CHAPTER 9

ETHAN GODSPOWER

We all stand on a straight line according to our height and class. Boys and girls are on different lines. Senior students' teachers are on the podium, while junior school teachers are behind the lines. We all wait for the principal to make an announcement. I look at the female line, and I don't see Keilani. Did Eric inflict much damage on her delicate skin? Did it make her even more sick than she was?

The proprietress saunter to the podium with a young lady. The lady resembles Keilani. Is she her mum or her aunt? The young lady is light skin average, hazel eyes, pointed nose, on curly weavon, pink lips, light make-up on, dimples on her left cheeks, and an oval face. She is on a yellow top on a royal blue ripped jeans. She has a silver necklace, earrings, and watch on and a white snickers on.

The proprietress is an elderly woman. She is a white woman. Light skin, wriggled face, pink lips, brown eyes, round face, and her brunette hair are tied into a bun. She is on black jalamia and a black palm. She also has a gold earring and necklace on.

The proprietress never shows up in school. It just means Keilani reported to her parents. I don't blame her, though. A boy should never raise his hands on a girl no matter what.

"Shit! Aunt Tracy" Celestia murmurs in fear as she hides behind the girl in front of her, and I arch an eyebrow.

That doesn't sound good.

"Good evening, students and teachers. I am Tracy Adams, the proprietress daughter in law and a fellow students Aunt. Most of you would have already guessed right. I am Keilani Mandisa Amanda Uche's Aunt" her smile drops and turns to a frown.

"Celestia Dadah, please come to the stage" she announces with a British accent and I look at Celestia and notice she is scared and cower behind the person before her.

"Oh God!" Celestia whispers as she walks out of the line and to the podium sluggishly.

She stands beside Mrs Adams, and I notice how she trembles and refuses to make eye contact with her. Why is she scared of her friends, Aunt?

"So Celestia Dadah, you have been her best friend- ooopss. I mean friend since I heard you don't want to be best friends with her. I honestly don't care, but what I do care about is an imbecile laying his filthy hands on my niece and expects to go free. Celestia Dadah, has any of Keilani's parent raise their hands on her before?" Mrs Adams placed her hand on her shoulder and tightened her grip.

"N-n-no ma" her voice cracks.

"Good. You can leave now" Celestia hesitates before leaving, and as she walks away, she misses some of the steps, and it earns a laughter from the crowd.

"I am glad you find this amusing because I don't" she keeps a straight face, and the laughter dies down.

"Everyone my twin sister and my niece" she points at her lookalikes and claps, and everyone follows suit. The atmosphere is scary and intense.

Keilani and her mum stand on the podium with five army men with whip in their hands behind them. Fear runs down my spine at the sight of the whip. Keilani's mum is the carbon copy of Tracy but looks older. Keilani's mum is wearing a blue T-shirt and a pair of blue trousers on a black palm. Mrs Uche keeps a straight, emotionless face. It is hard to tell if she is angry or not.

"So it came to my notice that a boy laid his hands on my daughter. Something I, her dad, aunt, and grandparents have never done, a young man who didn't have the fear of God did to my only daughter. He thinks I would let it slide. No way. I don't care if he is the senator's son or not. Today, I will show you all the outcome of laying your hands on my daughter" Anger lace in Mrs Uche's voice.

"Eric Khan, please come to the stage" she orders in a British accent, and Eric walks to the stage.

Immediately, Eric stands in front of Mrs Uche, she slaps him hard. Everyone shouts and jerks. Eric pushes Mrs Uche, and Keilani catches her mum in time. Everyone shouts and place their hands on their head in shock. Mrs Adams walks straight to him and holds him by his shirt. He struggles to break free, but she is stronger than him.

"He should have just endured. He messed with the wrong family" Celestia lowers her head using her fingers to cover her face.

Now I know why she has always been fearless. She has an influential family to back her up.

Mrs Tracy slaps him repeatedly. Isah leaves the line and walks past me, I hold his hand. He stares at me, his eyes red in anger. If there is one friend I hate seeing angry or in pain, it is Isah. His pain is mine. I shake my head, and he pulls my hand away and goes back to our line. I look at Amoris, and I see Kailea and Aisha holding her back, preventing her from going to the podium.

"You think you can raise your hand on a lady. We are trying to correct you, and you had the effrontery to push my twin sister. Today, I will show you that connection and wealth pass connection and wealth" Mrs Adams pushes him and punch him on the cheeks.

