3. Reply Of The Past

TUNDE UNPLUGGED HIS phone from the charger and turned it on.

He had stayed up studying all night and had left his phone off.

Tunde wanted to pass his final examinations and make his parents proud. He still had two years before his final examinations but his father could not tolerate having his son fail at anything, not even a simple class test.

His phone buzzed immediately he unlocked it. It was a message from Chinyere.

Tunde opened the messaging app and saw that it had been sent the previous night.

I'm going to meet Mystery Boy. Wish me luck.

Chi Chi

08:07 pm

There was no use in responding now so Tunde threw his phone on his bed and knotted his necktie.

After he was completely dressed he went to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Good morning, Mommy," Tunde kissed his mother's cheek.

Tunde's father was a police officer and his mother was a primary school teacher.

"Good morning, dear," Tunde's mother smiled and placed Tunde's breakfast on the dining table. "Have your breakfast before you leave for school. To be smart you need to have a healthy mind."

Tunde took his seat at the dining table and finished his plate of akara and pap in under fifteen minutes.

"I'm done, Ma," Tunde smiled with a mouth full of pap.

"I see you're in a hurry," his mother said and took his dirty plates, "I'll wash your plates for you."

"Thank you, Ma," Tunde said and grabbed his school bag from the dining table.

"Have a great day," his Mom shouted as Tunde ran out of the house.

·

·

·

Tunde was worried. Worried was an understatement of how he felt.

Where was Chinyere?

Chinyere had only been absent from school once and that was when she was suffering from a fever.

He knew that she wasn't sick. Unless she became sick overnight and that was highly impossible.

The first period passed, then the second and the third, fourth and fifth.

Just as the bell rang for recess, their school Head Boy walked into the class with their Head Teacher following behind him.

The teacher whose period had just ended sat on the edge of his desk and waited for the Head Teacher and Head Boy to make their announcement.

The pupils stood up and greeted their Head Teacher.

"You can seat down," the head teacher said with a scratchy voice, "we have a serious announcement to make. I woke up with a cough and my voice is not loud enough so I'll let the head boy say the announcement."

The pupils giggled and mumbled as they took their seats. Everyone knew that the head teacher didn't have a cough. The only reason she couldn't speak loud enough was because she had spent her morning shouting at the J.S1 pupils.

"Silence, everyone!" the teacher yelled and clapped his hands together.

"Good morning, everyone," the head boy started and the class mumbled in greeting.

"A parent of one of our fellow peers just recently reported to us that their child is missing," the head boy that went by the name of Daniel said. "She is from this class —"

Tunde prayed that it wasn't who he was thinking it was.

"—Chinyere Awaziem," Daniel said and Tunde felt his heart drop, "according to her parents, she went missing last night. They didn't find her in her room or anywhere in the compound. If anyone knows about her whereabouts, please inform her family. You are also urged to protect yourself from bad influences and avoid staying out late. There were already several cases of rape, kidnap and human trafficking reported in just this month. Thank you for listening."

Tunde kept his eyes on the door even after the Head Teacher, Head Boy and class teacher had walked out. He was hoping that all that was said was a bad dream and Chinyere would magically appear and walk through the door.

"Tunde, what do you think has happened to Chinyere?" he felt someone place their palm on his shoulder and he turned around to meet his ex-girlfriend.

He wondered why he had dated someone like her. She was the one who had asked him out and he was only being a gentleman when he had agreed.

"What do you want, Rachel?!" Tunde stood up abruptly, his outburst turning a few heads. "Isn't it your fault that she's missing?!"

"How is it my fault?!" Rachel yelled.

"Yes, how is it her fault?" Amanda asked.

Tunde felt sorry for Amanda. He didn't know when she was going to realise that her best friend was not a good influence on her. Amanda followed Rachel like a shadow.

"Shut up, you thing," Tunde told Amanda and turned back to Rachel, "aren't you the one that encouraged her to go and meet that stupid mystery boy or whatever you call him?"

"What makes you think that she took my advice?" Rachel asked. "And even if she did, what makes you think that he was the one who kidnapped her?"

Tunde was boiling in anger. If it wasn't for his respect for females he would have given her a hard slap.

A slap so hard that even her own mother would not recognise her.

"I feel sorry for you," Tunde whispered but it was loud enough for her to hear, "and for you too, Amanda. I wonder when you will realise that Rachel isn't worth your time."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rachel asked.

Tunde leaned in closer to Rachel and whispered, "If Chinyere is not found alive and healthy I will never forgive you and I will make sure you pay."

With that, Tunde stormed out of the classroom.

He could hear Rachel calling after him but he didn't care, he'd had enough of her stupidity.

Tunde stormed into the boy's restroom and banged the door shut behind him. The boys who were already in the bathroom jumped in surprise and looked at Tunde.

Tunde leaned against the wall and glared back at the boys, "What are you looking at?!"

The boys looked away and ran out of the restroom.

Tunde sighed and closed his eyes. He couldn't believe that this was happening to him again. Someone he loved dearly went missing, again.

Tunde's older sister had gone missing a year ago. She was only a year older than him and they were close.

After school, she had decided to go shopping with a few of her friends and Tunde went home alone.

When she didn't come back in the next two hours, he knew that something was wrong.

He had tried calling her phone but she had left her phone at home.

He went to her friends' homes but they all said that they left  after they watched her board a bus back home.

That was the last he'd ever heard of her.

Tunde felt his chest tighten. He was breathing hard and sweating profusely. He was having a panic attack.

Tunde placed his hand on his chest as he felt his eyes tear up. He took deep breaths of air but his lungs still felt empty.

The door to the boy's restroom opened and Daniel walked in only to see one of his fellow pupils on the verge of collapsing.

He ran to Tunde and placed his hand on his back, "Are you alright?"

Tunde didn't respond, he couldn't respond. He tried to stand upright but his legs felt too weak for that. He collapsed to the ground and he shut his eyes.

He had fainted.