Five years ago 563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeS32zlvWm
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Monday, 1st March, 2010 563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQvKGpK0MW
563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwiM4BriF5N
Mpunde Girls Secondary School
A few weeks had passed and we were soon in the month of March. This was the last month of learning then we go for a holiday break in April. That’s how the education system has always been in my country. Three months of learning and one month of a holiday, which, for me, has always never been enough. Not when you know you will be coming back to a place you least liked in your entire life.
Anyway, it was the last month and this only meant one thing for a lot of us in boarding schools. We only had four more weeks and one more week in April till we finally got to go home. But trust me, in the last month, days seemed to move slower than you would expect, and at times, it tends to be a burden even trying to countdown till the last day because it felt like you just stayed in school for an extra month.
Not much had happened last month, apart from all those weird things that happened with a stranger who claims to be Death. I never got to be in the writing competition because I never got to write my story. And also because of one person in particular, Brenda, who by the way, did well in the writing competition and was chosen to represent Central Province in the finals. I will admit, I was a little envious at first. Her story was chosen because it was the best among other writers' stories from other schools. She couldn’t stop bragging about how she was the best when she came back with the other writers who had also entered the competition. The whole school knew about it within minutes that when the Headmistress made the announcement on Monday, it wasn’t surprising news to all of us. I could still remember rolling my eyes in the dining hall or I can say, the assembly hall, since that was where we had our assemblies. But as time went by, I got over it….., somehow.
Business in school was the same as usual: wake up in the morning, take a bath, make sure to do your chores, breakfast, attend class, more work to be done within school in the afternoon, dinner time, study time in the evening and bedtime. The only time we ever got to have something to do apart from school and doing the necessary chores, was spending time with friends and also attending masses on Sunday at church. During the weekends was the only time we ever got to have enough fun, that’s if there was no general cleaning on that day. If we had general cleaning on Saturday, then the other week, we would have it on a Sunday which seemed like an inconvenience on my part. Because after general cleaning, sometimes you would be too tired to have fun free time and you end up sleeping the rest of the afternoon. The next thing you know, it's supper time and the day is over.
It was a Monday, the first day of March as I mentioned earlier, and we just had general cleaning yesterday. I was still tired from all the work we did. Not only did I had to do my part of general cleaning in my dorm and in my classroom, our class had been punished for noise making last week and the madam who was on duty that day, Madam Majorie, told us that we were going to do our punishment during general cleaning. So, I had to do my part pretty quickly in both the dorm and classroom because as soon as general cleaning was over and inspections were carried out by the prefects, my classmates and I met at the orchard for our punishment. By the time we were done picking up all the fallen leaves, throwing them away and watering all the trees, it was 17 hrs and we had to go for supper or risk being punished by the prefects for arriving late to the dining hall. And to make matters worse, we also had to go for studying, which we called Prep time, after supper. That meant we had to go take a quick shower before the siren rang and when you were caught late or still in the dorm, well, you know the usual.
I yawned as I stepped out of the dorm in my blue uniform dress and walked down the corridor. I was as tired as hell. I didn’t even get some shut-eye during prep time because dozing during that time also got you booked by your class prefect. And this time around, our class prefect didn’t show us any mercy when she arrived to class and found us already about to doze off before prep time even began. She knew about the punishment we had gone through in the afternoon and how fast we had to work before supper time. I would have called her heartless, but I was too tired to say a thing yesterday and it was best to avoid getting into more trouble. So, to stay awake, I was solving math and writing a story afterwards till prep time was over.
Every Monday, we always had assembly. And as I was approaching the dining hall where the assembly was being held, I could tell that at this time, the people assigned to clean the dining hall were preparing the place, putting the benches and tables away to create enough space for all of us to be in. We already had our breakfast and right now, some people were probably finishing up their morning chores. Despite waking up so tired today, I managed to prepare on time by doing my chores with some of my dorm mates before breakfast. I told myself that I had to do things on time today and try not to get into more trouble.
I found my bunker mate and class mate, Christine with a few others waiting for the hall to be ready. She had left earlier than me from the dorm when I told her that I wanted to rest for a little while. But she suggested that it was too dangerous to sleep because she might just doze off. I realised that she was right some few minutes after she left that I might doze off too.
“I see you made the right decision,” said Christine as I reached her. She was standing on the corridor of the dining hall.
“The last thing I need right now, is to get punished,” I said. “And nowadays, they really like giving us work to do in the garden or in the orchard.”
“I know. It’s horrible now that it’s the last month. They will be giving us punishments like no man’s business.”
I couldn’t agree with her more. As exciting as it was to know that we will be going back home, it was during this period that punishments became more of a routine than anything else. And it’s pretty inconveniencing, especially when you know end of term exams were around the corner and the time you were supposed to be studying, you’re probably in the garden weeding or watering the vegetables. Or in the orchard sweeping up all the fallen leaves or maybe in the ablution, which is probably the worst place you would do your punishment from, especially during the middle of the day when there was no water in the bathrooms.