Eric spits out blood on the podium and he rushes to hit Mrs Adams and maybe to fight her and the army men hold his hands and I can tell that Mrs Adams is very livid and is good at martial art. If they leave just both of them, she will beat him to a pulp. Eric should stay calm.

"Show everyone here what it means to mess with the Uche's' family" Two army men carry him, his face facing the ground.

Three of the army uses the whip to hit him on his butt. The sound of Eric's yelping made my blood boil in anger. Isah walks past me, and I hold him back again. l shake my head. He grits his teeth as tears roll down his cheeks. I pull him in for a hug, and he hugs me tight and sobs like a child. Amoris shouts and beg them to stop; promising never to taunt Keilani, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. Aisha and Kailea are doing a good job holding her back. Aisha and Kailea are shutting their eyes really tight, like it is a horrific sight to behold.

I look at the podium and watch him struggle and begging them to stop. Each scream is louder than the other. He screams like one who hot iron is placed on his bare skin. He begs for his life. His pleas and Isah tears made me so livid, and heaven knows I was stopping myself from going to that stage. My vein pops out in anger, and my skin turns red.

I made up my mind at that point to make Keilani pay for the pain she has caused I and my friends.

~

"Have you seen what the hell I have been telling you" Kailea yells and pushes me in anger.

"I told you that bastard is bad news and is the motherfucking enemy. She doesn't deserve to be pitied but no. You said you have your best-friends cousin at heart. Eric has been rushed to the hospital because of your encouragement. You are the reason he is hospitalized and can't feel his butt", she rages and I bow my head low.

She is right. I am the reason he is hospitalized but I don't regret anything. If I could go back in time I would do it all over again.

Amoris stands up from the bench and stroll to me and slap me twice. Tears rolling her cheeks, she shakes heavily as she seethe in rage, a glance of anger flashes in her eyes, she hates the fact I am unfazed.

Why would I be? He deserved everything that he had coming. He hit a girl and tried to hit her mum when they tried to correct him. I am starting to think Eric is a coward.

No one says or does anything when he exhibit the violent side to him.

Aisha is sitting beside Isah, his head resting on her shoulder as he cries. He sobs likes a child whose gold fish had died. I really feel every ones pain and I take the blame. They all have a sad look on their faces.

"She needs to be stopped" Amoris everyone's thought.

Kailea replies and crosses her legs, "I have the perfect idea-"

I interjects, "I will handle this on-"

"No, I am beginning to think you have a soft spot for her" Amoris accuses and I chuckle.

"Maybe you don't like her but you just stand and do nothing when an attack is thrown at us. You just stand and stare" Amoris goes further.

"We the girls will handle it" Kailea hiss and leaves the court with Amoris.

I walk to where Isah and Aisha are and stand in front of them. Isah avoids eye contact with me and I know he is also livid with me.

"Leave us-"

"Aisha-"

"Are you deaf?", she yells. Aisha has never yelled at anyone before. It just proves she affected she is by Isah's pain. I take one last look at her and my sobbing best-friend before I leave them.

~

"We need to make sure our spiritual life reflects on our daily life and interaction with others. It shouldn't just be about praying and all" the CRS teacher, Mr Abraham, teaches as he faces the class.

"You are right, sir. I mean, it is not just about being a pastor or a relative of a Pastor, it should also reflect on how you see and treat others. They should be forgiving and have an empathetic heart instead of showing up during assembly and flogging an 18 years old boy" I speak, and everyone widens their eyes and are silent, including the teacher.

"Or maybe been a Christian is just a camouflage to been heartless, ungodly and filthy" I turn my neck to stare at Keilani, and she is mad, angry.

Oh boy, am I loving this. I love it when she is disoriented.

"Christian my foot" I scoff and avert my gaze to the teacher.

Mr Abraham is short of words and flabbergasted. He just opens his mouth and stares at I and Keilani. I can also know that everyone else exchanges stares from me to Keilani. No one says or commented on what I said. The classroom is as silent as a grave yard.

"Even the bible says suffer the wicked not to live. " I am not sorry we followed the bible scripture-"

"So Eric is now the wicked on-"

"Yes. A young boy who beats his classmate to a pulp is not just wicked but heartless and should be treated like he did to his classmate" she arches an eyebrow, waiting for a comeback but I am silent.

Church girl never fails to entertain me.

We stare at each other's eyes, and she gives me a livid stare, no one willing to look away. Our teacher and classmates just look at me and back at Keilani, confused and short of words. The sight of her is beginning to irritate me.

