PHAROAH II

"Faith was pregnant and attempted to terminate the pregnancy," Her sister would later inform me.

I told myself that it would have been preferable for the other girls to mock her rather than resort to this measure. My friend was reckless under my nose, and I was oblivious to it.

I was unable to attend school on the day of her funeral. It is not a day I wish to remember; it had to be the darkest day of my life. I was mad at myself for letting my friend die. I had killed her.

When her body was lowered to the ground, I wished that whoever did that to her would do so to me also, so we could be equal and I could join her.

I regretted taking the food she had bought for us; I should have gone hungry. I should have walked when she paid the bus fare, even when I knew it was beyond us. I should have searched for her thoroughly when I did not see her during break or after school. I should have done better, but no, I did not. I let my greed go before me.

I killed my friend. 

The following week, I had to return to school without properly grieving my best friend, as our exams were fast approaching.

Who cared about exams anyway? 

However, my mother insisted that Faith wouldn't want me to fail, and if I truly loved her, I had to continue studying.

 So I had no choice but to resume school.

On my first day back, I found myself alone in the classroom when Ogah, one of our classmates fondly called by his surname, approached me.

He offered his condolences and inquired about the rumor regarding Faith's death while attempting an abortion. It seemed like he was trying to mock me, but I nodded nonetheless.

He claimed they had discussed it and that Faith couldn't talk to me because she was afraid of my reaction. He also mentioned that she said Pharaoh had suggested the abortion. 

All he said seemed like a lie. The reason-"she was scared of my reaction"- wasn't enough to justify her silence towards her best friend, let alone confiding in a stranger like him.

He went on to elaborate on Pharaoh's involvement in Faith's demise, asserting that Pharaoh was responsible for her pregnancy and had even planned to finance the abortion.

How absurd were Ogah's lies?

What bothered me even more was that I couldn't comprehend the motive behind what he was doing. Did he have feelings for me? He could express himself without telling a lie. I would have suspected him of impregnating Faith, but his effeminate nature and the fact that I was sure he could not afford to have given Faith the amount of money I estimated she spent on us made that unlikely. I couldn't decipher why he said those things, but if he genuinely wanted to be friends with me, it would be surprising yet pleasing.

I told him it couldn't be Pharaoh. Faith would never do something like that to herself. Moreover, Pharaoh had always been kind to us, so there was no reason to suspect him.

I remember him laughing and stating that I was probably the only one unaware of Pharaoh's promiscuity. He mentioned rumors about Pharaoh's involvement in the death of a female student in SS1 from the previous term.

I told him I had heard the rumors, but that did not mean they were true, especially with my friend.

Although I didn't believe him, I inquired why nobody had taken any action against Pharaoh.

He was quiet at first, and I knew I had my answer. After a while, he claimed that Pharaoh had a way of manipulating people into silence.

How would he manipulate that many people? 

I knew he was lying, but I allowed him to continue with his nonsensical rambling. 

As I walked towards the gate at the end of the day, everyone was filled with sympathetic words like "sorry," "take care," and "how can we help?" It became too overwhelming, and I contemplated returning to my classroom and waiting until most people had left before leaving myself.

On my way back to the classroom, a vendor from the other side of the school shouted, "Faith's friend!" I looked in her direction, and she gestured for me to come over.

When I reached her, she repeated the same condolences I had been hearing from everyone else but added that Faith was a good person and a beautiful girl. It was the only sensible thing she said.

I thanked her and made her leave. I had barely left when I overheard the vendors whispering Pharaoh's actual name—Ighodaro.

I ignored them; they had misjudged him previously and said they couldn’t now. I kissed my teeth in anger and hurriedly back to the gate instead of to my class like I planned to.

In the weeks that followed, everything reminded me of Faith, and I became a mere shadow of myself.

On the first day of our WAEC exam, we were initially arranged, and later our Economics teacher entered to explain the exam procedures. Additionally, he mentioned that we would have to pay a daily fee of one thousand naira for the provision of answers.

He requested those who had the money to pay him and added that they would be relocated to a different classroom.

After the entire process of sorting, an external invigilator arrived and distributed the exam questions, announcing that we could begin.

In the preceding weeks, I had found myself frequently in tears, making it difficult to concentrate on studying. Fortunately, Faith was more academically inclined; she would read and explain concepts to me, patiently answering my questions.

As I stared at the question paper, I realized I was unfamiliar with most of the questions. However, there were a few questions I felt I could answer.

Despite my trembling hands, I picked up my pen to write. Unfortunately, my emotions overwhelmed me, and a tear dropped onto my answer booklet, causing me to put my head down. 

Observing my distress, the invigilator approached me, inquiring if something was amiss. Just then, Pharaoh walked in and explained that I had lost a friend. He went with the invigilator outside, returning shortly to beckon me to follow him.

Pharaoh took me to the class of those who had made the payment, informing the Economics teacher that I always had to be there regardless of whether I paid or not, considering the recent loss of my friend.

Before leaving the classroom, Pharaoh instructed me to meet him after the exam.

The exam turned out to be relatively successful, primarily because I didn't have to think much. I simply had to write down everything given on the paper that contained the answers. However, it was not the same without Faith. 

After the exam, I went to his office.

For the second time, Pharoah proved all the rumors about him wrong. He had only encouraging and sweet words for me. He advised me to study diligently and become successful, as my name implied, and that it was the best I could do for Faith. He also suggested he get a counselor with whom I could share my thoughts and concerns. He added that I could run to him if there was ever any problem.

As soon as I got out of his office, Ogah was there, unnecessarily being a gossip and offering unsolicited advice, telling me to stay away from Pharoah.

I ignored him and went home, singing Pharoah’s praises to everyone who cared to listen. 

True to his words, a female counselor was available before the next exam. Unfortunately, she was not much use to me. Words could not exactly explain the grief I felt, and as much as she tried, nothing she said was soothing enough.

Nevertheless, I faithfully attended all of her counseling sessions.

My parents, like me, were grateful to Pharoah. They fought against calling him Pharaoh under their roof. My mom even went as far as sending him food items.

Following each day's exams, I was required to report to Pharaoh's office, followed by a session with the counselor, updating them on my emotional state. Sometimes, I would lazily sit in Pharaoh's office, watching television or movies on his laptop, as we lacked these at home. Several times, he bought me food and provided me with transportation back home. 

Throughout this period, Ogah persistently advised me to maintain my distance because he was sure I did not have a long spoon and so I should not be on the devil’s dinner table in the first place.

Initially, I tolerated Ogah's criticisms of Pharaoh, but they became distasteful with time.

On the day preceding our Mathematics exam, I spent most of the day in Pharaoh's office...