Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

MUDDLE .

" My name is also Bimpe " She smiled .

" Wow ! , I will like to know more about you ." Bimpe smiled back

" You will when it's time ." The beautiful young girl disappeared .

Adebimpe woke up realizing it was just a dream , her pillow and cloth had been soaked in her sweat , standing up she found a letter on the shelf with a purple ink writings , at first she was confused but her mind forced her to open the letter and to her surprise she was not able to read what she saw because it doesn't belong to any Africa language , fear gripped her as she ran out of the house and mistakenly stepped on a nail , it hurts a lot but the fear of what she saw made her less worried , she had stand up to an hour , because she was still scared of the nightmare she had and the letter she saw on her shelf .

" What is the meaning of all this ? " she asked herself as she went in with a stick with her , so as to knock off any thing that comes her way . She pushed the door open , checking every rooms in case there is anything or anyone hiding trying to play a trick on her , " Come outside or I get you . " She faked a deep voice , trying to know if there was anyone inside . Finally , bimpe knew she was just wasting her time looking for what does not exist , she was already feeling hungry so she summoned courage and went into the kitchen to have her breakfast made of bread and tea .

After an hour she sensed something was wrong and stopped the food she was eating , her mind told her to check the date on the calendar that was hanging on the wall , she was surprised to find out that it was friday , she covered her mouth and screamed .

" Why were you not around for the past three days ? " the principal asked , adjusting his glasses to take a closer look at the young naughty girl in front of him .

" I was sick " Bimpe lied .

" So what's the cause of the sickness , because today is malaria , tommorow will be typhoid and this is the way you've always been telling us , I wonder how you perform well in your test and exams . " He frowned .

It was then she remembered that day , she felt dizzy and had a slight headache during chemistry class which made her almost lose her consciousness and immediately she headed to the school clinic , on getting there she felled down vomiting almost all the food she ate that morning , she would have lay on the ground just like that if not for the help of some juniors who saw her and carried her to the school clinic for treatment , she was tested for malaria and was given treatment but the principal insisted she should stay instead of her to be allowed to go home . Bimpe had left the school compound late after so much pressure on her principal to let her go , she waited for a taxi but none of them showed up and she made up her mind to trek to her house .

" Well it is good to have you back , just make sure you copy your notes and tell your teachers to make up some private classes t you , is that clear " He spat .

" Yes ye ye yes sir ! " She stammered , closing the door behind her , she placed her head on the wall of the corridor , thinking about her dad that died a day before her birthday , he had an accident with his friend and both of them died , their bodies were unable to recognised since the fire cause by the car accident severe . All what her father's families could claim about their son is just ashes which they are not sure of who it belongs to .

Her mum had no other choice than to get married to a rich man so he can take over the responsibility of a father towards Bimpe , Bimpe grew up to dislike the man due to the fact that her mum had children for him and Seeing another man with her mum laughing and playing their honeymoon so called of a thing makes her angry so she requested to have a house on her own which is a bit closer to her school , the man reasoned it has a good idea because he knew he and Bimpe don't like each other so well , as Bimpe has not accepted him as her adopted father which result with the both of them quarrelling a lot when her mum wasn't around .

" She doesn't like me Bunmi and no matter what I do for her she doesn't just appreciate . I love her like my own daughter Bunmi , I just don't understand what type of girl she is , Remember i am doing all this because I love you . " The man had told her mother that night when he and Bimpe had quarrelled.

" She will like you very soon it's just time . " Bunmi smiled .

" Time ! , Did you just say time . That your daughter , you just need to be praying for her because she is not normal , I had seen her in dreams pounding my head with a stick and , moerever that is not the first time I had seen her in my dream , " He whispered " I believe she is a witch . "

" God forbid ! , My daughter is never a witch " Her mum yelled .

" Well if you say so , I am just warning you not to get her angry like I always do , I have already bought the house for her and is more closer to her school than here , so before Saturday she should pack out of my house ! Good night . " He replied angrily , covering himself with a blanket .

Bimpe had eavesdrop all what he said and she blamed herself for being soo mean to the man , so the man actually cares so much about her to the extent he even bought an apartment for her , she didn't even give him a chance to take a role of a father just for once . But alas she is happy to leave his house .

Staying on her own in her new apartment serves an advantage to her since she has the freedom to do whatever she feels she can , But her mum insisted checking on her every Saturday along with her step siblings to know how far she is doing in her studies and how comfortable she is .

