Chapter 4

The Chapel of Our Blessed Mother

The following weeks were certainly not funny to the girls of JS1 dorm. Everybody was getting punishments left, right and center for the most unreasonable reasons.

Chidinma seemed to have taken the bulk of the punishments though. So far, she’d been punished for having long nails, for chewing her nails, for having extra shined her sandals, for having dusty shoes at the end of school, for pressing fancy lines into her clothes while ironing, for wearing rumpled clothes; once, she was even punished for having a piece of paper beside her bed when Snr Swanky had done a surprise inspection – the paper wasn’t even hers. She was racking up the punishments faster than she could finish them.

Stephanie on the other hand was having the time of her life. Snr Swanky had basically adopted her as her own. Snr Swanky sent for her at least once a day, and she seemed to come back smelling like candy. Sometimes, there were even splotches and stains of chocolates on her face and clothes. Every passing day made Chidinma more annoyed at both Snr Swanky and Stephanie.

“God I’m tired of this. What is all this? What did I do to this girl?” Chidinma said as she plopped down on the bed in their dorm. She had just come in from a long Saturday afternoon of removing thick cobwebs from the kitchen store. Jennifer dropped the book she was reading and bent over the corner of the bunk to see Chidinma in the bed beneath her. “Why is she haunting me?”

“This is crazy. How possible is it to be punished for waking up too early and not going to wake the bell-ringer? It’s not your job?” Jennifer said to Chidinma who had just slumped into her bed after a long afternoon of “You’re getting punished faster than you can breathe. You should report her to Senior Dee-dee.”

Chidinma sighed. “Report an SS3 to another SS3. mmhmm.” She tried to roll her eyes but she was even too tired for it.

“It may help.” Jennifer said reinforcing her idea.

“You know it won’t.”

“Okay, what about the Hostel Mistress? She may not know what is going on. We could try that.”

Chidinma gave a long and exhausted sigh that described to Jennifer that she didn’t want to talk about it. Jennifer however missed the point and continued to talk. “It doesn’t make any sense. She keeps punishing you for the smallest reasons. One day she’ll punish you for breathing too loud.” Chidinma sighed again.

“Chidinma, I really think we should report her.”

“I know this kind of people, after reporting her, it’s only going to get worse. They won’t do anything to her and she’ll focus even more on me.”

“She’s already focusing on you!”

“Just drop it. She’ll get tired eventually.” She said with a tone of finality. She turned away on her bed so she couldn’t see Jennifer’s face on that side of the bunk. She heard the metal bunk crank as Jennifer pulled back into her own bed.

“I heard Chisom is coming back tomorrow.”

This news jerked the tiredness away from Chidinma. She rolled back to the side of the bed. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. Her sister was talking about it after morning rosary today.” Jennifer said.

It had been more than a week since Chisom was found lying in front of the bathroom. Nobody had heard anything since she was taken to the sickbay but her sister had been visiting her regularly, so people assumed she was okay. Chidinma had run the events of that night through her mind her mind whenever she could.

Chisom was supposed to tell them more about the story of this ‘Madam koi-koi’ but before they had the opportunity to talk, someone had attacked her. But why? Chisom was the hottest gossip dispenser in their dorm. In the little more than a month they had spent together, she seemed to know something about everybody and she dished it to anyone who would take.

Therefore, the reigning theory was that she had said something about someone and the person had attacked her as revenge. But what if she hadn’t said anything yet, what if she was just about to say something. Maybe the attack was not of vengeance but a warning. A warning to keep her mouth shut.

Chidinma knew she was reaching but she couldn’t shake the feeling that the discussion they were supposed to have with Chisom that day, was connected to the attack but she couldn’t make sense of it, so she didn’t bother to speak about it. Either way, she’d be back tomorrow and they would know what really happened to her. She pushed the thought out of her mind and forced herself to go to sleep.

When she woke up, it was evening already and her roommates were preparing for the dinner. It was Saturday, that meant that Jollof rice was on the menu again. She grabbed her bucket from her locker and went to have a bath. Then she picked out a clean Daywear from the ones she had washed in the morning and made for the ref.

Jennifer was already waiting for her there. The refectory was full and bubbling with noise from the JS1 tables to the SS3 tables. She joined Jennifer on the same table seating beside her. Jennifer didn’t seem to notice her friend until she tapped her.

