Sister-in-Campus 10

E

veryone was full of praises to the dead when it came to the funeral. Nobody had the guts to say anything against the dead, be it in deeds or debts. Pastor Mwanga was not an exception, when he was called upon by the master of ceremony he didn't want to say how the late Daudi had backslidden in his church and how he fell to support his family. To the politicians funerals were a political opportunity to spread propagandas and campaign about elections that were still four years ahead. The MCA took that as an opportunity to tell the Governor's representatives who were in attendance that he was going to sack their boss come 2022.

However when Daudi’s wife stood up to speak she turned the tables upside down. She wore a broad smile and looked beautiful like a teenager. She was dressed in a new kitenge dress and a matching head scarf almost resembling Orio Rogo Manduli. Many were wondering where she was hiding her beauty all this time.

"I will not hide my sentiments in the shadows of praising the dead but will tell the people the naked truth!” Daudi's announced after greeting the gathering. “Naked truth mmmh” the elders wondered loudly. “Bring it On” the youths cheered on.

“This man you see lying lifeless in the casket though the father of my children was not my husband. He was an animal to me. I could not dress honorable as I intended because he didn't want other men to see my beauty. In fact tonight as we put him in the grave I will sleep soundly!”

Everyone was shocked with Daudi's wife’s sentiments. Some low murmurs could be heard in the background “our brother married a witch for a wife”. “It begins with a slap, escalates to a blow,… little by little, you are beaten so senselessly until you are left with a permanent scar, disabled or dead. I almost quit the marriage because I feared it would get there one day. I would be the in the casket but God was merciful to me despite me dealing with a spouse who thought the only way to solve a problem is through violence”, Debra as that her maiden name went on and those who were murmuring stopped.

“One time he said he was going to beat me to death if a man visited me again when he was not around. It would be like the case of Nzomo in Makueni. However I threatened to report him when I heard about Nzomo on Mulembe Fm. He was distracted by his own thoughts to the extent of colliding with a car from Mbale so don’t blame anyone for his death” Debra sat down and the Master of Ceremony was at a loss of words to say anything. Pastor Mwanga took over the service into preaching for a some minutes before going into the burial part. Petro was reduced to a spectator awaiting to narrate to Joyce when she came back home in a weeks time.

* * * * *

The mood in the exam room was tense. A few papers made noise aa their owners flipped through them. Some papers exchanged hands as the invigilators watched. The way it was done it was hard to notice that a paper had been exchanged. A paper would fall from one desk to the ground and when the other person bends to pick it up his pen falls to the ground, his paper too. It is picked up by the first person to have dropped his. Ladies like Stacia spread their thighs provocatively at male invigilators and when they would turn away the paper hidden on her bra gets its way to the answer booklet.

Joyce watched all these acts of cheating going on in the exam room like it was a movie. Her heart had skipped a beat seeing another lady pull out a smartphone from her bra. All along her breasts had appeared to be flat and bulging somehow. It was the first time Joyce was seeing all this happening right beside her. This clearly explained why the noise makers and party goers performed much better than the book warmers like herself. They had perfected the art of cheating in exams. Just then someone walked in to the exam room obviously coming from the washrooms. Then he uncovered his answer booklet from his shirt and continued to write the exams like nothing strange had happened. Definitely he had walked out with the answer booklet to God knows where to fill it.

As Joyce looked on she wondered if the invigilators were seeing what she was seeing. Time seemed to move like a snail for someone who had not revises properly like her. Her head was almost blank. Group discussions were going on there in Sagini Hall something that bewildered her so much. This time around the hall was not a church, classroom, conference center but an exam room. Soon people were standing up to hand over their booklets. But someone asked for an extra answer booklet! Oh my God! What a provocation to those with nothing in their heads like Joyce. This was becoming too much she stood up to hand over her booklet too.

Outside the insult was still on as some ladies were arguing over a question whether the answer was 2 or -2. “So there was an arithmetic question somewhere and I didn’t see it?” she kept asking herself. Others had a textbook open where they claim a certain question had come from. It was like all these people wanted her to suffer a depression. But thank God it was the last paper for that exam. She just wanted to get the next vehicle to Mbale as soon as possible. Just then she thought she heard someone calling her.

“Stacia what is it this time around?” she asked as she turned around to face Stacia who was some steps away from her.

“Have you heard from Kalos?” Stacia asked.

“Have not seen your husband since almost a week ago” Joyce said.

“Since when did he become my husband? Don’t depend on him to print some assignments we were to submit I don’t know last week” Stacia replied.

