The Itch

Bad Things, The Itch Is A Scratch Away.

Adesuwa's nose started to itch badly. It was usually when something bad was about to happen. She hoped not. It wasn't Friday The Thirteenth. It was Tuesday; the day before her second exam but it was also the last day of her most dreaded month; October. The month went by without any hitch, so what could be the problem?

She had just broken her fast by 12pm when her phone rang. It was her sister.

"Hello, Adesuwa."

"Hello, Ehis."

"Are you still at home?" Ehis asked.

"Yes. But I'll soon leave now."

"Okay. Don't forget to come for fellowship today."

Of course, she did not forget but she had other things to do at school.

"Hmm, I'm coming. I want to submit my blue file first."

"Okay. Bye bye." And Ehis ended the call

Adesuwa dropped her phone on the bed and sat down. She struggled to breathe properly, her body was tense, her nose was still itching and her mind was having second thoughts.

Don't go out today.

But why? I have to submit my file before my next exam.

After that, go home.

No, I need to go to church.

After that, go home.

Get behind me, Satan!

It was 3pm. She stood up and headed to the bathroom. She got out soon after and immediately got dressed. Her phone rang. It was Ehis again.

"Hello. Where are you?"

"I'm still at home but I'm coming."

"Okay. Hurry up sha." And the call ended.

Adesuwa took the blue file from the shelf and put it in her bag. She would have put her phone in her bag too but she worried that someone would take it without her knowing.

Don't go.

A voice cautioned her but she ignored it. She carried her bag and rushed out of the house but not before making sure that the door was locked.

School was an hour away from her place and she trekked everyday. She could have flagged down a cab or bus but she didn't have any transport money or any money to spend on transportation. Vehicles drove past her, with some buses slowing down to pick up passengers. Adesuwa's chest felt tight and her nose itch kept getting worse as she kept walking.

After that, go home.

After that, go home.

The voice kept repeating those words in her mind. And she was fed up with it. She thought it was the Devil trying to persuade her to miss out on the service. Her pastor had told her that she would have an open door encounter and she had decided to fast for it. She had four more days left and she wasn't going to let a silly voice ruin it.

She had finally reached her Faculty Officer's office by 4:47pm. There were only two men in the office and they were discussing. She interrupted by knocking on the door.

"Good afternoon Sirs." She greeted them.

"Yes, what do you want?" One of them, with a bald head, asked roughly.

She nervously handed out her blue file before responding. "I came to submit my blue file."

The men looked at her before the bald headed man spoke. "The time has already passed for you to submit. Didn't you check the paper pasted outside."

She moved back and stretched her neck out to check. Indeed, there was a piece of paper pasted on the wall. It read "Submission of blue file",. She then saw that Linguistics students' submission was at 10am-1pm on Tuesdays.

"You will come back later." The man said.

"Okay sir." She replied.

And as soon as she left the office, they continued their discussion.

She sighed as she realized that she had to come next week.

Well, that's all. You can go home now.

Adesuwa shook her head.

No. To ASUU Hall.

Her nose started to itch as she headed to the direction of the hall. Her chest got tighter and she felt cold.

What is going on?

She asked herself.

Go home. The voice said.

No.

Why?

It would be disrespectful if I go.

No. Go home. You have many things to do at home.

Adesuwa had to make dinner for herself and her sister but that wasn't anything. She felt the voice was trying to heighten her already high anxiety and distract her from her purpose. She knocked it off with a sentence that seemed to have won the battle at last.

This is for God. And with that, she entered the hall.

It was 5pm. Service hadn't started yet and there were still people coming in. She didn't see Ehis amongst them, so she decided to call her. She called her number twice before she answered.

"Hello, Ehis, where are you?"

"I'm coming."

"When?"

"I'm coming. Has service started?"

"Not yet."

"Okay. I'm coming."

Adesuwa ended the call. It wasn't the first time Ehis would say something and do another thing while completely disregarding her. She got upset by it but hoped that she would follow her home after the service, as she was another reason she decided to come.

Don't stay. Go home.

But she ignored it and went inside.

It was 5:30pm. The place was full with people as the service started. She tried not to be distracted by overthinking or anxiety. She knew that the night was drawing near and that made her afraid.

Don't think too much. God will protect you. He has always done so.

The voice comforted her as though it wasn't against her throughout the day. Her nose also stopped itching.

It calmed her down a bit as she concentrated her mind on the praise and worship session. During that, she prayed that she succeeded with flying colors as she didn't want to fail this level. Soon, the pastor arrived. It was 7pm.

