Gyakie- Something
" You scared me Becca. I thought you might not wake up for a long time." Zuriah whispered to her.
" I don't think that was scarier than tonight. I was so petrified Zuriah, I still can't believe I managed to escape." Rebecca admits.
" Sometimes when I look at you, it gives me the courage to tell myself that I can do a lot of things. You're very strong Becca and whatever it is that is after you...I know you're going to fight it and we're going to be here for you."
" That's the problem now Zuriah, it's the we part." Rebecca mumbled, " I was traced because of your visit. How did you know I was in that hospital in the first place?"
" Ashanti sent her baby there because he had a fever or something then she met Dr Ortega who coincidentally mentioned your name. She inturn called me and Amanda and the others since Dr Ortega insisted you have company." Zuriah explained.
" I could swear I heard Lejandro's voice somewhere. I'm now getting it." Rebecca finally comprehends.
" Yeah he was there too."
" That many people were there?"
" If you don't believe me I could give them a call."
" No no, that's the problem... communication. I'm putting all of you in danger everytime I'm in contact with you on a phone. Ashanti definitely called someone using my name and it wouldn't take long for those adversaries to pick up after it." Rebecca explained, " Please don't call anyone using my name."
" Let's stop talking about this, it's making me anxious."
" I need to make a call to my aunt, she must be worried sick."
" No problem." Zuriah hands her her cellphone.
" Hey so what do you want to name her?" Zuriah asked after her phonecall.
" That's her father's problem, he barely held her for five minutes before leaving."
" What about you?"
" I was thinking of a very English name like Arlette but who knows, he might want to name her Night in Arabian since she was born at night."
" Seriously, Leila?"
" Now that I recall it's the name of some slut in school... maybe not."
" Ms Rose is making us some hot cocoa with toasts, I don't think you've eaten real food in days."
" Might explain the headache." Rebecca reclined in the couch.
" After, you need to really take some rest I'll sleep next to the baby so she doesn't wake you." Zuriah assured her, " Anyway who's car were you driving?"
" Oh right the hospital, please do me a favor and call for help for the hospital and please get someone to drive the car back for the doctor, I'll pay for all the damages." Rebecca informed her, " Also I have a gun with me can you help me get rid of it, it's complicated."
" Relax, I've got you. I know a guy."
" Wow Zuri, you're starting to sound like some gangster." Rebecca laughed suddenly regretting it as her head banged.
" Actually I was going to tell Amanda to handle it, don't worry about the damages." Zuriah said standing up, her phone dinged and she glanced at the screen.
" Oh it's Leny." She smiled, " He's been having issues with his landlord."
" Don't let him come over , I don't want him to know about the baby." Rebecca uses this excuse though the real reason was that she hated seeing him around Zuriah. The guy was literally leeching off of Zuriah. She paid his rent, bought him clothes and she takes him out, I mean which fifteen year old girlfriend does that?
Rebecca got that he didn't have any family in Accra, he was from a far away village but Zuriah liked him so much she wanted to help him.
Leny blatantly hits on other girls in school, during the last week of school Rebecca literally saw him with some girl from 1 New Orleans. Rebecca couldn't break it to Zuriah so easily because Zuriah's reaction to this would be fatal. She trusted hard and she breaks down with the same intensity, her condition didn't help. But one of these days Becca wanted her to hear it.
OoO
Ciarra smiled at a text from Lejandro at the dining table during breakfast while her parents conversed about their next conference.
She was no longer at Jasmine's so things were quite different.
" It's really serious these days. The dryness of the atmosphere is definitely going to affect the air quality in the next few months, right sweetie?" Her father asked her in the middle of cutting up his croissant but she didn't seem to have heard him.
He noticed she was smiling and looking down from where she sat so he cleared his throat and Ciarra quickly locked her phone's screen and looked up at them with startled silver eyes gleaming with youthfulness.
" Looks like something interests you more than our conversation on how to save lives. Did something happen that we need to know about?" He asked and she immediately shook her head in disagreement.
" Cat got your tongue?" Her father went on.
" No Paapa, nothing. How was your trip?" She asked sipping her cup of tea.
