CHAPTER FIVE : DENIAL
654 Words
Kemi didn't stop running until she reached the back of the school building.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly as tears streamed down her face.
Nothing made sense.
Nothing.
The words kept replaying in her head.
Derin is dead.
Derin is dead.
Derin is dead.
No matter how many times she heard them in her mind, they still sounded wrong.
Impossible.
Grace eventually found her sitting on a concrete bench behind one of the classrooms.
For several moments, neither of them spoke.
Kemi stared at the ground.
Grace stared at her.
The silence between them felt heavy.
Finally, Kemi broke it.
"Tell me it's a lie."
Grace lowered her eyes.
Kemi's heart sank.
"Grace..."
Her voice trembled.
"Tell me they're lying."
Grace swallowed hard.
Nobody had prepared her for this conversation.
Nobody knew the right words to say.
"Kemi..."
The moment Grace spoke, fresh tears rolled down Kemi's cheeks.
"What happened?"
Grace sat beside her.
Slowly.
Carefully.
As though she were handling something fragile.
"I heard it happened on Sunday afternoon."
Kemi remained silent.
"She was travelling back from Ibadan."
Every word felt like a knife.
"The vehicle was involved in an accident."
Kemi immediately shook her head.
"No."
Grace continued quietly.
"They said some people survived."
"No."
"But..."
"No."
Kemi stood abruptly.
Her entire body trembled.
"No."
She repeated the word over and over again as though saying it enough times could change reality.
"No."
Grace's eyes filled with tears.
"Kemi..."
"No."
She couldn't listen anymore.
She couldn't.
How could Derinsola be gone?
Just a few days ago they had spoken.
Just a few days ago they had laughed together.
Just a few days ago they had promised to see each other after the holiday.
How could someone disappear so quickly?
How?
The questions had no answers.
Only pain.
---
The rest of the school day passed like a blur.
Kemi heard nothing.
Saw nothing.
Understood nothing.
Teachers entered and left the classroom.
Students spoke around her.
Lessons continued.
But none of it reached her.
Her mind remained trapped in the same place.
The same horrible sentence.
The same horrible reality.
When the closing bell finally rang, she slowly packed her books and headed home.
---
The moment she stepped into the house, Damilola knew something was wrong.
"Kemi?"
No response.
"Kemi?"
Still no response.
Damilola stood up from the sofa.
"What happened?"
Kemi dropped her school bag.
For several seconds, she simply stood there.
Then she burst into tears.
The kind of tears that couldn't be controlled.
The kind that came from deep within.
Damilola immediately rushed toward her.
"Kemi!"
Kemi couldn't speak.
Every attempt ended in sobs.
Eventually, she managed to force out the words.
"Derin is dead."
The room became silent.
Damilola froze.
For a brief moment, she didn't know what to say.
Then she wrapped her arms around her younger sister.
And Kemi cried.
She cried harder than she ever had before.
---
That night, sleep refused to come.
Kemi lay on her bed staring at the ceiling.
Her phone rested beside her.
Eventually, she picked it up.
Almost without thinking.
Her fingers opened her chat with Derinsola.
Immediately, hundreds of memories appeared.
Pictures.
Voice notes.
Jokes.
Birthday messages.
Random conversations.
Years of friendship.
Kemi stared at the screen.
Tears blurred her vision.
The final messages were still there.
Exactly where she had left them.
Safe journey.
See you on Monday.
Goodnight.
She read them again.
And again.
And again.
As though somehow the ending would change.
As though somehow a new message would appear.
It never did.
For the first time since hearing the news, reality finally settled in.
Derinsola was gone.
And no matter how much Kemi wished otherwise, she wasn't coming back.
The thought shattered something inside her.
That night, with tears soaking her pillow, Kemi cried herself to sleep.
And somewhere in the darkness of her room, grief quietly began to settle into her life.
- Writer
