Lunch was eba- a somewhat sticky yet starchy yellow mould with okro soup. When days were merry and with good cheer, such as during children's day or Independence day celebrations, a meat would be dunked into the drawing mix and would be served with a glass bottle of soft drink. That day was not any different from the many other days at school. A long weary line filled with hungry, chatty children was made. A line up of different colours of checked gowns while some were still on their uniforms.

"Mary!" Stella called out, speeding up her walking to a hurried run. She stopped where she had seen Mary on the line, gasping lightly. "I've not seen you since yesterday, Congrats!" She said excitedly, dragging Mary into a choking grasp.

"Thank you so much."

"I'll be behind you. Let me go and get my plate." She turned to leave before adding, "please also keep dinning seat for me in case I come out late." Mary nodded.

Mary had gotten her meal and proceeded to an empty chair to settle on it, when she sighted Ashley and Thelma settling for another and burying long talks under their laughter. She smiled. Very few times had she seen Ashley smile or laugh. Ashley always wore a serious look that dispelled the quite large numbers of older boys that had wanted to get her attention. It was unheard of to down the head boy of King's college- an every girl want to be with guy, but Ashley had said quite frankly, "No! I'm not interested," to his "Can we date?" question. To her, only Martins mattered. She often said she wasn't being rude because deep down under those layers of complexity, she knew that she had empathy. The kind Mary tried to dig out when she walked over to their seat.

"Hi," Mary said, settling on an empty chair opposite. She put up the smile she saw they had, but theirs vanished with her arrival.

"Hi Mary," Thelma managed to say. Those cherry cheeks was always bubbling with life. It made her look cute and friendly even though Mary wasn't so sure.

"Stella will sit there," Ashley said.

"OK. I'll stand when she comes," Mary replied.

"Look Mary," Ashley leaned closer, a faint breath of okro soup escaping out. "That I buried my problems to you doesn't make us friends yet."

"I know. I just wanted to know you more," Mary responded. "I know you are nice even though you try to make people think otherwise."

Ashley said nothing and observed Thelma was following their conversation while she slowly munched the eba which she conveyed with her spoon. It was either that, or fork and knife. No one ate with their bare hands because they were taught ladies shouldn't, the same way it was drilled constantly that ladies don't talk while eating or keep their tables dirty after eating. Everyone but Mary ate with cutleries. That was the one thing she didn't mind the pressing stares about, because she enjoyed it better when she rolled the bolus of eba and dipped the end into her soup. It tasted sweeter, she would say.

Stella had joined the queue on the waiting line for food when Ashley squeezed her hand into a fist and knocked the table from under, pushing Mary's plate down. The single stainless flat plate that accommodated the eba and soup at the corner toppled over with slight splatters of soup around and some on her gown.

"I'm not nice," Ashley replied, standing to leave with her soup bowl and flat plate.

****

"What were you thinking?" Stella asked, handing Mary a blue netted sponge with large porous holes to clean up the stain on her gown. It was better in the bathroom for so many reasons. Everyone still lurked about in the dinning and the floors were still glistening with the fine marble flooring as the cleaners scrubbed it to perfection, but all the shimmer would fade away when they clustered in to have their baths at nights or so early in the morning.

"Trying to start up a conversation with her," Mary replied. "Trying to be her friend. Was that wrong?" Her confidence seemed to wear off. Tears choked her voice and begged to be poured out. She released light sniffles as she pressed the sponge into a bar of soap and rubbed at the stain the soup caused.

"I'm sorry," Stella said. It was the only words that seemed right at the moment. Her food still laid cold in the dinning, she could feel it.

"How are you friends with her?" Mary asked after a brief stop from her scrubbing.

Stella smiled. The question had been thoroughly thought of or pondered on. Her lips were let open as she said, "I'm the only one that can handle her."

Mary had stopped scrubbing her blue check even though the map of the soup and the large imprint of water was very evident.

"There is something I want to talk to you abut though," Stella said.

"What?" Mary asked, looking up searchingly into Stella's deep eyes. A tint shade of navy blue circle glared back at her.