Everyone sat down as the pastor greeted them. Then, he started preaching. Adesuwa was chatting with one of her aunties but was also listening to the sermon. She also thought of the exam tomorrow and hoped she would do well. She had the past questions of all the courses but still needed the special help from above. She had bought social media data and planned to use it for Google Search (with a little YouTube watching).

It was 9pm. The grace was shared and it was time to head home. She saw Ehis talking to her friend, Dammy. As she went to meet them, her fellowship head approached her.

"Ah Ah, Adesuwa."

"Good evening, Sir."

"Sir" smiled as he walked towards her and gave her a side hug.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, Sir."

"You've decided to come today?"

Not that she didn't want to come, but it was always close to evening time and she didn't like to be outside at night. She was not a night wanderer.

"Yes, Sir." She answered him.

Sir patted her shoulder. "Okay. Take care."

"Yes, Sir." And he left to meet another member.

She turned to see that Ehis arranging her bag on the stacked chairs. Dammy was no longer with her. She went to meet her.

"Oya now, let's go."

Ehis looked up. "Eh, Adesuwa, I'm following Dammy for night class. So, I'm not coming home today."

It wasn't the night class that bothered Adesuwa because this was exam period. It was the fact that whether she had come or not, her sister would have gone to do it without telling her on time. In her opinion, night class was dangerous. There were thieves and cultists in disguise as serious students. One needed to be on high alert.

But that did not stop Ehis. Dangerous or not, she would never tell anyone her whereabouts, which caused her to worry. But anyways...

"Okay." She shrugged.

"And when you reach the Main Gate, you call me. You hear?"

"Okay."

Ehis wore her bag and rushed to meet Dammy, who was waiting for her at the entrance. Adesuwa shook her head and walked towards the entrance. She immediately saw how dark it was and was silently praying for protection.

Time to go home. And off she went.

She finally reached the Main Gate and called her sister. But she didn't answer. She tried again but no response. She decided to call when she got home. She walked very quickly, the thought of the house played in her mind. Her phone started to ring. It was Ehis.

"Hello? Have you passed the Main Gate?"

"Yes. I'm almost home now." Adesuwa answered.

"Okay. Take care. Bye."

She hung up the call.

Suddenly, her nose started to itch.

Not again! Something bad wants to happen.

It was then she noticed that there was no one around. The express road, once busy with vehicles zooming past her, was empty.

Her heart started pounding and panic setted in. She almost started to run when a hand suddenly grabbed her arm. She thought it was someone who wanted to know the time. She tried to brush the hand off but it held stronger. She turned to the person to see a man, wearing a black shirt and cream shorts. He looked at her with some kind of threatening demeanor.

"Hey, give me your phone!"

He wasn't asking for the time. He was holding a knife. Adesuwa's heart skipped a beat and she immediately knew what was happening.

I'm being robbed!

She screamed at the man and tried to grab the knife from his hand while still holding her phone but his grip was too strong. Eventually, he yanked the phone off her hand and ran away. She threw off her slippers as she ran after him and howled for help but there was no one. The thief ran into the bushy side of the road and disappeared. She was scared to follow him into the dark place, so she stopped. Then, she started to cry. She decided to go further down to ask for help. Just then, a car drove past her and she saw two guys walking towards her. She rushed to them.

"Please, help me! Someone stole my phone and ran into that bush there. Please, just help me."

"Oh, sorry." And they laughed instead and walked away.

Still in tears and refusing to give up, she crossed the road and ran towards the cinema building. A night guard was sitting behind one of its front pillars. She rushed to him.

"Sir, please, help me. Someone stole my phone and ran into that bush. Please, help me."

The guard looked at her with pity. "But he'll be gone by now."

She refused to believe it. "Please, just follow me to the place."

But he shook his head. "He's gone. Very sorry."

Adesuwa broke down in tears. What was she going to tell her parents? They had warned her not to go out during the night but she disobeyed. She thought of her sister and how it could have been worse.

It's okay. At least, you are unharmed. The voice said.

It's not okay. What should I do?

She couldn't call her father. He would be so angry. What if he had a stroke?

She couldn't call her mother. What if she had a heart attack or her chest pain grew worse from the news?

What of her uncle? She didn't know but she didn't want to call him.

She continued to wail, holding the gate and had already lost hope. After what felt like the most agonizing minutes of her life, a girl, probably older than her, approached her.

"Sorry. I saw you crying and my uncle said that I should meet you and ask you what happened."

Adesuwa struggled to clean her wet face and looked up to see her. There was no one else but she followed the girl anyway. She just needed help. She followed the girl to meet her uncle, a tall manly figure, waiting for his niece. He saw them, slowly walking towards him.

"Hello, dear. I saw you crying over there. What happened? Why were you standing there at this hour?"

