AREA '61 (5)

 Episode 5

"Alright, students. We've come to the end of the class..."

"Ahhh!"

Mr Nwachukwu ignored the interruption and left the tiny classroom.

"3, 2, 1..." Nonye counted and watched a tall chocolate skinned young man walk to where the lecturer had stood. He cleared his throat and beamed at the multitude of students.

"Good afternoon, everyone! With much order and decorum, let's proceed the submission of our MAC 331 assignment," he said and a tumult arose.

"Everyday," Nonye hissed and waited for the first wave of the crowd to finish their struggle of submission. She watched them with careful attention on the tall young man as he took his seat at the front desk and performed his duty of collecting stapled sheets of paper.

There were many cries of "Hi, Jordan!" and "Class rep," during the process. Nonye rolled her eyes and wondered if it would be the same if Jordan wasn't a class rep, hadn't merited an SUG award in his first year and if he wasn't on his way to Paris come the end of the semester.

Of her coursemates, she thought, "Hypocrites." Of Jordan, she humphed, "Show off, and hypocrite."

"Hi, Jordan. How's my bestie? Hope you've been a good brother to her," Trish, one of the most beautiful girls in the class asked in her delicious accented voice. Nonye noticed her stoop a little so her eyes were even with Jordan's. Her white crop top flexed its v-neckline and Nonye laughed in disgust. Then she stood up and joined the thinning line of coursemates. She smiled at some and those that called her name, she called theirs back. Then she kept a straight face and braced herself. It wasn't easy calming her fluttering heart though. Jordan was charming and charismatic; you could smell it like his rich cologne. He also had a disarming smile which Nonye was not immune to. Besides his good looks, he was an achiever with evidence. Nonye admired achievers, even if they were hypocrites like Jordan.

"Here's mine," Nonye said in a voice too quiet. Jordan took it without looking up. Then he read her name off the document, searched for it in a list and ticked it. Nonye breathed a sigh before it came.

"Iloh Chinonyelum..."

Nonye stopped breathing and held Jordan's stare as bravely as she could. He looked away first to glance at her assignment and say, "Nice page borders."

Nonye stared at the cover page. The borders were a pretty pattern of french curves. They curled like vines and reminded her of a snake. Not a figurative snake like Jordan, she mused, and turned to leave without a word.

The chill in her bones thawed when she left Jackson building. She cleared her lungs of the smell of Jordan's cologne and turned towards the FASA quadrangle. She had some thinking to do. Some screaming too. A call stopped her. Strange. Who could that be?

"Penguin," her phone replied. Nonye growled quietly. A hint of a smile crossed her face as she picked the call.

"Hi!" Cathy squealed gaily and Nonye touched her aching ear.

"Did you dial my number by accident?" Nonye asked in a drab voice.

"What? No!" The quick reply delighted Nonye a little. Okay, maybe a lot. The last call she had gotten was from her brother months ago and that had been an accident.

"Okay." Nonye cleared her throat and tried to return the vigour, "Hi, Cathy. How are you?"

"Glad you asked. I need help!"

"What happened?" Concern squeezed her stomach.

"I need your help. Can you come to the S.U.B roundabout? It's urgent!"

"It's actually a quadrangle... What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you when you get here. Hurry, please. My life depends on it. Bye!"

Nonye stared at her phone. Everything but the bye had sounded convincing. Nonye grumbled and turned her back to FASA quadrangle. Thinking and screaming would have to wait. As she rushed to S.U.B, she kept scowling at the panic that lurched in her stomach. She wondered if she was friends enough with Cathy to throw something at her if the emergency was a prank. Unlike Chisom's case, it wouldn't be a pillow. Nonye was alternating between throwing a stone or a punch when she arrived and met Cathy staring at her shoes with a worried look on her face. Cathy was dressed in white jeans and a yellow tank top. Her burgundy braids fell down her back from a pretty white headgear. Nonye showed some concern when she didn't flinch as she sat beside her.

"You're here," Cathy whispered.

"What is it?" Nonye asked with concern masked in impatience.

"Wait. Let me stand up first." Cathy did that slowly as if she would trip a scale with her weight if she moved too quickly. When on her feet, she sighed and stroke the back and legs of her trouser. "I thought I sat on some dirt," she explained and Nonye rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. About the emergency..." Cathy began. She concluded when she had led Nonye to a row of sheds with bread and eggs on display, "Which one should I choose?"

"Ugh! Really?"

"I'm very sensitive to outdoor meals. I would have settled for homemade but I heard that only these guys know how to make it so it tastes like mishai. So,

which do you patronize?"

"If it pleases your majesty, Ibrahim sells the best mishai fit for your taste and sensitive bowels," Nonye sang with mock courtesy as she led Cathy to a random shed. She even cleaned the bench for Cathy to sit and offered her the catalog.

"You're really nice today. Thank you," Cathy smiled ignoring the sarcastic touches to Nonye's gestures. "Which one will you have?" she asked.

"Really?" Nonye blurted doubtfully.

