Black Waters (Frank Ocean Love Story)

Chapter 二十八

Ajahni’s View.

The morning was silent, remorseful. None of the girls spoke to me, and I didn’t mind the least bit. If they did try to talk to me, I brushed them off. Anastasia, Adriana and I just sat in our dorms with The Nanny playing softly in the background, the audience’s artificial laughter tempting to lift my mood but only deepening my sadness.

But what I expected to be a bad day turned into a good one.

Apparently, there was an intercom in each dorm by which Mrs. Roland or any other official could speak to us for important matters. I discovered this when the television program was interrupted and replaced by Ms. Viola’s sharp, nasal voice—which much resembled Fran’s voice in The Nanny—calling me down to the main office.

“Ajahni Nash, please report to the main office to see Mrs. Roland immediately. Ajahni Nash, please report to the main office. Thank you.”

I looked at the girls, expecting them to give me some kind of warning or expectation as to what I could possibly be called down for, but they looked just as clueless as I felt. So I left the dorm and headed for the staircase, seeing Qi peek out of her dorm to see me walk away. Maybe she was wondering what they wanted me for, too.

When I got to the brightly-lit main office, buzzing with printers beeping and phones ringing, I was told to report all the way to the back. Mrs. Roland was standing in front of a printer, evidently waiting for something to print from a computer. I stood beside her until she finally bothered to acknowledge me.

“Good morning, Ajahni,” She said, focusing still on the printer’s status.

“Good morning.” I replied courteously.

“Give me a moment here; I’m waiting for these to print and then we can head to my office.” Mrs. Roland reassured me. I nodded. It didn’t take more than just a few extra seconds before two copies of an informational sheet of paper slid out of the printer. Mrs. Roland raised her fist in success, and then hurried to her office on the opposite side of the hall. I followed her and closed the door behind me as she directed me to.

“Sit, will you?” She offered as she situated herself in her big chair. I sat in the chair directly across from hers and waited.

“The paper I was just printing—it’s your rap sheet. I made two copies so that you can keep one for yourself, if you should ever need it for court-related situations in the future,” said Mrs. Roland without looking at me. She handed me one copy of the paper, which I didn’t exactly want to read. It was indeed my rap sheet, consisting of the possible disorder that they thought I had when I entered Cedar Gardens—multiple personalities. The sheet also had most of my background information and notes on my general behavior. It said basically everything about me based on how I displayed myself, which was mostly good.

But I didn’t understand why I had it.

“Why are you giving this to me now?” I asked her, confused. Mrs. Roland peered up at me, her glasses resting on the bridge of her nose, with a duh expression. She blinked at me silently before explaining.

“Ajahni, did no one tell you what today is?” She asked.

“I know it’s Wednesday, but no one had to tell me that.”

“Ajahni, dear,” Mrs. Roland said with a sigh. “This is the day that you’re being released.”

The news was shocking. “You mean, I can leave this place?”

“Yes. You don’t ever have to come back. Your behavior here has been exceptional—we even considered enrolling you to be a mistake. You’re fine. Now go upstairs to say goodbye to your friends while the cab waits for you downstairs. The chauffeur will take you anywhere you need to go.”