" Well if you had been listening you would have heard that I've been talking about that for over ten minutes now, it seems your mind is somewhere else." Her mother states
" Oh yeah, it's just this group assignment we have from school for the holidays. It's a lot and it's kind of stressing me out." She complained picking up her tray, " I think I need to get to it in my room. You can call me if anything."
She exits before they could ask any questions, the two sat astounded. Something was different about their daughter.
" Are you noticing something... different?" Her father continued for her mother, " Yeah, I think she's starting to dislike our company."
" She's now a teenager." Her mother shrugged.
Immediately she got into her room and set the tray on her desk her cellphone buzzed. It was Kobby. She picked up.
" Sheesh, you've hung up on me like seven times today." Kobby complains.
" It's 8:30 am Kobby, I have breakfast with my parents. If I as much as pick a call at the table, my Dad would get suspicious so excuse me for not taking your calls." She falls back unto her bed.
" Someone's perky this morning." Kobby chuckled, " The guys and I were heading towards Plus Academy to say hi to Mr Gyamfi, I heard he had an accident." He says referring to their Math teacher from junior high.
" Oh really, wish him a speedy recovery for me. My parents are home so my hands are tied."
" Well that's a bummer, Anyway have you watched the news. I think you should check up on Becca because something happened at the hospital last night."
" Really?" Ciarra asked reaching for her laptop on her dresser opening the browser to a news blog . She scrolled through the news feeds until she found the headline General Hospital Invasion.
She glanced through the articles and gasped, " Oh my, when did this happen, I mean we were there just yesterday."
" Yeah they apprehended the culprits but one of them was found unconscious in Rebecca's ward. Every patient has been accounted for except Rebecca and her baby who are missing."
" You think they got her or she escaped?"
" Seems like the latter."
" Hold on I'll call Amanda." She dialled Amanda's line and it went straight to voicemail. She tried Zuriah too but her line was off, " Something is definitely fishy here, how did those two lines suddenly become unavailable?"
Everyone was getting apprehensive about Rebecca's whereabout. Yeah she wasn't the friend type but she always seemed to leave a lasting impression on those she interacted with.
OoO
" Bee, I think it's time to wake up."Zuriah nudged Rebecca awake at 9am holding Rebecca's teary eyed baby in her arms.
" I've been trying to calm her down so you can sleep but she wouldn't budge. I think she's hungry."
Rebecca let out a yawn taking the baby from Zuriah carefully.
" Hey sweetie, missed me?" The baby stopped crying briefly staring up into her mother's eyes. A few seconds later she tries to cry again and Rebecca decides it's time to feed her. After she managed to get her to sleep she got up to shower.
" Zuriah, please I'm going to be needing some baby supplies to give her a bath."
" List it out." Zuriah smiled.
" I need towels, baby soap, the works and steamy water."
" Steamy water?"
" The nurse says to sit on a bucket of warm water every morning. Also my Aunt Louisa says baby's head has to be molded with warm towels. She has her Dad's head if you haven't noticed."
" Huh, I didn't know about any of this."
" Anyway I need to call him with your phone."
" I turned it off to avoid any calls, it's on the coffee table, I'll be out for the supplies." Zuriah informs her grabbing her purse.
Rebecca dialled three numbers 663 and he picked up on the third ring.
" Are you alright, I tried to get back there on time but when I did you were already gone." He rambled in Arabic
" Eric ...calm down, I'm with Zuriah but we will have to leave immediately because I don't want anything to happen to Zuriah." She replied in the same language.
" I already arranged for the jet to pick you two up."
" Isn't it risky to fly with a newborn?" Rebecca asked concerned.
" I spoke to the doctor I got you, she says since the baby has already received her vaccines she can."
" Alright."
OoO
Early that morning, the Quansah household was woken up by screams and shouts from her mother's family relatives who were angrily demanding an explanation for their daughter's death. They had wanted to do this at the funeral but unfortunately it was organized by the Arm Force just a week after her death. Major Quansah had extended an invitation to them to which they didn't honor.
Julie was scared and quickly hid behind Faye as they came at her Dad. Faye's aunt Emefa tries to reason with them but their anger kept escalating as they begun calling Mr Quansah names. Evil, cursed, heartless. According to them, he was the cause of Jessica's sudden lung disease. Major Quansah had never smoked or abused substances in his entire life, he was a soldier for crying out loud.