“Where is your mind?” Chidinma said.

Jennifer looked at her and nodded up ahead to the SS3 tables trying to be sneaky.

“What is it? I don’t see anything.” Chidinma said straining her eyes trying to scrutinize the table from where she sat.

“Look at Senior Swanky, then look who she is seating with.” Jennifer said her eyes fixed on the target of her discussion.

Chidinma searched the table carefully until she found the catlike face of Snr Swanky. She was wearing an immaculate white cardigan over her red Daywear. Sitting beside her like a small lost shadow was Stephanie.

“It’s our latest Mother and Daughter in this school.” Jennifer said her eyes still trained on the two girls.

Stephanie head was faced down and she was focused on the empty table in front of her. Chidinma noticed that Snr Swanky was keeping a nonchalant face. Very aloof to the venomous glares she was getting from the rest of the SS3 girls around her. Probably because she was housing someone in their midst or maybe because of the sweater she was peacocking in. No one though seemed to say anything to her. She sat as elegantly as she wanted to.

Senior Dee-dee came in a few minutes before seven o’clock and asked two students to close the refectory doors. Then everyone got to their feet and pulled out their hymn books.

“Hymn 150.” Senior Dee-dee said clearly for everyone to hear. The room flipped through their hymn books and when the flapping died down to a quietness, Snr Dee-dee spoke: “One, two, go…” Melody rose from the multitude of girls.

“Aveee Mariaaa!!,”

“Gratia Plenaaa!!,”

“Doo-minus, Teyy-cum!!,”

“Benedicta Tuuu!!”

Senior Dee-dee coordinated them from the high heights to the lowest lows and the girls sang beautifully. When the orchestra ended, they clapped and sat down. The noise resumed as the SS2s – the designated caterers – brought the coolers in from the back.

Chidinma saw Snr Dee-dee walk over to Snr Swanky and say something to her. Snr Swanky looked at Snr Dee-dee reluctantly, then said something to Stephanie. Stephanie immediately sprang to her feet and scurried over to the JS1 tables. When she saw Chidinma she cracked into a feeble attempt at a smile. Chidinma didn’t return it, Stephanie’s face fell and she walked to the furthest table.

Chidinma saw Jennifer looking at her. “What?” Jennifer shook her head and shrugged, then she went to join the queue in front of the big steaming cooler that was for them to get her food.

It soon got to her turn. The SS2 girl sharing the food dished out a hot plate of rice from the cooler then tossed a piece of fish from small basket into the rice. She picked up the plate and it burned her hand and she tried to rush back to her seat to set it down.

As soon as she set down her food on her table, A CRASH! resounded in the refectory. Chidinma looked for the source of it. She saw Jennifer on the floor with Stephanie who was frantically trying to get the hot bits of rice away from her skin.

But the true problem was behind Stephanie. A venomous Snr Swanky stood behind Stephanie breathing flames out of her nostrils. Her chocolate skin was darkened with rage and her immaculate white cardigan was like an art collage made out of flaming red grains of rice. The white cardigan now matched perfectly with the red checkered gown that was underneath it.

But in the confusion of the bustling in the refectory, she didn’t notice the small figure who had joined the queue behind her. So, when she turned so swiftly, her plate connected with the girl’s head. WHAM! Chidinma saw Stephanie drop to the floor landing on her rear.

“Oww!” Stephanie said then begin to itch furiously. “This is ho – hot!”

She saw Jennifer swallow hard and try to speak. But no words came out. She only stared, her round eyes as round as ever as Snr Swanky swelled more and more. Her already slant eyes, slanting even more and her nostrils flaring like a dragon.

Then the words came in a fury. The voice was even dryer than usual. “Are you mad?” She huffed. “Are you blind? How dare you?”

“It was a mist--.”

“Will you shut up!” Snr Swanky’s voice echoed through the refectory. “Before I close my eyes and open them, run to my dorm and kneel down.”

Jennifer’s shoulder slouched. She turned and began to leave the ref.

A bitter taste formed deep in Chidinma’s belly and began to rise fast. It formed words in her mouth and escaped her teeth before she could swallow it. “You know it was a mistake.” She spat.

