Chapter 30: Your end is Near
Silence… that was the only sound that resonated across the Deaconess's office. At least that was the only thing Naomi heard as she stood quietly watching the Deaconess with the same intensity as she was watching her. The peaceful morning atmosphere crackled with the antagonism between the two women as they exchanged intense gazes.
Even though it was a cool morning, droplets of sweat trickled down Naomi's armpit as she anticipated the Deaconess' next move. The Deaconess' eyebrows narrowed in anger, her eyes squinted while she blew hot air through her nose.
In the silence of it all, Naomi's mind wandered back to earlier in the morning when she was on her bed watching Gloria cry while she waited for an update from the Matron. Miss Clara was yet to inform her of the outcome of her visit to Mrs. Gracious' home. Her parents had everything ready. It was up to Miss Clara and Mrs. Gracious to take the final blow. She hd been contemplating about all this when Goodness marched to her bed and told her the Deaconess needed to see her urgently. She had refused to go but in less than 5 mins, Goodness was back with the same commands. And here she was…
"Who are you? I said, who the hell are you?" The matron's harsh commands finally pierced through the tension, making Naomi shiver slightly even though she wasn't afraid. It was her turn to win, and the Deaconess was going down for sure. So she responded to the Deaconess with silence and a haughty stare.
The Deaconess let out a snort of disgust at the brat's rude attitude. A short evil laughter followed afterwards, but Naomi's rude stare did not waver.
"There's no need hiding or pretending. I already know who you are and what you've been up to. Naomi Jane Etuk." The Deaconess said casually, even though she was at the brink of losing her temper.
When Naomi said nothing again but only glared at her, the Deaconess crossed over to where Naomi was standing stiff like a statue, flipping through the files she was holding, which she dumped on the floor and stomped on.
"I know who you are and what you are here for."
Her high-heeled wedge shoes edged closer to Naomi's boots, nearly crushing her small toes. And her nose was so close to Naomi, she could feel her fiery breath on her forehead. She stared down and saw the file with her fake name boldly written on it.
"I should have taken my time to inspect the files of new students. If I had, I would have known right away that there was a mole in my school. An Imposter! A little brat who thinks she can take me down. I know everything! And you really think you could destroy everything I have built for years?" She growled at Naomi's face.
"Deaconess, your time is up!" Naomi snapped back at her.
"Oh God!" Naomi screamed in pain as the Deaconess landed a heavy slap on her face.
"I am still the Deaconess and proprietress of this prestigious school and you should never disrespect me!"
"No, you are a lying two-faced wicked soul who pimps little innocent girls out to older men"
The words had barely left Naomi's mouths when firm hands clasped her throat, threatening to stifle the life out of her youthful body. She became truly frightened as she stared into the Deaconess' murderous eyes.
"Could she possibly kill her? Was she that evil?" Her frightful thoughts echoed in her head even as the hands tightened around her neck.
"You don't know what it took me to get here and what I am capable of doing to stay right here in power. You can't ruin me! I am several steps ahead of you! What an insolent brat you must be to think you could destroy me. You, Edith, and everyone else involved in your useless plan will suffer for ever believing they could destroy me! Now tell me everything… I mean everything you know now!"
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The Deaconess was still holding the frightened brat by the neck when the School director barged into the office.
"Deaconess… what are you doing" Her alarmed voice jolted the Deaconess out of her murderous rage and she let Naomi go.
Naomi's hoarse coughs filled the room once she was free. The director's four eyes darted from the poor girl to the Deaconess, taking deep breaths while trying to compose herself.
"Do you care to explain yourself? What is all this I am hearing? What is this letter your daughter wrote to me?" She asked, dismissing whatever she had witnessed between Naomi and the Deaconess from her mind.
"My daughter?" The Deaconess answered in an unsteady voice.
"Yes, she dropped this letter, confessing to aiding a gang in raping a girl and battering a poor boy. What is all this about? And why were you almost strangling the life out of… what is going on Mrs. Rachel?" The Director paused, then shifted her glasses to get a better look at Naomi before dismissing her. She shouldn't have said what she had just blurted out in front of the student, she chided herself.