Adesuwa started rambling and crying at the same time but they couldn't understand what they were saying. They calmed her down and told her to repeat again, slowly. She stopped crying for a bit and told them everything that happened and how she couldn't call her parents because she didn't want them to worry.

"No. You should have asked someone for a phone. Your mother would be worried now."

Fresh tears welled up and rolled down her face at the thought.

"But don't worry. I will call her. What's her number?"

Her number? Her mummy's number was the hardest to remember. Infact, she couldn't remember it at all. She knew her father's, sister's and her numbers offhand.

But somehow, she did. The voice recited the number. The man dialed it. It rang but no one answered. It went on twice. She knew that her mummy would never answer an unknown number.

It's hopeless. But then, it stopped ringing.

"Hello. Who is this?"

Mummy!

Adesuwa cried tears of joy and sadness when she heard her mummy's voice, who was clearly confused and scared when the man explained the situation to her. She too told them that she had called her daughter but a man answered and then switched the phone off.

"Well, she is fine now. Nothing happened to her and we should be grateful." The man said.

That was not what Adesuwa expected. She needed someone to follow her into the bush, to catch the thief. He wouldn't have gone that far. It wasn't her being optimistic. It was her being in denial.

Her mummy begged the man to follow her home and to call her when they arrived. Surprisingly, they did. The girl held her hand and the man walked in front, guiding her while she led them to her house. Her uncle, Richard saw them from his balcony.

"Adesuwa!" He called out.

She started to cry, again.

The girl and her uncle took her inside. Uncle Richard rushed down to meet her. Apparently, her mummy called and told him everything. The man called the woman and told her that they had arrived. She and Uncle Richard thanked them as they left. Then, he called her mummy and turned to Adesuwa. Of course, she expected the scolding, which she received but it was not severe. Instead, they told her not to stress herself. Her uncle led her to his apartment upstairs. He took her to his room, brought out a carton of indomie and asked how many she wanted. She didn't feel like eating but he insisted. He turned on the television and went to the kitchen to cook.

Alone, she sat down on the bed and brought out her book to read but nothing could get into her head. She could feel anything other than pain, regret and anger. She felt dry and whatever light in her was dim. She wished her criminal dead, burnt alive or lynched by a mob. She dropped the book into her bag and just stared at the TV. Minutes later, her uncle came in, holding a plate of indomie. He gave it to her.

"Don't think about it too much. Just see this as a removed distraction and focus on your exams." He said , trying to encourage her.

She nodded her head. He switched the TV to Netflix and left. She didn't want to go back to reading since it only reminded her of the event. So, she watched Netflix, which took her out of her sadness. Soon, it was midnight. She didn't feel like sleeping, even though she was tired. She laid down on the bed and soon fell asleep.

It was 6am. Uncle Richard woke her up to get ready for school. Adesuwa didn't feel like going but she had to. Otherwise, she would fail. Her lost phone was bad enough.

She carried her bag and went downstairs to her own apartment. She sluggishly brushed her teeth, took her bath and got dressed. Moments later, Ehis walked in. She didn't feel like talking to her, so she gave two word answers when she asked questions and left for school.

Adesuwa didn't check the time but knew it was minutes after 7am. The road was a little busy. She didn't want to go through the same path (where she got robbed), so she entered Ekosodin junction, another way that led to UNIBEN. She reached her exam hall. Many of her course mates were already there. She went to a corner and squatted, with a sunken face and felt totally drained. She pulled the book she should have read yesterday for today but her mind couldn't even concentrate. Just then, Benson came to her.

"Good morning. How are you?" And he shook her hand.

She shook his hand too but if he was trying to cheer her up, he failed. She gave him a fake smile as he left. Soon, the hall was opened and everyone went inside and settled in their seats. The question papers were brought and shared to the students. Adesuwa looked lost but her mind somehow knew the answers to every question. Sluggishly, she answered them and tried to ignore a girl asking her to tell her answers. She didn't feel like it but told her anyway. She left before the exam time expired and went to the basement to wait for her sister as agreed. Her uncle had sent money to her account and she still had her ATM card (she hadn't put it inside her phone pouch). Her sister came later, along with her friend, Junior who bought a chocolate bar (to cheer her up, obviously). Ehis had finished with her own exams for today, so they decided to go home.

The following days went by and Adesuwa felt better, sometimes. Exams were over, the holidays were near and the sisters prepared to travel back home to their family. They got home and they were just glad to be with them. Adesuwa still felt regrets, anger and hatred towards her sister under the guise of pretending that she had forgotten about that incident. And why shouldn't she? She knew that their relationship would never be the same. That wasn't her fault but she was still at fault for just one thing...

Adesuwa's nose started to itch badly. It was usually when something bad was about to happen. She hoped not.