“Let’s try not to get into any kind of punishment for now,” I said.
Christine gave out a loud laugh that attracted some people's attention beside us. “You’re acting as though you don’t know this school and the prefects around here,” she said. “Any little thing to them is considered to be an offense and the next thing you know, you’re either weeding or slashing the grass somewhere outside school.”
What she said reminded me of what happened last year when our class was booked for something we clearly didn't do. We were booked for making noise when we were actually quite busy studying for the exams the following day. A prefect came into our classroom, telling us that we needed to meet her at the entrance of the school to water all the flowerbeds. When asked what we did wrong, she said the teacher on duty had ordered her to book our class for punishment. We were surprised and utterly confused because the entire class was quiet for the whole of the afternoon session. Our class monitor spoke up for us, politely telling the prefect that she was mistaken and that the whole class wasn’t making noise. But the prefect didn’t listen anyway and said that she will be meeting us after the afternoon session was over and that we had to change out of our uniforms. And the teacher that was on duty that day was none other than Madam Majorie, the same madam that made us work in the orchard yesterday. Once the prefect had left, I noticed through the classroom window that the madam was standing by the teacher’s staff room looking over at our class. Many of us had seen her standing there afterwards and she had left a few seconds later. It was so unfair what she did to us, and we couldn’t raise our voices and complain or else we could find ourselves booked for another punishment the next day. So, we did our part and that was it. From that time onwards, the whole class was convinced that the madam had a certain grudge on us. The reason…., well, I guess we will never know.
“You’re right,” I said, trying to shake off the memory. “These are trying days and we just have to be cautious.”
“I know, especially Madam Majorie and the Vice Head girl. The Vice could be mean sometimes; she’s meaner than the Head girl.”
I smiled. I looked behind me and noticed other girls approaching the dining hall. It was only a few minutes till assembly time. Among the girls approaching the hall was Amanda. She quickly rushed over to us.
“You’re done with your work?” Christine asked as Amanda came closer.
“Yes,” Amanda answered. “Do you know the story that is going round in school?”
“What?” Christine asked with a look of excitement on her face. If there was one thing Christine loved in this school, was a good gossip.
“Something big happened last night,” Amanda continued. “It even involved some of the teachers coming here in the middle of the night.”
I raised an eyebrow. I wasn’t really interested in the gossip that goes on around school. Usually it was fights among girls about food or maybe accusing a fellow roommate of stealing something in the dorm. But for there to be teachers involved in the middle of the night, it might have been something serious.
“Did someone fall sick and they needed to go to the clinic?” I asked.
Amanda answered, “someone went completely mad yesterday. And I mean crazy mad. The people in her room couldn’t even handle her, so they had to bring in the teachers from the teacher’s compound.”
The teacher’s compound wasn’t far from here. It was just behind the kitchen. There was a short hedge that separated the school and the compound, so, it wasn’t much of a big deal for any prefect to go to and call for help.
“Who was it?” Christine asked.
“You won’t believe it even if I tell you,” said Amanda. She looked around to see if anyone else was listening to our conversation. “It was Bertha.”
“WHAT!” Christine shouted and I was quick enough to cover her mouth before she could blurt out things that she shouldn’t. Even I couldn’t believe it.
“Are you sure, Amanda?” I asked my hand still over Christine’s mouth.
“That’s what I heard the Head girl tell our dorm prefect when we were working,” said Amanda. “I can’t really tell if she was ill. But they said that she was running around the dorm and screaming like a mad person.”
“Must be that she just wasn’t feeling too well,” I said.
Christine quickly took my hand away from her mouth. “Sounds to me like she was possessed,” she said.
“Please, not that again. You know how I hate talking about witchcraft and satanic stuff.”
“The sooner you accept that those things exist, the better,” said Christine as she looked at me.
“She must have malaria. You know how celebral malaria affects the brain.”
“Maybe,” said Amanda.
Bertha was a Grade nine student just like us, but in another class. And since we came to this school last year, she usually had periods of weird episodes. Those who knew her personally say that’s it’s due to some illness she had when she was a child that made her get sick most of the time. Some say that it wasn’t an illness and that she used to see things. That she was crazy. Last year, she announced to the whole school that she had seen a lady in white walking round the corridors of the dorms on the night of Friday the 13th. We all thought she was delirious, myself included. I remember waking up that night just to use the ablution and I never saw anyone. Maybe she saw me. But I remember wearing a pink gown that night, so, who knows?
“I hope she’s okay,” I said.
“With those demons running around her head, I doubt it,” said Christine. “People sometimes think she’s one herself.”
“You don’t know that and you don’t even know her well.”
