𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙤𝙧 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨

|4| Gossip And Fiery Hatred

Ah, sweet Lord... I can breathe again.

I let myself fall back first against my bed, and my uniform rode up my thighs.

Reaching out an arm to the back of my head, I softly pressed my eyes shut. Mulling over the events of that day.

School had been crazier that week, and as if I could take anymore, the contestants for the Miss St Palmry's pageant were to meet again after school the following day, which was a Thursday for the final rehearsal.

Another crazy thing had been Gina's keen interest in seeing to it that I partook in that pageant. What does she stand to gain anyway? Why is she going against Serwaa by supporting me? I'd had no idea, and the thought of it had bugged me a lot. It was almost an annoying itch: my desire to figure out her angle.

Thinking about Serwaa, I'd wondered if I should ask her about Gina and Willy's kissing rumours. Were the kissing rumours true? Or was Gina just a victim of malicious gossip? Would Serwaa tell me? Did I even have a right to ask her after contributing to said gossip? I mean let's face it: those who controlled the flow of gossip, and those who listened to them because of their sweet ears weren't any different. Or were they?

Shaking the thoughts away, I jumped unto my feet. Ignoring the freshly laundered and folded curtains laying on my one-seater sofa, I changed into a white dress with bold yellow sun-flower prints. It was a new dress and I had been eager to wear it since last weekend.

I spared a glance at my folded curtains. I'll hang it in the evening. I promise. With that silent pledge, I'd slammed my bedroom door after me.

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The whole house was deadly quiet. Except for the noise from the refrigerators, the clock ticking on the wall and the occasional careening cars from the outdoors. Nobody was in the living room when I walked in. Fiifi loved the outdoors, but he wouldn't leave home without giving me a head's up. I also wondered why Danny was not behind his game chair as usual. Naturally, I went to see what was going on.

I didn't knock. I quietly opened their door, peeping in through the narrow opening. They were sleeping. Both boys. That had a grin spreading across my face almost instantly. With Danny away from the TV, it meant that I could finally have some alone time with the DVD Player. Lord! Had it been a while I watched some Korean drama.

I closed their bedroom door with the stealth of a midnight thief. Careful not to make any noise that would cause them to stir. Hold on Dzi...have the boys eaten? We had bought some takeouts on our way home.

But wait! If I wake them up, Danny will wake up too! I won't have the TV to myself anymore. Will I?

Thinking that I'd decided to let them be. In the kitchen, I hadn't been prepared for the sight I was met with. If there was a moment I could order myself to faint at will, then that moment I took in the messy scene of the take-out disposables on the kitchen counter would have been it.

They'd eaten. And as usual, left the mess for me to clean up. Until when was I going to keep at cleaning up after my brothers? How difficult was it to empty disposables into the dustbin after eating? How difficult was putting things back after using them?

Letting out an irritated huff, I discarded the disposables in the bin standing just by the kitchen door. Once that was taken care of, I wiped the counter with the last reel of tissue paper.

Lazy cocoons.

I washed my hands and emptied my beans and deep-fried plantain into a plate. I grabbed a fork before making it out of the kitchen.