chapter four
It was 09:15 a.m., and Anne had woken up only minutes ago. She was through with her exams. They had written the last paper a week ago. Fortunately for her, she didn't get into any more trouble as she minded her business all through her remaining papers plus she avoided sitting close to the girl that almost ruined her the last time. When she tried without success to get over it, she told herself the result would help her get over it...or not. Although she was now able to joke about it.
Now that the exams were over, the result became a cause for unrest as the students anticipated the release of results with great fear and panic. Anne and her friends were not left out as every conversation they had had since they finished their exams in one way or the other led to the release of the results.
Lazily, she got out of bed after her morning prayers, did some cleaning up, and headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Since her mother travelled the previous day, and her brother had also finished his exams, it was needless to wake up so early to prepare breakfast Plus She was still feeling a bit sad about what happened the previous day.
Before her mother left, she had given Anne some money to buy some items that would be needed in the house and she had gone to the market to get them only to find out that the prices had gone up. Mentally, she listed the more important items and proceeded to get them. When she tried bargaining with the trader, the woman, who had had very little sales for the day had angrily passed an ugly remark with a loud voice, drawing other people's attention. It was an embarrassing moment for Anne who simply walked away, leaving the trader and her wares, wishing the ground would open and swallow her. She promised herself to never buy anything from that particular trader again. Even as she thought about it now, she still felt pained, wondering why some traders had to be so mean. Her Father had told them about a similar incident that happened to him a long time ago, even before she was born. Her father had just been retrenched from the civil service and on his way home, he passed through a marketplace and had stopped walking to prevent a fast-running car from hitting him and unknowingly obstructed a trader's view. She had flared up, saying all sorts of ill words. She even went as far as saying he looked frustrated, like one who just lost his job. It was indeed a cruel thing to say to someone and worse of all, it was true.
Well, she sighed sadly, then forced herself to focus as she narrowly escaped chopping off her fingers as she chopped a ball of onion.
* * * * *
After eating a spicy breakfast and a delicious meal for lunch, she soon forgot about the vicious trader, After all, what good would it do if she kept thinking about people who could easily hurt others without a second thought? She hasn't been able to reach Collins who is currently preparing for his final year exams for days, which is strange. Though they were barely a month into their relationship, they were all over each other, like newlyweds, showering each other with love and compliments and it was unusual to not hear from him for at least an hour. She spent most of the day playing games on her phone and watching movies before she fell asleep. When she woke up, hours later, it was to the sound of her phone, ringing. It was her mom, calling to check on them. Anne only told her the money was insufficient but she didn't mention her encounter with the trader. The call was disconnected after Anne confirmed with her mother when she would be coming back. She prepared dinner and for the umpteenth time today, she tried calling Collins all to no avail. The phone kept ringing but there was no answer. She was worried and wished there was someone else she could call. Was he already cheating on her? As much as she tried, she couldn't get the thought off her mind, and with that, she stopped trying to reach him and reprimanded herself for worrying about him in the first place. He is probably with another girl, she reasoned. Feeling hurt, she lay on her bed, willing herself not to cry and forcing the tears that managed to well up in her eyes back inside.
She was still trying to sleep when her phone started ringing.
She scoffed when she saw who the caller was. Within her, she asked if he was done with the other lady, and deciding not to answer his call, she put the phone on silent and counted in fives. hoping that she would either fall asleep or Collins would. eight hundred and fifteen... eight hundred and twenty... eight hundred and forty-five... eight hundred and... and...
As she counted, her phone kept ringing while messages kept coming in but she didn't change her mind.
When she got to six hundred, Collins stopped calling. And so she kept counting, till she fell asleep, promising herself to correct whatever mistake she made by accepting Collins when she woke up the next day. Either way, she wouldn't be a second choice to anyone, not even to Collins.