WRECKED 25 24

The Commissioner was directed to Anaya's parlour. Anaya was happy that the meeting was holding in her home and not the commissioner's, whose home had all possible surfaces of it upholstered; the colours which were those of the inside of the body—the maroon of kidneys, the reddish purple of hearts, the opaque blue of veins, the ivory of teeth and bones. During a visit with Jubril, the commissioner had led Anaya to a tongue-coloured settee. Anaya imagined the sensation it would produce if she were to announce this apercu out loud.

The Commissioner was a handsome heavy woman of forty-five or so, of an obvious respectability, but dressed in the hectic manner of the north, where the women appear to feel that if one row of a gold necklace is good, three must be better. She had the alarmed, slightly pop-eyed look that signals either an overly nervous disposition or a disease of the thyroid.

"I'm so glad you could honour us," Anaya said. She added that Jubril was regrettably away on business. They exchanged banter for a while and then, the Commissioner announced suddenly "You may have to stop seeing the Chibok girl, Mrs Rufai."

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"Excuse me?" Anaya asked, not sure she heard clearly.

"Let me explain. It is heart-wrenching for a girl of that age to be traumatised and brutalised for a long period. The girl needs psychological care and review…"

"Madam," Anaya interrupted rudely, "the nation at large needs psychological care. We are all living in fear. Our sense of security has been completely taken from us. I don't still see your point."

"Mrs Rufai, I hope you won't take this the wrong way."

Anaya crossed one leg over the other. She regarded the commissioner with a slight smile and a cold eye.

"Of course not. Why should I?"

"You've done invaluable work," she began. "All the girls here are devoted to you. You have done well. But I'm afraid the girl is in a different category from the others."

Anaya continued to stare at her. The over-weight woman cleared her throat and stared back as she thought of how to continue. How could a woman so young be so difficult? The Commissioner thought. She was tireless and devoted to the girls in her care. However, everyone sensed she had a special preference for the Chibok girl. She had to be tactful and rm. She sensed Anaya was not going to be easy. "She's a special case," she said. "Mentally wounded from trauma, if you like. I think she now needs more medical help. There is a limit to what you can do, believe me. I trained as a psychologist and I know these things."

"Madam," Anaya said coldly, "when that girl came here, she hadn't spoken a word to anyone since she was found at Sambisa. She has actually talked to me; you know that?"

"Yes, certainly. The doctors keep me informed on happenings here. Even Dr Judd seems impressed with you. That is a great tribute to your patience and persistence. Nevertheless, it seems you are not doing enough. A team is waiting to evaluate and put her in a psychological frame of mind to extract information from her about what she encountered, and then see how she can be rehabilitated."

Anaya looked sharply at her. "You can't take her from me. Not yet. Especially not to be grilled. How can you be so insensitive?"

The Commissioner resented Anaya's rudeness, but she maintained her politeness. "The girl was catatonic when she was brought to the General hospital. She wouldn't respond to any stimulus. Some rather severe treatment helped that, but she is still precariously balanced. Her refusal to communicate is a safety valve. It's amazing you've got her to speak. There might just be some hope for her in the long term, but you're taking a risk with her sanity, Mrs Rufai. I know it is from the best motives, but I must ask you to stop. Stop your visits for now."

"You're saying I'm doing her harm?"

"The probability is high. You're meddling with something you don't understand…"

"Meddling? How?"

"…Getting in the way of the consultants. She could collapse completely and all the work done by the doctors would be wasted."

"I may not be a psychologist or whatever you call yourself, but I understand one thing," Anaya said vehemently. "She's hiding from the world because there's something she can't face. You have done nothing to help her. She should not be isolated from other people. She needs human contact and not nurses bustling in and out of her room with needles. And that's what I've given her." She paused; nothing she said was having any effect.

"She needs time," the woman said. "She's not ready to face anything yet."

"She'll never be ready," Anaya tried once more, "unless there's someone there to take her by the hand and hold it tight when the crunch comes. I believe I'm that person, and I won't have you come into my house and tell me nonsense."

The woman's face was set in stone. "I'm afraid your visits must stop when the next set of mental health doctors arrive. I'm sorry but she's a girl under my watch and her welfare comes first."

"What happens if she asks for me?"

"She won't," the woman said. "She won't notice. She is looking inward and protecting herself. I have worked with girls who have experienced trauma, and this is what they do."

"Has is it ever crossed your mind that maybe you're not good at your job as a psychologist?"

The commissioner gasped.

Anaya continued, "If you're wrong and she asks for me," Anaya persisted, "will the doctors let me in? Will you grant permission for me to see her?"

"I will, but don't delude yourself. It won't happen."

"You may see yourself out of my house," Anaya said as she got up, looking as if she might break down in tears, and walked out.

The commissioner shook her head. She was not used to being challenged like this. She decided that Anaya Rufai needed a strong man to put her in her place. No, she admitted, she didn't really like her, in spite of all the good work she had done.

Chapter end