Sweet Second Chance

Innocent Soul episode1

“Janet, nina ball!” Clara whispered as she opened the next page of the book she was reading. Surprised, I stopped reading, raised my head, just to make sure that whatever I heard came from her mouth. She was still facing the book but I could tell that her mind was somewhere else. Somewhere far from whatever was written on the book.

“Ati?” I asked after few seconds of a deafening silence.

“Nimejazwa!” She replied simply, slowly raising her head. She smiled when our eyes met. It was an unusual smile. Perhaps, a forced one. I knew this girl more than anyone else around the campus. From the look on her face, I could tell that all was not well. She raised her left hand and rested it on my right shoulder. “Umeshtuka sweetheart?” She asked in a low tone.

“Mbona hukuangi serious Clara? Unapenda kunipima akili sana.” I tried to bring to her attention that I wasn’t convinced by her statement. I looked straight into her eyes to measure the level of seriousness in her. She seemed uneasy. She tried hard to behave normally but the fake smile could not faded off her round face. ‘She seems serious!’ I thought.

“Ok basi mummy. Nakupima. I guess uko ten kilograms.” Clara uttered sarcastically. “Tusome sasa.” She bent her head towards the table, pulled the book closer and started reading again. Silence engulfed suddenly. I couldn’t stop watching her move the index finger across the book, guiding her through the lines of Philip Kotler’s Principles of Marketing book. I tried to utter some words but only breath came out of my open mouth. Clara loved joking about many things but in this, she sounded serious. I needed some conviction. I had to use another approach.

“Clara,” I called out in a low tone. “Sahizi wewe ukiget ball unaezafanya nini?”

“Janet, Nikiget ball? What’s wrong with you girl. Nimekushoo ninan ball tayari” She shouted harshly without looking at me. “Ungeniuliza naplan kufanya nini na hii ball nimebeba”.

Clara’s voices appeared more serious and full of bitterness. Her index finger stopped moving but the eyes could not get off the book. Her head was fixed. It’s like she was in a trance. Silence prevailed. I wasn’t sure of what to say to her. Should I say sorry? Or Congratulations? Or just assure her that everything will be fine? Myriad of questions crisscrossed my head at an ultrasonic speed. Clara was the last person I could expect to get pregnant while still in school. She took her studies seriously. She had a dream. She knew exactly what she wanted in life. She was focused. “My family depends on me Janet. I have to study hard. I don’t want to let them down.” She kept telling. Engaging in risky behaviors was not close to her characters, leave alone getting pregnant. I was confused. ‘The second ‘Immaculate Conception?’ I wondered.

“Uko serious Clara? Una ball?” I finally asked. This time, I tried as much as I could to sound more serious and concerned. “Niambie tu ukweli my sister!”

Janet raided her head slowly, tapping her right middle finger on the book. She looked at me. Her eyes had. I could see the reflection of my face in her eyes. they had suddenly turned watery. “I’m not joking Janet!” She whispered. She sounded weak and defeated. “I’m damn serious. Nina mimba”. She never blinked. I immediately believed her. She was not joking. However, believing in her story left me with another disturbing question; ‘How did this happen?’

We remained silent for a moment, just looking at each other like two strangers who are trying to understand each other. Perhaps, she was anxiously waiting for my reaction. I wondered what to tell her. I think I was confused more than she was. I slowly stretched hands and held her left wrist. ” I’m sorry Clara! Everything will be fine!” I tried to comfort her, using some assurance that I wasn’t sure about.

“Thank you my Sister.” Clara responded in the lowest tone I’ve ever heard coming from her mouth. “But I don’t think things will be ok. Aki sioni.” Tears dropped down her chubby cheeks and fell on my wrist, splashing in all directions. I could feel the intensity of her pain the the warmth of the tears. Clara was hurting. She probably never expected this. I raised my right hand and wiped the tears off her cheeks and eyes. “I’m hurting Janet! I’m hurting” She bursted into a loud cry on her book. That’s when i noticed that the

whole page was wet with tears. I turned her

face towards me. Her eyes were as red as

blood. They were swollen. Tears was flowing

from them like a waterfall. She was crying.

“You will handle it Clara!” i tried to comfort

her.

“Never my dear Janet. Hii story ni complicated

than you can imagine.”

“Mbona unasema ni complicated dear?” i

asked her.

“Never mind.” She said angrily. She closed her

book. collected all her stuff and shot up.

“Janet i am leaving. Hata nikisoma sielewi

kitu.” she told me.

” Sa unaenda wapi?” i asked her.

“Naenda kemeet babake mtoi. We are going to

make the final decision that will determine my

fate.” she said while trying to dry her eyes.

“But ujue exams ni Kesho kutwa. Pliz try to

sttle your mind kabla iwe late” I told her.

Clara leaned down and whispered into my

ears, “Pliz hii iwe only between me and you.