She was deep in thought when the principal tapped her .

"Are you okay ? " he asked .

" Oh yes sir, too much of things in my head and I was also thinking of how I would cope . " she faked a smile .

" Oh it's nothing , infact you are doing good in your grades and i am proud of you , you can be better than Gweneven by scoring high marks in your waec exam , do you understand ." The principal smiled back .

Did she just heard the name Gweneven ! , Gweneven is one of those smart student in her class and who sometimes win a lot of award and prizes in school and also in competitions , Bimpe was surprised to hear that she is getting far more better in her studies than Gweneven . Wow ! .

" Yes sir , thank you very much sir . " She kneeled down

" No no no it's okay , you see it's my duty as your principal to guide you towards your dream and infact I am sure wherever your late father is , he will be very proud of you . " He laughed as he finds his way back to his office . Adebimpe was so happy for herself , she had never been this excited before . She hurried to class in other not to lose the second period of the biology class . She entered the class only to see the teacher flogging his students .

" Bimpe how are you , how is your health ? " The biology teacher asked .

" I am fine sir , is there any thing wrong ? " Bimpe asked , pointing towards her mates who were serving some punishment .

" This student are animals , imagine them scoring below four in my last test and they still want to write WAEC examination . " The teacher said , in such a reassuring way that made her feel at ease.

" Except from You , Gweneven and her friends , the rest of the class failed woefully " he added.

" Is that it ? But I thought you said you won't be taking this test serious . "

" Who are you to question me , Bimpe ! . "

" Oh I am sorry sir " she replied as take her seat .

If anyone should be punished it shouldn't have been Kelvin , her crush . She had written her intentions for him on her diary but she misplaced it , not knowing where it was , She sighted him sweating , gasping for air due to the punishment he was serving . The biology teacher is a wicked man after all .

The class had ended and it was break time as everyone were outside having a gist except from her and some few people in class who were reading a novel , suddenly the single ladies came in front of her .

The single ladies , they are one of the most popular group of girls in school . Everyone in school fears them a lot because they are mean , wicked and do not take nonsense from anyone even to their teachers , they never attended classes and no teacher dare mark them down in their subject , if only he or she doesn't want to be frustrated throughout out his or her time as a teacher . Although they were mostly caught for bringing phones and some prohibited items into the school but they still go scot-free . Gweneven was their leader , Bimpe's greatest competitor in class .

" Now we have a scholar in our class . " Gweneven mimicked Bimpe .

" Oh maybe she thinks she can win the best WAEC result this year , " Gloria added . " She loves books you know. "

" You girls are silly , " Bimpe mumbled .

" Silly if you say , we don't give a f**k to that , " Gweneven replied , hitting the table with her fist . She added . " Ok just leave that issue , what is going on between you and Kelvin . "

" Me and Kelvin , seriously . " She replied , looking into Gweneven's eyes " there is nothing going on with the two of us "

"It's a lie , don't be stupid I am not a fool ! " Gweneven replied .

" I said what's in my mind , there is nothing going on between us . " Bimpe added .

" Never ! , You are a liar Bimpe . " Gweneven Insisted.

" Come on Gweneven , you can't say things like that ! "

" Why not ? It's on your diary and it's going viral . "

" Wait ! , where did you see my dairy . " Bimpe asked with so much interest .

" Well , we are with it and we are going to expose you today . Your feelings for Kelvin will be exposed ." Gweneven's voice was raised .

" Please don't do that ," Bimpe pleaded .

" Look at you , you are not that hard to get ! " Gweneven snapped .

" You say what ? " Bimpe shouted , glaring at Gweneven.

" I said you are not that hard to get ! " Gweneven yelled .

Bimpe couldn't utter a word from her mouth , she stayed glued to her seat staring at her rivals , oh no ; she said to herself .

The break was over and students were running back to their classes except from the senior students who were already feeling to big to run , calling themselves the jagabans of the school , Bimpe excused herself to the toilet only to come back to see a lot of students surrounding Gweneven .

" oh my God ! , Gweneven has implicated me . " Bimpe said to herself , feeling embarrassed as she ran out of the class .

I fell in love with an amazing guy on this day 12th of July 2018 , he is just lucky to be tall , handsome and talented ........

