"𝓒𝓪𝓷 𝔀𝓮 𝓯𝓲𝔁 𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓬𝓽?"
Multipotentialite, yet overly insecure, bashful, and socially naïve; Reagan Dike is a music and graffiti-art loving 18 year old living fairly in Kumase - a relative...
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I paused and let my spoon drop from my fingers unto the table. Words couldn't describe my shock. Gaping at him with chocolate in my mouth, I turned to gaze at Kanu, and I turned back to gape at him again.
Suddenly, I let out a chain of small chuckles that soon transformed into a dubious giggle. I wanted to believe that it was merely a joke. We stared at each other like maniacs for a few seconds, and my infectious laughter plunged the trio of us into a noisy full fledged chortle. Surely we attracted a few looks here and there, but I was past caring at that point.
"OJ, for real?" I asked, pinning him with my eyes. "You're travelling out?"
"Yes...for real." He laughed, still recovering from our outburst. "Momsi wants me to go there for uni. But in the meantime before Fall, I'll be staying at Uncle Jada's house while I'm there.."
I blinked multiple times in quick succession. "Wow."
"E say na 'wow'," Kanu put in. "Omo, I wan mad when him tell me. Like mhen, I never expected it at allll. See this OJ oh!"
We all laughed again. The news was still settling in me. In as much as I was overrode by my emotional attachment to OJ - after all, he and Kanu were my best friends - I was genuinely happy for him. This development meant a lot of good for him, and equally a lot of changes for us around here too, courtesy Kanu and I. I inhaled deeply; smiling, I shook his arm and we made a "bro hug". "Congrats, bro."
"Thanks a lot. I don dey miss una sef." He laughed with emotion. Kanu joined the laughter, and so did I. Boys don't cry, so we fought to liven up the atmosphere. A tear dropped from OJ's eye, and he quickly wiped it. "We'll still talk sha. I'll come back after uni there, so no biggie."
"For sure, for sure," Kanu responded raptly, tearing a slice of meat from his chicken wings. We all somehow, resorted back to our meals. For all we knew, this might be the last time we'd ever sit together as one, but not one of us was prepared to become a party pooper. I scooped down a lump of the pudding - my largest yet - and quickly sought for a way to change the topic quickly. I inwardly stared gloomily at my poor spaghetti and bole. I had lost appetite for it already. I was about to ask OJ to let me inherit his Playstation console when someone walked past our booth.
Her fragrance had been the beginning of my sensitivity to her presence. It was cool and sweet smelling, a flavour I couldn't really pin down - intoxicating. She wore a big black t-shirt, fitted blue jeans, ankle-high flat sneakers, and a waist purse that accentuated her frame... on the waist. I badly wished I could see her face as she walked kept walking down the dinning booth enhanced aisle.
She took a turn and all I was left with was my imagination. I instantly remembered the girl I'd thought I'd forgotten about - it was over a month after all. But this girl here too was just like her. Same complexion. Same height. Same sense of fashion. It had to be her, that's if I wasn't on the brink of hallucination. I looked sharply at Kanu and OJ who seemed to be comparing stuff on each other's phones, and they looked back at me, confused.
