Curiosity killed the cat.
But, if the cat knew it would die because of its curiosity, did that ever prevent it from being curious?
I doubted that.
Anyway, cats had nine lives for a reason.
I had just one, and I was about to kill myself.
Mrs. Adomah had left me on my own for our biology extra classes. She rushed out something about needing to pick her toddlers up from school while stashing a massive lunch bag and a black Birkin into the trunk of her RAV4, before giving me a wave and peeling out of the teacher's parking lot.
The tail lights of the car lit up and the vehicle came to a halt as Adam walked up to it. He had forgone the Kente-lined suit of his rank and looked just like anyone of us in his white shirt and navy trousers. He nodded to something she said, offered a polite smile and nod, then waved as the car continued towards the main gates.
With my hand in my pocket, I stood and waited for him on the veranda. I normally avoided Adam but as I said, I was about to kill myself.
"Hello, Tricia." He smiled, coming to a stop in front of me.
"Hello yourself." I lifted a hand to shade my eyes from the rays of the sun and gave him an inquiring look. "Aren't you going home?"
"There's a few loose ends to tie up. You know, Head Prefect responsibilities."
"How could I forget?" I mumbled. I began walking in the direction of the classroom my class was supposed to take place in, knowing Adam would have no choice but to follow because he liked to pester me about my extra-classes.
There was only one other person in the class, and he sat at the very back of the classroom, deeply engrossed in his Biology textbook. I dropped my bag on the ground after taking a seat at a desk next to the wall while Adam threw himself down into the next desk and blew out a tired sigh.
"Are you also staying for the class?" I asked him. "You did just see Mrs. Adomah leave, right?"
Adam rolled his eyes in response. "Extra-classes are for struggling students, Tricia." He turned to me with a smirk. "You know as well as I do that we both don't need them."
"And yet, here we are." I said, trying to sound cool. On the inside, I was giving him a god-size slap across the face.
"No." Adam shook his head. "Here you are, Trish."
I counted to four, inhaled, unclenched my fists, exhaled. Adam continued to stare at the window across the class, lost in thought, so he missed it when I placed my textbook and the black notebook on the desk. I was almost halfway through a page on the introduction to respiration, when he sucked in a breath.
"Where did you get this?"
He was holding up the black notebook David had given me, an undecipherable expression on his face.
"David gave it to me." I lifted my shoulder in a half-shrug.
I could see the veins in his hands begin to bulge as he tightened his fingers on the book. "He gave it to you? As in, to hold on to it while he does something? He'll be back for it, right?" There was a desperate plea in the last question that almost made a bout of sympathy overwhelm me.
"No." I said softly, absentmindedly playing with the tip of the page. "I had written a few things in it and since the book was unused when I did so, he just allowed me to have it."
"But why?"
"How would I know what goes on in the guy's head? You can ask him if it's that important to you."
Adam barely heard me, staring at the book with an ocean of hurt. "It's just a notebook, am I right?" Uttered with a broken chuckle, the words were soft, and when they died out, there was a resounding silence.
In all the years I'd known him, I had never seen Adam so close to tears.
"Yes, it is." I agreed and took it out of his hand. "Are you going to leave now? Head prefect duties await."
"Right." He stood and swallowed. Then awkwardly scratched the back of his head as if he had no idea what to do with himself. "I'll uh...see you tomorrow, Tricia."
"Of course."
I bit my lower lip and kept my gaze trained on the textbook in front of me but unable to read anything. There was a feeling in my chest that made bile rise to my throat and made me question if the life I'd wasted to satisfy my curiosity had been worth it.
...
The rumbling of the motorcycle's engine was the only noise on my street as the driver pulled out a white bag from the lunchbox tied to the back of his bike. The shape of three take-away packs dented the rubber and when he handed it to me, I could feel the heat of the food even through my sweatpants.
"Thank you." I said, handing him the standard twenty-five cedi delivery fee.
