Thursday: 7: P. M.
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"A how the TV so blurry, Manda?" Deidre asks, pointing the remote in her hand to it and opening the Netflix app.
We're all gathered in my bedroom for our usual girls' night, which is more like Sanai and Deidre keeping me company almost every night since I moved in two weeks ago.
I look at what she's talking about. "Oh. A mussi the consecrated olive oil weh Mummy rub on it weh day when them come pray out the house."
She giggles and shakes her head, not removing her attention from the TV which is mounted on the wall above the dresser. "Aunty Queenie nuh easy eno."
I smile, but I don't mind it at all.
It has been a family practice for us to get any new place, whether built or rented, blessed with prayer before moving in. It has been like that ever since I've known myself, so I'm used to it by now.
"Yes she and Sis. Pat--" I start to say...
Before the sound of Sanai's voice cuts me off. "Where were you, Bruno?"
I'd forgotten that she's been on the phone with her man holding for him for forever.
"No, don't tell me shit! I've been calling you from after three this afternoon. 'Til now is when?" She looks at the phone in her hand. "Seven O'clock! So where were you and why was your phone off?"
Like this month is Man Problems month.
No man!
Her statement catches my attention and I peer up at her from where I've been laying my head on her lap.
She puts the phone on speaker in time for us to hear him say, "Bill nuh, Slim!"
Typical.
"Don't tell me to fucking bill, Bruno!" Sanai spits. "I know where you were. I've been on the video call, that you turned your camera off for, so I heard everything!"
"A work mi did deh, Slim! A wamp'n to yuh, man? Yuh nuh easy eno."
Sania hisses her teeth. "Work? Really? So yuh phone nuh pick up over KPH? And why is your camera still off? Hmm? As I said: I heard everything! I know you have a bitch in your car! I heard everything!"
Bruno hisses his teeth equally as sassy as Sanai had. "Slim, mi soon call yuh back, because yawh get man head hot now."
"No!" Sanai screams into the mic. "Mi nawh hang up tha call yah so til yuh reach home! Mi nawh hang up tha call yah so til yuh reach a yuh fucking yard!"
We hear rattling on the other end of the line before Bruno's voice saying, "Slim!"
The horns blaring in the background suggests he's still driving.
"Don't 'Slim' 'Slim' me, Bruno! You are a fucking liar and a cheating, dirty, stinking whore!"
Jesus!
"Cho bomboclaat, Slim, man!" Bruno hisses.
But Sania rolls her eyes. "No, it's OK. It's fine. You know what? It's over! I'm done. We're through, Branardo Chambers!"
The sound of Bruno hissing his teeth, again, comes so clearly you'd think he's in the room with us. "Over? Over wah? Aye! Calm dung yuh fucking self!"
"Or what?"
"Slim."
The way he says so brings back memories.
"No, don't 'Slim' me. Gwaan play with your hoes. Just look how yuh replacement ago deh yah inna the next couple minutes."
Jesus peez!
I slap Sanai's leg, but she cuts her eyes.
Aye, tha gyal yah provoking bad eno...
"Slim, don't fuck wid mi medz, a that mi a tell yuh..."
"Or what, Bruno?"
Likkle girl!
"Yuh want bet mi fuck yuh up?" Bruno answers her. His tone is more serious now, and the rattling through the speakers suggests he's shouting. "Continue provoke mi bomboclaat peace a mind."
Mercy!
Hear big threat.
Sanai nuh fraid? 'Cause me fraid and ano me him a tell that.
"Alright. Watch then," Sanai responds quite sassily, ending the call.
Not even two seconds after she ends the call, the phone starts ringing again.
Deidre and I look at each other then back at Sanai as she grins and puts the phone to her ear, although it's on speaker mode. "What?"
"Hey bloodclaat gyal, a hang yuh just hang up phone inna man ears?" Bruno's gruff voice comes through the speakers.
I don't know Bruno in person, nor have I ever seen him, but his voice alone is terrifying enough for me to know he isn't to be messed with.
Sanai rolls her eyes. "Yes. And?"
