Not This Time, Love Pt 22

I felt like punching Jake in the face for giving me that assignment while he went off to meet the girl of my dreams. I was helpless, frustrated, and deeply unsettled. I had no idea what he was discussing with Priscy. I considered following him secretly, but I changed my mind. Instead I opened my Bible and began reading the quotations he had given me.

I read one verse after another, then prayed—for courage to lead the Bible study and for Jake not to snatch Priscy away from me. They say, “the grasshopper that sleeps forgetfully wakes up in the mouth of the lizard.” That thought stuck with me.

“The little opportunity given to a monkey to wear clothes does not guarantee it a seat at the dining table,” I muttered to myself. Just because I’d shown Jake respect didn’t give him the right to go near Priscy, let alone steal her. Priscy was mine—nobody else’s. I waited for Jake to return, but he didn’t come before dining. I kept wondering where he was. Was he still with Priscy? What were they doing? Was he a true Christian, or just hiding behind religion to lure her into sin? Maybe I was being paranoid.

After dining it was time for the prayer meeting, so I grabbed my Bible and headed to the praying ground. Just as I was about to leave, Jake walked in. He looked weak—like a boxer coming out of the ring.

“I won’t be able to come to the prayer meeting tonight,” he said. “I fasted from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. I need to eat and rest.” Then he went straight to his bed without waiting for me to reply.

Was he telling the truth? Or was this a cover for what he had done with Priscy? Again, maybe I was being too suspicious.

I led the Bible study and the prayers. Afterwards, I returned to the dormitory and found Jake still on his bed. He didn’t answer when I called him—then, after a few shouts and a shake, a faint voice answered. He was weak from hunger. I alerted the roommates and we mashed kenkey for him. By the time prep started he was regaining strength.

The dorm prefect let him rest in the dorm while we went for prep. I didn’t tell the others that hunger had nearly felled Jake; I told them he’d forgotten his medication and hadn’t eaten. That night I checked his chop box and found it empty—no gari, nothing. The term was young; where had his food gone?

I still hadn’t discovered what he and Priscy did after “breaking the fast.” Maybe nothing bad happened. Maybe everything I feared was in my head. But I couldn’t live with the doubt. So I decided: right after prep I would walk straight to Jake’s bed and demand to know everything—exactly what he did with Priscy when he went out to meet her.