Bimpe could still remember what she wrote , She washed her face and took a deep breath , she had no other choice than to go back to class , sitting down on her chair trying to ignore the eyes of her mates on her , It was such a great shame . She looked at Kelvin with the corner of her eyes only to find him reading . Wow ! , he does not even care , suddenly their eyes met and she turned it away from him and bought out her book , pretending to read .

" Let them look at me . " She said to herself . The maths teacher entered and every student rushed back to their seats .

" You guys are deceving yourselves not me , " the teacher added " I pray you don't disgrace this school . "

As usual maths class is always boring and frustrating with the teachers throwing logistics questions at you , failure to answer this questions brings purnishment , almost all the student in class were already tired and some were even pleading for the teacher to round up his boring class but he insisted he will used his period till when it is due to . Just then the school bell rang for closing hour , each student stood up packing their bags .

" Wow at last ! " One of the student replied feeling frustrated for the long period of the maths class.

" Well everyone make sure you do your assignment and submit it on thursday is that clear , failure to do so requires purnishment . " The teacher warned them as he was packing his notes together.

Suddenly two boys in a rough uniform and unkept hair came into the class just when the teacher is about leaving .

" oh oh so you two are the one, always missing attendance and failing my test , examination is near and you both are behaving like street boys roaming all about in the street , wasting your life ! , " He continued " And I wonder what is special about you people that girls are falling for . "

"Money sir . " A voice replied from the back of the class .

" Oh so you are already rich , through gambling . " He frowned .

" No sir " one of the boys replied .

" Investment ? " The asked .

" No sir " They both replied .

" Then what ? , You guys are into fraud " He continued " Any way I think we both need to see the principal "

" Please sir " One of them replied .

" Any way just be serious " The teacher spat .

" Have a nice day sir . " A student replied .

" Don't tell me that at all , lazy students . " He replied angrily , as he went out of the class , there was argument about Juventus and Barcelona from the boys who still want to watch football after school .

" Hmmm guys , they will never change . " Adebimpe said to herself packing her books.

" Hello bimpe . " A voice called out from behind , it was Kelvin .

" Oh Kelvin , i am good ." She managed to utter some words .

" I can see you are packing your books " he smiled .

" Yea and thanks , you wanna see me ? " She asked .

" Well I just thought both of us could walk home together . " He replied .

" Well Kelvin sorry , i am kind of busy and I really wanna walk home alone. " She replied .

" Ok , as your wish " he smiled.

" Thanks Kevin . " She smiled back at him as she walked down the stairs to the school compound , why Kelvin followed her .

" Is anything wrong Bimpe ? " He asked .

" Hrrrr nothing Kelvin , I am fine . " She replied , giving him a faint smile.

" Oh ok , well if you really need to tell me anything bordering your mind , I am free , you can open up to me and if you feel it is a secret trust me I can keep it. " He replied .

" But I don't have secret Kelvin , Thanks ." She replied without looking back .

" I heard the news about the diary and what you wrote in it ...."

" About what ? , Kelvin please I need to be left alone " Bimpe was shocked with the way she replied but manged to smile " we will talk about that later "

" Are you mad at me " Kelvin managed to utter some word as he was still shocked with he way Bimpe replied .

" I am sorry if I had raised my voice at you , bye " she replied without looking back

" Oh my God what type girl is this , I regret talking to her at first instance " Kelvin frowned " Gweneven must have done something to this girl , she is not as mean as this . "

" if anything is bordering your mind you can feel free to tell me and if you feel it's a secret then I can keep it . "

Deep in thought Bimpe didn't realized a vehicle was coming behind her with a full speed , immediately she felt something strange like a voice in her mind telling her to jump into the nearest gutter at her side , she first ignored it but the voice kept shouting louder and louder in her mind hitting her senses like , she managed to jump into the nearest gutter . Her mind had saved her that day .........

" Ha ! I thank my soul , I thank my soul . " She said to herself . Immediately the driver and some people came to lift her up to the hospital , Bimpe suffered a temporary sprain on her leg and she was given a first aid treatment and was discharged that same day .

" Bimpe is it true that a vehicle almost hit you . " Her mum shouted at her .

" No mummy I am okay , it's not that fatal . " She smiled .

" What were you thinking of ! , You have to be very careful . please , " she added " you know I love you ."

" I love you too mummy . " She hugged her mom .

" What about john and Peter why didn't they come with you ? " She asked .