Out of respect he didn't want to retaliate. Emefa on the other hand was over trying to reason with them, now she was full blown arguing with them too. It got even worse when they grabbed Faye claiming they were going to take her away from him before he bewitches her too.
Faye immediately pulled herself away.
" I'm not going anywhere with you grandma!" Faye yelled.
" Look at that, he has already done enough damage!" Her uncle exclaimed.
" No, my mother has been sick for so many years, I don't know how many of you cared for her as much as my Dad did, yet here you are trying to pretend like you loved her more." Faye retorts.
" Would you shut up," Her grandma retaliates, " We asked him to bring her to the village so we could take her to see a spiritualist, but what did he do...he managed to convince my own daughter against me and went for Orthodox treatment, where has that led her? Huh?! Tell me!"
" I am still not going anywhere with you." Faye seethes.
" I want everything that belongs to my daughter. Get out of my way you!" She insists pushing Julie aside and making her way into the house.
Julie begun to cry. They knew Julie was adopted so they treated her with much disdain to the child's dismay.
" You're not going to allow them take her stuff are you?" Emefa asked Mr Quansah who stood almost in tears, a wounded soldier.
" You know what, let them have it all." He sighed.
" Her car keys?" One of Faye's uncle's called.
" Emefa go and get it for him on my nightstand." He tells her, she hesitates but leaves eventually, Mr Quansah turned to Jessica's brothers with the words of a determined man, " And let me make this clear to you. As soon as everything she owns leaves this house, I don't want to see any of your faces on my property. Try me and you'll regret it. Go for what you can take."
Faye tries to get Julie to stop crying.
The greediness of man.
They called in a moving truck and literally packed away everything Jessica Quansah owned in that house, even pots and pans. By the time they were gone, it was midday.
The living room was practically empty. Only the couches were left. They even took the TV! Mr Quansah went straight to the home appliances showroom downtown and bought back everything within two hours and had them installed.
He was wrecked to a point and decided to get out of the house to mourn away from the children. He preferred they see him as the strong, bold man he always was.
Faye lay in her bed that afternoon glaring at the ceiling. Julie was at the twins' house playing and rehearsing for her upcoming recital at school, her Dad was at the barracks and her aunt had gone to the University for her lectures.
Faye had spent the entire noon cleaning up the house to keep her busy and now she had nothing doing. The loud silence finally crept up to her, the house had never felt so empty and flood gates of emotions she'd been holding back all morning burst open.
In addition to that the after effects of the drugs Velar had fed her was slowly driving her insane. She had seen her mother stand infront of her at least six times that morning, even when she looked in the mirror. She didn't believe in ghosts so this was so depressing to her.
Before she could stop herself she was already in tears on her pillow. She tried to console herself but every second felt even more strange and she taught deeply about what had happened, she was not going to see her mother when she gets home from school, she had no one to blatantly tell her not to wear a particular dress out of the house. She already missed her and it hadn't even been a month. Her cellphone chimed halfway through her self loathing exercise.
It was from Ladi, How are you feeling, just thought of you?
That was supposed to cheer her up but it rather brought more tears to her eyes and she buried her face in her blanket.
Ladi noticed the blue ticked message and decided to call. She picked up on the third ring but said nothing.
" Faye, how are you feeling today?"
She was trying hard to not sound like she'd been crying but knew it wouldn't work the moment she speaks up so she kept silent.
" Hey it's going to be alright, okay? " He assured her, " Don't cry else I'm also going to start crying from here."
She wiped away her tears and sniffed back her tears.
" Listen, how about I come over with some Fanta and plantain chips, do you like the yellow one?"
" Hm." She choked back a tear.
" Got it. I'm going to be there soon ok. Try reciting the Roman numerals from 1 to 500 before I get there okay?" He replied before ending the call.
He must have been very creative to tell her to recite the Roman numerals in her head because she got confused at 80 and had to start again several times. The third time she started over the doorbell rung. She picked up the stuffed animal she'd been cuddling, the one he had gotten her at Ink It and mooched towards the door.
The door opened to a teary eyed Faye in sweatpants and a cute t-shirt with bags under her eyes, she looked so adorable and vulnerable at the same time as she hugged her stuffed toy to herself.