"Come on. I didn't drag you from FASA quadrangle to let you watch me eat. Which do you want? I think I'll have the half loaf and three eggs."

"How did you know I was at FASA quadrangle?" Nonye asked quietly. Cathy pushed the question by making her order loudly. Then she smiled nervously at Nonye. Nonye heaved a sigh and picked a stone from the ground. Then she brought it towards Cathy's shiny white trousers.

"Okay! Okay, I see you a lot. Now leave my white alone."

"Thanks for the confession. I'll look for another hideout," said Nonye.

"Why are you always alone anyway? Don't you have friends?"

"Don't you have friends?" Nonye retorted a bit too sharply.

"Yeah but they don't like mishai. They think it's for poor students," Cathy mumbled.

"Hmm!" went Nonye with interest, "Did you know that mishai was actually a treat for lovers? A couple would buy and eat it romantically, especially in Love Garden. Single people had to hide and eat their mishai. That was until the economy made singleness trendier and more satisfying."

"Believable, but I find it hard to imagine anyone sitting in that weed field," Cathy replied and smiled at the chef as he handed her two steamy nylons of bread and eggs.

"Forget what you're seeing now. Love Garden used to be so pretty. There was a wooden swing and some tables. That is no legend," Nonye received a nylon gratefully and inhaled the aroma.

"This is delicious," Cathy said between mouthfuls. Nonye watched her eat hungrily. Then she asked, "How's school so far?"

"Stressful. I need a spa treatment after this semester. Can you imagine I have a pimple?"

Nonye peered at the little dot on Cathy's cheek and tried to look sympathetic. Cathy continued, "What the heck is an elective? Why are there so many G-S-Ps and E-L-Ses? What do the numbers mean? Can't they just pick a novel or two for the semester? Even if you're Einstein, you can't read and analyze twenty in three months!"

"Welcome to the den," Nonye said and touched Cathy's shoulder briefly. They ate quietly. Then Cathy asked, "How about you?"

"Hm. Mass com is as mass com is," was the offhanded reply.

"Do you like it there?"

"Why should I when I get to wear blue every Monday and act as if I love academics?"

Cathy giggled. Nonye glanced at her and took the last bite of mishai with as much relish as she had eaten the first bite. Cathy was still nibbling at her slab of bread. She sighed with satisfaction and Nonye wondered if they threw food away in her family.

"What do you want to be when you're done?"

Nonye laughed at the sudden question. It sounded so droll. "What? Some people don't know what they want in their youth service," Cathy explained sounding glad to have made Nonye laugh.

"Sad, but true. Well, I would like to be... A development journalist," Nonye said with a small smile.

"Cool!"

"I'll get to expose government secrets and cover news in war-torn countries. I'll battle corruption and all societal vices. The government will love me so much they'll send me parcel bombs," Nonye explained with mundane delight. Cathy's grin grimaced and Nonye laughed.

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's kind of like my thing. I love a good mystery," Nonye said proudly.

"Ooh. Nonye Holmes," Cathy cheered and Nonye grinned.

Reluctantly, Cathy continued, "I'm actually on to something. A new article for my secret blog."

"Why is it secret?"

"Cos no one gets to read it."

"Why is it a blog then?"

Nonye paused before retorting, "That's beside the point. I'm actually trying to unearth the hidden cult group of UNN."

Cathy's nose squinched thoughtfully before she said, "Keggites isn't hidden. I see them at Marlima almost every Friday."

"That isn't a cult, that's a hangout. There's another one. Scarier, deadlier, and worse."

"Oh."

Encouraged by Cathy's rapt attention, Nonye continued with pent-up excitement, "I think they're in Pharmacy. Last week, I did my legwork there. It's a term journalists use for snooping around for answers to their questions."

"Ooh."

"I didn't find much but I'm definitely sure they exist and the three rich girls are members. They each had a special embroidery on the tips of their skirts. That could be their sign." Nonye whispered the last two sentences.

"You're right." Nonye beamed. Cathy continued, "It could be a sign of their friendship. Friends do all sorts of things to get attention to their bond."

Nonye frowned, "That's not it. Also, one of them made a statement. She said she wished a girl would die in a hotel for trying to steal her boyfriend. That same day, the Padelia murder happened."

"Coincidence. Besides, the student that was found was not from pharmacy. I hate to break it to you but this place is dry. No reptile is going to crawl from under this rock. Also, no matter how malicious a girl is, she could never arrange for her fellow female to be killed in a hotel."

Cathy had a point. Nonye hated to admit it, so she pushed on, "Maybe I'm looking in the wrong direction. Maybe Area '61 doesn't include Pharmacy, and the cult is a girl's only. They could be a brood of powerful females hiding their rituals in... Bello Hall."

Cathy let out an I-give-up sigh and Nonye smiled. She'd prove them wrong, she thought. Cathy and the rest of them.

To be continued.

Well, something definitely sparked between Nonye and Jordan. About this cult group though, do you think Nonye is up to something?

Leave a comment, please.