"Okay…..emmm….emmm….back to emmm....what I was saying. We should let our godly life reflect in our behavior...….." he goes back to teaching, and our eyes are still on each other.

There is something about her I can't explain. After Eric slapped her, he complained his right hand began to ache him. He can't open his right hand properly without yelping. Is this what it means messing with God's anointed? Was this how God punished those who hurt me secretly? No, he didn't. He abandoned you, remember.

I look away and hold onto my head, I feel this severe headache that felt like a heavy hammer was thrown at my head. I open my eyes, and I feel dizzy. I stand up, and I stagger backwards, falling on my seat. My body was completely drained of strength. Everyone shouts, Kailea's voice is louder than the others.

Isah and Kailea stand beside me. I begin to pant heavily as I sweat profusely. I stretch out my hand to my face, and they quiver. It is back, but my thought wasn't about Yara. Isah squat beside me and rub my back.

"Calm down" he comforts me, and I nod rapidly and take a deep breath.

"What happened?" Mr Abraham asks with worry lace in his voice.

"Nothing. Please can I take him to the nurse?" Isah, ask, and he stands me up, but I fall back to my seat.

"Eric!" Isah shouts.

Isah and Eric stand up, and we walk to the door. Someone opens the door for us, and I look up to the person, but it is blurry. I close my eyes and open it and look again and sight Keilani opening the door.

Why help me, K?

We walk out of the classroom and towards the infirmary.

~

"I can't find the nurse. Let me find someone who has an idea of what to do" Isah panics and race out of the infirmary.

Eric is seated beside me, rubbing my palm as I sweat and pant heavily. I clutch to the sheet. My head aches like a war is going on in my head. I gasped for air. Eric shivers in fear.

"Bro please stop scaring me" his voice cracks.

That is true. Eric has never seen me act this way. It is just Isah. The only person who knows about my trauma and panic attack is Isah, and that is because my first panic attack happened beside him; the day of Yara's funeral.

"Water" I manage to ask weakly, and Eric bolts out of the infirmary.

I don't need water; I just needed him to leave. Everywhere becomes stuffy, and I am slowly suffocating. I look around and notice all the windows are locked. There are ten beds, five on opposite sides of the room. There are two desks and chairs at the end of the room beside the window. Behind the door is a big first aid box and an iron cupboard.

I look back at the window and notice I am far from the window. I am on the first bed. I sit up, and the headache multiples, and my hands won't stop trembling. I stand up and sit back down. I take a deep breath and stand up again. I hold onto the iron on the bed and use it as a guide. I let go of it and take a step forward and stumble. I land on a soft body.

Why is Kailea here?

I look at the person, and the person I see isn't Kailea. The person I see is the last person I expected to see. It is the girl who haunts my dreams. The only person I so desperately want to remember. What? Why is Yara here? I close my eyes and open it, and I still see Yara, but her face isn't visible. Why is she here? She ought to be dead. She helps me back to the bed. I am confused and short of words. Am I dreaming?

She is different now. Her face slowly starts to form, and I should be creeped out, but I am not. I am relieved. Her brown eyes are green, and her short black hair is now long and brown. And what I don't understand is how she is wearing our school uniform. And she smells exactly like Keilani. It scents like an exquisite blossoming notes of floral. She is quite different from my dreams, but I love the little changes. It made her even more pretty.

"Window?" her soft voice echoes in the infirmary, and I nod slowly, breathing slowly this time, my eyes still on her.

She leaves me and walks away, my eyes stalking her. She opens the window and walks back to me. She holds my hand and rub them, her lips widen into a smile, a sad smile. Am I really dreaming? Yara is here in the infirmary with me. I hold her hands to make sure she is real, my hands didn't pass through her, I burst into laughter and kiss them as tears roll down my cheeks. I sob heavily. I don't care how she is here; all that matters is that she is here.

"Yara! Yara! Why are you here? Why has everyone refused to speak of you? What happened that da-" she hugs me and sobs silently.

I don't hug her back, but her hug brings warmth and makes me more relaxed and much better if I have been in years. Her embrace is home, and her arms are where I belong. My breathing is stabilized, and the shaking hands have stopped.

She immediately pulls away like what she did was wrong. She avoids eye contact with me, and I literally hear my heart break. She tilt her head sideways to avoid staring straight at me. I use my right hand to lift up her face to look at, and I gawk in admiration. I hoped that staring would bring back memories, but it didn't. Her eyes hold helplessness, sadness, and pity. Why can't I remember you no matter how hard I try?