" Hey Missy." He smiled like a Cheshire cat getting her to chuckle out of her misery. She noticed he had obviously left home impromptu because he was in a blue Old Navy t-shirt over black cargo shorts and he had on a pair of Adidas slip-ons. He looked handsome regardless with his pretty face and generic ego.
" Where's everyone?" He asked when she let him in. He placed the brown paperbag he had in hand on the kitchen counter while Faye got them a plate and tumblers.
" Barracks, University, the twins' house." Faye replied with a sniff.
" Hmm." Ladi observed the impeccably neat house noticing a few changes but holding back from asking questions, " Hey I brought an Indonesian movie. I hear watching movies in other languages is very therapeutic."
Faye shot him a disbelieving look.
" It's true...or so the vendor said." He stated taking out the drive from his pocket.
" It's called Mariposa!" He beamed setting it on the table before pouring the Fanta into the tumbler while Faye emptied the chips into a bowl and walked into the living room.
" Sounds like a cartoon." She said as they sat next to each other on the couch.
" No it's not." Ladi refutes inserting the thumb drive into the TV. She glared at him before pressing play on the remote.
Faye was about asking him if he didn't realize he was too old to be buying pirated movies but refrained from asking him something that could get them bickering for the next hour.
A very pretty school shows up on the screen.
" It's a rich kid's school." She observed.
" Don't worry, there isn't going to be any X rated stuff. It's totally cool... or so the vendor says." He adds the last part earning him a look from Faye.
" What?" He shrugged.
" Hey imagine Nelson's looked half as great as this school." Faye said sipping her Fanta so she wouldn't point out the obvious.
" Oh then it'd be an Elite prep school. With extremely snobby kids, imagine that."
" Definitely Heather, Sarah and Kweiba might not be there and I can't imagine a school with Ashanti,Vee and Ciarra. Those three are intense!" Faye snorted.
" I can only imagine." He chuckled munching on some chips.
" What is wrong with this girl, who chases after a guy so shamelessly?" Faye asked a few minutes later through the movie.
" Dude you're getting riled up relax." Ladi jokes.
" His best friend is really cute though."
" Yeah, I like how realistic the characters are. You watch American movies and the high schoolers look like Chris Hemsworth." He says before turning to her, " Wanna do another therapeutic thing?"
" Enough with the pirated movies." She couldn't help but blurt it out.
" Naaa, after the movie I'm going to take you some place. I'll text your Dad." He says, " And these are not pirates."
He sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.
" You two are on texting terms?" Faye asked surprised.
" Mr Quansah is cool, he keeps posting these memes I comment on and now we're text buddies."
" Oh so you're the one he claims gets his jokes. I don't know how to react about you texting my Dad." Faye scoffed and he grinned.
" Hey look, she says she's going a week without bothering Iqbal." He pointed out from the TV and Faye snickered.
" Look at her, she wouldn't last."
A few minutes later Faye comments from the movie, " I don't know but I think Caucasians bleed from the nose for the weirdest reasons."
" I hear it's from stress usually when studying."
" I know at least ten nerds in my dorm who study like crazy yet they've never had a nosebleed. Ashanti is a big example."
" Maybe atmospheric temperatures count, Ghana is a tropical country so..."
" I still don't buy it."
Several minutes later the movie came to an end and Faye proceeded to her room to change. She went over to the twins' house to drop the house keys before joining him in his car.
" Seriously, where are we going?" She asked.
" You'll see."
" I swear if you drive us off a cliff I'll haunt you for the rest of your life."
" I'm so scared." Ladi blithely mocks her taking the highway, joining several cars on the road. The Camaro literally slithered it's way through the lanes.
They parked in front of an arcade downtown.
" I don't feel like playing games L." She observed her surroundings from the windows of the car.
" I know Faye. You're really going through a lot and I know you can't talk about much of it, not that you don't want to but you don't really know what to say." He told her, " And Faye whenever you're hurting, so am I and I don't want to ask too many questions."
" I really appreciate that, everyone keeps telling me to talk to them, I don't want to talk about it L. Everytime I think about it I break down...I don't want to talk about it either." He also added as she tried explaining herself.
" Everything is not going to be exciting everyday and as much as I want to be there during every great moment in your life, I want to be present when you're going through hell too because I went through it and I know if Moro hadn't been there I would have endured it in a different way."