“Chilufya who’s in the same dorm as her says she’s weird. Can’t that count as something?”
I shook my head in frustration. Christine was one hard person to convince most of the time. Even when we would be solving math together and you knew your answer was right and hers was wrong, it takes a long time of arguing and proving yourself right until she finally accepts it. But right now, I couldn’t even prove myself right in anyway. I never knew Bertha really well, so, I couldn’t defend her. I was just going to let Christine get away with it.
Amanda and Christine continued to talk about Bertha but in low tones so as not to attract too much attention. I looked on at the two as they debated whether Bertha was a Satanist or not. There were a lot of accusations about those who were deemed as Satanists in school. It was always a big talk amongst us, especially since we were at a Catholic school. As far as I have known, Satanists were everywhere. You would never know that your neighbour right next to you was one. That’s if you don’t dream of them sucking your blood and the next day you’re feeling so drained.
Though I never interacted with one before, I was surprised how some of my friends would pinpoint that this certain person was a Satanist and others would definitely agree because of their weird traits. A number of people in the past years, especially those who were senior students, would tell you a lot of stories about some students who they knew were Satanists. Some if proved by teachers that they were one, were simply expelled. Some, I believed, stayed till their final year. I guess they were smart enough not to show much of their weird side. I guess they were also smart enough not to try and show their real appearance in people’s dreams so that people wouldn’t know it’s them. Or was it vice versa? And as far as I have known about Bertha, she wasn’t that weird and she definitely didn’t appear in any of her dorm mates dreams sucking their blood.
I was glad when the doors to the dining hall were opened and a prefect came out announcing that we could all go inside. The number of those of us outside had increased little by little. It was only a few minutes till the assembly began. Those of us already at the assembly hall went inside.
When we gather for assembly, we usually make lines according to grades. The grade eights will be at the far end of the wall, all the way across to the other end where the grade twelves will be, next to the door. The pupils only took up half of the dining hall while the other half was where the Headmistress and the members of staff will be seated facing us. The pupils were much more than the teachers that the space we were given was never really enough. Most of us, if we arrived late, would be cramped up at the back where the benches and chairs used for the dining hall would be piled up. Others would take advantage of sitting on the benches because we always had assembly while standing, which could be a little tiring.
Each grade had to form two lines, but even that wasn’t enough for everyone to fit in the line. So that means, being cramped up at the back. Amanda, Christine and I were the earliest grade nines to be in the queue. As much as I didn’t like standing during assembly, it was better to be in the line than cramped up at the back. Being there was like getting a direct ticket to being booked by either the prefects or the teachers on duty if there was noise coming from there.
Slowly, the hall started to fill on one side where the pupils had to be. The siren for everyone to be at the dining hall for the assembly rang. Within five minutes, the other half of the hall was already filled up with pupils. Others were hurrying in before the prefects started to book anyone for being late. Everyone was supposed to be in the hall before the teachers and the Headmistress arrived. While we waited, there was always a choir, made up of the students from different grades, to sing. They organised themselves in front of the whole school. It was one part of assembly that I really liked because you get to sing along too. It was just like the way we had daily devotion in class. When the choir got to singing, the whole school joined in too. At times you would get to dance along with the choir, which was just as great. At this point, everyone was now in the hall, obviously some of them had already been booked by the prefects that were lurking at the door and some in the corridors that were waiting for any offender to show up and also waiting for the members of staff.
I was singing along with the choir together with Christine and Amanda in our line. And I had to admit, it was always fun. I really liked singing, though I never joined the choir myself. It wasn’t because I felt like I wasn’t good enough. I thought it wasn't meant for me. No one ever complimented on my singing, whether I was good or not. I felt like I was more moderate than most people, to be honest. But when we were meant to sing together, it didn’t matter who didn’t sing well or not. As long as our voices made good harmonies, it was good enough for everyone. There was always something special about singing together that I never really understood. But it always gave you this feeling of satisfaction and joy.
After a few songs of joy and dancing, the choir soon changed to a slow song. It was a nice song, no doubt, but the song they sang was just a sign for us waiting in the hall to be at our best behaviour. The staff and the Headmistress were here.
One by one, like ants, the teachers made their way into the hall, taking the seats arranged on the other side of the hall. After the last member of staff had entered, the Deputy Head and the Headmistress came in and settled behind a table, just behind the choir that were still at the front singing. When the choir was done, the pupils disbanded and came to join us in the crowd. After the choir members had settled down, there was a moment of silence as the Head Girl came up to the front to say the morning prayer to begin the assembly.
Just like me, the Head Girl was also Catholic as she started the prayer with a sign of the cross. It has always been tradition in this school for the Head Girl to be Catholic, even when you think that the Vice seems better suited for that position. After the prayer, the Head Girl came to join us in the crowd. We all waited for the Headmistress to stand up and give out her usual announcements. Usually, they were about a few events that might be coming up and announcing which class and dorm had won the cleaning inspection done on the weekend.
