HER BEST FRIEND’S DEATH
Short Story by Minki Phiri
Chapter One
My bestfriend was the truest thing to ever happen to me and for me. She was the only thing in my life that kept me wanting to live, she brought up light and meaning to the small world I had, of which I called life. Everything was made significant and by this being said, she was clearly my significant other. I had literally written the words ,”significant other” everywhere. In my room, the diary that we kept.
If I went missing , not that I will, she would be the first person my dad would call. And if she
shows up with an engagement ring on her finger, and not wanting her siblings to know who the man in her life was, they would simply call me. With her, I would present myself before her, naked in truth, because I never really lied to her. We were transparent to each other. She would know when and if I lied about my emotions. She would also know when my smile was fake and genuine, when to tell if I really am in love with a guy or not. And with all this happening, we truly thought the word “bestfriend” was underrated, thereupon we saw it fit to find the alternative
words, “Significant other”.
Chapter Two
Attending the same University was a dream come true. It really was what we always wanted to see happening. Being sophomores together was a thrilling experience and although we enrolled onto different courses ,it was never a challenge. Zöe was more of a sporty person and so she decided take a double major in Sport Psychology. I am personally not a fan of sports, I would go for sports only to cheer up Zöe and give her
morale. I love poetry and words. I love books and languages hence I chose to study Phonology and Poetry. We both supported each other throughout, we never really looked down upon each other.
We knew we each had different purposes in life. And that our roads, though we
travel together in the journey of life, do not lead to the same destinations but nonetheless we
promised to be each other’s keeper throughout.
It was not after so long when I got operated on my brain because of the multiple attacks I
had from my epilepsy. My attacks were always bad because I always lost track of my memory
lane and I would regain it after a week. But one thing I was grateful for was that though I lost
my memory, I could always reminisce on who Zöe was, and what we had. And that was all that mattered to me. More than the attacks I had.
I suffered from epilepsy since kindergarten and which was a part of me and Zöe. Only she and my parents knew about all this. People from school were always shocked and left pained after seeing me being attacked. They would rush off to Zöe and ask what was wrong, but her being her,she always told them that my anxiety made me nauseous and that was why I fell. She was not a person who wanted people to know about everything happening in our lives – how we got to school, what we had for lunch, who we were secretely admiring etcetera. And I really loved her for this.
Chapter Three
After my first operation, doctors and specialists broke the sad news to Zöe first,then myparents. It was utterly bad. I, for some minute could not even comprehend it. It was just beyond the human comprehension. I felt sorry for myself, but I knew it was the best for me and my future. I knew my bestfriend had so much faith in my healing and that she always spoke well of how one day I would get back and be fine. They were all told I was to leave school and heal first.
She collapsed after she was told that I had a severe tumour in my brain that kept swelling and increasing after every fall down I had during attacks. She cried till her tears dried up. And after seeing all this happen to her. It was quite a hard pill to swallow. I lost myself. My head felt heavy to carry and my legs were too stiff to balance. I found myself on the hospital carpet again. And there I was now, a place I could not recognize, people I could not see well. I could not decipher anything that was written on the walls. All I saw was enormous buildings surrounding me, and people near my hospital bed. My memory could not set me right.
The one girl who stood just closely to me kept crying. She cried aloud and I kept wondering who she was. Days passed by, and this girl was still near me. She was there; morning,noon and evening. With books to read to me and some fruits and it was as if she knew the books I preferred and the fruits I loved,it was quite scarry. My mind could not even perceive who she was. All I kept asking myself was why she was being so nice and kind. My state at the moment would not allow anyone to be kind to me as she was. I was rather dead. I did not see any apparent reason to live. Let alone have someone sympathizing with me on the hospital bed like she was.
I wanted this girl gone. I did not find it intriguing to have anyone, more especially a stranger, near me at that point in time. My world was sad. And the best thing to complete me was myself. And not seeing people come near me. But the more I wished that this girl could go,the more time she spent with
me. Me avoiding her brought no pain to her or whatsoever. I prayed to God,I knew God listened to my prayers but this time around God seemed to turn a deaf ear to this prayer. This girl just could not go away. It was a pity.
Chapter Four
The next morning brought a smile to my face. I woke up and the girl was nowhere to be found.
I looked all over the hospital room and still there was no sign of her. It was a huge relief. I felt happy but also an element of sadness hit me, but I did all I could do to ignore the sadness and endure the happiness.
My body was feeling better. And it was my discharge day. I was going home. And my favorite people in the whole world were there to pick me up. Mother kept on mentioning the name Zöe, and I had no clue what she was on about. “Who is this Zöe you are fascinating about?” I kept asking. Until we got to our house,we were all silent. I got home and mom told me I had a call. It was a
lady. And the voice was familiar, she told me I had to rush to her house immediately after I hung up.
I did not want to waste any time. I did as I was told. Mom decided to take me there. And to my
surprise it was just the yard next to mine,only two houses were between us.
It was Zöe’s mother. Now I could recall. And I now knew who this Zöe my mom kept talking
about was. She handed me a letter from a box that we kept all our letters and memoirs inside, including our secrets.
“2020, the only thing that crosses my mind when I hear this permutation of numeric, I stutter. I feel every inch and fibre of pain to ever be created. Seeing my significant other like this makes me weep aloud. It is then when you fail to explain why you cant dance to the song that everyone else dances to. You wonder if really the most well known song that denotes , “It is well” really
means what it says. Well to me I think its just an arbitrary song that wishes to give hope to
people like me. It is indeed a permanent cessation of all vital, a harbinger of news that no one needs to hear, but it is inevitable. Please forgive me but let death be my sweet release.”
And that was it. Death took the one person who meant the entire world to me. Who made life
easy to live. Who would tell a joke for the tenth time and still have me cracked up like its the first time I heard it.
I will never forgive death, let alone forget how much of a deep hole it cut in my heart.
But still, I blamed myself as much as I did to this death.
Africa’s Very Own Magazine (AVO) is a digital magazine with a mission to celebrate African Excellence by conversing with different African leaders in different industries.
