Something In There (FAÇADES)

23•|TADE AND ME|

"Yes ma."

"I'm done," she said and I stood up from my bed, went into my closet and picked out a top to wear. "So who is Pink?" my granny asked in a teasing tone as I walked out of my closet.

I smiled not answering her question.

"Tariq," She called me by my Islamic name. "Answer me, I asked who pink is."

"My ex." I told her as I made myself comfortable on the bed, my head laying on the pillow.

"So you've broken up?"

"Nope, she's taking a break."

My Nana left afterwards to her room, leaving me all alone when I heard my door creak opened, wondering who it could be I turned my head to the direction and saw Tade closing the door before entering fully into my room. He rested his back on my door, smiling widely at me.

"Hey bro!" he greeted still resting his back.

"You didn't knock." I told him, resting my head back unto my pillow.

"I don't need to knock before entering my brothers room." he still wasn't moving from the door.

"Why are you staying by the door?" I decided to ask.

He raised both his hands, and that was when I noticed his crutches with him. I looked down to his legs and saw that he wasn't wearing his prosthetic - false leg.

"I'm resting." He said.

Tade was my cousin, but I regarded to him as my younger brother. He was part of the few people in my life who I really loved, he was understanding, nice, a dreamer with a whole lot of dreams. Tade once dreamt of being a runner not until his whole dream came crashing down all because of a damned Cancer. Osteosarcoma, also known as bone cancer.

A stupid bone cancer.

Tade had bone cancer which was the reason one of his legs, his left leg precisely, had to be removed when he was in JSS2. He was sad, and he found it really difficult to cope at first but I guess that he was getting use to it later on, until, a diagnosis report from the doctor which proved that his cancer was back, and that since had put Tade in a really sour mood, though everyone in the family; including me, try to show our support towards him.

He moved towards me using his crutches to assist himself, then collapsed on my bed on reaching it. He laid on my bed comfortably, putting his head on my thighs and I allowed.

"Bro, you didn't even notice my hair," i looked at his hair and saw that it was neatly made into a cornrow. "My dad made it," he said smiling but I didn't say anything in response as I continued laying my head on my pillow, my head thinking about a lot of things, but mostly my parents.

It had been long since I heard from them and I wasn't comfortable with that, and what hurt the most was that they didn't even think to ask about my welfare, they didn't.

"Bro," i looked at him and saw him looking at me and I nodded to him, giving him a go ahead. "Your parents are around."

"My Mum and dad?"

"Yes."

I sat uprightly on the bed while Tade had to place his head on the bed. I couldn't fathom how I felt at that moment.

Joy? Anger? I didn't know.

"My parents are around?!" I had to say to myself again because I just couldn't believe it.

It had been more than a month already, since I'd seen them last, a part of me was happy that they were finally home and the other just felt indifferent because I knew they wouldn't even bother to ask after me and also I knew that they were surely back to Nigeria for business purposes, not for me. Imagine I wasn't even told by anyone that they were back, and neither of them could come up to my room to see their son.