7:19pm,
Tari's apartment
"Yes?"
"Simi, is that you? Finally."
"Yup." She retorted popping the 'p' and rolling her eyes, still angry at him.
"Thank goodness. I've called you like a thousand times I keep hearing your voice message. Are you ignoring me?" It was almost like there was no one on the other end of the phone so he continued, "You're not home yet and it's almost night, where are you?"
"Why have you been calling me?"
"Simi, can you come home? We need to talk."
"You don't need to talk to me. You already made that clear."
"I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean any of it I swear and I feel like I owe you an explanation."
"An explanation? Or the truth?"
"Isn't that like the same thing?" Tari blabbed next to her on the sofa, loud enough for Adam to hear on the other side.
"Who's that? Where are you Simi?"
"I'm at a friend's place and besides you're the one who owes me an explanation not me to you."
"Okay. Please just come home and I'll explain. I really need to talk to you."
She took a full breath before she replied, her voice calmer now than before. "Yeah...sure."
Simi clicked a button on her phone before dropping it on the glass table in front of them. Somehow, the anger she felt had lost some weight and it was the smooth tune in his voice that did it. That was the Adam she knew, the one she was now helplessly flipping over. It was all too hard to wrap her head around, how he could just switch like that... in a blink. Sigh. She just wanted to go back home now, end all the drama already and out of impulse, she had called Ada, her manager about an hour ago to book her a flight back to Abuja as soon as she can.
"How do you feel? Do you want to see him?" Tari interjected the flow of her thoughts with his question and she picked up the tray again. He must have read through her mind because that was exactly what she was thinking about - how she really felt about it and if seeing him was a good idea, even though deep down that was all she wanted. She really wanted to see him again, she had questions for him. She needed to know and understand why he switched like that.
"I don't know."
"Don't you think you're being too dramatic babe? If he has some explaining to do, you should listen to him. It's obvious you guys like each other." Ayo, Tari's free-spirited girlfriend joined in the conversation with a high pitch as she returned into the room from the kitchen with a tray of cold orange juice for them.
"Shey?"
"For real girl, the guy likes you and you like him too. He might be psycho like you guys have been saying since morning which is crazy, but isn't that the more reason you should talk to him? If this is right, he might be going through a lot, maybe more than we can imagine. He's not a kid, neither are you. You don't think this is some sort of karma?"
"Karma?" Simi smirked. What does that even have to do with anything?
"Baby, where's that remote? Don't tell me you dropped it in the ki..."
"It's in the kitchen. Sorry." AY, as most people called her breathed out her irritation and rolled her eyes at him, in a funny way though then disappeared to reappear with the Tv remote.
"Do you think I should go see him?" Simi faced Tari again, still seeking validation.
"I hate to concur but yeah sure. She's right. Listen to what he has to say at least. Find out what the problem is if truly there's one at all. What do you have to lose? You already said you're going back to ABJ, to your normal rockstar world so I think why not? I'd enjoy this cruise if I were you."
"Exactly." His girlfriend seconded.
"Okay, I think my time here is done then. Erm ... I need to go now before it gets too late."
"Better late than never. Hmm this is going to be interesting. It feels like I'm in a movie right now." Ayo teased her as she prepped herself to leave immediately.
"Not you too AY. And believe me you're not the only one who feels like that." The trio laughed.
"Let's drop you at the juncture." Tari proposed and in a New York's Minute, they were in his car. When they were out, Simi saw that outside was even darker now than she had thought. How long exactly had she spent with this two crazy weeded couples? She had only met AY today and first had a real convo with Tari yesterday but it seemed like it'd been a while and it felt very nice. They were good people and Simi thought they looked good together too because their crazy complemented. She watched them from the passenger's side arguing over what music to play: Wizkid or Davido, and just smiled inwardly.
***
9:20pm,
the Coker's Estate.
Adam, still in his uneasy state, after everything that had happened from dawn till now waited for Simi. It had been series of different events and he reminisced. One minute they were both naked, he was getting carried away in the warm and cosy feel of Simi's scented body and the way she kissed his body gently all over, he'd tensed up. It was ticklish everytime and she'd giggle at his reaction, looking like a princess, an African princess, he had thought enjoying the moment and wishing it would never end.
Simi was no longer shy, like the first night. She had gotten used to his feel and soon opened up to him like a flower. Then the next second, he was raging like a mad dog out of control, sending her out and saying horrible things. How could I have done that? Why?
Coming back home with the intention of making things right with her, she was not home and his sister who he met was not going to make anything better. She was not supposed to find out about Lily or about my drugs or about anything. Why the hell did Dylan spill like that? That was not supposed to happen and now I can only imagine what Tiara would be planning to do. She's so sneaky and annoying. She'd definitely want to know more or worse tell Simi or Maami and that would be crazy.
He took a heavy sigh of frustration rubbing his face harshly with his palm. It'd been almost two hours since he called Simi when she assured him she'd come back. Maybe she changed her mind? That would have hurt because he really meant it when he said he had to talk to her, even though he wasn't sure what he had to say yet or where to start. He just had to talk to her and let her know he was not that type of person. I'm just a bi-polar freak.
He had observed his night rituals, picked up his phone for the umpteenth time to check the time. 9:24pm and she wasn't back still. Could she have really changed her mind? What exactly did his sister say to her about him? Where did she even go to? These and more were the questions that ran through his head over and over.
