Olivia
Online
MDA.
@MarvelDr_A
storytelling
Nairobi, Kenya
Joined December 2018
117 Following
865 Followers
182 Posts
They are soo cool, politest comment might hurt them...
"they sound like air freshners..." 😄 🤣
THE SICKNESS
But Ciggie continued getting sick.
One Monday he came to school.
Tuesday, he was absent.
Wednesday, he returned looking weak.
Thursday, he collapsed again.
Oppize became concerned.
One afternoon, he found Ciggie sitting alone behind the classroom.
“Ciggie.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Are you okay?”
“I'm fine.”
“You don't look fine.”
“I'm just tired.”
Oppize sat beside him.
“Why don't you tell someone when you're hurting?”
Ciggie looked at him.
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
“She already has too many problems.”
“Your friends?”
Ciggie laughed bitterly.
“I don't have friends.”
Oppize was silent.
Then Ciggie asked:
“Sir…”
“Yes?”
“Do you think I'm going to die?”
Oppize looked at him.
“Why would you ask me that?”
“Because that's what everyone says.”
He looked down.
“They say I'm dangerous.”
Oppize shook his head.
“Ciggie, you are not dangerous.”
“They don't want to sit with me.”
“That doesn't mean you're dangerous.”
“They say I have AIDS.”
Oppize paused.
Then spoke gently.
“Ciggie, whatever you're going through doesn't make you less of a human being.”
Ciggie looked up.
His eyes were full of tears.
Then he whispered:
“Sir… I'm tired.”
“Tired of what?”
“Being treated like I don't belong.”
---
THE CONVERSATION
The following day, Oppize asked Ciggie to remain behind after class.
When everyone left, he closed the classroom door.
“Ciggie, I want you to tell me what you're going through.”
Ciggie looked nervous.
“Will you tell anyone?”
“I'll listen first.”
Ciggie looked at the floor.
Then slowly said:
“I'm HIV positive.”
Oppize remained calm.
“Thank you for trusting me.”
Ciggie started crying.
“My mother told me never to tell anyone.”
“Why?”
“Because people will hate me.”
Oppize moved closer.
“Ciggie, having HIV doesn't make you dirty. It doesn't make you worthless. And it doesn't mean you don't deserve friends.”
Ciggie wiped his tears.
Then Oppize asked:
“Do you know how you got HIV?”
Ciggie shook his head.
“No.”
“Have you ever asked your mother?”
“She doesn't like talking about my father.”
“Your father?”
Ciggie nodded.
“I've never met him.”
“What does your mother say about him?”
Ciggie hesitated.
Then whispered:
“She says he died before I was born.”
Oppize looked at him.
“How did he die?”
Ciggie stared at the floor.
“She said... HIV.”
Oppize became quiet.
Something didn't feel right.
Then Ciggie said something that made Oppize's heart stop.
“But there's something else, sir.”
“What?”
Ciggie looked toward the classroom door.
“There's a man who used to visit my mother when I was young.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“What did he look like?”
Ciggie thought for a moment.
“He had a scar on his cheek.”
Oppize leaned forward.
“Do you know his name?”
Ciggie nodded.
“Uncle Ochieng.”
Before Oppize could ask another question...
the classroom door opened.
Millie was standing there.
Her face was pale.
Behind her stood the headteacher.
Millie looked directly at Ciggie.
Then at Oppize.
And immediately began crying.
Ciggie stood up.
“Mum?”
She couldn't speak.
Oppize looked at the headteacher.
“What's going on?”
The headteacher closed the door.
Then quietly said:
“There are things about Ciggie's past that he was never supposed to know.”
Ciggie looked confused.
“What things?”
Millie covered her face.
Oppize stepped forward.
“Madam Millie... what are you hiding?”
Millie slowly looked up.
And whispered:
“Ciggie's father isn't who you think he is.”
Silence.
Ciggie stared at his mother.
“My father?”
Millie nodded through her tears.
Then the headteacher locked the classroom door.
CLICK.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Part 2 — The Secret Behind Ciggie's Birth:
Who was Ciggie's real father? Why has Millie hidden the truth for twelve years? And why does the headteacher seem terrified that Ciggie might discover what really happened?
CIGGIE — PART 1
The Boy Nobody Wanted to Sit With
“Teacher… why does everyone hate me when I haven't done anything to them?”
Those words came from a twelve-year-old boy named Ciggie Jose, but everyone at school simply called him Ciggie.
