CHAPTER SIXI woke up on Monday morning feeling so distressed and abandoned. That day was supposed to be the first day of my last secondary school holiday where I was to travel out, meet new people and see new places. But there I was, getting prepared to meet criminals and a.s.sociate with hopeless rejected citizens of my beloved country. I signed heavily as I recalled my chat with my girlfriends the night before. They had laughed at my predicament – as expected—and tried to cheer me up which you already know was of no use. They told me that they would all by flying to their various destinations later that day as was our custom and that Sarah had decided to go with Lucy, so I was literally without my girlfriends for the period of the holiday. Unless you counted Juliet whom I was sure I wasn"t going to see since she would always be in the market helping her mother.
When I was set to leave, my father handed me an envelope that contained the cheque he donated to the society. He didn"t say goodbye, but the feeling was mutual anyway. I walked to the bus stop since he –my father-- had made it clear that I was supposed to use the public transport. I wasn"t perturbed because his driver would have been a guaranteed hindrance and a monitoring spirit to my plans. Deciding to use that opportunity to save some well needed money I took a bus instead on a taxi.
I alighted from the bus when I reached my destination and walked to the society president"s house. It was a boy"s quarters with more than 20 residents and there was nothing fanciful or tidy about it. I knocked on the door to his room and he opened.
"Ave" I greeted. He smiled and removed my headset which I had forgotten I still wore.
"Maria, sister do you realize how loud you are this early morning?" he asked
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"I am sorry" I apologized in an almost inaudible voice.
"No problem sister, how are you doing?" he made no attempt to usher me inside. I didn"t really blame him because if I was the one that shared a room with G.o.d knows how many people I would never allow another living being into my house, with exception of rats, c.o.c.kroaches and mosquitoes that don"t need permission to enter.
"I am fine brother. My father sent me to give you the cheque for the money he donated to the society on Friday" He broke into a grin that made me suspicious.
"I thank you very much and may G.o.d bless your father in all his endeavors" he said while collecting he envelope.
"Amen" truthfully I was not going to reply to that prayer. How could he pray G.o.d"s blessings on my father alone, what about myself that delivered the cheque or my mother that was always beside him through thick and thin, not to mention the second cheque inside that envelop that was my mum"s small way of always supporting my father. Anyways, I wasn"t really surprised that he acknowledged only my dad because my daddy dearest never acknowledges his family in public.
"Please pardon my manners, come in and have something to eat" he prompted. Those words made me blink in surprise.
"No thank you" I replied. Maybe he wanted me to give my father a good report of his hospitality, but that wasn"t necessary since I wasn"t in talking terms with the man in question.
"Brother, please whom did you a.s.sign the prison visitation to as active work" I asked
"Oh, you know, since it"s the first time this kind of work is given in the society, I and the vice president have decided to be the first people to carry it out" He answered with a satisfied grin. There, I had confirmed my suspicion. The greedy president really planned on making the money disappear under the "miscellaneous term". But that wasn"t exactly my business.
"Which day will you be going"
"I will be free on Wednesday but I haven"t called my partner to know his schedule" he paused "Why all the inquisitiveness?"
"No, nothing at all. I just wanted to know" I answered. I was disappointed that I wasn"t going with a partner to keep me company nor was I going to hang around any body"s house under the pretense that I was waiting for my partners to prepare. I dejectedly left the slum that the president called a home and entered a bus to the prison.
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What I saw as the exterior gave off the impression that one was entering a monastery, well, except for the policemen littered everywhere. The fence was about 20 feet tall, not literally but it was that gigantic and intimidation. I briskly walked into a roadside shop and bought very few provisions and toiletries as I wasn"t eager to spend my money on prisoners. After paying for the things I bought, I walked to the gate of the prison. Two policemen outside the gate looked at me menacingly while another was pointing a gun at me from inside the gate. I gulped heavily, but being the proud girl that I was, I pretended that I wasn"t afraid and I flashed them my cutest smile. Don"t get me wrong, I am not the kind of girl that go about throwing her cutest smile to random humans but in that situation I had to send across the signal that I was not the enemy.