‘’okay so I may or may not have broken into Professor Mwila’s office. Okay, I did break into his office, but it was an accident. I needed to ask him if he had any more information about Mr. Phiri’s murder
I knocked a few times on the door of his office, but no answer’ ’Professor?’
I call but no response. When I knock again, the door swings open.
If that isn’t a sign, I don’t know what is. He isn’t even in here.
I look both sides in the empty hallway before slipping into his office. There’s a faint aroma of lemon scented air freshener in the room and I feel a slight relief from the cool air blasting from the A.C., the office looks like any other professor’s office tall stacks of files filled every shelf and a computer on his desk and with map of Africa as his screen saver, right next to a framed picture of him and his ex-wife Susan, I heard he still tells people They’re married. Susan does look quite familiar, too, but I can’t put my finger on it
I carefully tiptoe behind the desk and pull out the top drawer. this used to be Mr. Phiri’s office, which means his files from last years, could still be in here. I rummaged through each drawer until bingo a brown file with the names Prof. Sean Phiri stared back at me in the bottom drawer. Suddenly, I hear footsteps and stuff it in my backpack before making a run for it.
The library is empty as usual, the lights are out again, and the curtains are drawn. I switch my phone on to the brightest flash level as I roam the shelfs for old newspaper articles from last year and also political journals from the 50’s that might relate to dreams case. Even after an hour, I still couldn’t find anything in this place. All I’m left with was dusty fingers and strained eyes, it’s so dark in here, and the shelves went on forever. To put myself of the misery, I finally decided to ask the cranky librarian for help.
‘’Excuse me’’, I say, to the sleepy old lady at the help desk
‘’What it? she says in a raspy voice, It’s the first time I ever heard her speak
her face is so wrinkled, and her eyelids are so droopy that I can’t tell if her eyes are closed or if she was looking at me
‘’ I can’t seem to find the old newspaper articles; I was hoping you could- ‘’
‘’ Ask the helper, ‘’she cuts me off, waving me away and pointing a shaking finger towards the other helper desk behind me
‘’o-kay, ‘’ I turn around, and why am I not surprised
Niseli is standing right behind the assistant librarian desk, scrolling through her phone with headsets on. Come on you’ve got to be kidding me. I let out a breath ‘’come Kandi swallow your pride. You can do this’’ I whisper to myself
‘’Umm- Hi ‘’, I say innocently, approaching the desk
Nisei’s eyes roll ‘’ You stalking me or something?’’ On the contrary it’s more like she just keeps showing up
‘’ Uh no of Couse not, Last time I checked the library was a public place’’, I defend, crossing my arms
‘’ What do you want?’’ she asks dryly
‘’old newspapers from the 50’s till date I’m doing an assignment and-
‘’don’t care,’’ she cuts me off and takes off her ear phones ‘’This way ‘’
I silently follow behind her until I ask ‘’ Is it always this dark in here? I ask
‘’ Yah it is; that witch won’t let anyone turn the light on ‘’ she replies, grabbing the shelf ladder
‘’ Why is that, the last time I tried to pull the blinds, she growled at me’’.
‘’ beats me I swear that woman’s vampire or something she’s like a hundred years’ old, I don’t know why the school hasn’t fired her yet’’
‘’right? All I’ve seen her do is does is take naps and yell at everyone that walks in. ‘’ I say and
Nisamba laughs she actually laughs, and this is the first time I’ve had her smile. Her eyes disappear behind her cheeks when she does
‘’ it’s crazy ‘’ I say
‘’ What’s really crazy is that you’ve lasted more than a week in that house ‘’she says, climbing up the ladder. The house?
‘’what do you mean?’’
She scoffs ‘’you seriously don’t know?’’ She looks at me a surprised expression. what wouldn’t I know, is there something wrong with a house that I don’t already know about
I shake my head
‘’ you’re like the 5th family to move into that house in past year’ ’she pulled out a bunch of newspapers from the shelf
‘’really why would five families just leave?’’ I have a feeling I know why
‘’The last family that stayed there didn’t even last 3 days, the lady claimed she saw her baby floating it in a rocking chair, Other people say they heard the sounds of piano playing in the middle of the night. It’s always the weirdest shit. Surprisingly, you seem to be settling in fine.’’
Oh, you have no idea.
She climbs down the ladder
‘’ Is that why people are always staring at us?’’ I ask
‘’ Well that and they’re probably wondering why a bunch of rich assholes decided to move into the shades neighbourhood in town’’. She then shoved the papers into my hands
YOU ARE READING
Wondering Spirits
RomanceMyths they say, lies made up by the scared ,folktales they say, rumors only told by those who believe and those who are too scared to believe. Nkana West is a neighbourhood that has more dead bodies planted underneath it than trees, a place that sen...