As the assembly was going on, there came an unusual scream outside. Since I was third in the grade nine line, I was still able to see who had quickly come in through the door. Those of us who could see the front clearly, gasped.
It was Bertha who had come running in the hall, screaming like a mad woman. She was in her white pyjamas and she looked as crazy as hell with her hair in disarray and her eyes looked like she hadn't slept and was troubled by something for days. She was holding herself and pacing back and forth in front of us, muttering something to herself that we couldn't hear properly. She must be really ill for her to be like this. A few prefects came towards her to take her away, but she refused and went over to the wall close to the grade 8 line. The grade eights that were in front of the line, moved aside so as to avoid bumping into Bertha.
"Don't touch me, don't touch me!" Bertha warned the prefects who approached her. "I can't go back there, I can't!"
"We're just trying to help you," said Regina, the Head Girl, who slowly came towards her. "Let's go back to the clinic and visit the doctor."
"No, I can't go back!" Bertha shook her head vigorously as she backed herself to the wall even more. She soon started to cry. "I can't go back there. I just can't."
I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She was in such a devastating state. I hope she gets the help that she needs. But right now, she looked like a scared and wounded animal and as far as I know about such animals, they were the dangerous ones.
The members of staff watched on, seeing to it that the prefects had it all under control and if they didn't, they would have to intervene. The Headmistress, a tall Sister, watched on with no emotion. If there was one thing she didn't like, was being interrupted by a student.
Three prefects, the Head Girl included, approached the crying Bertha. They got hold of her arms and Bertha fought back trying to pull her arms away from them. She also couldn't stop screaming.
"Leave me! I don't want to go back!"
With all her strength, she somehow managed to get away from the prefects, but this time, she ran into the direction of the crowd. She came in the grade nine line and Amanda and Christine, just like everybody else, moved aside. I for one, didn't. Bertha quickly ran into me and we both fell to the floor with me holding her in my arms to keep her steady. It happened all so suddenly that I never expected it.
Those around us had moved aside to form a circle around the two of us on the floor. Apparently for me, I had fallen into a sitting position with Bertha in my arms, her body shuddering and crying. She looked really helpless.
For a moment, I didn't know what to do. I looked down at her, her head on my shoulders and she was still crying her heart out. By her shuddering, it seemed like she was scared.
"Bertha?" I called out to her when I noticed the prefects and some of the teachers approach. "Let's go back to the clinic, okay? You're not well."
"No, no, Diana," she said through her tears. "I'm not going back."
I was startled. How did she know my name? I only got to know her through the stories I hear about her in school and we never interacted with each other in any sort of way. But her calling my name was a hell of a surprise.
"But why?" I asked, being a little more comforting. "You're not well."
"I'm scared. I can't go back."
"What's scaring you?"
"Please take her away," said the Headmistress. "She's causing a scene and I'll not tolerate it."
Just when Regina came forward, I raised up a hand to stop her. Surprisingly, she did.
"Bertha," I said as I patted her on the back. "Tell me what's scaring you."
She seemed to have calmed down a bit because she stopped crying and she stopped shuddering. Her breathing was much slower than before and she had her eyes closed.
"Bertha, tell me, what's scaring you?" I asked again.
But Bertha didn't answer. It looked like she had fallen asleep. I looked down at her and I realised that she was.
"Looks like she has fallen asleep," I told Regina.
"I can take it from here," said Regina as she knelt down next to me to check on Bertha.
Two other prefects came to help lift Bertha up but something weird happened when they tried to. When they tried to lift her away from me, Bertha unconsciously wrapped her arms around my neck and muttered something to herself. I tried to remove her arms but apparently, she still managed to bring them back around my neck again. This was getting irritating.
"Don't leave me, Diana," Bertha muttered in her sleep, this time, aloud that others near us had heard her. "It will come for me. It will come for me."
"I'll help you carry her to the clinic," I said to Regina. "I don't want her to wake up and cause a scene again."
Regina agreed and with me, her and the two prefects, we carried Bertha from the floor. Everyone looked on in silence as we carried her out of the hall. Three other teachers followed us out, with Madam Majorie being one of them.
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It wasn't a long way off from the hall to the clinic. Just as we reached the front gate of the school to head out of the premises, I felt a familiar strong presence behind me, like there was someone there. It was the same presence I felt the time I passed out in the orchard last month. I turned my head a little and saw no one. Everyone else in school was in the hall since the assembly was not yet over. I ignored that feeling for a second because I had to concentrate on carrying Bertha. Whatever was after Bertha, was probably the strong presence I felt behind me. I should know better since I had met Death before. Something weird was going on here. And even if I were to find out what it is, I'm afraid I might not like what I'll find.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