He threw me a wink before getting on his bike, and I walked back into the house, bringing the food up to my nose to take in the mouth-watering smell. It had been an never-ending evening; I was famished. It was almost seven, and I hurriedly brought out three plates from the cabinet above the stove and placed them on the island before rushing down the hall to my parents' studies.
Dad's door was slightly open, so I only gave a light knock before pushing it open fully.
He was on the phone, as expected, standing behind the large polished mahogany desk with one Quartz-adorned hand gripping the back of his leather swivel. He had been speaking harshly into it, but paused when I poked my head in.
"Did you need anything?" He asked, the sleek device still pressed to his ear.
"The food just got here." I replied. "And also, Monday is Open Day, and I was wondering if you would be able to make it."
"Can we discuss this later?" Translation: I'm not going. "And please leave my food on the island. I'll come and eat when I'm ready."
"Okay."
Lightly closing the door behind me, I turned and walked three steps to knock on the opposite door.
"Come in, love."
Mum sat upright in her chair, and the light tapping of her fingers against the keyboard and the hum of the air-conditioning had been the only noise in the room until I stepped in. Her brown jacket was draped over the back of the beige swivel, and she had kicked off her pumps, making her look only slightly relaxed.
"Food is here."
She paused her typing, and lifted her head with a tired smile. "I'll be with you soon, Tricia. Just let me finish this presentation."
"Okay." I pushed a lock of hair off my shoulder. "Monday is Open Day, by the way."
"Oh, it's here already? Have you informed your father?"
"Yes."
"Good, because I'm not sure I can make it."
"Oh." I had been expecting this, of course, but it still didn't make the numbness in my hands and feet any less paralyzing. "Why not?"
She drew her locks up into a ponytail and reached for a pen across the glass desk without even sparing me a glance. "This presentation is for a conference I've been invited to on Monday, at the University. I am one of the speakers and will be taking part in a panel discussion. I can't come to your school, love. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." I smiled. The tightness in my throat eased up a little bit. I was used to this. "Perhaps you can speak to my teachers another time."
"Of course." Just then, the screen of her iPhone lit up and she gave me an apologetic smile. "Can you leave my food on the island? I'll have it as soon as I finish this call."
"Sure."
Beef Jollof with salad, grilled chicken and golden fried shrimps. A few minutes ago, it had my mouth watering. Now, I felt like a forkful would be enough to make me throw up. I closed the take-way pack and shoved it into the fridge, redelegating it to tomorrow's lunch. The third plate on the island went back into the cabinet above the stove.
I opened the fridge again. A bottle of my favourite coffee drink and a sandwich. The thought of Astrid making a face at my beverage choice made me smile. I went upstairs. My laptop was open, displaying what I'd been working on. Adam had sent everyone a copy of the Physics quiz we did today, and I had been working my way through them. I planned to revisit my biology notes afterwards.
I took a sip of the drink, and took a bite of the sandwich. They tasted like dirt, but I forced myself to finish them, because doing so would force the tightness in my throat to ease up a little more, and it would keep the tears at bay.
Didn't you know? A light snack while one was busy with work was better than a full-course meal at an empty table.
...
Tuesday's free period was here again.
Mr. Asah hadn't shown up, and in his abscence, Adam had led the class through the quiz we did yesterday to prepare for the upcoming mock exam. While I went through new problems, having finished the quiz last night, Astrid had her head on the desk, braids splayed across her back and over her shoulder, snoring lightly. Poor girl woke up with a cold and had been miserable the entire morning.
When the physics period ended, I still didn't have the heart to wake her up, so I quietly picked up my phone, tablet and notebook and left the class. The library, my usual go-to during free period, was entirely occupied by one of the Form Three business classes, so I made the short trek to the adjacent room, the computer lab.