I grin, I need to stop trying, and I did the only thing that came to mind, hoping it would get her to talk. I kiss her cheeks, and she stands up and stagger, she almost falls to the ground.

"I shouldn't be here" she finally speaks, she swirl to leave, and I hold her hand.

"Pray for me. Remember God answers your prayers" I smile, knowing it will make her stay a little longer, and she tilts her neck to meet me. Her eyes widen as to how I know that.

I heard Yara was a church girl just like Keilani. At least that is all they could say.

She sits beside me, holding my hands; her hands are small and soft. I look at her. If you really served God, why then did He let you die? Why did I not die in your place?

"Close your eyes" she instructs, and I close my eyes and smile, maybe even God hated me. Maybe I was worse than I am, and God needed to punish me by taking her and leaving me to face the repacaution.

I open my eyes a moment later, and her eyes are closed. I smile as I observe her. Her skin is smooth. I admire her pink lips, and I have a burning desire to kiss them. No, I shouldn't muster such thought. I don't even know the kind of relationship I shared with her. And if I do it, she might never come back. But if I don't do it, I will be filled with regret all my life. I can't let this beauty, and I will be engulfed by even a more stronger guilt. Anyways, there can't be a regret worst than being told you murdered an innocent girl.

"God thank you for the gift of life. I ask you for your healing upon your son, Ethan. God, you said our body is a temple of God, so sickness you have no right been in this body. Leave now. By His stripes, you are healed Ethan Godspower..." the movement of her lips makes my head go haywire; the desire to press my lips on hers grows stronger and stronger. Why am I lustful all of a sudden? I close my eyes and open them only for it to land on her scrumptious lips. I lost it.

I hold unto her neck and pull her closer to me. Our lips meet, and a thousand fireworks are lit. My heart raced fast, and electricity jolt through my body. I am elated, and time freezes. Can a kiss really be this amazing?

We pull away in unison and stare at each other. We are short of words. What have I done? Did I just kiss a ghost, or has a panic attack come with hallucinations now? Her jaws drop, and she stares like whatever I did is wrong. I look away from her, my heart still racing, and the urge to push for another kiss burns within me.

What relationship did I share with you, Yara?

I stare from the side of my eyes, her cheeks are red, and she races out of the infirmary. My breathing is heavy as my heart insists I run after her while my brain insists I sit down. I shake my legs and bite my tongue. I need answers, I need to know why such a little kiss felt so good. I have never felt anything while I and Kailea kissed. Why does it then feel so good with her?

I stand up. Fuck it. I run after her but bump into Eric, the bottle water in his hands falls to the ground. He is confused. I push him away and run into the hallway. I look around for her but don't see her. I run down the hallway and don't see her either.

How can I be stupid? I would have run after her the moment she took to her heels. I should have demanded answers, I just had to kiss a random stranger. She is angry and would never come close to me now. I should have waited...no, I couldn't. Ah God!

Who are you, Yara?

I see Isah and Celestia; they must have come from the stairs. I halt as I pant heavily. The stairs, maybe she followed the stairs. I run past Isah and he pulls me back, he arches his eyebrow. He looks at me from my head to my toes. He is confused as to how I became better swiftly.

"Did you see Yara?" I ask and Celestia and Isah stare at each other in surprise and then at me.

"You know Yara-"

"No, I saw her. She was with me before she ran off-" I take a step forward and Isah push me back and I widen my eyes, I am starting to get angry.

Don't push me, Isah.

"Wait for us in the infirmary" Isah orders Celestia in a serious tone and she nods and walks past us.

"Stop this. Yara is dead. She died in that car accident-"

"But she walked into the infir-"

"No, she didn't. It was-"

"Hey guys. What is going on? You are much better than I left you" Eric pant heavily from chasing after me.

"Take him to the infirmary. I remember I ought to do something" Isah looks behind him and back at me.

He is even more confused than he was earlier. He looks everywhere except my eyes. He knows something I don't. He saw Yara, why did he lie? It means I wasn't hallucinating. I didn't bother to push things any further because of Eric. I turn around and walk towards the infirmary, Eric follows suit.

I tilt my head to stare at Isah and see Isah looking around like he is trying to solve a puzzle. He shakes his head in disbelief and spurns and walks forward before having a change of mind, he rushes to the stairs. I turn around.

What do you know that I don't, Isah?