• She was a liberal 'mzungu' model with a happy-go-lucky attitude that will be missed
Image: PIXABAY
The heaviest casket to carry might be the one of a young person with unfinished dreams.
It’s never been easy to receive news about the death of a loved one, in this case one of my high school friends.
I was selectively social in high school. Well, the better word for it is a ‘b**ch’. In my defence, I have an intimidating face, hence the stereotype, but once you get to know me, it’s quite the opposite. However, I can’t hide my facial expressions to save my life. Ukinibore ushabore, no coming back from that.
But not her, not Jess. Who recently lost her life to her boyfriend, leaving behind her two-year old baby boy. Oh, and to make it worse, the boyfriend went ahead and threw himself from the fifth floor to his death.
A part of me wishes that he hadn’t died. That he would rot behind bars, with the blood of my friend on his hands. The 1, 2, 3… 25 times that he stabbed her to death. That her screams would linger in his ears every day of his life and the image of her lifeless body.
Jess was a bundle of joy. She was mixed race, so it was common for people to call her ‘mzungu’. But one thing I clearly remember about her was how liberal she was. She used to tell me about her relationships and escapades. Living in the moment and being vocal about her feelings and experiences.
Wow! I always looked forward to her stories after resuming school from a holiday break. Maybe through her is when I started learning to unapologetically be myself and not caring much about peoples’ opinions.
In the second year of high school, we became desk mates. And boy oh boy (laughing heartily), we used to eat. We were always munching KDFs, smokies, crisps layered with ketchup. Munching away with our feet above our lockers, still giving out stories. We also watched similar things, so it was always exciting talking about what happened during the season of another series. A ray of sunshine and a bubbly character she was.
Almost forgot to say how she always turned pink when she laughed, so it was always easy to know when she liked a guy she was talking about and how her eyes lit up. Did I mention how pretty she was? During the holidays she used to model and went ahead to do so more professionally after high school.
There’s a lot I would say about the beautiful soul that Jess was but I’ll choose to engrave it in my memory. Forever will she live in the hearts of those who loved and cherished her. Rest in peace, my friend, till we meet again.