It was completely empty, and yet the air-conditioning was on. A Chromebook was running on one of the workstations, and next to it was a sheet of paper with weird drawings and calculations, a small microcontroller and circuit board with several wires. Someone was using this space, and would probably be back soon. In retrospect, the white headphones lying on the laptop's keyboard should've been enough warning as to who that would be.
The desk in the far left corner at the back of the room looked inviting, and that was where I settled. If I kept my head down and studied, no one would even notice I was here.
Our third mock exam would start in two weeks, and I wanted to be wholly prepared for it. If I got even a B on any subject after all the effort I put in, I would actually weep. As the course syllabus for Social Studies loaded, a message popped up at the top of the screen.
david.c.ampofo: I'm at the library and it's crowded af. Where are you?
Sighing, I swiped the notification away. I just wanted to spend free period by myself. I was interrupted, of course. Beacause Murphy's Law.
"Can I speak to you?"
My head shot up when I recognized the voice, thinking that he was in the room, speaking to me. But it came from outside, and that was when I realized that Adam was speaking to someone else.
"No." David's response was flat. Over the top of the monitor, I could see Adam standing in the door was with his back to me, and David's face with a scowl, staring down at him. "Can you move aside? I'm in a hurry."
There was a slight grunt, and the door opened with a slight creak. I immediately ducked my head and prayed they wouldn't spot me.
"David. I...I saw the notebook you gave her."
Paralyzed would not have been enough to describe how stiff I became after that sentence.
"So?"
"I asked you for one first. You said didn't want to share them with anyone. Days later, I see Tricia making notes in one she said you gave to her." Adam was like a petulant child complaining that his sibling was being favored over him.
David laughed. He actually found this entertaining. "What are we? Five? Don't tell me you're going to start an argument over something that belonged to me."
"It's not just about the notebook. It is the fact that you giving one to her as a gift means you never intended for me to have one in the first place."
"Jesus, how long did it take you to figure that out?"
Even though I wasn't on the receiving end, I flinched at David's question. I could only imagine how Adam felt.
"W-what?"
"Yeah, I don't want you to have anything of mine."
Adam scoffed, but it was shaky. "Don't tell me you're being this petty because of what I did. Dude, it's been six years and I've apologized over and over and ov-"
"Sorry doesn't cut it!" David snapped. In a much more controlled voice still carrying the undertones of fury, he said, "It doesn't. Your apologies won't bring back my relationship with father."
"So this is, what? Your revenge? Are you trying to use Tricia to hurt me, or are you genuinely beginning to like her?"
I let out a shaky breath, my mind racing with all the possible ways David would answer that.
"Are we still discussing the notebook?"
Deflection, of course.
"Answer me."
"It's none of your business."
"I know you, David. You don't do romance. You are too selfish for that. You are never willing to put someone else above yourself. Or have you forgotten what happened with Kesewaa?"
David chuckled harshly. "You sick fuck. It's like you're begging me to hit you."
"Tricia and I may not always see eye-to-eye, but I want to look out for her."
"Doubt she'll appreciate it."
"Do not hurt her, David. She goes through enough."
"I don't need to explain my motives to you. Whether I like her or not is none of your business so stay the fuck out of it."
"Don't curse at me. You'll be sanctioned."
"Stop." David sounded like his bullshit meter had just gone past hundred. "Don't come at me with that Head Prefect nonsense. There's not a damn thing you can do to me and you bloody well know it."
"Oh, stop bluffing-"
"And also, I don't know if you came in here to waste my time to look out for Tricia or to complain about the fact that you can't stand the idea that I will never give in to your whims, no matter who orders me to, but-"
"Now you're taking this too far-"
"-come at me spewing shit like that again and I'll beat you to a pulp and gladly be suspended for it. Now, piss off."
The door shut with a thud. I forced my mouth shut and bit my lip as my breathing slowed along with the thumping in my chest, as if a car going 210kmph with me in it had finally come to a stop. A heavy sigh and a muttered curse filled the lab, and before I knew it, there were light footsteps headed in my direction.