" Lately I can't really figure out my emotions, I get scared, angry and lonely all at the same time it makes it hard to even sleep." She swallows back a tear.
" You've got this Faye." He placed an affectionate hand on her shoulders a few seconds later he continues ,
" Don't you want me to show you why I brought you here?"
" Let's go." She opened her side of the door, " The last time I was at an arcade I was 9 years old, I don't know what has changed."
He walked her to another section of the arcade and opened the door to a bowling arena, they walked through another door in the bowling arena to another room, " Dude are you planning to kidnap me? Cause we've walked through like six doors so far, remember my father is a major." Faye joked.
" We're here." The place looked like a shooting range.
" Ladi are you really going to trust me with a gun, one of us will definitely not be leaving here alive." Faye informed him.
" Seriously? This is not a shooting range." He stated and Faye took in her surroundings, the place was simply lit with blue lights and the wall ahead of them had scrapes and scratches all over.
A tough looking muscled guy walked out from the back towards them, " Nylander!"
" Good evening to you too Nero. This is Faye." He introduced.
" Hello." He shook hands with her, " Changing rooms are at the back. I'll set everything up." He said in his deep voice before walking out the door.
Ladi dragged her to the changing rooms where they had earmuffs, overalls, and eye protection and boots.
" Ladi is this paintball?" Faye called from the female stall."
" Better!" He responded walking out fully protected.
She joined him later and they walked back into the arena where a stack of china plates had been placed on tables and the place was teeming with The Vamps' Somebody to You.
" This is how it goes, we throw the plates at the wall."
" Is it fun?" Faye inquired and Ladi hurled a plate at the wall and it crushed into pieces, She answered her own question " Wow... this is going to be exciting."
Faye joined him in throwing plates at the wall, the comforting sound of crushing plate against the wall and the pieces falling to the ground was a different level of stimulus.
" Trust me, you're going to enjoy this." He handed her an old porcelain plate and she hurled it at the wall. Her eyes glowed with excitement.
" How many of these have they got?" She asked him and he gestured towards the stack on a desk next to them, " I'm loving this."
Faye hadn't realized the pent up anger inside of her, her depression for the past couple of days had included a substantial bout of anger mostly at herself for making bad decisions at school.
At Velar for introducing her to drugs, at the school for suspending her from the soccer team, at her mom for leaving her, at the teachers who underestimated her and mostly about how little she viewed her own potentials. It was unnerving and totally irritating.
Hearing the sound of the crushing pieces sort of brought her level of rage to the minimum.
As the last plate crushed against the wall she turned to Ladi, " Did you bring water?"
" There's a diner next to the arcade, we can go over." He suggested dragging her towards the doors. They changed their clothes and proceeded towards the place. Evening had approached.
It was quite serene with very hospitable staff.
" What can I get you?" The pleasant lady asked serving them two glasses of water after they had picked a table.
" What's for today?"
" Oh we have Banku and grilled Tilapia, Yam chips and pork, Ampesi, Jollof and Spaghetti." She said and the two smiled at each other both having the same thought, they each wanted two of those dishes but knew they could only order one each.
" Faye?" Ladi called.
" Okay Yam chips and pork chops."
" Noted, you please?"
" Banku and Tilapia." He grinned.
" Any beverages, we have a special orange, pineapple and ginger juice on the menu."
" Two glasses of that please." Ladi ordered.
" Alright, coming up." She said before leaving.
" You want to eat my fish don't you?" He asked the obvious question.
" Duuuuh. " She rolled her eyes.
" Just so you know I'm also going to eat your chips."
" Touché." Faye agreed.
Ladi's phone buzzed, it was his Dad on video call.
" I told him to stop video calling me, he never gets the camera settings right. Just watch." He answered and his Dad's face was practically in the camera, his eyebrows occupying Ladi's screen.
" Hey son." He greeted warmly.
" Dad, can you please get your face away from the camera." Ladi says in a bored tone.
" Oh, right. Right. Where are you anyway? I just got home."
" I'm with Faye Dad." He replied.
" Alright..." He hesitates before asking, " Can I say hello to her?"
" No." Ladi outrightly replied as Faye tried to hold back a laugh.
