Chapter nine
The sun shone angrily, causing plants to rejoice while people lamented. It was just a few minutes past one in the afternoon. Anne and her friends sat at the back of the crowded hall, where students talked and laughed loudly. The hall comprised students from different departments as there was currently no lecture going on in the hall. The other classes of the day had been canceled and the hotness of the sun discouraged most of the students from heading home immediately. Classes since the beginning of the semester had been unstable, lecturers gave the excuse of marking scripts of the previous examination and compiling results for their absence from classes.
From where they sat, they could see some of their coursemates at the far front as they chatted and laughed away. They too were hiding from the sun since they had no intention of boarding a bus. They talked about the welcome party Anne had missed and exaggerated every event to make Anne feel pained for missing out but she was not bothered, she had intentionally missed it because she didn't feel up to attending any party and had no regret whatsoever. But her friends would not give up so easily as they continued to talk about the party. It got to a point and Anne inserted her earphones to keep their talks out and this got them laughing. They removed the earphones from her ears and promised to drop the topic which they did.
Naomi complained of being disturbed by members of the fellowship they had attended some time ago asking her to attend fellowships that always clash with her classes and stated how much she regretted dropping her correct number. They were looking for a topic to discuss and here is one. They had a good laugh about it and mockingly advised her to pay them another visit to which she made a face. The others said they suspected something like that and were grateful they had dropped the wrong numbers. The laughter which had subsided moments ago was revived when Naomi informed them that she had blocked the number.
"Now that is no way to get to heaven," Anne said mockingly and Josephine who was almost choking on laughter laughed even more.
Hunger chose that moment to severely visit Naomi and she left for the hostel with her friends calling after her to mock her still. She reacted by making faces at them and leaving them since they thought the weather was still too hot to embark on a journey as long as theirs. They stayed in school for another hour before leaving for home. They were both very hungry and tired when they finally left. The journey back home was way longer than it was as a result of their tiredness. They walked lazily, resting at every spot they deemed convenient. When they got to the third spot, it was empty, unlike the others where they had to stand because the benches were occupied. Quickly they sat on the only available bench on this spot and voiced how fortunate they were. They planned to stay here for a while so each of them brought out her phone and typed on it. Just a few minutes into typing, two guys walked in and sat beside them on the bench and they both gave each other a knowing look. One of the guys who they later got to know as Daniel caught their exchange and gave them a confused look but they ignored him completely.
Not ready to leave yet, they focused more on their phone and soon forgot they had "companies". Daniel called their attention minutes later to initiate a conversation by asking them a series of questions about themselves. Rather annoyed, they supplied him with wrong answers. Josephine claimed to be Faith while Anne took the name Olivia. They refused to disclose their department and level even after he told them so much about himself. His friend, Michael, whom he had entered with was either not interested in the conversation or was too shy to join. When he stopped asking for their department, they went back to their phones. He called Olivia and then Faith but none of them responded, even though both Anne and Josephine at one time made eye contact with him. It was Josephine who remembered first and so she alerted Anne and together they pretended without success to have been carried away with their phone. Meanwhile, When Daniel failed to get their attention by calling their names, he knew at once, they had given him fake names. Even though he didn't say, he kept looking at them weirdly till they admitted their names were not Faith and Olivia. They all had a good laugh at their mistake, including Michael who was quiet all through the conversation. How could they forget their new names so soon?
They said their names, correctly this time and chatted freely with Daniel. Michael suddenly became interested in the conversation and proved to be very sociable in contrast to their earlier assessment of him.
When Anne and Josephine got ready to leave, after spending more than they planned to, Daniel and his friend offered to walk them since they were going in the same direction. They found great company in each other and it didn't feel strange at all when they exchanged contacts. Michael insisted he called them on the spot to avoid getting deceived again by the same people. They laughed at the suggestion but permitted him and the numbers were correct. They rolled their eyes at him playfully and he returned it, rolling his eyes even more.
When they got to the Catholic Church, both Michael and Daniel bade the girls goodbye walked into the building, and promised to call. Waving them, they continued their journey home.
The rest of the journey was quite fast, they took hurried steps since it was already late.
* * * * *
Anne woke up to the sounds of her phone ringing, it was a few minutes past 09:00 pm. She had slept off while reading and was more angry with herself for sleeping off than she was for the disturbance. She peered at her phone just as it stopped ringing, catching a glimpse of the number. The number was not saved to her phone and she had no idea who it was that was calling at this time. She packed up her books and materials and went back to bed, opting to call back the next day. On second thought she switched the phone to silent mode, should the caller try calling again. She wondered if either Michael or Daniel left her a message as they had promised and... wait! It could be one of them calling. Still, she was going to call back the next day as she was already tired and sleepy.
* * * * *
Anne woke up the second time tonight, not to her phone ringing but to the sounds of gunshots. She was very scared and was visibly shaking. Her mom rushed into her room and she jumped in fright, quieting a scream. As it seems, there were armed robbers in the neighborhood and their only defense against them was the gate.
"Did you lock the gate last night?" Anne asked in a trembling voice.
" I don't know if I d... "
Mrs. Smith, Anne's mother trailed off as the door opened and Felix walked in. Her eyes which were widened in fear, narrowed once again. Anne was numb with fear as she was unable to produce any sound.
"You should switch off the light so as not to draw their attention, they might... "
The sound of stones hitting the window stopped him from talking further. Barely escaping from being hit, Felix quickly switched off the light and they all rushed out of the room. They hadn't noticed when the armed robbers stood at the side of their window, by the street, with the fence of their house standing in the way. They settled in the sitting room and switched off the lights. Anne sat beside her mom curled up on the couch. She was very cold and it had nothing to do with the weather.
"Lie on the couch, Anne" Her mom suggested and she did so almost immediately. She knew she was too scared to sleep and only basked in the little comfort she felt from lying down.
* * * * * *
When Anne woke up again, it was past eight in the morning. Quickly she looked around and realized she was still on the couch and she was alone in the sitting room. She couldn't believe she had slept off and that they left her in the sitting room all alone. What if there was another stone-throwing spree? She got up and went in search of her mom and found her in the kitchen, making breakfast.
"I can't believe y'all left me in the sitting room alone, mom". She said after the usual greetings.
" We didn't, it was already dawn when I left to prepare breakfast". Her mom offered.
Anne made her way to her room some minutes later, stopped at the restroom to ease up and walked tentatively to her room, hesitated a bit at the door, and slowly slid into her room. Her room was a mess. Her window was broken and stones were everywhere, on her bed, on the floor, on the bedside table. She panicked when she saw her phone on the floor. It was a miracle her phone was not badly damaged, all it needed now was a few repairs.
She had refrained from voicing her fears when her mom asked her to tidy up her room and get ready for breakfast. Now she is in her room, no longer scared but angry, sweeping and dusting out stones.
By the time she was done, she was too tired to take her phone for repairs. She hurriedly ate breakfast, called her friends that she wouldn't be coming to school today, and went to her mother's room to sleep.