" Well you know their dad , he loves sport and he didn't want to lose today's match most importantly when it deals with his club , Chelsea . He wanted to come but since the twins Insisted they want to watch football he had to sit down at home to watch with them , When I told him last night about you , he lost his appetite , " she added " He really cares Bimpe"

" I can see ," She smiled " gist me more mum . "

" Of course my girl . "

Suddenly Sarah , her step sister cut in . she was the youngest with the facial appearance of their mum , it was still a misery for Bimpe , because she doesn't resemble her late dad or her mum . who cares anyway she do say to herself .

" Mummy what's wrong with sister bimpe ? " Her step sister asked , looking sympathetic .

" Well you can see your elder sister had an accident and thank God she wasn't injured that much . " Her mom smiled .

" Sister Bimpe now that you are alright , can you help me plait my hair , mummy's hand is too big to plait my hair and it sometimes makes my hair rough . " She replied , looking up to her big sister for an answer .

" Yes my love , come over " she replied .

* ***** ****** ****** ****** ***** *

It was around eleven fifty four in the afternoon on saturday , there was music playing in the kitchen disturbing Bimpe from her sleep , she didn't leave her phone or her music box in the kitchen so where would the music coming from or is someone in . She took the knife she left on the dinning table when she was still eating breakfast and tiptoed into the kitchen ready to stab anyone as a sign of defence . she heard some strange song coming from the sink , immediately she bent down under the sink only to find out that it was rats .

" Do rats talk , No! , So where will the music be coming from . " she whispered . To her surprise she saw a lot of rats singing along to the song she heard , their voice sounds like different instruments working together to produce a music , Bimpe was amused .

" What the hell is going on ! " She yelled .

" Hey don't scream . Shhhhhhh " One of the rat replied .

" What are you all doing here , in my house ! " She replied .

" We got a message for you our guardian " The old one replied .

Bimpe laughed , " message ! , guardian ! , You guys came into my room to disturb me and now you all are trying to convince me that you got a message for me , What type of message is that ? "

" A message from the gods . " the old rat replied.

" gods , Who are the gods ? " Bimpe pinched herself to be sure if she was not dreaming like she usually do , " Wait wait wait how did I start talking to you , I mean to animals , this is my first time of talking to animals in their own language and you guys aren't surprise I am responding to you all . "

" surprise ! did you just say surprise , look we all know who you are , you don't belong here but from fairyland and only a fairy understands us " one of the rat replied.

" Fairyland , " She frowned " It's just a fairy tale. "

" Hmmmm so you don't know Fairyland ? " Their leader asked .

" Yes I don't know . "

" Have you forgotten who you are Bimpe . " The big rat replied .

" I am sorry , I don't understand what you are all saying , have I forgotten who I was ? , maybe you guys are talking about someone else . " She replied .

" Oh so you've forgotten who you are ? " Their leader asked again , examining Bimpe from head to toe .

" You guys should stop all this , my name is Bimpe not the fairy one you know and you might have mistakenly come to me instead of her . " She replied .

" Look ! You are our guardian and if you are still confused , remember you left us in Fairyland suffering the pain that wizard has caused us and you ran away to this weak world leaving your people . "

Their leader replied .

" The wizard ? , my people ? , look I don't understand what you guys are all talking about , please can you p get out of my house . " She yelled .

" But wait don't tell me you didn't use the PILLIGOM to escape here . " The old rat replied .

" PILICOM ! What is that ? . " She continued " heeee God what have I put myself into , why is all this things happening to me " .

" PILICOM is the snail shell given to all guardians by the gods , It contains all the Powers that has ever exist in Fairyland ," he added " Please don't tell us you don't know where it is . "

" I am sorry I don't know anything called PILLIGOM . Please don't get me confused " she replied .

" Oh my God it's over Tino , she went without the PILLIGOM . " The old rat looked at his son .

" No dad we can still find a way to get it back . " He whispered to his dad's ear .

" How will she ! , she has forgotten who she was , she didn't use the PILLIGOM to travel to this weak world we are in . " Tino's father replied .

" oh yea it's true father , But we need to return quick , we need to tell the faires , " Tino added " who knows what their next plan would be . "

" Alright son . " He replied .

" Wait ! what is going on , did faires also exist ? " She asked .

" We will tell you that later , as for now we need to go . " Tino's father replied , heading towards Bimpe's window .

" Bye !!!!!!!! " The other rats waved at Bimpe , following their leader out of the window .