"San, behave!" I mouth to her.
For a twenty-two-year-old, Sanai still doesn't seem to know how to identify danger.
Look who's talking...
"Aite, yuh love hype?" Bruno asks, and I can just picture his facial expression as he says so. "Bet say mi come find anyweh yuh deh, right now? And everything get fuck."
Yes, Bruno wid the crocodile teeth!
I bite my lip so that I don't laugh at the thought.
Sanai doesn't miss a beat when she says, "Bet."
My heart leaps.
Suppose this girl make her mad man come a mi yard come shoot it up though, God?
And, I don't put it past him one bit.
"Girl, don't say that. Suppose yuh make the man come yah fi real?" I voice my thoughts, in a low whisper.
And you better believe I'm serious.
Just the thought of him showing up here makes me nervous.
Think about it, what can we as three defenceless women do to fight against a mad man with a gun?
Listen, Sanai and Bruno better cut the foolishness.
I don't play that shit!
She clicks her tongue then speaks into the mic saying, "He's not coming anywhere! He just loves to hear the sound of his own voice."
Eeeh?
Stay deh.
When he hangs up again, I say, "Yuh nuh easy eno, gyal! Remember the last time yuh exalt yuhself wid the man yuh end up get fuck pon gunpoint? Mind this time him actually pull the trigger."
It might sound funny, but me nawh tek no check wid them nowadays mad man yah.
Oh.
To my surprise, Sanai laughs. "Jesus Christ, mi wet yuh fuck."
But watchya!
"Dutty gyal!" Deidre exclaims, pausing her scroll through Netflix.
We all laugh.
Aye, big and serious tho eno, fi a young green gyal, Sanai run some serious risks with her life.
Trust me.
"Bruno have mi inna mi feelings...mi nuh know, mi nuh know, mi nuh know, mi nuh know.Yeah, Good pussy Sanai! Feelings...Yeah-e. Listen this: Like him nuh memba me did warn him 'bout dah pussy yah. And me did tell him this ah sum'n him nuh ready fah. Mi man a gun man! Me like him temper man, him different, him nuh regular. Manda, mi never tell yuh say me love man weh press trigger?" she sings her own rendition to Jada and D'yani's remix.
She laughs, rounding off some blanks with her gun fingers. "Bomboclaat, aye! Uno start mi up eno! 'Cause uno know say mi will sing!"
"Aye! A weh yuh aunty get tha mad gyal yah, Dee?" I ask, laughing hard.
"My name is Sanai Gordon, and I shall be legendary to bloodclaat!"
Murda!
"Bruno need fi come fi yuh fi true!" I say, opening my phone.
She hisses her teeth. "Make him come nuh. See if mi nuh piss inna mi hand and dash it inna him whoring face!"
"Lawd!" I say, laughing out loudly. "Deidre get the rope!"
Deidre laughs then rolls her eyes. "Yawh listen to Sanai? Make Mr. Long buddy Chambers pop up right yasso yah now and see if she nuh silent as a lamb."
"Who?" Sanai sneers.
"You!" Deidre rebuts.
I wait to hear her response, but laugh when she admits it's true.
I cyaan badda!
I is tired...
"Aye, tha gyal yah a sample eno!" I say, through a chuckle, scrolling through everything and nothing on my phone.
But, boy, am I glad they're here.
Without them I don't think I'd be able to cope with the loneliness which threatens to consume me each time I'm left alone.
Not only that, but they've been really good distractions from my life and its current state right now.
I sigh.
"Mi weak to the good hood, a just so it go," she declares. "Nuh make no sense mi fight the truth."
I nod. "True, true."
"See! Manda know how it go. A so she used to gwaan fi Lucas long Jon too!"
The mention of his name makes my heart skip a beat, but I laugh to cover it up.
I cough, but it's dry.
This flu has been a bitch.
No matter how many pills I take, it doesn't seem to help.
Today is the best I've felt in days.
I sigh and clear my throat.
"Aye, Manda better than me eno," San continues. "I don't think mi could a deh yasso a laugh so if Bruno put mi buddy timeout. Worse, if him ever leff mi. I admire your strength, Good gyal."
