Tomapep. Deborah. Queen… these are some of the names many have used to identify her. No one can remember for a certainty what her name was, but they all agree that she was very beautiful, and that her hairstyles were even more so! Below is the story, though the narrative changes depending on who tells it…
It was said that the girl was the most beautiful girl in school, and that her skin was as smooth as glass, as bright as the sun, and as fair as ripe tomatoes – hence the nickname Tomapep. She was tall, shapely, and all the boys in school flocked around her. And the girls? Oh! they wanted to be friends with her even though they were secretly jealous of her beauty and the attention she got. But if her striking beauty made her stand out, her beautiful hairstyles made her stand out even more because no one else ever made her type of hair – no matter how hard they tried!
For being very stylish and popular, she was made the social prefect. She was responsible for picking hairstyles for female students, and whatever she picked was final. Though she made the same hairstyle as others, hers was always different and unique. Girls liked her because she was very creative, and the school authority always used her as an example because she made her natural hair without any attachment.
“Introduce me to the stylist who makes your hair” many asked her. “How come we all make the same hairstyle, but yours is always different?” asked others. “What is your secret? Please tell us” asked still others. But Tomapep would only just smile sweetly, give vague answers, and change the subject. This was the way she would act each time, until one fateful day when the lid was blown off her tightly kept secret.
Though Tomapep was a day student, but because of extension classes and examinations, all day students had to be boarders at the insistence of the school management who wanted SS3 students to be well prepared for their SSCE examinations. Even though the school relaxed their hairstyle policy during this time, Tomapep was always well groomed, unlike the other girls.
Then on one eventful Saturday night, a girl woke up to the feeling that her monthly flow had started. Reaching into her locker for her sanitary items, she realised she had forgotten to replace them with a new batch, and not wanting to disturb the other girls from their sleep, made her way to the box room. The box room was where students’ boxes were kept, and the Hostel Mistress and Hostel Prefect (which the girl was) were the only ones with keys to this room. Turning the key in the keyhole, she found out that only the bulbs at the extreme end of the room were on.
“I must have forgotten to put it off the last time” she thought.
Putting more lights on, she headed for her box, unlocked it, removed the item she needed, and was about to put off the lights at the other end of the room when she caught sight of a vision that left her screaming her head off. As she later explained:
“I saw Tomapep seated on the floor, and in her laps – shuddering as she said this – was her head! Her hands were weaving her hair!!”
Her screams drew other girls, and eventually, the Hostel Mistress to the box room. She kept repeating what she saw to them but they all found it hard to believe, seeing how Tomapep looked just as normal as the other girls – well, except that part of her hair was not as beautifully made as the rest! She explained that she had been loosening it before she fell asleep, and had rushed to the box room from the bathroom when she heard Rachael’s screams (that was the girl’s name). No one knew what to do, or who to believe.
Eventually, Rachael’s parents came to take her home, from where she came for all her exams. But for Tomapep, no one heard from her ever again after she too left for home. Some say she was not a normal girl, that her beauty and hairstyles were too extreme to be real. Yet others said that she remained forever young – having the eternal body and beauty of a sixteen year old, and that for this reason, she can be found till this day changing schools and her identity.
Think she may be in your school? Do leave your thoughts in the Comments!
