Dabira's Diary

29

Thursday 1st May

Dear diary,

You would think the stunt senior Daniella pulled last week would be forgotten but people are still talking about it, she even has a nickname; Lover girl.
A silly nickname if you ask me but every other person seems to find it amusing especially those in the senior classes.

She hasn’t been going to the tuck shop or dining hall because of the nickname and while I pity her, I can’t help but laugh at her because she brought it on herself and for some unknown reason i actually like the fact that she was rejected but I’m keeping that joyful thought before my friends misinterpret it

Speaking of friends, both of them are down with typhoid.

It started with Honour, on Sunday while we were preparing for service, she complained about a stomachache and I suggested taking her to the health center but she insisted on going after service because of the guest minister that was supposed to preach,

She didn’t last till the end of the service

By the time we got to the Auditorium she was wearing two cardigans and shivering but she was still being stubborn going to the health center, Jelo and I were getting really worried
“Let’s take you to the health center, I don’t like the way you’re shivering” Jelo was already closing her church bag and getting ready to drag her to the health center if it came to that

I touched her forehead and took my hand back in shock because her temperature was higher than I had expected

“I will carry you on my back to the health center if I have to, I really don’t understand why you’re being so stubborn”
“But I really want to listen to his preaching” she couldn’t even get those words out properly
“Can you even hear yourself, you sound like you’re about to pass out”
“I’m not going to p…” she couldn’t finish that statement because she had to vomit,

I’ll ignore the fact that she did threw up on my shoes

Anyway, she got the attention of everyone around us, including the prefects who then rushed her to the health center. Jelo and I followed them because she was with Honour’s bag and I had to clean up my shoes
When we got there, she was given an injection to calm her and then they admitted her. The nurses instructed me to bring her night wear and other things that she might need, which I did. It was a lot of work for Jelo and i

And then when I least expected it, Jelo threw up during our Nigerian Language class yesterday and once again it was on my shoes… those two owe me new socks.
The teacher; Mr. Olusanmi, gave me permission to carry her to the health center. When I got there, we went through the same procedures; Injection and then Admission, the nurse also asked me to get her night wear and other necessary things
This wasn’t easy because she’s in yellow hose so I had to walk there and then her matron made me go back to get a note from the nurse just to prove that wasn’t there to steal anything

After getting the note and gaining entry into the dorm, I had to get her nightwear from the courtyard, as for her toiletries and little cosmetics, her locker was an adventure. Everything was covered in garri and something else that smelt like detergent so I cleaned the things I needed to take before putting them in her bag and then I took it to the health center.

By the time I was done with that, I was already late for lunch and senior Joel was not ready to listen to any excuses so I spent half of lunchtime on my knees.
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I had to check on both of them today during break time but on my way there I met someone who informed me that Mrs. Johnson was looking for me so I stopped by her office first.

My brother was on the phone so she left the office for a while to give me privacy,
“What’s up?” I was expecting more bad news and that was what I got
“Mummy said I shouldn’t tell you but I feel like you need to know”
“What do I need to know?”
“Dad got married over the weekend”
I knew that my parent’s marriage was completely done for but it still hurt to hear that my Dad actually went ahead with the wedding
“Are you still there?” My brother’s voice snapping me back to the conversation
“Yeah, I just needed to process what you just said, carry on”
“He signed the divorce papers on Friday and by Saturday he was married to Aunty Tutu
“I thought he wanted to make things work with mummy?”
“I thought so too, but that’s not the shocking part”
“I don’t think there’s anything you can tell me that’ll be more shocking”
“Aunty Tutu had a miscarriage and lost her baby” I was wrong, this definitely was more shocking, “and this happened just a day after the wedding”

I wasn’t sure what to say. On one hand, I felt bad for her because nobody deserves to lose their child but another part of me was oddly happy that the child that took daddy away from us wasn’t going to be born after all, I still feel guilty for having that second thought

“I didn’t mean to overwhelm you, I just didn’t want you to be left out of the whole thing”
“It’s okay, I just had to replay what you said to be sure I heard you right” we were silent for about 5 seconds then I realized that I didn’t ask the most important question “How is mummy doing?”
“I don’t know”
“What does that mean?”
“She’s barely at home and whenever she eventually comes home, she’s impossible to read”
“Just take care of her”
“Of course, we’re all she has at this point”
“Grandma still hasn’t called?” I didn’t want to believe that she was willing to keep up with the silent treatment she had giving mummy even before brother Iyanu was born “Even with all this trouble”
“She’s probably happy with everything going; you know what I’m talking about”
It’s a story I’ve been hearing since I was old enough to understand. Grandma never approved of my parent’s marriage and when they got married she sent one text message saying that mummy was now dead to her and she has been silent since then
“I’m sure she’ll come around eventually”

Mrs. Johnson came back so I had to wrap up the phone call but not before making my brother promise to brighten mummy’s mood before our next call
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I ended up going to see my friends after classes and I went with a few classmates because they wanted to see Jelo. My friends were getting better but the nurse wasn’t ready to discharge them so I just said hello and rushed to the dining hall, I wasn’t ready to kneel down again