For the first time since she got here, Jannet remembered her parents screams. The terrific screams she had heard from her room. They were too loud
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" Jannet was screaming in her sleep
"What happened?" Leneh asked rushing towards her
"Are you okay?" Mora had joined in
"Jen, Jen, say something," said a worried Sarah
Ruby was shaking Jannet up and Jannet finally woke. Mora brought her a glass of water and let Jannet take her time. Out of nowhere, Jannet started crying. The girls tried calming her down but it seemed helpless. Leneh rubbed Jannet's back to express sympathy.
"I-a-I saw my parents" Jannet said wailing
"They, they were screaming for the murder-ers- t-t-o hav-e-e m-m-m-ercy" she continued half speaking, half crying
"Jen, it's okay. Things are different now. What's gone is gone. Nothing you do is gonna bring them back" Ruby said not really meaning it but she just said it to calm Jannet down. She didn't even know what she was saying. She just said anything and everything that came to her mind.
It took Jannet a while but she finally calmed down and went back to bed though she could not sleep. She was up all night.
At breakfast, the next morning, Jannet noticed something she wasn't able to since she got here. She had failed to notice it. Mombaka wasn't having breakfast. And she only had milk which she was drinking like animals do and that disgusted Jannet.
"Ora, ora, why isn't the matron having breakfast?" she whispered to Mora
Mora looked at the matron and then whispered back to her "I don't really know, maybe she's not hungry?"
The conversation ended there. At lunch again, the matron ate nothing. Dinner was the same. Jannet thought maybe it's nothing or she wished it was nothing but her mind kept bringing the topic back to where she didn't want the topic to go. Could it? No, no, no, no. This is just my imagination. She kept telling herself while shaking her head wishing the thought would go away but it did not and it kept on disturbing Jannet.
Next day was the same, mombaka not having lunch and then the news of a death of a new kid. The day after the next day and like this a whole week passed with Mombaka not having lunch. Maybe she wants to have lunch all by herself in peace in her office? Things kept disturbing her. Jannet was just 14 years old yet she was very clever for her age. She did not let things pass as most teenagers do. She was but a very great observer. Week after week, but mombaka never had food. Something was wrong. Jannet knew it.
The next day, Jannet passed the matron at lunch and the matron gave her a sinister smile. "How's everything, newbie?" she said in her cold, rough, sinister voice. Jannet didn't want to reply. She wanted to run away from her. She felt disgusted. Mombaka really is a two-sided person, she thought. Kindness isn't her nature that she knew
"I, um" Jannet tried to act casual but she was unable to.
"Um, I, I am doing great" she finally said it though she was stuttering.
She didn't give the matron a chance to speak more because she didn't want to strike a conversation up with her. She hated the thought of it so she said "I need to use the washroom, bye" and she ran away leaving Mombaka confused at the sudden change. Jannet didn't really want to use the washroom but that was the first excuse she could think of.