Too Good to Be Real

chapter 35

Asa's mother.
Her voice kept ringing in her ears and her words stabbed her over and over again. She wished she hadn't gone with Asa in the first place then maybe she wouldn't have been able to entertain certain thoughts.

Like the possibility of Asa being her sister.

Ugh.
If, in the wildest possible way ever, it was proven that she and Asa shared the same father, she wouldn't exactly know how to act.

But it wasn't possible. The world wasn't that small.

Her own father had left her mother while she'd been pregnant with her and Asa's mother had met her husband when he'd left his wife who was heavily pregnant for him. The woman in Asa's mother's story had delivered a girl before she herself had gotten pregnant.
True story, she was a year older than Asa. The Two timelines rhymed!

If they really shared the same father, then she was happy he'd left because he was obviously still a douchebag. A bastard. A cheating idiot.
But somehow it didn't make sense. Asa never spoke ill of her father. That was one reason she'd always been jealous of her. How could he be the same person her mother had painted in such bad light.

She wondered if she could ask Nia. But she was always skeptical whenever it came to issues involving her runaway husband, calling him "evil" and asking Oma never to speak about him again.
The excitement was no longer there. Thinking about him made her drowsy. She was going to think happy thoughts.

Asher. She smiled.

He was her happy place. She wished she could call him just to hear his voice and probably speak with him till she reached her destination. She would have told him everything, from Asa to her own father and he'd surely have something wise to say. He'd say something nice and funny and stupid at the same time and make her forget everything about...

Beside.

That name ruined everything she was thinking.
Who the hell would bear Beside as a name. Or was it a fake name? Like a fake name for another girl he didn't want anyone to know about, who he was going to meet. Or a translation like he always did. That would spell Akuku, a name no one would ever give their child. Or maybe it was a Yoruba girl. Was it a misspelling of Bessie? Oh God.

She picked up Asa's book again. She had to get her mind off everything else.

My matric would have gone great if it wasn't for dad. He just had to show up and act like everything is fine. Mum is thinning down but he doesn't care. He acts like he cares about me but how can he love his daughter and hate his wife? It doesn't make any sense! I just wish mum could get a job so we can be free from him.
Once I'm done with school, I'm going to get a great job and take care of you mum. We'll leave the country together and you'll never have anything to worry about anymore.

Ok, so now she was really encroaching into Asa's private life. But she couldn't help herself. Maybe at least she'd know a few things about Asa which she didn't know before.
She flipped through more pages.

Sleeping next to someone who doesn't know what is good when it stares her right in the face.

That piece had to be about her. She kept reading, this time without guilt.

How would she know, when she's in her own world where every other person is an extra. She doesn't know when I'm down, or she just doesn't care. She's just like dad.

She wasn't encroaching anymore. She was simply reading about herself. Asa had compared her to her ...dad. That was bad. She looked at the date and realised that was when Asa had stopped spending the night at their room.
She could have just spoken to her.
She flipped to the last page, not ready to read anymore demeaning things about herself.

Oma has been there for me since mum fell sick. She'll even go out with me to the hospital. She's really a friend worth having. No one comforts me like she does.
But I have to repay her. She needs to know what I know. I don't like Asher and she has to hate him too. I have to tell her what I know.

****

Seeing Nia for the first time in months made Oma realise how much she'd missed her mother. They hugged each other and smiled happily and luckily this time it didn't feel awkward, at least not for Oma.
They caught up on things as usual, with Oma touching and eyeing parts of their house like they were artifacts. It was the best reunion.

Nia had insisted they go to a restaurant as there was nothing special to eat in the house and after much persuasion, Oma agreed.
They found a restaurant that was beaming with people, mostly families.
She smiled, because for the first time in so long she was content with the only family she had, her mum.

They ate and talked excitedly with food in their mouths. The place was noisy so no one paid them any attention. They talked about the latest before settling on the more boring topics like Oma's exams and Nia's job.

They avoided Phil completely as well as when she was returning to school. It was better for them to just stay in the moment.

"...and then the man had to leave oh because he was a crook all along." Nia finished her story while munching on a chicken lap.

"I'll be right back. I need to pee!" Oma said still laughing from the story.

She moved down the tables into a hallway looking for the bathroom. There was no signboard anywhere.
She opened one of the cupboards and found someone bent low and washing plates.
She apologized and shut it immediately.
After a few seconds of roaming aimlessly, she decided to ask the person she'd seen washing plates for directions.
This time she knocked but still opened the door before she heard a "come in."

"Please can you show me where..." She began and seeing who she was talking to, her voice trailed off.
Right in front of her was Dan looking back at her, almost as confused as she was.
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