Hell Mary

Chapter Seventeen

Sister May had shown up much later, adorned in a glorious white that screamed holiness, purity and for uncertain reasons, peace. She spoke briefly, acknowledging everyone and making a joke about the character that role played Joseph in the birth of Jesus' drama. The students laughed, a cracking coarse laughter that they seldom did in classes when a teacher made a joke that wasn't entirely funny, but somehow conferred regard for the teacher.

Kelvin momentarily stared around, while his eyes were glaring on his wrist. He observed the time as the second hand ticked its way slowly towards nine and yet there was no sign of Mary in her splendour or particular radiance so he turned towards Martins who seemed to be doing same.

"You knew, right?" He asked.

"Knew what?" Martins asked back. His fingers ran over the cap of the orange drink he offered Mary, all shades of guilt welling within him.

"You knew that Dayo sent the memory card home?" Kelvin asked again. He clasped his hand together as he spoke with intensity and confidence. His glare was intended to dig out the truth from Martins' undaunted expression but he was somehow left in the dark, scared of what Martins could say.

"He told me he did," Martins said finally.

"So why were you talking with Mary?" Kelvin asked.

"I don't know, I'm so used to competing with you."

Kelvin sneered and got up, hitting his thigh on the plastic table. It didn't seem to hurt much and so he proceeded to heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Martins asked.

"I'm going to find her because some of us actually do care." Ashley stood up as well and Martins hadn't noticed she was seated beside Kelvin until then. She seemed invisible to him although cloaked in magnificence. Martins grabbed her by her arm, tight and firm.

"He will never like you half as much as he does for Mary. You'll always be a third wheel," he said.

She pulled off her hand and stared around to see if anyone watched, a few persons stared back, shocked. Stella looked too as she slowly sipped from a tall glass of fuzzy brown drink. Apparently, everyone was free to order what they wanted as the lady who stood by the canteen, moved her goods a distance to make some night cash.

"It's funny how I used to think people liking me mattered. I'm not trying to compete with Mary or seek Kelvin's approval, I'm trying to do the right thing which I should have done a long time ago. Kelvin as a friend has treated me better than you all my life and I'm so OK being a third wheel." She grabbed her lengthy dress that swept the dust on the floor and headed out. Stella sprouted a smile and looked away when Martins turned her way. She sucked on the white straw and he watched the drink rise and sink into those cherry lips of hers.

Outside was dewy and a lot of floating water beads settled on their skins. Some students loitered about under the starry skies that glowed and died again. There was always one star that glowed brighter than every other shiny dot on the blue black sky and Ashley felt like that star in her shiny gait. She sighted Kelvin's lucid self and doubled her steps to catch up and ended up nearly tripping over a hedge because a sharp rusty nail pierced her foot, but stopping her weight almost immediately from landing helplessly to the ground in a loud thud by hurriedly placing a foot before another. Kelvin turned back almost immediately and noticed how she struggled to pull out a rusty nail from the thicket that pierced her sole through her shoe.

She fell on the floor when the tingling painful feeling spiralled around her feet and towards the rest of her body. A tiny drop of blood oozed out from the point of impact and she was sure a bright red sore will remain there until it faded to black. Kelvin rushed over asking repeatedly if she was OK and pressing around the point of impact. She winced silently, somehow trying to depict strength or prove that no small wound could demystify her swollen complexity.