“By the way I was even forgetting about that”

“And by the way Joyce is it true what you said last week about him”

“Please remind me about it because I seem to have forgotten”

“I think I heard you say he had some feminine perfume on himself”

“Oh that one, Stacia that one just blame it on my pregnancy”

“Joyce I don’t know I seem to remember those words, you know I really love him and don’t want to loose him to someone else”

Before she could respond to that Joyce thought she saw Oti, Pk and Galgalo sited under the shade in the shop outside the gate. They were talking as they looked on her. She felt insecure and disappeared behind the hostels into her room leaving Stacia confused. She looked around and didn't seem to see what her friend had ran away from. She dismissed it as a result of pregnancy and she too went away into her room.

“She must be scared to see us” Oti said hilarious.

“No I think she is scared not to know the father of her unborn child!” PK added as they did a high five.

“Me I want to ride on the other lady that she was with” Galgalo said.

“It is like you want to strike gold again” Oti commented.

“No Oti she has some boy spoilt by computers I don’t know his name” Pk was ahead of them in knowing this stuff.

“But I saw her with that CU guy though it was like she was trying to woe him and he was not responding”

“Well then he must have lost to the ICT guy. If I was the one I would hut that thing till it gets blisters” Pk disputed him as the others continued to look on at the passers by.

“But you guys have you noticed how Jaymo has been silent on us all these time it is like we don’t exist anymore” Galgalo spoke after a long silence. They all agreed that Jaymo was too silent on them since the rape incident at the hospital. They were to meet and strategize on the forthcoming student union elections. Just then they saw Stacia coming from behind the hostels pulling a huge bag.

“What? Is she leaving that soon?” It's was Pk who spoke first.

“Looks she was all set in the morning just waiting for this time” Oti said as he stood up. “She definitely needs out company, come on boys this is our party” They moved with confidence towards her. By now she had already seen them approach her and was wondering what awaited her when they meet. Joyce had already told her when she followed her into her room that it was them she had seen and disappeared into her room.

“Hey beauty” Galgalo started as they were catching with her. She ignored them as she approached the gate. Joyce was just outside the main gate waiting for her. She had planned and arranged her things and the exams was the only thing keeping her in campus. Daisy had agreed to clear the room on her behalf when she was done with her exams.

“So you mean you will ignore good Samaritans who want to escort you to town?” Pk asked.

“Sometimes its good to mind your own business” Stacia said without looking at them.

“And who said we are doing business here”” Pk continued on. Joyce appeared from outside the gate and for sometimes was puzzled. The bad boys were puzzled too. Joyce simply pulled the bag to herself and signaled Stacia there move to the boda bodas nearby. But as they approached them none seemed to be interested to pick them unlike other times when they usually call or even plead with them.

“When someone decides to be generous to you don’t ignore them” Galgalo said as he stood before them defiantly. Joyce chose not to utter a word to them. She believed no situation is permanent.

“Joyce lets go back to the room, I already you it was a bad move but you would hear”, Stacia suggested to Joyce.

“Whichever way you plan to go we will escort you for free” Oti said trying to smile as they struggled to go back to the room. Stacia felt like running away and leave Joyce alone to face the boys alone but she felt it would the worst move. As they turned to enter hostel Saturn Kalos almost bumped into them as he left the hostel frustrated for not finding them. Before he could say something he saw Oti, Pk and Galgalo behind the girls.

“What is it with you hooligans again?” Kalos asked. He realized he had asked an ambiguous question, “What do you want with girls you hooligans?”

He didn’t have to say anything extra, a single blow from Oti sent him flying to the ground to the left. Joyce and Stacia saw that as an opportunity to scamper away for safety leaving their huge bag behind. Stacia actually ran away barefooted. "Go get the girls” Oti ordered Pk and Galgalo when he realised the girls had ran away. He only followed behind with his huge body leaving Kalos picking himself up from the ground. The loose tiles near the door had bruised him on his left arm and leg. But the worst pain was his smartphone on the ground with a cracked screen. Though he had rolled a bit on the ground hoped his laptop and its screen was safe inside his bag which was still intact on his back. He felt dizzy as he struggled to get up since he had not taken something since morning. Some two ladies were pulling a huge bag from under the flowers near the hostel entrance.

“Stacy its good we lost them, let's hurry to the gate am getting late here” Joyce said as they hurried off towards the gate.

“No you didn’t loose us, we lost you instead” a deep voice said behind them just before they made it from behind the hostel where it was dark to the well lit gate side. Stacia could feel huge arms caressing her as a hard thing pressed her from behind. She didn't know where the bag she was pulling had gone to neither could she Joyce who she was pulling the bag alongside with. Before she could scream the huge hand covered her mouth. It's like a lot had happened in a split of a second.