"Do you like Kelvin?" Stella asked.

"Yes, of course," Mary replied.

"I meant to ask if you like like him."

"I'm not sure I understand what you-"

"Do you love him?" Stella asked. Her face remained unchanged, firmly kept even. Her thin lips spread out and small black spots of acne were visible under the bathroom's light.

"I haven't thought about that," Mary said. She had however on several occasions thought about what her feelings meant. Growing up, she hadn't met boys enough to have felt that way or stir up such sensuous feelings within. She wanted to be a nun and nuns shouldn't have such feelings.

"Well, I'm only asking because we were dating before."

"I'm- so sorry," Mary added quickly. It felt like the right thing to do and when a smile that grew into a laughter popped up on Stella's face, she became confused.

"It's OK! We aren't dating anymore. I'm just saying because you need to be careful. Kelvin has serious anger issues," Stella said.

Mary nodded not fully understanding how that could be a bad thing and she was still drenched with water already squeezed from her gown. It made her thighs feel cool and a little moist when she felt it. Grabbing the bar of soap and sponge from the bucket she brought, she left the bathroom with Stella.

"In other news, I think the boys might be leaving soon," Stella added. "I really wished they could stay till the end of the year party." Stella feigned grumbling, stumping her feet repeatedly on a single spot and crunching her face up, while the corners of her lips faced down.

"Really? They might leave soon?" Mary asked.

"Yes. I heard about two teachers from Kings' college mention it when I entered the staff room."

*****

The detective paced about her office, tossing the hair strands from her pleated braids about and fixing them into a ruffle. Files and papers were scattered on her desk, pictures from where Mary was last seen also layered the table in a heavy mess.

The words from Martins replayed in her head and she couldn't stop herself from diverting the blame somewhere else. It definitely couldn't be the Reverend sister, she thought. Earlier, she had asked every student who took pictures from the party for their phones so that she could print out the pictures.

Dayo had the most pictures and she studied each carefully, day and night. She would pump her stomach with caffeine until it blew, layering her face with mascara and brown powder to hide the baggy eyelids that formed repeatedly. Of all the cases she had handled, that seemed like the most confusing as it dumped her in a maze. Holding lightly a printed picture in her hand and slowly lifting another, she could see the Reverend sister had changed robes. She then decided to confront her thoughts and question her.

Slowly, the door to the exit cringed as she opened it to leave into the other room opposite, where the Principal was. She saw the white nun chanting slowly words she was sure were prayers as her fingers tapped on the long chain with black beads stuck on each measured space while a crucifix tapered from under. She made to leave, when the Principal stopped her and allowed her in.

"Uju, any problem?" Sister May asked, again, misplacing the intonation.

"Can I ask you some questions?" She started and a slow single nod gave her the needed permission, "Did you see Mary and Martins while you strolled around the convent that night?"

Principal May said nothing, her face grew pale and somewhat cold. Her brows furrowed into a squeezed expression as she stood up.

"Are you accusing me of something?" She asked.

"It's a question, sister."

A long silence sprang up. It lingered and hovered for a while before Uju added.

"Just forget it, I'll find out myself." She turned to leave when the shaky refined voice behind her spoke up.

"I was. I was there at that night. I too have a secret to protect," Sister May said.

Author's note: Thank you for reading! I'm very grateful you find my story worth your time and I'll try really hard to communicate with my readers especially the silent ones using the Author's note.

If you enjoyed this chapter as well as others, why not consider giving it a vote? To vote, please kindly tap on the star button underneath and I'll dutifully appreciate it. Keep your comments rolling in as well! I love to hear your raging thoughts.

I promised to update yesterday, but I've been having some phone problems so please kindly ignore any typographical error and enjoy the story.

I gotta ask, what secrets do you think Sister May is talking about?

I don't want to be a spoiler, but the next chapter will start the turn of events on the lives of Kelvin and Ashley. We'll also learn the secret the Reverend sister referred to.

This chapter is dedicated to nanyapixie6 thanks for reading and commenting dear 💖

I hope you anxiously wait for the next chapter as well *winks*