"You need some help… Just get to the Sick bay and find some water or ointment for your relieve."
Naomi plodded slowly out the door, her hands still massaging her poor neck as she gave the Deaconess one last glare. As they shut the door behind her, the last thing she heard was, "Let's talk about this. We need to fix this as soon as possible."
She had no idea what that meant, but she started having her doubts about the school board doing the right thing. "Where was the matron?" She needs to find her as soon as possible.
"Are you okay?" Anna asked her, hurrying to Naomi's side when she saw her walking out of the Deaconess' office.
"I am fine…" Naomi answered, still holding her neck.
"What happened?"
"She tried to strangle me… she almost choked me to death!" Naomi squealed.
"What? Is she truly that evil that she can kill to keep her secrets hidden?"
"I think so. Ah,..but have you seen the matron? I don't trust the school board. The Director is in there speaking with the Deaconess, and I have a bad feeling about it."
"I have always had my doubts about them. We need to find the matron"
As they spoke, they heard the stomping of footsteps and saw Pastor Jude, a very short man, hurrying towards the Deaconess's office.
Was it all over? Or was the school planning something else? Anna wondered as three more board members of the school arrived at the school premises, headed towards the Deaconess's office.
"What do you think is happening? Why are they all here?" Anna asked as she watched stylish, smart-looking affluent members of the school board step out of their exotic cars and file into the Deaconess' office.
"I don't know. Let's hope they are about to do the right thing."
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"But is the right thing letting those evil boys go scot-free while their victims suffer in silence? This is not what our school stands for. Injustice! Bullying! Gangsterism! Lies! Secrets… no no" One woman's shrill voice filled the office, exuding a surprising amount of power for someone so slight in stature. Her aristocratic-looking face grimaced in disapproval while she adjusted her well-tailored suit.
"It is not the right thing to do. But it is what we must do for our school. Can't you see that if this becomes public, our school is ruined, and we all will be ruined. They will hold us accountable. I can't even begin to list all we stand to lose if we do the right thing." The Director's calm voice resonated the thoughts of the others in the gathering.
"Yes. We ought to do what is be…" Pastor Jude tried to say before the angry woman in the room rudely interrupted him.
"Noooo..nooo, we don't want to hear any word or suggestions from the two of you. How could you have let all this happen under your watch? You both have failed this school and deserve to be dismissed."
Pastor Jude muttered as he tried to speak again, but the displeasure on the faces of six people gathered there made him swallow his words.
The Deaconess had her head bowed in shame the entire time. Her head was still reeling from the shock of what she had read in the letter about her own daughter. An apple doesn't fall far from the tree, they say… her daughter had the blood of a whore in her. How could she have been part of such of a heinous act?"
"Did you hear me, Deaconess? I said you need to handle that daughter of yours. Make sure she doesn't tell anyone else what she wrote in that letter… No student, and not even her friends. It's quite shameful that a mother and her daughter were complicit in such evil. Really appalling! But let's not dwell on that!"
The other members of the board murmured in confusion, but the Director didn't go ahead to explain herself, neither did she give them the letter to read. It was up to her now to keep things under control.
"So, are we all agreeing to leave the issue in my hands? This news cannot reach other members of this board. We need to silence the rumour and whatever students that know about it or took part in the action itself. None of it can get out. We already won the case the first time it was heard. Let's leave it that way. Are we all in support of me taking charge of everything? Mrs. Doreen? Are you?" The Director asked the angry woman, who stared daggers at the Deaconess and Pastor Jude before reluctantly nodding her head in agreement.
"Good, Deaconess, gather the students. Whoever started this rumour must be punished. Make sure they are present in the assembly hall. We need to take control of things before whoever is engineering this thing from behind has the upper hand. Nobody must know what happened here. It stays here! What has happened has happened. We can't let anyone else know what those boys did. We will handle it ourselves."
"We need to speak to your daughter immediately!"
Anna overheard these words as she eavesdropped on the school board's meeting. With a racing heart, she ran back to tell Naomi that all hope was lost in the school. Mrs. Gracious was their only hope now!
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