Koi, koi.
The boy couldn't tell if he was dreaming up the sound or not.
He slept on.
When prep was over someone would be sure to wake him up.
Koi,koi, koi, Koi
What was that?
Where was the noise coming from?
Koi, koi, koi
Why wouldn't it stop?
Koi, koi, koi, koi.
What were his silly classmates up to?
Was someone standing behind him?
He jerked his head up from the table.
Someone gripped his neck from the back.
He was being strangled.
"Sto…, st..* he couldn't talk
"wh..wh ."
when the person wouldn't stop, he tried to call for help.
"he..hel..he"
He tried to unclench the fingers around his throat but the person held him in a vise grip.
He used his hands to push the person off him but he was slowly getting weaker and his push amounted to nothing.
Where were his classmates? Was no one around to help him?
The grip around his throat didn't loosen.
It finally dawned on him that he was going to die and no one was coming to his rescue.
He waited for death to come.
The grip around his neck suddenly went loose.
Was he dead?
If he was, then Heaven was strange, because it was dark and the place was moving.
And stars? were those stars?
He wished for some light.
As if his thought had been heard, light suddenly appeared.
His gaze was a little unsteady and with the light he realized heaven looked a lot like his classroom.
He couldn't believe his eyes. He was in his class
Had that been a dream?
Did someone truly try to kill him?
"Chubunna, wake up" Someone called to him. "oh, you awake, sorry for not waking you. I thought Charles woke you up. It was when I didn't see you during night prayers I asked Charles and he said he thought I woke you up too. That's when I realized that nobody woke you"
The light came from the friend's torch.
"can I get some water" Chibunna whispered. His throat was hurting.
"Sure, when we get to the hostel" the boy lifted his torch up and shouted. "Jesus, what happened to your neck, it is red" he looked closer. "Are those finger marks on your neck?"
Fingermarks?
"I think someone. Someone tried to strangle me" he whispered.
★ ★ ★
People were gathered in groups, whispering amongst themselves. Eniola had to push through one group to enter the class. They blocked the class doorway.
She had only a little sleep the previous night and she was tired.
Pictures of Michael and Ireti had flashed through her mind and no matter what she did she had been unsuccessful in getting them out of her mind. By the time she finally slept, it was almost dawn.
She was going to catch a few winks before the teacher came in.
She sat down on her seat dropped her bag on the floor. And rested her head on the table in front of her.
"…. Strangle"
"koi…."
She kept on hearing snatches of the conversation going on around her. She couldn't sleep with all the noise. The class was rowdy.
Olanna was on her seat and another group were around her
"Whats going on? Eniola finally asked
"You didn't hear?" she asked Eniola in surprise. "Someone tried to strangle Chibunna, yesterday night after prep"
"Who is Chibunna?"
"That fair boy who usually sits in the front. He wears glasses"
Eniola couldn't remember the boy, no matter how hard she tried. She shrugged
Just then Helen entered the class in a hurry. Her uniform skirt blowing all around her. Sweat gathered on her forehead as her braided hair bounced around. "What did I tell you people? Did I not say Lady koi koi is real, you people said I like telling tales. She stopped by her seat and dropped her bag.
"What is Helen talking about now" Eniola asked.
Helen must have heard her because she turned to Eniola and said. "So, you have not heard the full story. Before the person tried to strangled him , he heard the sound of shoe hitting the ground, koi koi koi.."
"Helen, why are you so superstitious? What I heard was that he heard koi, koi, koi and not the sound of shoe clicking and you forgot to add that he was sleeping and could have imagined it" she turned to see Michael behind her.
He was the one who chided Helen.
"How did he escape, then?" Eniola couldn't make sense of all the things she was hearing.
Helen replied Eniola. "Lady koi koi left him, probably heard Gerald coming and left. It was Gerald that saw him first. And he had a torchlight. I told you she hates light."
Michael rolled his eyes. "Or the person who was trying to strangle him ran away because this morning, I noticed the class back door was open.
"why not we ask the Chibunna, where is he" Eniola asked
"His parents came this morning to pick him up. His throat was bruised, they are taking him to the hospital." Olanna answered
"After school today, I am calling my parents to pick me up, am not waiting around for lady koi koi to come and kill me, Are you leaving too? she asked Eniola
"Why would i? Lady koi koi didn't try to kill me"
"Helen's father is the PTA chairman. She is going to call him after classes end today to tell him so he can call a PTA meeting.
"oh, no, you wouldn't do that Helen" Eniola sputtered
If a PTA meeting was called, her parents would be informed and they wouldn't care if Lady koi koi was real or not they would quickly withdraw Eniola
Eniola didn't want that.
She couldn't live with her parents.
"and why wouldn't I do that?" Helen asked affronted.
"Emmm…" Helen had no reason.
"Remember the bush baby scare in Ss1, how everyone was scared and they closed down school. Only to find out that it was that boy David who was crying like a baby to scare people." Michael intervened.
"So, if it isn't lady Koi Koi, who is trying to kill people, who is?" Olanna asked.
"What if Chibunna was scared of the test and decided to get a way out?" Eniola tried
"So he decided to strangle himself?" Helen asked with disbelief on her face.
" Was he not the one who said someone tried to strangle him. Did anyone see it?"
"Gerald said he saw finger marks on his neck"
"That still doesn't say he didn't do it. He could have heard your lady Koi Koi story yesterday night and decided to use it. There is no need to call your parents. Let's just find out the truth by ourselves."
Helen looked unsure.
"if you were the one that caught him, everyone will congratulate you" Eniola tried again.
Eniola had to make sure Helen didn't call her father.
Helen still looked unsure but finally nodded in agreement. "but we will have to call my father if someone dies or there is another complaint."
" Sure."
Helen left then.
"What if Lady koi koi is real and is actually killing people? Because I'm real scared"
Eniola was scared too but she reached out to hold her hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Well we just have to be careful and make sure that there is really a lady koi koi trying to kill some one" Michael said.
He patted Olanna on her shoulders and left
Eniola wished it was her he patted. At least he was talking to her and had probably forgotten the comment she had made the previous night.