Confrontations, I avoided like the plague. But it seemed I didn't have a choice as I lifted my head and squarely met David's hard gaze.
...
It had been five minutes already, and either of us had yet to say a thing, to break the silence and get rid of the heavy tension slowly suffocating us. We sat next to each other, with only inches between us, but David felt as far away to me as a fog-blanketed mountain in Aburi.
"If it weren't against school rules, I would actually have sent him flying with a punch."
"I heard."
Finally, as if some unseen director had yelled 'action!', we turned at the same time to look at each other. Outwardly, David looked calm, but if the veins bulging along his forearms down to his clenched fists were any indication, fury still simmered just underneath the surface.
"I know you did." He raised a brow, silently asking me to explain why I was here, but I only lifted my chin and folded my arms across my chest defiantly.
"About what Adam said," I had to pause to properly weigh my words. "Don't you think I deserve an explanation? About the notebook and Kesewaa and whatever it all has to do with me."
"I'm not using you or playing with you. Adam is a drama queen. And Kesewaa has herself to blame for her misfortune."
"That makes no sense."
"You shouldn't focus on that, Tricia." His tone was light, but I was almost certain there was a dismissal in it. "Seriously, don't ever bring her up again."
I narrowed my eyes. What happened between him and Kesewaa, and why did he immediately shoot down anyone who brought it up?
"Why don't we discuss this mess you've created, instead."
"How was I supposed to know what the notebook meant to Adam? Should I not have used it in his presence?" I mumbled and placed the tablet on the desk. It had no use now, anyway.
"Yes."
"Well, I don't read minds."
"I know you're not ignorant of the bad blood between Adam and I." He leaned forward, dropping his voice to a murmur that had the hairs on my arms rising. "I heard Astrid warn you as I walked away yesterday."
"I just wanted to know why she said that to me."
David tilted his head to the side, staring at me as if he was contemplating something. It looked like he had come to a decision when he leaned back and sighed, tapping his thighs. "Mum bought me those notebooks last year." I couldn't resist the small look of surprise on my face. He really was about to open up. "I was working on an Arduino project with a few friends and I had used up all the pages of my old notebook, so she bought me a new set. They aren't really that special, you know, but I just thought it'd be cool if I only set them aside for my projects from now on."
I nodded slowly as a memory surfaced. "That day in the library, you said you were going to do research."
"But I got distracted." He chuckled humorlessly. I glanced at the desk in front and followed his pointed finger to the Chromebook and microelectronics set up. "I've had to make up for it."
"Is that why you won't let Adam have a notebook? Because your mum gave them to you and that makes them special?"
"Partly, yes. I'm still trying to figure out why I let you have one."
"Why?" I asked. If they were so important to him, how did I get lucky?
"Maybe it has to do with the fact that you're you." He lifted his shoulders in a careless shrug.
There was an odd fluttering feeling in my chest I tried my hardest to tamp down. Whatever he meant by that, I wasn't sure I wanted to know. I was becoming too entangled in all this, but I still had one more question I wanted answered.
"What's the other reason?"
David was already rising to his feet. I stood as well, not wanting to feel too small under his glare, and cocked a brow. In response, he smiled and said, "I can't tell you. My relationship with Adam -or lack thereof -don't touch it, and it won't touch you."
David had always had a way with words. Whether it was in the heat of an argument, or just a casual comment, he could easily string together words that could cut and leave you bleeding, or words that would have the breath whooshing out of your lungs in excitement, both with the same amount of intensity.
Thankfully, it was exactly the right amount of intensity I needed to snap me awake. My curiosity had been satisfied. I didn't need to prod sleeping lions by meddling any further and getting tangled in what was turning out to be a very complicated relationship between two boys I wasn't particularly close to.
"Noted."
He lifted two fingers to his head in a mock salute, and walked back to his seat in the front.