" Hello Professor Nylander!" Faye called from her side
" See, she wants to talk to me, give her the phone."
Ladi rolled his eyes and complied.
" Hi Fayanna... she's so pretty." He said and this time Ladi rubbed his forehead embarrassed by his father's nonchalance.
" You look just like Ladi." Faye commented.
" I know, he hates that. " The older man chuckled, " I've heard so much about you Faye yet I've never met you."
" Hey, you talk about me that much?" Faye punched him playfully in the shoulder.
" It's always Faye said this, Faye wouldn't do this this, if Faye had been here, I was actually half expecting you to come with a halo." Professor Nylander rambled.
" Oh really?" Faye asked staring at a now bashful Ladi.
" That's it, give me the phone- No." He reached out for the phone but Faye pulled it away from his reach and he sat back down.
" I also heard about your loss, my condolences. Jessica was really strong."
" You know my mom?" Faye asked.
" Yeah, she flew me to Benin when I was just a deputy's secretary at the Ministry."
" Really?"
" Yeah, my regards to Major Quansah." He said and Faye turned to Ladi with a questioning look, " I wish I could come over to see him but I'm swamped up since it's the last month of the year, I'll make sure to do so immediately I'm available."
" He knows your parents, they are all government officials don't be surprised." Ladi explained.
" Are you guys at a restaurant?" He asked Faye.
" Yes please."
" Ladi please get me dinner on your way home I have a ton of work to do in my office tonight, Ohemaa didn't come around today and looks like you ate everything in the house before leaving- Dad!" Ladi interjects with embarrassment, cutting his father off.
" Seriously, even the block of cheese isn't in the fridge anymore. What did you do with it, use it as body lotion?"
" Daaad." Ladi whined in embarrassment, " I'll buy you back your cheese."
" Son I'm just pulling your legs, be home before ten got it?"
" Yes sir."
" Nice meeting you once again Faye." He grinned and Faye waved at him before handing the phone back to Ladi.
" Hey you should bring her home some ti..sorry can't hear you!" Ladi immediately ended the call.
" Hey!" Faye protested, " I heard that."
" You do not want to come over, he'll call almost all our family relatives over." Ladi elaborates as they were served their meals.
He stared at Faye briefly, " You're not going to take photos like other girls do?"
" You seem to not know me that well. I'd love to be famous but at the same time I am petrified of publicity." Faye stated.
" Hmmm, that makes sense." He agreed, " I'm gonna go wash my hands... don't touch my fish."
" I promise." She grinned in a not so convincing way.
He returned a few minutes later,
" Something just popped into my mind."
" Good for you." Faye teased sipping her juice.
" Hey I'm not that old it happens." He smiled picking up his cutlery.
" You're not seriously going to eat that with a fork and knife, are you?"
" After two years in Nelson's it has become very difficult to turn it off."
" Seriously why would you make your students eat Kenkey with cutlery, it reminds me of Kweiba. She'd look over her shoulders and when she realizes no one is observing her table she'll drop the cutlery and use her hand."
" Nonetheless it's a good training, until Nelson's I didn't know I had to put the knife in my right hand. " Ladi states cutting his grilled fish in two,
" Which part of the fish do you prefer?"
" That's a very tricky question." Faye says stabbing a pork chop with her fork.
" I know right, I do it to my Dad all the time." Ladi laughed, " Just so you know I like the head."
" I know, now you'll have to share it." She informed him as he picked a crispy yam chip glazed with salt from Faye's plate and dipped it in his pepper sauce.
A few seconds later he winced, " It's so spicy." He took a gulp of water from his glass while Faye had a good laugh at him.
" What Ga boy can't eat chilly pepper?!" Faye laughed referring to his tribe, " Look at your face."
" I'm not so used to it." He admits.
" Okay here." Faye emptied her packets of ketchup into his pepper sauce and stirred it up, " Try this."
He did, " Better?" She asked and he nodded, " You're one of those people who get runny noses and teary eyes when they eat anything chilly right?"
" I am not going to answer that." He says picking out the bones from the fish for Faye, " My mom used to do this for me everytime I had to eat fish. I think it's sweet."
" You're such a Mama's boy." She teased, " Anyway what came to your mind earlier?"
