Vagrants

Chapter 2

It was early the next morning. All the campers were seated eating breakfast peacefully, chatting with each other, some talking over the phone, some scrolling through their phones and others like me, staring into space, thinking.

"Er-Erm." Remi cleared her throat.

I turned to look at her but didn't say anything.

"Are you angry with me?" She asked in yoruba.

I shook my head, no. My head was already messed up with thinking about the contradictions between what Damba said to me and what they told me about.

"You're lying." Tola stared at me. "It's either you're angry with her or you don't want to say anything to anybody."

"Deola mi," My Deola. Remi addressed me lovingly. "Ore mi atata. Omo rere bi iyan...." (Reciting Eulogy)

"Oya stop. I'm already talking." I cut her off. I was already frustrated from looking around for Damba so that I would return his jacket before his girlfriends attack me like they warned.

"Thank you. This one you kept quiet ever since, a stranger would think you're mute." Tola said and Remi laughed. I looked up to see the people on our table giggling too so I busied myself with my phone. I never liked and will never like people laughing at me.

They continued talking and chatting with eachother while I slowly ate my food to whirl away time for Damba to arrive.

Remi then embarrassed me with her question. "Ehnehn Adeola, When will you return Damba's jacket? Or have you returned it?"

Her voice was too loud that immediately she spoke, the room became quiet and everyone turned to look at me.

I opened the zip of my bag a bit , allowing the jacket to peer through it. I tapped Remi and she looked down at the bag.

"Ahh! Okay, return it quick before..." She cut herself off as she noticed everyone in the room was staring at us.

"Thank you oh!" I hissed, carried my bag and got up to leave when I saw Damba standing in a corner opposite my table with folded arms, watching.

We stared at eachother for a brief moment before I walked away.

"Adeola! Adeola! Wait!!" I heard him call behind me.

I turned around to look at him with tears welling up in my eyes. "Yes?"

"No, no, no. You can't be serious. Why would you be crying over such a trivial matter?"

"Trivial matter? You just arrived at the scene and you called it trivial?"

"I've been there all along. I even saw you walk in." Damba smiled.

"You did?" I was elated by the fact that someone noticed me.

"Yes." He nodded.

Then, I remembered what my friends said. He was lying to me again. "That's a lie. I remember looking for you all through."

"I saw you looking around desperately but I couldn't tell what you were looking for."

"How could you see me? Are you a ghost?" I touched him. "I can feel you."

He put on the hood of his jacket. "I was wearing this."

"Oh okay." I reached into my back and brought out his jacket. "Thanks for this."

"You're welcome."

I turned to leave when he grabbed my hand. "Tell me why you were crying."

"Because I was embarrassed." I looked away.