" Where is Fairyland ? , Does faires exist ? , Am I a fairy ? , Who are those rats ? , what is the PILLIGOM ? , who is the wizard ? " . She kept questioning herself as she headed towards the sitting room . She was scared of what she saw today and she doesn't want to have that same dream she had about that lady who resembled them . Sooner or later she fell asleep having a strange dream but this time it was about fairies , they were all looking at her with angry faces . She turned to her left and saw herself looking much older in her twenties talking to a leprechaun , with long white beards . she moved nearer to hear what the two were talking about .

"Your majesty we can't just do the magic for you to go just like that without giving us the PILLIGOM . " He replied .

" Why ? " she asked angrily .

" It will cause a great problem to us here in fairyland , without the Piligom we can't defeat Fokoko and leaving us to that man means hardship and infact death of a thousand fairies , " He frowned " And you know what that means . "

" I don't care just do it for me , I need to get out of here before the cock crows tommorow , I hope you understand that as long as I am still in Fairyland the more Fokoko will keep tormenting us , I know how stupid I am to have let Fokoko have the the Piligom " She frowned .

" I can't do this , if other faires found out what I have done they might hate me or infact banish me from Fairyland and you know the consequences of leaving your people to guide themselves , infact the gods might even add more to the suffering of our people because of what we are planning to do . Remember the gods are up there watching what we are doing . " The leprechaun raised his staff high .

" You know what , the gods won't know , the gods are mostly active in the day , remember ." She smiled .

" Hrrrr ok I agree with that but mind you , what you are about to do won't last long because you have no chance to run away from the warth of the wizard and your people . " He yelled .

" Who cares . " She replied .

" Ok ! Take this magic Calabash the content inside is very powerful than you think , you will look into the water and say whatever you wish , but mind you it's just two wish , please choose your wish carefully , " The leprechaun handed her the Calabash with a warning sign with his hand , then he continued. " There is a door where babies do pass to the womb of each woman in the weak world , please land into the womb of someone who is ready to have a baby and mind you when you get to their world you might forget who exactly you are , but little by little your identity will be known to you only , other faires will come looking for you and only few will know who you are , please don't let people of the weak world know who you are , let them keep believing that fairyland is just a folktale . Please . "

" Ok , I wish to be in the world of the weak and I also wish not to come back to fairyland again . " She smiled .

" Wait , wait . What did you just say ! " The leprechaun yelled .

The door of the weak world opened and before the leprechaun could stop her , she jumped into it and the spiritual door closed .

" I pray i serve fairyland till my time is up . " The leprechaun said to himself as walked out of the shrine with a sad look .

Bimpe turned to her right and saw herself communicating with an unborn child in the womb of a teenager , the unborn baby hugged her and left the womb making a spiritual room for her to enter.

After three months the pregnancy started showing the signs it should , the girl feared her parents might find out about the pregnancy so she ran away from her home to her boyfriend's house , the guy who impregnated her . Bimpe turned to her left only to see a little baby dropped near a gutter by a teenage girl who immediately ran away into the dark . She heard the movement of a car coming behind her , but this time the car just passed through her like as if she was nothing and parked. She saw two parents getting down from the car and it turned out to be her dad and mum but they both looked quite young , suddenly her dad moved closer to the gutter to his surprise he saw a baby wrapped with cloth and immediately called his wife but they both argued up to an hour and she watched her mom drove the car away leaving her dad alone , later a car was coming towards her dad who was already carrying the baby along with him , the car parked and her mom came out kneeling down before her dad and they both when into the car and drove away , along with the baby . Who else would have the baby be but her .

" Yeeee !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " She woke up from her sleep , screaming . She tried to jump but she stayed glued to her matress , she could see her hair in a purple color , " what the hell is going on " she was able to force herself up to the mirror but this time around her afro purple hair turned back to black . Bimpe was confused with the misery she has been having these days , so she went outside , it was cool and quiet which was a normal thing in her community around five thirty in the morning , the only thing that could be heard around that time is the call to prayer of the Muslims in her community , sitting down near the corridor staring at the stars in the sky she went deep in thought , thinking about the dream she had .

NIGERIAN WORDS USED IN THE TEXT

All words are in Yoruba , unless otherwise Indicated .

WAEC -. An examination written by West Africa final year school student , qualifying them for tertiary level of education .

PE = pidgin English

Ode ! - expletive meaning ' you fool '

Yeeeee - this is a native word in Yoruba language use to describe reaction of pains or something amusing.

Leprechauns - are known to be dwarfs in fairy tales .