GuiTara (RE-WRITING)

🎵~2

"Do you like it?" Pam asked, gazing at me with uncertainty. "Cuz if you don't, we can change the sheets and maybe reposition-"

"It's fine, Pam." A content smile touched my lips. "I love it."

My sister beamed. "Great! Let's bring your luggage inside then."

Once everything was in, Pam clasped her hands. "Ok. We'll leave you to get settled. Dinner will be ready soon. I'll call you when it's done." She wrapped me in a hug. "I'm so glad you're here, T."

"Me too."

She gently released me with a double pat on my back and followed Keke out of my room.

The moment the door clicked shut, I launched myself onto the bed. My muscles sighed with relief after hitting the soft, soft mattress. Who knew a fourteen-hour flight could make you miss a bed this much?

Dreamland was calling, and I was on the brink of falling in when I suddenly remembered that I hadn't called Mama to tell her I had arrived safely. To prevent any sudden panic attacks, I sat up, dug my phone out of my bag, and unlocked the screen. WhatsApp was the first thing that caught my attention, with a thousand messages staring back at me. I was pretty sure they were all from group chats, but that assumption flew out the window when I opened the app.

Two foreign numbers topped the chat list. One with forty-eight messages and the other with twenty-five. The rest of the messages were from eight group chats, a couple of friends, and Mama. I also missed ten voice calls from those two numbers.

My brow furrowed slightly. I didn't have to think twice about who these two were because I'd already blocked and deleted their previous phone numbers. I couldn't believe they dared to contact me after everything they had done. I highlighted both chats and hit delete before tossing the phone to the other side of my bed without reading any of their pathetic attempts at an apology.

"Taaara!" Pam yelled from downstairs. "Dinner is ready!"

¤¤¤¤¤

Whoever said Mexican foods were spicy was lying because they weren't just spicy.

They were ridiculously spicy!

Pam's spicy Mexican rice dish had me guzzling down more liquids than the actual food! The first few forkfuls were quite tasty, but as I continued eating, the food started a bonfire in my mouth and made my nose run.

Pam claimed she didn't add that much jalapeño to the rice, but from how she laughed until she cried tears of joy, I knew she was lying.

After three glasses of water, Nando replaced my fourth glass with milk, saying it would help with the burning. It did. But by the time I downed all the milk, my tummy was too full to finish the food. Guess I will be visiting the bathroom a lot tonight.

I took a quick shower after dinner and changed into a pair of ice cream pajama bottoms and a blue tank top. Pam poked her head into my room as I was unpacking my belongings.

"Hey." She shuffled in. "Just called Mama. Told her your flight was fine and that you're safely home with us."

"Oh, thanks," I said, stuffing my underwear in a bottom drawer. "I forgot to call her."

"No worries." Pam planted herself on the study table. "She also said Sheeda and Cudjoe came by to talk to you."

My body froze for a split second until I forced myself to act as if their names didn't bother me. "Then it's a good thing I wasn't there," I mumbled, "because I'm not going to be there for a long time."

"You know..." Pam shook her head pitifully. "I'm still disappointed in Sheeda. Cudjoe, I'm not surprised. Never really liked him, but Sheeda..." She dragged in a deep breath and then let it out. "You guys were so close. Even closer than we were." Pam gestured between both of us. "I never thought she'd do something like that."

We sat in silence as I finished unpacking my belongings. When Pam broke the silence, keeping the memories at bay became more difficult. My thoughts began to wander, bringing up everything I had kept hidden in a remote part of my mind. For the rest of my life, I wanted to forget those memories.

"Remember when she used to bring us those long strips of *kuli-kuli, and we'd spend hours munching on the front porch?" Pam recalled with a smile on her face.

I kept my mouth shut.

"When our jaws hurt from chewing too much, we'd split the remaining in two. The first batch for keeps, then we'd use the other batch to decorate our hair."

Those days were playing right before my mind's eye. My hands trembled, heart pounding--reactions from the memory.

"Sheeda always came up with the most creative styles. I-"

"Stop it, Pam!" The pounding vibrated in my ears. "Just stop!"

Pam looked bewildered, and a pang of guilt seared me for snapping at her like that. She had no idea what those memories were doing to me. Yeah, they were good memories of our childhood together. But after Sheeda's betrayal, they were all shaded black in my eyes. I just couldn't see them the way I used to without my temper rising. Pam didn't have that problem, so she cherished them a lot. After all, Sheeda was her friend too.

A deep sigh left my lips, and I covered my face with my hands.

"I'm sorry, T," my sister murmured.

I gave her a slight nod in response. With that, I heard her scoot off the table and head toward the door.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Pam."

The door squeaked shut.

*****
*kuli-kuli - a West African snack made of peanuts, pepper, salt and other ingredients. It comes either in a long brown strip or coiled into a circle.

Thanks for reading😊