Senior Swanky turned to look at her as did everyone in the refectory. Apparently, the silence in the ref had aided the amplitude.

“What did you say?” Snr Swanky’s voice cut like a knife.

“It was a mistake. She didn’t see you.” Chidinma said staunchly.

“The plate was hot and she was hurrying to get to her seat.” Chidinma said in a matter-of-fact way like it was very obvious to everyone what happened. A murmur rippled through the refectory. She forced herself to look Snr Swanky in the face.

Senior Swanky looked at her insolently, “Join her.” She said dryly. “Now.”

*

And that was how it came to be that the two girls once again found themselves kneeling in the SS3 dorm in front of the bunk shared with Snr Dee-dee and Snr Swanky.

“That was a really stupid thing to do.” Jennifer said.

“How can someone just be so sadistic. Like, why was she even wearing that sweater this evening, it’s not even cold today. I’m happy you stained it, even if it was by mistake. I wish I could do something really bad to her.”

Jennifer smiled. “I thought you said you were just going to allow her to get tired.”

The doors opened quietly and the girls quickly straightened themselves on their knees for whoever was coming in. But it wasn’t as SS3 person.

Stephanie entered quietly into the room, but she didn’t cross the door. Like she was scared of entering the room when the owners weren’t around. She popped her head around the door to see the two girls. “Umm, Senior Swanky said you people will spend tomorrow cleaning the old chapel. She said you people can go.” She said in her shaky voice. Her head remained there for a moment like she still had something else to say, but she looked at Jennifer and seemed to decide against it. She popped back and closed the door swiftly behind her.

The two girls looked at themselves and immediately got to their feet. Chidinma decided they didn’t go to the refectory and they went back to their dormitory instead.

“The Old chapel.” Chidinma said. “I don’t know that one. But it can’t be that bad.”

Jennifer nodded. “What are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to bed.” Chidinma said

“We should go and do our homework. We have to submit some of them next week.”

“Jennifer, it’s Saturday, we don’t have night prep today. We can do it tomorrow.” Chidinma argued.

“Have you seen the calendar? Our mid-term tests are coming soon.”

“Yeah, but it’s not tomorrow. I’m just tired and hungry. I’m not doing any other thing tonight.”

Jennifer gave up on her. She went to her locker and pulled her schoolbag and left for the reading room. Chidinma changed into her pajamas and dozed off.

When she woke up on Sunday morning, her tummy grumbled angrily. The girls prepared and left for the early morning mass that morning.

During the mass, it was announced that the bishop was planning a special visit to their school and in view of that, catechism classes would be starting up soon so that those who had received their first holy communion but had not had been confirmed will take the opportunity to do so.

And those who had not even received their first communion were going to have the opportunity to receive it before the end of the term.

Chidinma had grown up with her very strict grandmother who lived in the barracks. So, she had gone through catechism and received her first holy communion before she entered secondary school. Jennifer, however had grown up as the only child of two overly protective parents in a high-end part of the city and they rarely let her out of their sight. So, she had done neither. The news excited her.

After mass, they went to the refectory for breakfast, then the other girls went back to the dormitories for their free time. Chidinma and Jennifer begrudgingly dragged themselves towards the chapel.

They found the chapel easily. It was not closed to their dorms but it was not too far either and they had to walk through a very thin path to get to it.

In front of the chapel was a small grotto carved out of granite stones. Within it, was a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary looking down with open arms.

The grotto was in a really bad state, the paint had stripped off in many of the places and places. The parts that were supposed to be white had turned a deep milky brown yellow from being coated with thick layers of dust. Dry leaves littered the floor of the grotto from the weed that had manage to slip through the rocky surface bloom and die. There was an inscription at the feet of the statue written in Latin. It read so:

‘SEMPER IN MATRE SOLATIUM INVENIET TRIBULATUS.’

“What do you think it means?” Chidinma asked.

Jennifer shrugged, “But I don’t think I like this place very much. It has a very weird feeling.” Her wide eyes scanned the compound. Chidinma agreed internally. There was a certain tingle it gave her as she entered the place.

They walked past the grotto and pushed the big wooden Chapel doors. It creaked as it slid open. At once, the girls understood the scale of their punishment. It was not a large chapel, but it was a complete mess.

