Stars in a Beautiful Night | ✓

8| Kiishi

Light emanating from the round bulb slowly burned my eyes as I stared at it with my back on the bed. My ears could pick up noises from the hostel as the residents prepared for classes. I couldn't tell if I missed the rush of rising early in other to meet up with lectures. I remembered I was very bad at being prompt and was most times among students told to stay out. That was before popularity became my first love and my face had to be limited—according to the record label I was with then.

Still, school had not been so bad, mostly because my brother had been there to assist, nothing had been bad because he was there to assist. Now he wasn't.

I rolled to my side, my view on the wall underneath my window. There were small patches of a dark brown hue on the sky blue coat. Almost like it was a deliberate art to make the color pop, only it did not pop but looked like a soul with blemish. I swallowed my spit—a soul with blemish. I scratched my itching nose and closed my eyes. It was almost as if I could replay the moments again.

Whats the fastest way to hell?

"If hell really is Tatarus, then I better find a moving entrance..." my eyes opened as I tried to envision my next set of words, "...in plain sight, like the Vice Chancellors office." That would not be plain since the man acted like the devil—or Hades in this case—himself.

"Or maybe I would have to travel to America...since that's where everything known to man happens in movies." My side felt hot and I laid on my back again, eyes greeted its old view. But even if I did find an entrance, that would be unfair.

I sighed and let my mind linger around the thoughts until they eventually faded like the noiselessness in my apartment was a drowning music. It was something I did when I caught myself venturing into places I was not in the mood for. There was a high probability that I would have stayed longer than a few minutes in that state if the bark of a dog had not startled me.

Allowing myself some time to blink the after effects of staring at a light bulb away, I moved my head to the direction. It was my mobile phone enclosed in its gray case. I sighed and stretched my hand to where it laid vibrating.

"Hello," I said tonelessly into the phone, knowing who would respond to me. The ringtone had been assigned to his contacts after a series of arguments we had a few months ago. I thought he barked a lot when he was angry and it suited him perfectly. I had messed up a lot of contacts—new names and specific ringtones.

"Where were you?" Jides baritone voice rang out, each word said one at a time.

"Here?"

"You could have fucked this up," he went on and a groan brewed up deep in my throat. He was going to start my morning like this? No how are you? Are you hungry? "How do we give this people want they want if you won't show up to where you are supposed to be?"