Life Of Jiji

All Rights Reserved

©2021 Tena Ifiemi

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skoin skoin - ckay & bianca costa ♪

diamonds - sam smith ♪

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ТHΛТ ЛłGHТ, UЛϾŁΞ ФVłΞ was in my dream. I had my usual nightmare, just with a different scenery. This time, I was in my prep room while it happened and Mitchel and Reya were staring down at me.

What I regret the most about that night wasn't the nightmare though. It was the fact that I cried and thrashed around my bed in my sleep thus waking up Tolani and now she was seated beside me on my bed trying to comfort me.

"Ejiro are you okay?" Tolani asked, sitting me up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said. "I just need to drink water." I reached for my water bottle on my reading table beside my bed but she still didn't move. "Hey, I'm okay." I said after a gulp even though I could feel my fingers shaking.

"What's up?" I heard another sleepy voice ask and I internally groaned. It was Khadijah and she came to join Tolani on my bed.

"She was crying in her sleep." Tolani said and I winced."And she won't say what happened."

"It was just a dream Tola. It's not that serious."

After eyeing me skeptically, Tolani went back to her bed but Khadi didn't budge. That's when I realized that Khadi saw me having the nightmare the last time. She let it go last time, but she's bound to ask questions this time.

But all Khadi said was, "Goodnight" after asking if she should put off the lights since Tolani had left it on, and then she went back to her bed.

I think we really need to change our default greeting. I wonder why people bother saying 'Good morning', 'Good evening' and the rest. It doesn't change anything. Khadi saying 'goodnight' didn't make my night good because I didn't even fall asleep again after the nightmare. Thankfully, the next day was Saturday and I didn't have school.

I didn't go out for the compulsory morning sports and aerobics the next morning. I told Ms Angela that I was sick and she let me sleep in. I wasn't actually sick, of course, but I did sleep. Why the sleep didn't come when it was supposed to is what I don't understand. Somewhere in my hazy state of mind, I remembered Damian telling me to be there for his auditions and compelled myself out of bed. In the midst of my laziness, I had imagined forfeiting breakfast but since the auditions are immediately after breakfast, I found myself hurrying to the bathroom.

Dressing myself up in jeans and a yellow T-shirt, I brushed my hair and sprinted out of the hostel, only slowing down to walking when I saw people. Breakfast was halfway over when I got to the cafeteria and most people were already going back to the hostel. While collecting my food, Mrs. Ayoola, the hostel mistress cornered me, asking why she didn't see me during sports time. I had to spend a few minutes explaining that I was sick —even if I really wasn't —and that I already told Ms. Angela.

When I finally settle down on my table, it's empty. Well, until Damian waltz down and takes a seat in front of me.

He was wearing black Camo combat trousers and a baggy white Tee and looked fresh out of the shower. I wondered if I looked that way too since I just took a bath but then apparently, it was one thing to look fresh out of the shower and another thing to smell fresh out of the shower. The smell of Damian's cologne was doing something to my senses.

"What are you doing here?" I ask as my spoonful of custard pauses halfway to my mouth. I blush as I suck in my bottom lip when I realize that Damian's sudden arrival had caused my spoon to bump into my lip, thus smearing custard over it.

Damian's eyes follow my actions briefly before he clears his throat, "Why didn't you come for morning sports?"

I fought the urge to ask if everyone was going to keep asking me that before settling on a simple, "I didn't feel like."

"Big girl." He teased and I laughed. "We have a few minutes till the auditions." He told me. "Do you need help finishing your food?" He joked, reaching out for my tray.

"Leave me and my food alone!" I said greedily as I dragged my tray closer to myself.

"Chop chop." He taunted.

We were not the only ones going to the hall for the final auditions before we start practicing for the play but we were behind the others since I delayed us. Damian was unusually quiet and I could tell that he was nervous, since he really wanted this part so I tried to say random stuff to make things less awkward for me.

"So," I began my first question, "Do you have any siblings?"

"Three brothers." He said and I widened my eyes at him.

"No sister?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Nope."

"Do you wish you had a sister?"

"Sometimes."

"Like when?"

At the question, Damian finally turned to me, his eyebrows drawn together and I wondered whether he was going to ask why I was pestering him.

"Like when I'm hungry."

I gasped dramatically, "How dare you insinuate that girls belong to the kitchen!?"

He turned to me abruptly, eyes wide and he looked horrified, "No. That's not what I meant—"

I cut him off with loud peals of laughter from my end and when he saw that I was joking, he chuckled and flicked me on my forehead.

"My mom likes cooking a lot. I just figured that if I had a sister she might've been interested as well." He says and I nod, smiling at him.

"You've never told me anything about your mom." I said and I watched his expression waver fleetingly before it turned neutral.

"Some other day." He said, waving it off.

We had reached the hall now and I began to scan the room for Mr. Zaki. Damian left moments later because he got a phone call on the hostel line and since I was left alone, I tried looking for a familiar face.

