Saint Patrick's College

Chapter Three

The day she got her admission letter into Saint Patrick's College, Adaeze knew she was still being punished. It was about five weeks after and things still hadn't gone back to normal, not to mention there was still nothing from Nnamdi Azikiwe Secondary School about taking her back. She kept checking her Mom's email, but nothing. At what point was she going to accept that she'd screwed that up for good? She didn't have an answer.

Already, the Okoro's were the talk of their neighborhood. Everyone had a say on why Adaeze was expelled. Everyone had a theory. Their own next-door neighbor Mommy Pamela speculated that Adaeze had been watching the couple for weeks before that day, Adaeze must have known they would be at the office at that time, that's why she lied about the stomach ache, to watch them like some pervert. The woman couldn't be farther from the truth.

At this point, everyone at Nnamdi Azikiwe knew about her expulsion and buzzed her phone to get the full story. They only knew what Principal Adebayo wanted them to know, but not everyone believed him. Some kids, the courageous ones in her class reached out. Called and called even though it was clear she wasn't going to answer. The only person that deserved to know what happened was Temi and even her calls were left unanswered.

Amarachi kicked her beneath the table.

Adaeze lurched her leg back, winced and frowned at her giggling little sister. The six-year-old girl was sitting there with an empty plate and a scraped bowl of pap, a toothy grin on her face.

Adaeze's attention was instantly drawn back to the conversation at hand.

Anyone else would have been over the moon to get into Saint Patrick's College, Maitama, but it was a boarding school for the rich and influential, two things Adaeze was not.

"You should be more excited." Ijeoma said from the kitchen sink. She had her hands wrist deep in sudsy water. The woman was trying to look on the bright side, but Adaeze knew her mother, the woman was still mad about what happened. She couldn't blame her. Adaeze was still mad about what happened herself.

Adaeze hated that she was the cause of the woman's displeasure, she hated that she added more to the woman's plate knowing that Ijeoma already had enough going on with trying to maintain her kiosk and trying to keep the spark of their marriage alive.

Adaeze wasn't deaf. She heard the yelling through the walls, she knew her parents were only together because in Nigerian culture divorce was one of the seven deadly sins.

"I am excited." She tried to sound enthusiastic. She pushed her breakfast of akara around her plate and stared blankly at the bowl of pap that sat in front of her, untouched. Even her brother Ifanyi was done with his food and he was the slowest eater in the house. "How are we even going to afford it?" They weren't rich. Middle class. They had only one car for God's sakes. It was embarrassing enough that her classmates' parents changed cars at least once a year and her parents could barely afford to maintain the one, they had. Not that things like that bothered her. Okay maybe they did, but only a little bit...

"We don't have to, you got a scholarship." The woman beamed. She turned off the faucet and wiped her hands down on her wrapper. She was wearing a shirt that she always wore in the house. It was beginning to look worn with wrinkles all over it. The woman paired it with a wrapper Adaeze could only describe as the wrapper. The one that doubled as a cover cloth when the nights got too cold.

Ijeoma walked up to the kitchen table and pulled out a chair, it scraped against the tiled floors.

"But I didn't apply." Adaeze let her fork clatter against her plate.

Next to her, Ifanyi was already swinging his bag over his shoulder. Unlike her, he didn't get expelled from Nnamdi Azikiwe. He was still in JSS3, so she doubted there was anything he could possibly do to get expelled.