A FICKLE THING

01 | WHERE HALEEMAH MET HER END OR SHOULD I SAY 'FELL' TO HER END

"The first time I saw Skye - yes, that is his actual name, and no, I don't know what his parents were thinking when they named him that – was right after the first murder. There was nothing particularly special about the day except that he arrived two weeks after the resumption date. The bell had just been rung for assembly and my friend, Ada, and I had been chatting about her mother's recent wedding as we joined the throng of students heading for the assembly hall.

Wait. Before going further, let me explain Ada's whole family situation to you: Her mother, a three-time divorcee with four children had just married Skye's father, a widowed white doctor from the UK. Now, you know how in every secondary school set, there's always this one person who likes to pretend to be who they're not? Ada is that person. She's my closest friend, of course, but she had also once said that she was an illegitimate child of the United States Royal Family, whatever that meant. So I didn't believe that her mother really married a white man. I just nodded along, waiting for the right time to cut in with a remark about the new Flash movie.

Halfway through the conversation, she dropped the news. "My brother is coming to our school today."

That was where things got...a bit confusing. All her three brothers already attended our school so she had to be talking about the white stepbrother who she claimed had flown into Lagos the previous weekend.

"Which one?" I asked.

She looked at me, frowning. "Are you even listening? I was talking about—"

"Your stepbrother? Wait, you're not joking?"

"Why will I joke about something like this?" she asked. Her exact same words when she told me the other day that her mother had been on the Titanic.

At that moment, we arrived at the assembly hall and looked around for our other friend, Mide. He was not anywhere in sight, but that wasn't unusual since he was the proclaimed King of Latecomers."

Detective Odelola raises her hand to interrupt. "Your other friend, Ada, mentioned to me during her own interview that it was weird that Mide was late that morning."

My throat feels dry. I chew on my lip, wondering why Ada would say something like that. I paste a brief smile on my face and say, "I'm not lying, ma. Everyone knows that Mide is always late to school."

"Who said you were lying?"

"I just, um...look, you can ask him. He even came late today." I pause, then add, "Ada still believes that he's the one that killed Haleemah because, you know, everyone thought they were dating."

Detective Odelola cocks her head. I can tell that this is news to her, that Ada didn't tell her this part and I almost want to laugh because there is more that hasn't been said.

"Mide and Haleemah were dating?" There is a tinge of disbelief in her question.

"No, ma." My reply stuns her even more. I tell her, "I'll explain why I said this later."

She nods slightly. "Did Mide ever admit that they were dating?"

I think about that for a moment. "Well," my voice is tinny and unsure, "he didn't say that but they sometimes went off together to talk in private and all that."

I wait for a few seconds to see if she has another question but she motions for me to continue and I do. "So, that morning, we didn't see Mide till the assembly was half over. He slipped into the hall and sat beside us – we had saved a seat for him. I noticed instantly that he did not seem happy.

Mide has been my best friend since I joined this school in JS 1. He is what my mother calls 'a perfect gentleman.' And he is perfect. Dark skinned, handsome, athletic and like the tallest person in our set. Up until that day, I had never seen him shaken over anything because this is Mide we're talking about. Nothing scared him at all.