DAMOLA

Chapter 5

Entering into her room, Damola sat on her bed, at the verge of crying. It felt like a healing wound had been scratched open again. Moments ago, she was deleting pictures feeling powerful and now she felt like she had been pushed back to the dark corner she had been in.

She didn't blame her aunt. What did any Nigerian adult know about depression? They blame evil spirits even when it is obvious that they are the ones doing something wrong.

Problem in your marriage when you're not communicating? Evil spirit. Can't go further in your career even if it's clear you're not developing yourself? Evil spirit too. Bad governance due to incompetent leaders? Another powerful evil spirit.

Damola's tears became hot as her anger grew. She buried her head in her pillow to let out all the emotions she was feeling and five minutes later, her breathing evened out.

She sat up and crossed her legs, her back to the wall as she hugged her pillow. She decided to face everything once and for all, starting from the beginning of the end.

It was the last paper of NECO and every SS3 student was present since it was English Language. The exams had been a breeze for Damola. She covered as much as she could while reading and wrote down as much as she could remember when the papers arrived. Her dad would find a way to get her into the University either way.

Taj also seemed to be serious about the exams because he had not spoken much with Damola throughout the exam period and Damola wasn't one to beg for attention so she let him be.

Before the examiner came with the paper for that day, Damola went to the toilet to pee. When she was done, she began adjusting her uniform when she heard Nike's laugh. She took a few steps to the side of the wall and peeped to see the guy that made her giggle like that.

Taj was smiling with Nike the way he did with her but Damola waived it off. They were friends and she knew it. Patting down her skirt, she walked to both of them and noticed Taj's smile fade like she, DamDam, wasn't what brought joy to him.

Damola shut her eyes tight and wondered why she didn't take the hint.

Exams finished a week before graduation party which was on the Friday of the following week and the students knew it was so they could prepare for that day. Damola and Nike had planned to shop online for their dresses so they only met to go to the salon on Wednesday, two days before grad.

Taj was still acting weird and Damola asked what the problem was but he waived it off, saying he was dealing with some personal issues. Damola decided to ask him about it after grad because she was too busy preparing to look good for grad.

The owner of the salon was a friend to Damola's mum so she was a known and well treated customer. The style they had both chosen was a gel-ed updo with a long bone-straight extension at the end.

Damola made herself comfortable on the seat given to her after explaining what she wanted and was soon engrossed in her phone. She texted Taj who had been scarce online for some reason before watching a movie on her phone. Nike was beside Damola so from time to time, they talked about things, mainly things Nike saw on Instagram.

While Damola yet again, returned to watching the movie she had started, Nike tapped her. Taking her earpiece off for the umpteenth time, Damola let out a deep sigh,
"This better be the last one, you can send the rest to my DM. I'm trying to concentrate on this movie na"

" Oya sorry just look at this suede shoes. Should I pick them or the gold coloured stilettos I showed you before?"

Before Damola could reply, Nike received a message from Taj saying, 'yes it felt good'. Damola noticed Nike's muscle tighten as she quickly took the phone off Damola's face to reply Taj.

Damola slowly returned to watching her movie, but was distracted this time. She minimised the movie and headed to WhatsApp to see if Taj had replied her, 'Hey babe', to which he did with, 'Hey how are you?'.

It was never like this between two of them. Conversations were never boring or rigid. Damola felt sick all of a sudden as it hit her that Taj might want to break up with her. She shook the thought off, assuring herself that she was what every guy wanted and that was not possible. Besides, their relationship just started getting interesting, right?

Damola shook her head. It wasn't possible. Taj couldn't break up with her, especially not before graduation. She was going to ignore him and act like he wasn't doing the nonsense he was doing. She would deal with Nike later too.

It got to graduation day and Damola was set. Her mum was excited too, her only daughter and pride was about to graduate from secondary school. She watched as her daughter got ready. Damola walked around with a determined look from the bathroom, to her walk in closet and to her dressing mirror. Nneoma just smiled to herself, content with life as it was.

Her husband in Abuja, working hard and sending them enough money to live well. Her daughter, the envy of a lot of women around her because she had the beauty and the style, even though she wasn't exactly the brightest in class, her presence still got respect.

Mrs. Nneoma's plan for her daughter was to go to the best school outside the country to study business management and kick-start a wonderful career. She never got all these things but her daughter would get the best.

"Mummy how do I look?"

"Beautiful as always"

"Thank you."

"Don't forget the necklace and earrings I bought yesterday"

"I won't." Damola put them on but knew she would change the necklace to the one Taj got for her. She hadn't told her mum about it and she wasn't going to tell her mum. The only thing her mum knew about she and Taj was that they were very good family friends.

In minutes, Damola was fully set and was on her way to school at the front seat of her mum's car.