Sanaa ☯️
"I succeeded in contacting her neighbour and best friend, Nandi," Kaya announced as she entered the class. "She said that she has been admitted to the hospital due to health complications caused by diabetes," she added, referring to our friend that had disappeared almost a month ago.
"I can't believe that it took us so long to get to someone," Tabitha sighed.
"It's not like we have access to her father and step mother," Zara shrugged.
"We'll get to that later," I told them before turning to Kaya. "Did you get information that could be useful to us?"
"Yes, the hospital she's in is not far from where I live. I'll visit her today on behalf of all of us because Nandi said she's getting discharged tomorrow. We can arrange to visit her as a class when she's back at her parents' house," she explained. "What do you think?" she asked, turning to all of us.
We nodded in agreement and informed the administration of what we discovered before heading back to class.
"What are the latest developments?" Damon asked as I took my seat, which happened to be beside his.
"Kaya is going to explain it to the entire class," I replied.
Kaya was the class president after all so it seemed right for her to address everyone at once than to explain it individually which would lead to unnecessary confusion.
He simply nodded before redirecting his attention to the book he was reading.
"You read?" I asked in surprise.
"Of course. If I didn't, I wouldn't have made it past the first grade," he sarcastically replied with a slight smile.
"Okay, you got me there," I laughed in defeat. "In all seriousness though, do you enjoy reading?"
"I used to but I'm trying to get back into it."
"Did you miss it?"
"I guess you could say so," he shrugged as he flipped the page. "I like the way reading makes me feel smarter."
"Me too."
"With the amount of books you read, you should've been a genius by now."
"I already consider myself as one."
"If that's the case, what would we consider Albert Einstein?"
"A smarter genius," I shrugged.
"Not a bad answer," he complimented with a nod.
"What's the book about?" I asked, peaking in the book.
"It's about a girl that's searching for her brother that was abducted by night spirits."
"That sounds interesting. Can I borrow it when you're done?"
"Sure."
"Thanks in advance," I said as Mr. Khoza walked in with an irritated look on his face.
"Today is going to be a long day so let's get to business, shall we?" he said, placing his books on the teacher's desk.
"He's definitely going to get me today," the boy beside me groaned as I muffled my laughter.
•
"Hey, Mom. How are you?" I said while washing my hands in the kitchen sink after returning from school.
"I'm good and you? I hope your day was okay," she replied as she turned off the stove.
"It was okay. We finally got some information about Nita."
"Really?" she asked in a relieved tone before facing the door. "Ama! Kai! Food is ready!"
"Okay!" my siblings replied before I heard heavy footsteps heading downstairs.
"Yes, turns out she was admitted in the hospital. She'll leave the hospital by tomorrow though," I explained as I took a seat on one of the chairs. "I do hope we'll be able to visit her as a class."
"That will be nice," she said with a head nod. "I also want to visit her if it's possible. I'd like to meet her step mother."
"That's a good idea," I said. "Where are they? I thought I heard footsteps?" I asked, referring to my siblings.
"They might be waiting for us in the dining room," she said as she handed me the plates. "Help me with those."
After eating, I went to my room to practice my drawing skills because it had been a while since I've done anything related to art.
After drawing a girl that was sitting on a bench in the middle of a park, I checked my phone to see if Kaya sent a message to the class group chat.
11th Grade
Kaya
I visited her. She's better but you can tell she hasn't had it easy.
*sent a photo*
Tabitha
Oh Nita... 🥺
I hope she's okay.
Damon
@//Kaya just said -
Nevermind.
Zara
You know how she is Dame 😂
Damon
And she still succeeds in annoying me with her questionable remarks every day 🙄
Tabitha
Leave me alone @//Damon
Go annoy @//Sanaa or someone else.
Sanaa
How does this concern me??
Tabitha
I'm sorry.
Zara
Are you? ARE YOU?
Kaya
...
Anyway, let's concentrate on important matters.
Tabitha
Okay
Lottie
What did I miss?
Chase
You have eyes to read dummy 🙄
Lottie
And who are you referring to?
Chase
The dummy that asked a stupid question.
Kaya
Can you all just shut up?!!!
Sanaa
Just say what you have to say, @//Kaya. We don't have all day.
Kaya
...
You have a good point
Damon
tick tock ms. President 🧭
Zara
That's a compass, dumbass
Tabitha
Oh dear @//Damon, you're dumber that I thought.
And to think that you had the nerve to talk to me who happens to be way smarter than you.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
Kaya
...
i don't have time for this shit
Meeting is adjourned, we'll talk at school.