"Senior Ejiro!" Someone called and I turned to see Zainab's little sister coming towards me.

She had her curly natural hair packed in a twin puff and I had to smile when I realized that we were matching in a way— she was wearing yellow and blue too but in place of the jeans I wore, she was wearing blue shorts. She was so cute, was all I could think.

"I didn't know you were acting." She said, taking my hand. I looked down at our hands in shock at how easily she could just do that.

"I am." I say, letting her lead me to whatever direction she was leading me to.

"I heard that you and Senior Damian are Mary and Joseph." She said and then to my utmost surprise, she winked at me.

"I thought you said you didn't know I was acting." I accuse, with my eyebrows narrowed but she just let go of my hand and ran off, giggling. I shook my head and watched her go back to her friends.

"Irikefe."

"Sir?" I replied immediately, turning to the sound of the drama instructor's voice.

"Where is your friend, Briggs?" He asked and for the millionth time, I noted his addiction to calling people by their last name.

Mr. Zaki snapped his fingers in front of me, "It's time we begun. Where is he?" He asked, clearly impatient. I was warned that Mr. Zaki as drama instructor was different from Mr. Zaki as art teacher. He was way more strict.

"I'll find him." I said excusing myself, the fact that Damian hadn't come back since he went out to receive that phone call, hitting me but just as I was exiting the auditorium to look for him, he came in, brushing past me with a stony expression on his face.

I watched his back, confused at his obviously sour mood as he climbed the stage after receiving a script from Mr Zaki. I moved to the front row just as Richard mounted the stage as well. Mr Zaki passed me a script too, telling me to start getting acquainted with my lines while ushering me to the stage for Richard's auditions.

"Action!" Mr Zaki called, using a rubber band to tie his dreadlocks out of the way and I walked into the scene, where Richard was typing away on a laptop. Apparently, this story of Jesus' birth was meant to be in modern times.

"Joseph, dear. I have something to tell you." I said, the words sounding weird coming out of my mouth.

"Please do." Richard said, as he turned to me with a smile.

"I'm pregnant."

Richard laughed clearly amused, "Is today April fools?" 

Trying to stifle my own laugh, I said my next line, "No, Joseph. This is not a joke, I am pregnant. The holy spirit appeared to me, I am to give birth to the messiah, the saviour—"

Cutting me off right where he should, Richard got up abruptly. "Would you shut up! Do you think I'm stupid? You and I have not yet been intimate with each other and you expect me to believe that you're pregnant?" Richard flared and I almost believed that he was truly angry with me.

Everyone gave a well deserved round of applause after that and Mr Zaki yelled, "Cut!"

Me and Richard exited the stage and while I took the steps, Richard just jumped down. Mr Zaki patted me on the shoulder, "That was very good." He said and I smiled like I was just announced BBN first place winner. "Briggs, your turn." He said and I turned towards Damian who had been sitting in the first row, arms folded and a passive look on his face.

I tried to catch his eye, to ask what was wrong but he didn't look at me and soon I took my place at the foot of the steps at one side of the stage and when Mr Zaki yelled 'Action', I walked in.

"Joseph, dear. I have something to tell you." I said, having to go over the same scene again.

"Pray tell, dear Mary." Damian said and despite his obvious bad mood, I could hear a hint of amusement in his voice as he changed the words in the script and unlike Richard, he didn't look at me, he just kept typing away.

"I'm pregnant." I said and after a few seconds of confusing silence, he finally looked at me with a smile.

"By who?"

"By... By... Well, the holy spirit appeared to me in a dream. He told me I'm to bear the son of God."

Now, Damian laughed, the action highlighting his envious dark skin. "Oh really? Can you hear yourself Mary? Please, I'm really not in the mood." He said and turned back to the computer.

I tried not to panic; this free styling Damian was doing was really throwing me off balance. Feeling Mr Zaki's judging eyes on me, I blurted the first thing that came to mind, "I have proof."

Damian turned to me with an interested and very amused look in his face, "You don't say." He says and I dig out a pen from my pocket to play the role of the pregnancy test and thrust it in front of Damian.

He stared at it for a few seconds and slowly stood up.

"This is a joke, right?" He demanded, grabbing me by my arm.

"I already told you Joseph, I'm to carry the son of our Lord in my womb and—"

"The son of your lover you mean! Your lover who is clearly not me since I've never even seen you naked." Damian said and I widened my eyes, feeling my face heat up.

I waited to hear Mr Zaki say, 'cut' but all I heard was the sound of his own low laughter. "We are engaged Mary, how could you do this!?" Damian continued and at this point, I really didn't know what to say which is why I was very relieved to hear Mr Zaki finally say 'cut'.

"Why didn't you follow the script? I was so confused." I whined as I hit Damian on the shoulder as we left the stage but instead of the expected mischievous response, all I got was a small smile as he migrated back into his quiet, bitchy mood.

