Behind Her Smile - Season 1 - Episode 4

5 years ago

Behind Her Smile - Season 1 - Episode 4

Esther touched Miriam’s wrist, feeling her pulse. “Somebody should please send for Chioma.”

The words had barely left Esther’s lips when Amara darted out of the room, beating Ella to it. She burst into Chioma’s room.

“Chioma,” she called, sweeping her eyes around the room, but no one was in sight. She dashed to the toilet, but it held no sign of Chioma. Amara placed her hands on the back of her head and bounced on the balls of her feet.

“Oh God! Oh God! What is thisna? Where is she?”

She turned toward the door and caught sight of a woman staring at her. The woman, blessed with an uncanny beauty, seemed to be in her mid-twenties. She stood motionless, glaring at Amara with eyes that could kill.

Screaming, Amara stepped backward.
She glanced around for a way to save herself. Finding nothing, she looked back at the doorway, but the woman was gone. She whirled around, half-expecting to see the woman staring at her from another corner,
but no one was in sight.

Screaming, she dashed toward the door and bumped into a human wall. “Please don’t hurt me.”

“What are you doing in my room?” a familiar voice asked.

Amara opened the eyes she didn’t realize she’d been closing. She heaved a sigh at the sight of Chioma. Her eyes darted around in search of the woman. Had someone really been there, or had she been hallucinating?

“You look like you just saw a ghost,” Chioma observed. “Is everything okay?”

Amara shook her head. Pointing at the threshold she said, “There was a woman.”

“A woman?” Chioma asked. Amara nodded.

Ehen? What happened to the woman?” Although Chioma knew the woman Amara referred to was none other than Nnenna, she feigned ignorance.

“She was standing right here. But then she just…she disappeared.”

Chioma touched Amara’s forehead with the back of her hand. “When last did you take malaria medicine? You’ve started seeing things.”

“I’m not seeing things,” she said. “Someone was…” She trailed off. What point was there explaining to Chioma? She would only paint herself as a crazy person, and she didn’t want that. Besides, there were more pressing things to do at the moment.

“You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here,” Chioma said.

“Please come with me,” Amara said. “It’s Miriam.”

A panicked look flashed across Chioma’s previously stern face. “What happened to Miriam?”

“She…she fainted. I don’t know what happened. She was having a really bad dream, and then—”

Chioma sprinted out of the room, making Amara’s words die on her lips. Amara trailed after her. They raced to Miriam’s side of the servant’s quarters and found her lying supine on her bed. She had regained consciousness. Ella stood beside her, fanning her vigorously, while Esther sat beside her, grasping her hand.

“But Miriam, what is wrong with you?” Amara asked.

“Why is it the every night you can’t let anyone sleep in this room, eh?”

Miriam rolled on her side and swiped at the tears spilling out of her eyes. She curled into a ball and embraced herself.

Amara went on, “Chioma, you better ask Miriam why she can’t let us sleep. I’ve had a very hectic day and my eyes are heavy, but I can’t even sleep because of one person.”
“I told you guys that her village people have come again,” Ella said. “But you people don’t want to believe me.”

Chioma and Esther grimaced at Ella, forcing her to swallow back her words. “Okay guys, I get it. I shouldn’t joke around at a time like this, but I had to say something to lighten up the mood.”

Miriam snuffled. “I’m so sorry I woke you girls up. I just had a nightmare. That’s all.”

“What’s the dream all about?” Chioma asked.

Miriam closed her eyes, shutting out memories of the dream as they made to surface. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s nothing?” Chioma echoed.
“Yes,” Miriam said.

Amara frowned. “How can you say it’s nothing eh? Every night you have this kind of dream, something bad always happens the next day and you are saying it’s nothing? See, you are scaring me o, and it’s not funny one bit.”

“Have they come?” Ella asked, bubbling with laughter. “Tell us if they have come o, so that we will know when to run.”

“This is not a funny matter,” Chioma said.

Miriam opened her eyes and turned to glare at Ella.

“Okay girls,” Chioma said. “Since she said she is okay, let’s let the sleeping dog lie. And please, listen carefully, all of you. Make sure that no one hears of this incident. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” they chorused.
“Good,” Chioma said, her gaze lingering on Amara. Without another word, she left for her room. The others retired to their beds, and although sleep eluded them all, they all lay still and shut their eyes.

‘Why is it that we are not allowed to say anything that goes on inside this palace to anyone?’ Amara wondered. ‘But what could be wrong with Miriam, or could Ella be saying the truth when she said that her village people were disturbing her? But Miriam is a nice girl. She has this wonderful smile that is capable of enchanting the world, and she is such a beautiful girl that sometimes I feel envious of her.

And the worst is she doesn’t really know how lucky she is. Heavens please save us or we perish with this calamity that is going around in this village.’