Hata mtu akikuuliza ka nimekuambia kitu, pliz

sema hujui any.”

“Sawa my dear. You know me. I cant tell

anyone. But pliz don’t……”

“I can’t,” She interrupted me. “Hiyo ndo stand

yangu Msupuu.”

“Hata hujui what i wanted to tell you. ” i told

her.

“Najua. you meant kuflash. Siwezi abort. Place

nimefikisha huyu mtoi ni far. The dad’s

wanadai nitoe but nimekataa..”

“At dads!” I asked suprised.

“Yah, Ni more than one dad responsible. You

can think anything but for now i wont tell you

anything. I am going to meet them. Na

nimepewa instructions mob. Wamesema

nisiambie mtu place tutameet tuongee. Pia

nisiambie mtu naenda kumeet nani. So i will

follow that if i want my baby to remain safe.”

She whispered and raised her head.

I was very confused. I wondered what she

really meant. i tried to speak but she covered

my mouth with her hand.

“Usiseme any” She told me. “It is for your

own good. Nisiporudi….”

Before she finished her statement, her phone rang.

“Nani huyu ananicall na private?” She said

angrily. She then received the call. Her face

changed suddenly as she listened to the other

party. She only kept looking around as though

she was looking for someone.

“Nakushoo sijatell msee kuhusu hiyo book”

she said in a terrified voice. “Pliz believe me.

Hajui.” She added.

Clara finished talking. She sat down trembling.

She was extremely terrified. Her hands were

trembling like a termite trapped on a spider’s

web. She looked at me. She shook her head

and held her hair. She bent down her head

again.

“Clara,” I called her. “Nini mbaya?” i asked

trying to move close to her.

“Kaa tu hapo na usimove.” She told me as she

pushed me back to my position. I had never

seen Clara acting like this before. She looked

scare. She kept turning her head to look back.

She peeped through the window severally. She

sat down suddenly and grabbed my pen. She

opened a blank page and tried to scribble

some words on it.. she was writing in a hurry

as though someone was watching her. I

wondered what she was afraid of yet we were

only two in the wall lecture room.

Before clara finished writing, the door was

opened. Clara dropped the pen on the book

and pushed towards me. She then turned and

looked at the door as she closed the page she

was writing on. I also turned back and looked

at the door. A tall guy was standing at the

door his eyes fixed on us. She was dark,

wearing a black jeans and a red tshirt with a

black jumper. The jumper was unzipped. On

the head, he had a back cap that had dropped

down almost covering his face. On top of the

cap, was the hood of the jumper. I could not

recognise the man as his face was not clearly

displayed.

“Clara ni nani?” He shouted in a deep voice.“Ni mimi?” Clara answered in a low tone.

“Come hivi. Chukua stuffs zako. Nimetumwa

nikupik.” Clara bent down, collected her books

and kept them in her bag. She looked at me

for a while then said, “Nitarudi before late.

Pliz leo naskia kula samaki.” She opened her

handbag, removed a two hundred note and

handed it to me. “Enda ubuy fish fry nitakam

tukule sapa.” She then smiled and left.

The man looked at her as she approached him.

Her ushered her out and. He then followed. I

quickly rushed to the window to watch them

leave. Clara was leading the way and the man

following him. it seemed they were having

some conversation. At the back of the man’s

jumper, was a big picture of a human skull

with two bones crossing it. They vanished

towards the gate.

I quickly run back to my book. The one Clara

had written something on. I opened the pages

one by one. Finally, I came to the page that

she had written on.. the handwriting was poor

because of the hurry and the way she was

trembling. I strained to read but i got each

word. She had written,

‘JANET, AM BEING WATCHED AND I THINK MY

LIFE IS IN DANGER. WATU WALINIPA BALL

WANACOME KUNIPIK WANIPELEKE KUARBOT

CHA LAZIMA. IN CASE OF ANYTHING, CALL HII

NUMBER. 0724756…’

That is where the text ended. The number was

incomplete.

I quickly dropped the book and rushed out of

the lecture room to follow them. I ran as fast

as my legs could carry me. People looked at

me and wondered. I had no time to rush to

the campus security officer. All i wanted was

to save Clara. When i reached at the gate,

there was no sign of Clara. ‘They have left.’ I

told myself.

I quickly turned to the gate security officer.

Panting like a gazelle that has just narrowly

escaped from the claws of a lioness.

”Ex..Ex..excuse me!” i tried to ask as i cool

down.

“Soja, Umeona msichana Mweupe amevaa skirt

ya blue fupi na top ya white na weave.

Amekuwa na mwanaume amevaa jumper ya… “

before i finished i saw the jumper and the cap

that the man was wearing dropped at the edge

of the school fence just after the gate. My

heart skipped a beat. i pointed at the clothes.

Looked at the gateman in surprise and asked

him, “Umeona mwenye ametupa hizo nguo

hapo?”

...

episode2 coming soon