"Damian, that was very creative of you." Mr Zaki commended and I noticed Richard's jaw harden. Although, everyone clapped at Richard's acting, Mr Zaki hadn't said anything about it. Maybe if it wasn't Damian he was up against, I'd have rooted for him to get the part. "The both of you are making it really hard for me to choose. I've decided to continue the rehearsals like this while switching between you both for the time being. I will decide who gets Joseph's character by the end of our third rehearsals. How does that sound?"

"Great." I heard Richard mutter. Damian remained silent.

"I hope it's clear though, that we are not changing the script." He looked at Damian before adding, "Mr Briggs."

At this Damian just smirked and gave a mock salute.

After that we dived into rehearsals upon rehearsals and three hours later, Mr Zaki finally agreed to let us go and rest. When Damian asked me to do this play with him, I didn't realize it would be this tasking. Damian and I were already outside after a long briefing with Mr Zaki —which I realize is very paradoxical but then, that's what it was; a long briefing —when Damian said he forgot something and went back in.

I leaned against the wall, watching every other person leave as I waited for Damian.

"Waiting for me?" Richard said when he came out.

I smiled at him. "Waiting for Damian actually; we came together."

"Oh."

"Yeah, he should've been out by..." I trailed off as Richard abruptly threw his arm over my shoulder. Just then Damian entered my line of sight and his hard gaze flickered between me and Richard for a few seconds before he turned and walked away, hands in his pockets.

"Damian! Chill!" I called but he didn't stop and I watched as he disappeared round the corner.

Richard removed his arm from my shoulder, "Well, shall we?"

•••

"It's the fact that this Ejiro is so oblivious, for me abeg. See the way he's looking at her!"

"She's oblivious of her own self too! See the way she is looking at him."

That was how I was greeted when I entered my room for my well deserved rest. Closing the door soundly behind me, I tried to alert them of my presence but they were still so engrossed in whatever they were all crowded about. Going to see for myself, I see that its a phone and they're watching Damian's auditions. I mean, the one we just did now. How was that even possible? Soon, the video ended and Tolani swiped to the next one, it was Richard. Khadijah hissed.

"This one won't respect himself." She said and I arched a confused brow.

"I know right? It's like he doesn't know his place anymore." Mercy giggled.

"Ejiro is that you?"

And finally, someone finally notices me.

Deciding to be sarcastic, I replied, "No-o, it's my ghost."

"That sounds really bad on you." Khadi says immediately and I roll my eyes.

"Why are you guys clearly talking about me?"

"We're not talking about you." Mercy says.

"Yeah, we're talking about you and Damian." A Zainab who I didn't even notice was here, sprang up.

I sighed, "This again? When would you people give up? Someone that's even giving me attitude."

"Aww." Mercy said and I shot her a look.

"You're not serious." I say and go to my wardrobe to take off my clothes. Hanging a patterned lappa over the wardrobe, I changed into a nightgown and swapped the lappa with the clothes I had just taken off before balancing on my bed.

"So, did your boyfriend get the part?"

"Mr Zaki hasn't chosen yet and he's not my boyfriend."

"Yet." Ayo said and I groaned, turning in my bed to face away from them. Just as I was drifting to sleep, Tolani connected her laptop to her Bluetooth speaker and soon Felony by Ckay was playing. I'd like to think I slept off with a smile on my face.

I didn't see Damian at lunch and even during sports he played football from beginning to end and then went to the hostel to prepare for dinner immediately afterwards... But then he didn't come out for dinner. The way things turned out today made me realize how much time I actually spend with Damian. I could actually count the hours we hadn't spoken for. Or maybe it was because he was in such a weird mood when he left?

"Ejiro, someone wants to speak to you." Ms Angela said walking up to me with the hostel phone stretched out in front of her. I raised a confused eyebrow. I was halfway done with my dinner and I had already talked to my mom today.

Taking the phone, I pressed it to my ear and spoke, "Hello, mom?"

"Which mom? I'm not ready to give birth o." The unmistakeable voice said back into the phone.

"Dianne!" I exclaimed happily, aware of the weird looks my table mates were giving me.

Excusing myself, I walked out of the senior cafeteria and rested against a wall as I listened to Dianne rant about how I have forgotten her. It was hard to think that this was the same 'haughty' girl I met at that party. The same Instagram model and influencer with over 88K followers.

"How did you even get my hostel number?" I asked her and she replied by saying she has her ways.

We talked for awhile and apparently she was in Ethiopia for a photoshoot and tour. Her life was so dreamy, I can't believe I know her. She should be someone who's pictures I like on Instagram, not someone who I talk to over the phone. I guess its better that I met her before I knew how popular she was and not vice versa.

Finally ending the call, I started to walk back into the cafeteria to at least drop my plate since leaving the food for so long had made it lose its appeal when someone stopped me.

"Jiji."

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Hi!

Bye!

😂😂

Oh yeah, BBN is short for Big Brother Naija. It's an annual reality TV show in Nigeria. ✌🏼