I placed my phone beside me with a smile as I thought about the messages. The bickering was something we did most of the time which tended to be funny but aggravating at the same time, especially when we had to talk about important matters.
I will have to wait for the class to come to an agreement as soon as possible.
•
"Good morning, class. I hope you're all doing well," Kaya greeted as she stood in front of the class.
"Why do you sound like a teacher?" Junior as he and the other boys laughed.
The girl irritably sighed before remaining quiet.
"Shut up!" Lottie yelled, which resulted to surprised stares from the rest of the class. Jenna wasn't the type to lash out because she hated confrontation so her reaction was a strange sight. "Please," she added with a timid voice.
"I appreciate your kind initiative to quiet the class down, Lottie," Kaya said with a smile. ", I wanted us to discuss about Nita. When do you think it would deem as a suitable time to visit her? We only have this week because she'll be returning to school next week."
"We could go on Friday. We'll have more time to prepare," Junior suggested.
"That's a good idea," Kaya stated. "Any other suggestions?"
"No."
"Great, Friday it is. I'll just have to ask the administration for their approval," she concluded before walking out of the class.
She came back after fifteen minutes with a neutral expression on her face.
"So, what did they say?" Tabitha asked expectantly.
"Unfortunately, we won't be able to go because we need to revise for the upcoming exams. The only way we could visit her is if we go after school," the girl replied.
We began to mumble among ourselves, contemplating if it would be possible.
"I can't talk for everyone but I won't be able to that. I have plans throughout the week," Thandiwe, another classmate of mine, said with a shrug.
Some other students said the same, which led to Kaya cancelling the plan altogether. I was frustrated that we couldn't go forth with the plan but the situation is out of our control.
I asked Kaya for Nita's house directions after school before heading home with the school us with my siblings. During the ride, we briefly caught each other up on our day.
"If you and Mom end up going to visit, can we come along?" Ama asked.
" Yes, she's like our big sister as well," Kai added.
"Sure, I don't think Mom will have a problem with that."
We got back home and I told Mom about the day's events. In response, she told me that we will visit her on
Saturday. I quickly hugged her with a newfound excitement before heading to my room.
•
We successfully followed the directions we got from Kaya and met her step mother, who was a petite, brown complexioned woman. We told her about ourselves and we were happy to know that she already knew of us due to Nita talking about us regularly. We gave her a fruit basket and an envelope filled with some money before taking a seat. Her three year old son which happened to be Nita's half brother, Prince, ran around their front porch with a friend. She explained what resulted to Nita's hospitalization (lack of funds to buy insulin) and got emotional as she talked about talked about their relationship with each other. She talked about the lengths her father goes to provide for his family which usually meant him being absent during the day time, the struggle to provide Nita a diet that would be suitable for her condition and the quarrels she got in with Nita.
"You're doing the best you can," Mom told her as she placed a hand on the weeping woman. "You're not alone. We'll always be there for Nita as well. She is a good person. Speaking of her, we haven't seen her yet. Is she resting?"
"Yes, she's resting at Nandi's place," she said as she wiped the tears with a tissue Kai gave her. "I'll tell Prince to get her."
She told the boy to fetch his sister and they came after five minutes.
"Nita!" we exclaimed as we took turns in giving her a hug. "We're glad you're okay!"
"I'm happy to see you. I appreciate it."
"Hello, I'm Nandi. It's nice to finally meet you all," her best friend said to us. We introduced ourselves as well and we all engaged in a light hearted conversation.
We left after two hours and headed home.
My head pinned as I recalled all of the moments Nita told me about the rocky relationship she had with her step mother. From what I've seen, she deeply cared for Nita. Was she really good at pretending or did Nita exaggerate her stories?
"What was your impression of Nita's stepmother?" I asked Mom as I sat on her bed.
"She seemed to be very concerned about Nita but it's hard and wrong to merely assume something without sufficient information."
"True. It was also nice to see where she lived despite the first visit not being the way I expected it to," I said, bummed by the fact that it was due to her hospitalization. "I am happy she's healthy."
"I am too."
"Do you know when Dad is coming back?" I asked.
With a sigh, she answered, "To be frank with you, I have no idea."
"It's been a month already," I pointed out.
"Don't you think I know that?" she asked rhetorically. "I've tried calling him but he hasn't been online since four days ago. Stop worrying, he's fine and he'll return safely."
"Fine, I'll take your word for it."
We hugged before I left her room.
"She doesn't know, does she?" my siblings asked.
I simply nodded.
I appreciate your support! 🤍
-n