Samm paced up and down Mulenga and Kezipe’s messed up room trying to connect the dots to Mulenga’s story in his head as the two girls began to tidy up before any of the teachers came to check up on her and found such a mess.
Samm jumped up and down emphatically like a child who had just had walked into a candy store “I’ve figured it out!” Samm shouted after noticing the surprise on the girls faces but before Samm could explain further, Marian walked through the open door to the girls room shutting Samm up immediately.
Marian looked at the trio, and the mess in the room with an understanding shimmer in her eyes. Marian closed the door behind her, locating a seat for herself as her brightly coloured chitenge flowed behind her.
“My dear Mulenga, you ran out screaming, almost broke our doors on your way out. Are you feeling better now?” Marian spoke with an air of understanding as she looked round the room, as if to signify an understanding of the mess she had stumbled upon. Samm opened his mouth to speak but upon gazing at Marian he stopped himself and looked down at his feet feeling shy and uneasy.
Mulenga removed her pinky finger from her mouth as she sorted out her thoughts thinking of how she would explain her running from the fair without sounding like a crazy person. “Ma, I don’t know what happened. I heard a baby screaming, like it was in my head I forgot my steps and before I knew what was going, everyone was staring at me. I just ran”
Mulenga whispered, recalling the noises and images in her head. Slumping to the floor clutching her knees to her chest and rocking back and forth as if to rock the uneasy memory from her mind. “Don’t allow a past memory to cloud your mind, just fan it out.” Marian spoke with wink as she used her hand to fan out invincible clouds.
Her entire presence seemed to feel the room causing Mulenga to get up from her sitting position as if a spell was cast she no longer felt as disappointed with herself as she thought she might. Marian seemed satisfied with the results as she walked towards the door.
“Might want to tidy your room, best to avoid alot of unnecessary questions” Marian smiled with a knowing wink before disappearing past the door living the trio feeling much better about the nights activities.
“That’s our Ma, she knows how to calm any storm” Samm said finally joining Kezipe and Mulenga’s efforts of cleaning their room.
“I wouldn’t worry much about that man that came through, Ma knows everything that goes on round here” Kezipe spoke more confidently than she felt. As soon as the room looked decent, Samm left the two ladies hoping to get a moment to pin up his new medal for most innovative project at the science fair.
***
Across the street from Chikwendo, siitng in a green tinted Jeep wrangler was Shamende and his most trusted advisor
“I think she’s my daughter” was all that was said as the Jeep drove down the streets of Chilenje slowly into the distance
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