Every surface was covered in dust to its last inch. There were two rows having at least 10 pews each. From the stained-glass windows to the tiled floor to the multiple standing fans around the edges of the room. Even the marble altar looked brown from the back of the church where the girls were standing.

“This is crazy!” Jennifer said in shock which changed to indignation. “This is insane! It will take our whole day. We’re going to miss lunch because of this!” She looked around the chapel again taking in the filth. “Christ! I hate that girl!”

Chidinma couldn’t find the right words. She never expected the chapel to be this bad. Chapels were usually in mint condition. The girls stood there for a few minutes in shock. The door creaked behind them. They turned back to see Snr Swanky walk in almost lazily.

Chidinma marched up to her immediately. “What kind of punishment is this? How do you expect us to do all this? It’s too much! It’s going to take the whole day! We’re going to miss our lunch because of you!”

Snr Swanky smiled. “Then you better start cleaning on time.” She turned around and started walking out the door.

A violent rage took over Chidinma. “You’re the most wicked person I’ve ever seen, and I hope you burn in hell.”

Snr Swanky stopped and turned around. She was still smiling. “My dear, you know nothing of hell. But if you keep talking to me, I promise you will find out. Now get to work. This place must be sparkling before tomorrow.” She left the chapel and closed the door behind her.

Steam rose from Chidinma’s belly. Very hot steam, she kicked the nearest pew angrily. The pain shot up to her head and she yelp and landed on the floor. Jennifer rushed to her side.

“Are you okay? Sorry.” Jennifer put her hand on her shoulders thoughtfully.

Chidinma sighed and looked downwards. “Let’s just get this done.” She stood up and limped down the aisle towards the stage.

On the stage, there was an altar, a lectern and a pulpit. All covered with brown deep brown altar clothes which Chidinma suspected may have been originally white. Two doors stood on the opposite ends of the stage and beside each two doors, there were recesses which two dusty brown statues. One housed the Statue of the Blessed Mother: the other, the Statue of the Sacred Heart

“Where will get brooms now?” Chidinma asked.

“Let’s try these doors.” Jennifer said. “Try that one let, me try this one.” She said allocating the left door to Chidinma. Chidinma went to the door beside Mary’s statue. It had a plastic sign nailed to it that read: ‘SACRISTY’.

She squeezed the handle pushed the door, but it didn’t budge. She tried once again, but it was firmly shut.

“This one is open.” Jennifer called out in front of the open door. The door seemed to lead outside the chapel.

The girls followed the door and found they were behind the chapel. There was a small shed made out of wood and wire netting. When they looked inside, they found brooms and mops and buckets and bags of detergent. In short, everything you’d need to clean a chapel.

By the wall, a pipe rose out of the ground and ended in a tap. Chidinma turned the handle. The tap coughed, slurped and spluttered out dirty brown water. A moment later, clean water flowed out, replacing the dirty water.

They got the brooms and went back into the chapel, about to start cleaning when the door creaked again and opened slightly.

Stephanie’s small frame tottered in and looked around, unsure of whether to go back or continue forward. Then she closed the door quietly.

“What are you doing here?” Chidinma called out and Jennifer jumped slightly. Then she noticed the two girls at the stage. She walked briskly towards them.

“Don’t tell me your school mother sent you to come and watch over us.” Chidinma said.

“I uh -- No. I came to say sorry to you.” She said to Jennifer. “And uh, to say um, thank you for that night.” She said to Chidinma. Jennifer looked at Chidinma bewildered.

“Long story.” Chidinma said to Jennifer noting the confusion on her face. She turned back to Stephanie. “Okay, we’ve heard you, you can now go back to your school mother.”

“Wait, I also came to see if I could help.”

Now, it was Chidinma’s turn to look at Jennifer bewildered.

“She didn’t send me.” Stephanie said, finding the nerve to go on. “And she’s not my school mother.” She tried to add firmly.

“You can say that, but how come you’re the only person in our dorm, that she doesn’t punish?” Chidinma said.

“Yeah.” Added Jennifer. “And every time you go to see her, she’s always giving you sweets and chocolate.”

“I don’t know!” Stephanie yelled, surprising even herself. “Sometimes, she just wants me by her side to ask me if I felt strange today, then she gives me sweets and makes me finish them before sending me back to the dorm. I don’t know why; I just know I don’t like it.”

