CHAPTER 9

"Tokoni please come over to the house. Please come quick", a voice said over the phone in tears and immediately ended the call before I could give a response.

It was a Saturday morning and I was still on my purple night dress when I received the call. I didn't bother to bath or brush nor get something to eat. I just reached for my bag and some money then left the house.

It was Melody and she was crying. I had no idea on what would have gotten her like that. Fear of the unknown had gripped me . I couldn't even walk properly. I started having headaches, I was so scared. What could have happened to Melody, she didn't sound okay ,not at all. Do something happened to her parents? I asked my self . I left the house and entered the street like someone who had gone mad.

I stood in front of my street to board a tricycle but I couldn't get any. It was almost impossible to get any. It was almost impossible to get a tricycle on Saturday in my street. Saturdays are always for weddings and other ceremonies here in my street. so alot of people tripped in and out of the street at every minute. It was a really busy street.

After standing for some minutes. I decided to walk to the junction. It was a thirty five minutes walk from my house to the junction, I tried calling Kelechi to Check on Melody since it would be impossible for me to get to her house on time but her line was currently switched off.

At some point I walked fast and at other point I ran.Narrowly escaping from being hit by cars and tricycles.

By the time I got to the junction was exhausted and sweating like a bush pig. I felt really tires and the headache had worsened. I thought I would faint any moment. I had to get cool sachet water from a shop at the junction before heading to Melody's place.

"Good morning Mrs. Ayo" I greated Melody's mom who was sitter at the mini garden in front of their house. On seeing her I knew nothing had happened to either of Melody's parents. I was a bit relieved.

"Morning sweet. How are you", she asked with a faded smile on her face.

"I'm fine ma. Please where is Melody?", I asked "She is in her room crying out the life out of her body. Ever since she got the news she has cried non stop. I had tried my best to make her stop but I guess my best wasn't enough",Mrs. Ayp said bitterly.

"What news? What happened? She called me but she couldn't say any other thing than come to the house", I asked confused.

"Gbenga is dead", she replied.

My eyes and mouth spread wide open in surprise.

"Jesus!!", I screamed at the top of my voice. Without saying anymore, I rushed up to the stairs to Melody's room.

Gbenga was Melody's boyfriend.He also attended Rainbow High and was in SS2 Arts class with Melody and Kelechi. I saw him yesterday at school and he looked healthy.At about 8:20pm the previous night he even posted a picture of himself and Melody on Facebook with a very heart touching caption that left everyone even those in relationships commenting "God when" and "I'm I a spoon?". How could he be dead, this is just Saturday morning.

I opened Melody's room door and found her staring blankly into her mirror. With blood dripping down her face. It was clear she had been hitting her face one the wall and pretty obvious she had just finished crying her eyes out. Her room was in a mess.

" He wasn't a coward Tokoni", Melody said to me. She must had seen through the mirror or sensed my presence. I, Melody and Kelechi spend so much time together, we can sense the presence of the other. We didn't need to hear the person's voice, with our ears and eyes close we could still tell who was who. I walked straight to her and hugged her tightly.

"T.k you know Gbenga right? You know her wasn't a coward right?", She asked in a whisper.

I was confused. I didn't understood why she was asking me such questions. Without giving her any response, I went for the tissue box on her bed but it was empty.Then I picked a small piece of cloth from the floor and used it to cleaned the blood from her face.

"What happened to Gbenga", I finally asked. It was the first time I said a word since I entered the room.

"I killed him", she replied in tears. I drew her closer then placed her face in between my palms.

"No Mel. You didn't do anything", I said.

"He committed suicide. T.k can't you see. I wasn't a good partner. How couldn't I notice that he was alright. How couldn't I sense his sadness and pain, how couldn't I detect the fake smile he had always wore? If only I was good enough then I would have noticed all these and he won't have taken his life", she said in tears. I drew her closer to me and gave her a really tight hug.

"Shut the fuck up Mel. Just shut up. You didn't do anything, you didn't kill anyone. You are not just the best partner anyone could have but also the best friend and daughter. Don't let his death drive you mad", I said to her.

I felt bad, scared, butter and useless. To be very honest I was extremely confused. I didn't knew How to react on such situations. I didn't knew the right words to say and how to say them in such a situation. Just then a knock was heard on the door. I stood up to check who it was. Melody's mom was standing outside with some pills and water in her hands. I took them from her, shut the door then went back to were Melody was.

"What does she want?" Melody asked.

"Nothing. She came to see how you were doing", I replied as I went and opened the refrigerator in her room. I brought out a bottle of water, turned some water into a glass and dropped a sleeping pill into it to dissolve before handing it to Melody.

"Here, have your water you need it", I offered it with a forced smile.

She drank the water and within few minutes she was fast asleep. I manage to lay her on her bed. It was a big relieve to see that she was fast asleep..