He looked up at her as he passed her the fish, " Well my Dad once told me the best way to go through a loss is to do stuff for other people...it makes you think less of everything going on and it turned out to be a great advice. Do you think you have anyone in mind you could check up on today?"
It made so much sense, her friends had a lot they were each going through, if she took time to check up on them, it would be really encouraging for them and helpful to her.
While he ate she decided to call Veronica to check up on Calvin.
The phone picked up on the first ring as if she'd been expecting a call.
" Hey Vee." Faye greeted.
" Faye, what a pleasant surprise!" You could hear the excitement in her tone but it didn't fully mask out her tired voice.
" How's everything going?" Faye asked.
" I don't know Faye, I really don't and I'm so scared."
" Have you told your mom about it?"
" Yeah she's here with me. I really thought she'd freak out...she actually did at the onset but she's been so supportive and the other guys at the café also take turns sleeping at his bedside each night. Nylander came to visit last night."
" Oh really, he didn't tell me, I wish I could do something."
" Same here, even my mom is trying the hardest I've ever seen her." Veronica sniffed back a tear, " Hey the doctor just called for us, I forgot to ask, how are you doing."
" Getting better." Faye stirred her ketchup with a chip.
" We'll talk okay, if you need anything you can call me okay?"
" Alright."
" I've got to go, bye." Veronica ends the call.
The line goes dead.
" I feel so bad for Veronica." Faye sighed.
" I visited him and he looked like pain itself." Ladi related, " The guys have been calling from school asking me for updates. Monty was practically in tears, I'll be in school tomorrow so hopefully they won't be jamming my cellphone with their calls anymore."
" I need to check up on Kweiba too." Faye dialled her contact but it was unreachable. She tried again and there was the same response, " Do you think something is up?"
" With Kweiba? Anything is possible with that girl." Ladi chuckled.
" I don't know where she lives either." Faye said calling Ashanti who's phone was switched off. " Unlike Kweiba I know where Ashanti lives, after we leave here we're going there."
" Ok, you're eating that?" He refers to her food.
" Don't you dare!" She warned him picking her fish with the fork.
After dinner, Ladi ordered for a packaged food to-go for his Dad and they got back in the car and headed towards Ashanti's mansion.
Halfway through the ride Faye turned to him, " Hey how come I've never been to your place before? Not that I want to pry but you kind of cut your Dad off when he suggested it."
" My place??" Ladi thought, " Well we've been living outside the house ever since Dad became speaker. We do go to the house once in a while, my aunt and grandma live there."
" You're in an apartment?" Faye predicts.
" The Villagio Primera." He stated negotiating a curve joining the moving traffic.
" Cool, I hear a lot of celebrities live there."
" Yeah, I literally hear Starboy singing in the shower next door. "
" Oh my gosh, he lives next door?"
" Yeah." Ladi chuckled, " Faye, I made a lot bad decisions last year and that is why I don't want to bring you around."
Faye looked at him for further explanation.
" Well you see, when I met you and you told me you'd like our relationship to be exclusively celibate I was sort of thrilled and relieved....I used to hook up with different girls in the apartment since my Dad was barely around and it earned me a reputation over here. I don't want any of them to think you're my one night stand so I didn't want to invite you over."
" I thought the place was kind of private."
" I know but as you already know, I'm a people person and thus I am friends with the security guards, the housekeepers, Starboy, James Ottis the soccer player and many more influential neighbors on the block and they kind of know me for who I was, not who I am now so I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea because you're different."
" Don't tell me you dated someone in Nelson's."
" Two." He announced.
" Oh my!" Faye gasped, " How many of them are out to get me?"
" I assure you none of them are. We break up on mutual terms with a generous settlement so no hard feelings is held."
" Dude you pay them?"
" I'm not gonna go into detail. But I know you want to know who so I'm just going to say it, Dansoa from my class and Nadia who graduated last semester.
" Interesting." Faye nods to herself.
" Haven't heard about your bestie lately." He tried to change the subject as he drove down the high street
" True? She's been shipped off to her grandma's for scaling her walls to go hang out with friends."
Ladi shot her a ridiculous look.
" There's a reason we're best friends. Misbehavior is our directional outlet." Faye says as Ashanti's magnificent mansion comes into view.