Chidinma and Jennifer looked at each other again.

Stephanie continued, “I came to apologize and help out, because if I wasn’t there, you’d not have crashed and soiled her clothes. But if you don’t want me here, then I’ll go.” She said and turned around to follow the aisle.

Chidinma rolled her eyes. “Wait.” She said with a sigh. “This place is too big; we’d appreciate your help.”

Stephanie turned around beaming with a smile. “Thank you.”

“Let me get you a broom.” Jennifer said and disappeared outside the door and came back shortly with a broom and a rag which she handed to Stephanie.

Work started immediately. First, they beat down all the dust from the surfaces od the pews, windows and doors with their dry rags – deciding to leave the stage for last. Then they swept the heavy dust off the ground. First sprinkling water all around to prevent the dust from rising again. Next, came the mopping. As Jennifer and Stephanie mopped, Chidinma wiped the pews, the windows, doors and standing fans down now with a wet rag.

Then they went to the stage. Repeating the same process again. By the time they got to the altar, it was evening and they were exhausted.

“God! I’m sooo hungry!” Jennifer said with a sigh. “I can eat a full chicken like this.”

“Don’t worry, we’re almost done. If we just mop here, then, we’re done.”

“I don’t think I can do again.” Jennifer said wearily. She put her hand at he back of her waist like an old woman and carefully directed her rear to the closest pew to sit down.

Chidinma went to Jennifer’s side and sat beside her. She herself was spent. But she didn’t want to give Snr Swanky the benefit of seeing her tired. She felt like if she didn’t finish, then Snr Swanky would have won and she couldn’t let Snr swanky win.

 She put her arms around Jennifer. “Don’t worry, just rest. I’ll try to finish up here.”

“What? No. I can still carry on.” Jennifer said with a feeble attempt to stand up which failed. She plopped back to her seat as soon as she lifted herself.

“Don’t worry. We’ll finish up, just rest.” Stephanie said clutching her mop. She didn’t look more rattled than normal. In fact, she seemed to be the one who had the most energy left of the three girls. Chidinma was surprised at her stamina. She pulled her arms off Jennifer and staggered to the altar to pick her bucket and wet rag.

Stephanie followed after her. And they resumed work. Chidinma wiped the altar and the chairs where the priests sat. Then she cleaned the pulpit, then the lectern, then the doors. All that was left were the statues of Mary and the sacred heart of Jesus which were beside the doors. Her energy seemed to be coming back now that she was at the last lap.

She started with the statue of Jesus. When she was done, the sacred heart statue was a brilliant red and white and the heart itself was a deep crimson colour. Then she moved on to the statue of Mary and wiped it down thoroughly. When she finished, she examined the statue.

It looked like the one in the grotto outside but there was no inscription here. Around the neck of this Mary was a rosary. A beautiful rosary with silver beads glittered after being thoroughly wiped. It drew her to it. The beads felt cool and smooth in her hands.

She didn’t know why or when she did it, but the next thing she knew, she had put the rosary around her own neck. She turned around to show Stephanie and Jennifer.

Stephanie was standing perfectly still looking at her. Her dark face seemed to have lost all colour making her look paler than she ever was. She was facing Chidinma but her eyes seemed to be looking much farther away.

“Stephanie?” Chidinma said cautiously tilting her head and observing Stephanie. “Stephanie, are you okay? What’s wrong?” Stephanie didn’t reply. Chidinma looked at Jennifer who had now tuned in on the situation. She looked back at Stephanie and she was standing so still, she could have been made out of cement.

She walked carefully towards Stephanie. “Stephanie, talk to me. What’s the problem? What happened?” The mop Stephanie was holding fell to the floor with a clatter, pulling Chidinma’s attention down for a second, when she looked back at her, she gasped.

Stephanie’s eyes had rolled back into her head and she saw Stephanie’s mouth open, but the voice that came out was not Stephanie’s quivering voice. It was steady, high pitched and cruel. “A heart was promised, a heart is owed, I come for a heart and a heart must be paid!”

Chidinma felt an intense urge come over her, she obeyed the urge and placed her hand on Stephanie’s shoulder. The urge became a burning sensation on her neck. Stephanie collapsed immediately to the floor.

Jennifer shrieked and promptly covered her mouth with her hand.