Ciggie was different.
Not because he was less intelligent.
Not because he was troublesome.
And certainly not because he wanted to be.
Ciggie was living with HIV.
He had been born HIV positive, but he didn't understand what that meant.
His mother, Millicent Ongama — Millie, had spent twelve years protecting him from the truth.
Whenever Ciggie asked about his father, Millie always changed the subject.
“Where is my dad?”
“Eat your food first.”
“Does Dad know me?”
“You'll understand when you're older.”
“Is he coming back?”
Millie would simply turn away.
Ciggie eventually stopped asking.
But he never stopped wondering.
---
THE DAY EVERYTHING CHANGED
Ciggie was one of the brightest pupils in his class.
He loved Science.
He wanted to become a doctor.
His mother used to joke:
“One day you'll be the doctor treating your old mother.”
And Ciggie would laugh.
“Then I'll never charge you.”
Those were the moments Millie lived for.
Because outside their small home, life was becoming increasingly difficult.
Millie was a casual worker.
Some days she washed clothes for other families.
Other days she worked at construction sites.
Some days she came home with enough money for food.
Other days...
she came home with nothing.
And Ciggie was becoming sick more frequently.
Fever.
Coughing.
Weakness.
Hospital visits.
Medicine.
School absences.
Every week seemed to bring another illness.
But Millie never gave up.
She would wake up before sunrise, prepare her son, go looking for casual work and return home exhausted.
Sometimes she went to bed hungry so Ciggie could eat.
She never complained.
---
THEN THE SCHOOL FOUND OUT
One afternoon, Ciggie collapsed during class.
The teacher called an ambulance.
His bag was opened while looking for his medical card.
Inside was his medication.
One child saw it.
Another child asked what it was.
By the following morning...
the entire school knew.
“Ciggie has HIV!”
“He's going to die!”
“Don't touch him!”
“Don't drink from his bottle!”
The words followed him everywhere.
During lunch, the seat beside Ciggie suddenly became empty.
At break time, children moved away whenever he came near.
One boy even wiped his desk after Ciggie accidentally touched it.
Ciggie pretended it didn't hurt.
But it did.
Every single time.
---
AND THEN CAME THE TEACHER
Ciggie's grades began falling.
He stopped participating in class.
He stopped raising his hand.
He stopped answering questions.
Some teachers assumed he was lazy.
One teacher even told him:
“Maybe school isn't for you anymore.”
Those words destroyed him.
But then a new teacher arrived.
His name was Opina Ekene.
Everyone called him Oppize.
Oppize was a trainee teacher assigned to teach Science.
On his first day, he noticed something strange.
While the other pupils were laughing and talking...
Ciggie sat alone.
Oppize walked toward him.
“Why are you sitting here alone?”
Ciggie shrugged.
“That's my place.”
“Who gave you that place?”
Nobody answered.
Oppize smiled.
“Tomorrow, I want you to sit in front.”
Ciggie looked surprised.
“Why?”
“Because I want you to see the board properly.”
For the first time in months...
someone had treated him like an ordinary child....
@omwambaKE Konektingiiii....
@citizentvkenya "Mama raised No fool..." ametusi mamaake.
@Kibet_bull Southafricans wameamua tuende na ai sasa....
@SafaricomPLC You guys are making things complicated for no reason. Tell me why I should visit your headquarters for an e-sim?
@amenya_nelson Meanwhile
https://t.co/mM5bdlQuTn
@citizentvkenya Meanwhile https://t.co/mM5bdlPX3P
@Mbalie707 @charlruto @StandardKenya @citizentvkenya @BBCAfrica @CnnNigeria @Newzroom405 Mmmh, lets say.., Wisdom is chasing her, but she is too fast Or She in full brain diet but emaciated upstairs
@quincygitahi Apparently we missed the meaning of intelligence that is why some funny and dimwitted politicians defending brayos level of intelligence are also called "intelligent politicians".
@KBonimtetezi You just touched the wrong button coz you just pointed out THE LORDs Mouthpiece. I fear for your end coz this could be the beginning of your sad end mheshimiwa. Unless you repent and be sorry for your miserable utterances now, it might never be that easy. #someonetellkhalwale
@eliterenno Defenders
@BaHappuch No one can work in a confused world anymore and claim ignorance because #ACrippleHasWalked at a POWERFUL DECREE BY THE DREADFUL PROPHETS OF JEHOVAH YAHWEH.... Uuuuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
WHAT A POWER!
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