I blush.
If only you knew how hard I have to be fighting just to be here laughing with you guys, right now.
Over these past few days, I've cried so much tears I'm surprised I have any left.
I know she's joking, but it still hits a nerve.
"Leave her alone," Deidre comes to my defence. "Ano everybody cocky crazed like you, miss. Let her heal."
Sanai raises her hands in mock surrender. "Mi nah trouble a soul. I'm just stating a fact. No offence intended."
I smile. "It's fine. I'm not offended."
"Thank you!" Sanai emphasizes. "Mi nuh know wah happen to Dee. Ano everybody sensitive like you eno, miss Goody-two-shoes!"
I sigh, turning over on my belly as Deidre finally settles on Bridgerton Season 2.
"Hey, a mi alone hungry?" Sanai interrupts the moment of silence which settles between us.
"Mind Bruno breed yuh eno, how yawh nyam so much?" Deidre teases her cousin who's busy stroking my hair.
"Don't bother with that, likkle girl!" Sanai counters. "Mi leff that fi you. Woulda say Manda, but..."
My eyes go wide. "Don't mix me, Lady!"
She laughs. "Uno a big people. Mi just leave teenage land. Mi want enjoy mi youth some more."
Deidre hisses her teeth. "Stay deh. So wah yuh think ago eventually happen when yuh can barely leave Bruno cocky an inch?"
"Mi tie off now, man. Yuh nuh see mi tell him say we done?"
"Done?" Deidre responds, unimpressed. "For how long?"
"Fi good."
"Girl, bye!" Dee says. Then adds. "Look if by later ano uno that again."
I laugh, taking in the exchange.
I wish I could say the same about Lucas and I.
"'Member say the man say him soon come eno, so it might be sooner rather than later," I joke.
Just as the words leave my lips, the doorbell rings.
"Jesus peez!" I hiss, springing to a sitting position.
My heart is in my mouth as I look at Deidre and San who share a similar expression.
Sanai gets up and tries to peek through the window.
"A him?" I ask, feeling my hands start to tremble.
"Mi can't see good," she answers, pulling the curtains further along the rod.
The doorbell goes off again.
Jesus!
"Hold on, make mi go look," Sanai says, walking through the door before we can stop her.
A fi har man still.
A she him come fa.
With bated breath, Deidre and I wait for Sanai to come back, or for us to hear gunshots go off. But nothing happens.
After a few minutes, Sanai returns with boxes of Chinese food in her hands and a gigantic grin on her face. "Look how we nearly have heart attack and nah memba say we did order food how long 'cause Manda nuh have nothing sensible yah fi eat!"
Finally, I'm able to release the breath I've been holding. "Girl, mi soul leave mi body 'bout three times ina the few minutes eno."
We all laugh.
When we sober up, Deidre says, "Speaking of empty house, mi need fi stop a Pricesmart tomorrow and pick up few things, too."
I would too, but I haven't applied for the membership yet.
I must remember to do so soon.
I cough again.
"If yuh never did a leave work so late mi woulda go with you," I tell her.
It has been a while since I've been.
That place brings back memories.
Deidre opens her food. "Yeah."
I do the same.
We settle on the floor, in front of the bed, eating chatting and laughing to our heart's content as we watch the show playing on the TV above us.
Although my body is here physically, enjoying the moment, my mind rests on something else.
Someone else.
Lucas.
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LUCAS P. O. V.
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FRIDAY: 6:00 P. M.
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I pick up the last of the items on Ms. Lorna's list and sigh.
I'm tired and frustrated, and my limbs are still weak and aching from the flu which I've been battling for days now --which, thanks to Ms. Lorna's home remedies, has gotten a bit better since. At least, the coughing isn't so bad anymore.
Overall, I'm annoyed as fuck.
Thank God, the supermarket isn't as packed today as it usually is.
Can't take the bag a people inna mi space right now.
Adjusting the handle in my hand, I turn on my heels and head down the relatively empty aisle.
I'm walking back to the cashier when I bump into someone.
