(...continued)
She picked her phone and dialed
her mum’s number. She got a ‘the number you are calling is not reachable’ voice
prompt.
“Don’t you
think she will be worried?” Mabel asked.
“I don’t
think so. This is not the first time I am sleeping over in your place.”
“Yes but
you did not tell her you will sleep over here.”
“She
doesn’t even know I am here. I had to cut short our rehearsal in church because
my mind was not at rest when I tried reaching you severally and you refused to
pick your call. She only knows I went to church.”
“I hope she
doesn’t get worried.”
“She will
be fine. She is used to staying alone.”
She
dialed her mum’s number again but got the same voice prompt response.
“Just keep
trying,” Mabel said. “Sometimes network can be bad in the house there.”
“I have
told mummy to change her network service provider but she doesn’t want to.”
“Elderly
people don’t like change.”
She
tried a third time and it rang.
“You will
speak with her when I am done talking with her abi?”
“No o. You
know she is sensitive. She will find out from my voice that all is not well. I
don’t have strength for her BP issues.”
“If she
asks to speak with you, then you don’t have a choice.”
“No oo. It
will be worse on her if she finds out there is a problem.”
“You tell
her you are having catarrh or something.”
“I can’t
tell mummy that o. The fact that you are sleeping over without informing her
will make her get the feeling that something is wrong and add to her worry.”
The
phone rang and cut without their mum picking. Cynthia dialed the number again.
“Ok if she
asks of you, I will tell her you went out to get something.”
“No. It is
late to go out to get something and she has warned us not to be outside beyond
8pm. Just tell her I am in the bathroom.”
Mabel
made to go towards the bathroom but Cynthia blocked her.
“Don’t go
in there until I am done with the call,” Cynthia told her.
“Let me
turn on the shower so the sound of water running will convince her.
“Let me do
it myself.”
Cynthia
went into the bathroom, turned on the shower and came out. Just then, her mum picked. Cynthia told her she was
sleeping over in Mabel’s house. She was a bit uncomfortable with the change of
plans but Cynthia reassured her that all was well. She asked to speak with
Mabel but Cynthia told her she was bathing. She told Cynthia to tell Mabel to
call her later. She asked them to be in church early the following day. Then
Cynthia cut the call. Mabel turned off the shower and came out to the room.
“Do you
think she suspected anything?” Mabel asked.
“Not at
all.”
“She said
you should call her later.”
“I can’t
call her now o.”
“Have you
spoken with her today?”
“No. I
didn’t speak with her before the incident and I couldn’t have called her with
the way I was.”
“You could
have just gone straight to the house when the heartbreak happened.”
“My mind
was made up to end it all. I was fed up.”
“You just
have to call her so she will not be worried. You know how she gets when she
doesn’t hear from you in a whole day.”
“Yes I
know. I will call her before I go to bed. By then I will be a bit brighter.”
“Okay.”
Mabel
looked around in search of something.
“What are
you looking for?” Cynthia asked.
“My phone.”
“Where did
you keep it?”
“It should
be in here somewhere.”
“Let me try
dialing your number.”
“It should
be switched off.
“That’s
true. I forgot”
They
began searching for the phone. Mabel searched her handbag while Cynthia
searched the room; the table, the bed side, and under the pillow but did not
see it.
“Are you
sure you did not leave it at the salon?” Cynthia asked.
“No I
remember trying to make a call with it inside the cab.”
“What about
leaving it in the cab?”
“No. Glory
brought it in here with my hand bag.”
“And she
did not go with it by mistake.”
“No.”
“Was it not
ringing out when I was calling? So you know where the ringing sound was coming
from.”
“I set it
to ‘silent’ when the calls were too much.”
“Kai, and there
is no way to reach Glory.”
“Yea I
don’t have her number saved anywhere else.”
“Let’s
search again.”
They
began searching again. Then there was power outage.
“Ohhhm. NEPA why na?” Cynthia exclaimed.
“Don’t
worry, they will soon bring back the
light.”
Mabel
got her rechargeable lamp and they continued the search for the phone.
“Where did
I keep my phone?” Mabel asked rhetorically.
“Are you
sure you did not throw it out of the window when you were crying?”
Mabel chuckled.
“No oo. It should be in this room.”
“Did Glory give it back to you when she came in with you?”
“Yes. Anytime I got a call, she would bring it to me and ask me if I
wanted to answer.”
“Oooohh,”
Mabel said, suddenly remembering something.
“What is
it?”
Mabel
went to her drawer, opened it and saw the phone there.
“I told
Glory to keep it on the drawer. Maybe she heard ‘in the drawer’.”
“Maybe,
because your phone never goes into the drawer.”
“My dear I
got tired of Glory asking me whether I wanted to answer calls that came in.”
“Ok.”
Cynthia
took the phone from her and tried to power it on but it didn’t respond.
“The
battery is dead.” Mabel said.
“So how
will you call mummy?”
“I will
charge it. Did you come with your power bank?”
“No. Now
you see why you should buy one.”
“Power
supply is steady here.”
“So what
will you do now?”
“I will wait
till NEPA brings light.”
Cynthia
looked out of the window. The whole neighbourhood was dark save for few houses
whose generators were on.
“I need to
shower,” Mabel said.
“Ok but
leave the bathroom door open,” Cynthia told her.
“You really
think I still want to kill myself,” Mabel said laughing.
“I am not
taking chances o. In fact, to be on the safe side, wait let me clear the
bathroom before you go.”
She went into the bathroom ahead
of Mabel and removed the suicide materials that were still left there.
“You can
now go,” she said to Mabel.
Mabel
laughed and went into the bathroom.
“What will
you eat when you are done bathing?” Cynthia asked. “Should I prepare anything
for you?”
“I am not
hungry.”
“You need
to eat something.”
“Don’t
worry, I may just eat some slices of bread.”
“Okay, if
you say so.”
Cynthia
boiled some eggs for both of them and brought bread out of the fridge. When
Mabel came out from the bathroom, she sat on the bed and Cynthia gave her the
bread and eggs so she would take the quantity she wanted to eat. She just took
one egg and 2 slices of bread.
“Is that
all you want to eat?” Cynthia asked her.
“I don’t
feel hungry,” Mabel replied. “I am just eating because you are forcing me to.”
“Will you
eat them with juice or tea?”
“None. I
will just drink water.”
“Ok.”
Mabel forced herself to eat the
food while Cynthia helped herself with juice added to the mix. While they were
eating, NEPA brought light.
“Thank
God,” Cynthia said.
“I told you
they will bring it back.”
“Where is
your charger, let me plug in your phone to charge.”
Mabel showed her where it is and
Cynthia took her phone to charge for her. She plugged it in and tried powering
it on.
“Let it
charge for a while.” Mabel told her. “That’s when it will come on.”
“Ok. You
just need to speak with mummy as soon as possible
After
a while of charging, Mabel switched on her phone.
“O my God!”
she exclaimed.
(...to be continued...)
Nedu Isaac
For the continuation, click here
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