The golden lights of the rooftop chandeliers illuminated the house all the way to the gate. Faye got out and pressed on the video doorbell, the gates immediately opened.
" That was fast!" Ladi commented parking infront of the gate.
" I think Ashanti has the remote." Faye said as they walked down the polished stone path to the porch, she noticed a glow from the direction of the garage and decided to check the place first.
It was Ashanti's cousin/chauffeur, Donald changing the tyres of a Hyundai Santa Fe which she knew was Ashanti's favorite car.
" Wow!" Ladi gasped in shock glaring at the lined up cars in the garage designed to slope downwards to an underground parking lot to create more space. It was like a showroom down there.
" I forgot to tell you, Ashanti owns a fleet so your Camaro isn't as impressive anymore." Faye blatantly brags.
" Hey you." Donald finally looked up and greeted.
" Good to see you, have you seen Ashanti?"
" Go up the stairs, third door to your left, it's the TV room." He says with a warm smile.
" Faye, she has an Avenger. " Ladi walked to the car and said in awe.
" You should check this one out." Donald pointed at a white car far back. Faye rolled her eyes, boys and their toys. She left the garage and walked unto the lighted porch with woven cane chairs and oak coffee tables and opened the Turkish doors.
The living room was eerily silent as she looked around, the thick silver curtains gave the room a royal glow and the lacquered marble floors looked way too expensive to walk on, even the tapestry and furnishing screamed affluence. You could never walk around in Ashanti's house without being in awe. She proceeded up the stairs holding on to the ormolu encrusted balustrades.
She saw the third door to her left alright and opened the door to Ashanti in a baggy t-shirt and ugly shorts sitting in a sofa slurping a bowl of what looked like spaghetti in milk, her hair in a messy bun as she tried to adjust her sitting posture upon Faye's entrance. The TV was running one of the Troll movies and she looked like she'd cry.
" Girl, what are you doing?" Faye asked in a bored tone.
" Please don't yell at me. Also I haven't showered since morning...or maybe yesterday... I can't really tell anymore so don't come closer." Ashanti drawls sniffing her t-shirt.
" Why do you look so gloomy?"
" Have you watched this movie? Everyone lost their music and they just found it from a heartbeat." She swooned.
" Seriously? And what is that you're eating?"
" Oh this, I gave Mrs McAdams the holidays off since she's been caring for the house and Bruno the entire time I was in school, she needs a break. Sadly I made the decision at the wrong time because there's barely any groceries and I'm too lazy to order anything so I made cereal...with spaghetti."
" Eeeeew!"
" Hey, it tastes great!" Ashanti retorts with a small laugh, " I just spent two hours putting a baby to sleep, cut me some slack."
" Whatever, I'm not letting you sit here and rot on my watch let's get you in the shower." Faye sighed pulling her out of the sofa, " We'll go to the market tomorrow."
" But the movie...I'll pause it!" Faye grabbed the remote and did just that before pushing her out of the room and towards her room.
Ashanti walked straight to her bathroom before calling out, " Have you heard from Heather?"
" No, I tried Zarah's line but no one picked up."
" We could pass by her side after we're done with the market." Ashanti called out of the shower.
" Sure." Faye answered before walking out of the room and back to the garage.
Ladi and Donald were prattling about the engine capacity of a car when she showed up.
" Ladi, can I talk to you for a second?" She asked.
" Oh right, be right back." He told Donald and hopped off the hood of the car to meet Faye.
" Ashanti's kinda having a dinner situation right now, she was eating spaghetti with milk."
" Oh I love that too."
" L... that is not real food." Faye reminds him trying to hold back from explaining why that is not real food.
" Right, I could give her my Dad's and get him something else on the way home." He suggested fetching his keys from his pocket.
" That's so nice of you." Faye commented and he walked down the stone path and out the gates which could be opened once inside. He got into his car and came back with the paperbag handing it to her.
" I know you girls are having this girl talk thing so I don't want to come over." Ladi explained.
" You make us sound so weird."
" See, I didn't even say anything and you've already assumed I said you're weird." He states and Faye looked perplexed, " Donald did I tell you about the ..." He trailed off getting back into the garage while Faye tried to wrap her mind around what he said.
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Sorry for the late update, just had a brief period of stressful school hours. Will make it up to everyone. Vote and share though.