Well...something.
A trolley...being pushed by said someone.
My eyes travel from the trolley to her face.
She's dressed in a fitted navy blue dress with a multi-coloured scarf tied at the collar, and her hair neatly braided and caught in a bun on top of her little head.
Her uniform, I'm assuming.
I nod my greeting. "Sup?"
Deidre answers saying a short, "Hey.".
Seeing her makes my mind drift to Amanda, and I wonder if she's here with her.
I can't help but wonder what she's up to. Although, it's no longer my business.
Yuh right 'bout that, bredda.
I haven't seen her in days though, and I have to be fighting myself not to spy on her.
Nah.
Definetly won't do it.
That would just make things weird and...complicated?
Hmmm...
"Yawh deal wid?" I say, making conversation despite not really wanting to.
As much as him fuck up, a Petrad woman and it doesn't hurt to be polite.
She offers a small, polite smile before saying, "I'm good. You?"
At least she's being polite.
I shrug. "Deh yah a gwaan easy."
Lie.
Him still a mad over the fact say yuh friend give weh the pussy.
I clear my throat at the thought and look around.
She smiles more genuinely now. "OK. So--"
I sneeze as she's about to speak, effectively cutting her off.
"Sorry," I say then sigh, noting that she didn't even say 'Bless you.'
Rude nuh fuck.
But, I guess I can understand why.
Women are naturally overprotective of their friends. And, who's to say what lies Amanda has been feeding her about me since the breakup.
I push the thought behind me.
As bad as she is I don't think she's like that.
Her friend's eyes scan my face and I briefly wonder if a clump of booger is in my nose.
I chuckle beneath my breath.
Well, if a so a so eno.
"Yuh sick too?" she finally says.
Sick too?
I quirk a brow. "Who else sick?"
An expression I can't quite describe quickly passes over her features before it's gone.
Well?
"Amanda. She's been bedridden for days."
Wah the fuck yuh mean bedridden?
My heart skips a beat.
And, I grip the trolley handle tighter.
I wait for her to expound.
But, she doesn't. Nor, does she clarify.
A million things run through my mind.
After a few seconds of what feels like a stare-off, I nod. "Oh. Cool. I guess sum'n mussi a go 'round."
Although I tell her that for want of seeming nonchalant, her statement makes me feel uneasy.
What are the odds we're both sick at the same time?
Hmm...
I ponder on it for a while longer.
Then, I suddenly remember the day we kissed in the rain.
Shit.
See wah fuckry cause?
I chuckle as I consider how stubborn Amanda is and how it always works out to her own disadvantage.
Tell her no go a party, she go.
Tell her no run dung nuh social media fuckry 'bout kiss inna rain, and she does.
Now look deh.
And this flu ain't no joke either.
This shit had me fucked up for weeks.
So, if it did me like that though, imagine her whose immune system isn't as strong.
Another sigh leaves my lips at the thought.
And the fact that she's home alone.
And, fucking bedridden.
That's not good.
My eyes find her friend again who's still standing in the same position, as if she expects for me to say something else.
I step around her and her trolley. "Aite, ago do a one maths. Hail up yuh friend when yuh see her fimi."
She stares at me.
But, I turn to leave.
When I'm a good distance away, I turn into the other aisle.
I walk past two girls who turn to look at me as I continue down the aisle.
But, I don't spare them a second glance. Instead, I continue to move towards the produce section.
My jaws tick as I push the trolley further down the aisle.
Making a mental note of a few extra items to pick up, while mentally berating myself for being a whimp ass pussy.
Weak as fuck.
. . .
It's minutes to 6:30 P. M. when I finally drive out into the Red Hills Road traffic.
My eyes find the bag of groceries sitting on the passenger seat, and I sigh.
The things man do for pussy...
Before I can dwell on it too much, my phone vibrates in my pocket.
As I pull up at the stop light, I pull it out and look at the text that has come in:
*Hey, Miserable man, I land at 8 P. M. 😋*
Shit, I almost forgot about that.
I inhale a deep breath and flex my wrist.
Fuck.