Ivie did not know that three days could go so slow, maybe because she had to visit the infirmary regularly, or maybe because she had not seen Father Chibuike ever since. It suddenly felt like the school which was once like a small cocoon that enveloped them together was now too large that it kept them apart.
The jolt from their contact had been strong it knocked her into unconsciousness again. When she woke up, she didn't see him, hadn't seen him since then
"Don't you think the hallway is too empty?" Itohan asked, noticing. "By empty I mean devoid of all these teachers who always want to give someone detention."
"They're having a staff meeting," Aisosa told her. "A staff passed away, it's rather a sorrowful period, you think any of them would care about detention?"
"To imagine that her body was eaten, her arm ripped." Itohan shook her head.
"But something doesn't add up, if her body was eaten by a wolf and Sister Gabriel was near there, how come she heard no cry for help? Those kind of deaths are not accompanied by muffled screams."
"I agree." Itohan concurred, then stopped. "But what really kept me up is something Sister Gabriel said about seeing a cat. Remember, Ivie," she called pointing at her, "you said you saw a cat too?"
Her heart dropped. "I don't see how it correlates." But she did, as well as understood the glean in Itohan's eyes.
"See, you saw the cat with him, Sister Gabriel saw the cat close to where Father Chibuike and Sister Omo were talking, there's a high chance he actually owns the cat. And if he does, do you know the kind of headline that would make?"
"But I'm not even sure I saw the cat, I told you, maybe I was just seeing things."
"Then let's check, they're having a meeting after all. If he does or does not have the cat, you'll know, I just want to clear this suspicion off me."
"You sound like you've thought this through," Aisosa said.
"Like hell I have and the odds seems to be in line with me."
"I think this is a bad idea," Ivie murmured.
"And why is that?"
Because it was true! And if they found out, it would be disastrous. She would feel bad, like she betrayed him in a sort of way, going with them even though she knew they would find what they were looking for. She said, "The school is mourning, do you think this is the best time to stir up trouble?"
Gaga eyed her suspiciously. "Not that I'm entirely in support of this arrangement, but you're not one to care about something like that."
"I am, now seeing there's a warning from the Dean. If I have one slip up, like something of this sort, I'm saying Goodbye to St. Stephen."
"I agree with Ivie," JohnMary supported.
"Of course you agree with her," Gaga rolled her eyes. She was still upset, more upset than intended. She had thought he would apologize, had wanted him to apologize for snapping at her. She had decided to dash her card then, but he didn't even seem remorseful.
He ignored her. "Who knows if the Dean is monitoring her."
"Yes, since he suddenly turned to a monitoring spirit."
"Relax. If we catch this cat of Father Chibuike's, do you think the Dean is still going to be interested in expelling you? He would be grateful that you helped."
Another thing bothered Ivie. If the cat was found, Father Chibuike would be accused of using juju, they would accuse him of using the juju to kill Sister Omo, his priesthood would end, his reputation tarnished forever.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not involving myself in this, and in all honesty, don't do this."
"Why?" Itohan took a step forward. "Do you know something? It seems to me like you're trying to cover up for this priest."
"And it seems to me like you're so sure of this cat."
"Because there are evidences. Sister Gabriel saw it, you did too."
"I told you, I'm not certain I saw the cat." Why was Itohan being a pain today?
"And this is your chance to find out. You never back out from something like this even if you have nothing to gain, you take thrill in being the master devil of this, what's up?" She folded her arm across her chest defiantly.
Ivie exhaled deeply, she didn't need to look at the others to see that they too were suspicious. "Fine," she agreed. "Let me just get something from my room."
"You're not going to lock yourself in, are you?"
She shrugged. "Who knows, my door may be kind enough to do me the honours."
She was going to go into her room and lock the door and throw the key outside her window and lock the window too so she could lie, without guilt, about being locked in. If Itohan decided to come and check, she would see that indeed she was locked.
She wouldn't partake in the execution of Father Chibuike, he trusted her enough to keep his secret and so she was going to do just that.
She bolted the door, locked the window, stared hard at the key and tucked it into her pocket. She could lie without actually locking herself in.
She jumped on her bed and got under the duvet, she was sick after all, she needed rest.
Few seconds into trying to sleep, she heard squeezing noises from under the bed. She thought she was imagining at first, but the noise became louder, more disturbing. She rolled down from the bed to check what was underneath it. Judging from the sound, she imagined it would be a rat.
But rats did not have sharp eyes that stared unblinking at a human, rats weren't so big that it could sit on its hind legs and stand on the front, and rats didn't have mesmerizing eye colours.
She let the bedsheet fall back. Did the wound on her head now make her hallucinate? She opened the sheet again and her eyes locked with the cat. It stared at her for a while before going back to gnaw on the sachet of plantain chips it was struggling with, the plantain chips Ivie kept as a late night snack. She looked around the room for anything with potential on how to get rid of a cat, and then a thought came to her.
"If this was another day, I would have gladly chased you out of here, but today is different."
She looked at the window, it was locked. She looked at the door, she could lock it too from inside. That's would leave the cat no way to escape. Then she would follow her friends and search, a search which she was going to render futile, and give Itohan an 'I told you' look when it all ended.
She nodded in satisfaction. "Good timing." She didn't know how the cat got in, but she was actually glad, and glad too that she had not locked herself in.
She executed her plan and joined her friends, jogging back to make it look like she actually hurried.
"The door did not decide to lock you?"
"Those things have a mind of their own, how would I know?"
Gaga laughed. "You're starting to sound like Father Chibuike."
Ivie mentally rolled her eyes, only Gaga would joke about something like that. "Shall we? But if you get us into trouble IT, I'll kill you," Ivie warned.
"Take a chill pill, we're going to be heroes today."
From where Odion stood, her small figure camouflaged the shortness of the rail. She had not let herself visit the infirmary during Ivie's short stay. Of course, she was guiltless, but if, maybe, she had not struggled with her to pass through the door, then…
She trailed behind them, curious of what their whispered words were. Following them, she hid behind one pillar when they stopped in front of Father Chibuike's office and turned.
"I still think this is a bad idea, if we're caught, Ivie would be in trouble," JohnMary complained.
"There's no body here, but if you want to be a baby then you should go and suckle one of these Sister's breasts," Gaga said, then mimicked him.
Ivie went in first. "Let's finish as quick as possible, the last thing I want is Father Chibuike catching us."
"He won't," Itohan reassured.
But a sly smile crawled up Odion's lips and she hurried to find Father Chibuike.