Stella sat at the opposite chair swallowing hard in fear slowly realizing what she must have caused for herself. A new wave of fear set in when a female police officer walked into the office with a gun in her pocket but with the most comforting and ravishing smile ever.

"This is detective Uju," Principal May said misplacing the right pronunciation of the name. "Don't be scared, she just wants to question you." Stella nodded and pondered on where she had heard that name from before. 

"So you said you know who killed Mary Okafor?" Detective Uju asked.

"No, I said she didn't kill herself," Stella corrected.

"OK so where is her body? What do you have to say?" Detective Uju pressed.

"Just this," Stella handed a book over to the detective. "This was Mary's diary. She wrote her thoughts about everyone she encountered in this school in it and drew sometimes. She had big plans for herself and told me her dreams of one day becoming a nun. I know she would never commit such an act," Stella maintained.

"What about the note?" The detective asked. "I learned you said it was forged, by whom?"

"I don't know for sure, but it had to be people who didn't want their secrets out."

Principal May nodded in understanding as Uju swiped through the book and studied the pencil drawings that Mary scribbled on some pages with the Principal. No one noticed the two pages Stella folded and hid inside her skirt.