He sat silently on the edge of his bed once again to check the time when his phone vibrated. His heart jumped for a microsecond thinking or hoping it was a message from Simi but no, it was an e-mail from his ex-wife Lily, with an image attachment. That was awkward, the first. It had been some days since she tried to reach him last and with all that was going on at the moment, he already had enough on his plate and he was going to deal with his problems one after the other, which at the moment, Simi was priority on his list. When he decided he'd check Lily's email later, the bang of a door from across the hall spontaneously drew his head and attention to Simi's room. The sound repeated itself and he immediately knew she was home, relief running down his spine.
For almost an hour, he waited till everywhere was quiet and everyone had retreated into their rooms before he went for her door. He only knocked once.
"Hi."
"Can I...?"
She turned back into the room and he followed her closing the door behind them. He started immediately,
"Simi, I'm really sorry about what happened this morning. I shouldn't have barked at you like that."
She sat down drawing her robe to cover her body, "What exactly happened? What did I say that was so wrong? What did you mean by everything you said to me? Tell me the truth."
"Simi, you wouldn't understand if I told you. I just got too angry. I'm sorry."
"I'm not a small child Adam. Angry at what? That I asked about you? Or because I asked about your brother? Or is it Tiara, what I said she told me? What was it?"
"Yes everything. All the questions!"
"Questions? What questions?" Her voice toned down a notch.
"You see, you're asking again. That's what everyone does. They ask questions and still there's no answer. No fucking answer!"
"What are you saying? Who has been asking you questions?" It toned down a little more.
"Uncle Will, Sara, Lily, Finn, Rosie, Maami, Tee, even you! ... shit! ... I already told you you wouldn't understand me. Nobody would."
"Try me. I'm not them. I only came back here because I want you to talk to me. Because I want to understand. I won't judge I promise. Who are all these people?"
He rested his hands on her shoulders and she looked up to him, her eyes mixed with confusion and concern. "I've had a tough life Simi. A lot has happened that I don't wanna talk about because I'm not proud of them and I'm trying not to go back to them. I'm trying haaa-rrd but now it seems like the more I try the harder it gets ... and I just want to move on!"
Simi sighed. It was becoming even more complicated now but at least, he was saying something to her and he was not yelling like in the morning. "Well.. The past isn't something you can just delete or a memory that you can just format, at least not without the help of technology. It always comes back, and you'll need to learn to deal with it."
"If you know how much you sound like one of them shrinks right now. Finn especially." He turned away from her and rested on the wall.
"I'm not trying to. I'm giving you a fact. And you - you sound like you've seen a lot of them. What's going on with you?"
The door opened and Tiara walked in, very surprised to see Adam in Simi's room.
"What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean what am I doing here? We're having a conversation."
"Really?" Tiara squinted her eyes with suspicion.
"Simi, let's talk tomorrow. Call me when you're free please."
"Yeah sure. Good night." She let out a soft breath.
He nodded and immediately, he excused the ladies and went back into his room. The air that swirled between brother and sister was not good at all.
"What was he doing here?" Tiara who took a space across Simi on the bed immediately asked when he closed the door.
"We were just talking."
"Right."
"Why are you so cold to him anyway? You've been like that since before the wedding and you said you were going to tell me what it is about. What's up?" Simi asked with utmost curiosity.
"I don't even wanna talk about it."
"You're going to talk about this one."
"Trust me, you don't want to hear it. First babe, I need to warn you about him. You better don't be catching feels. Adam is not the type of guy that you need in your life right now at all. He's too messed up...for a nice girl like you."
"Jeez Tee, what are you saying? That's your brother you're talking about."
"You don't even get it and in fact I'm in no place to tell you this sort of thing. He should do that himself. I just need you to listen to me, don't fall for Adam. Don't."
"Now, you guys are really frightening me. He's not talking. You are not saying anything helpful either. What the hell is going on here? Do I need to talk to Aunty?"
"As in my mother? If you want to get her back in the hospital, sure. See I'm sorry about this. I wish I could say more but I haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet myself and until I do, I need you to stay away from Adam. It's for your own good."
"Bottom of what? Did he kill somebody?"
"You're funny. I need to go and rest babe. Work starts again tomorrow and I bet I have more than enough on my table right now and that girl Desuwa called me tonight. She's coming to see me tomorrow and it's going to be another stress acting like I actually like her because Todun asked me to be nice. Aargh." Tiara yawned widely as she rose up and gave Simi a half hug before she exited the room, leaving Simi wordless to wonder what kind of movie she just walked into.
Something serious was happening here, something very serious and it was beginning to feel as if the more she wanted to understand it, the more complicated it became. First it was Adam with his ballistic reaction in the morning when she mentioned his twin brother, the names he listed, everything and the way he talked, it was certain those memories must have hurt him, still hurt him.
Then there was Tiara his sister, her friend who she hoped would shed more light, she was talking in parables, making things worse.
I need you to stay away from Adam. It's for your own good.
What did she even mean by that? Her phone buzzed and it was a text from Ada, her manager confirming her flight back to Abuja on Wednesday, which was only two days away.
Now it had become more enigmatic. A part of her wanted to go back to her rockstar world as Tari had called it, away from all the craze in Adam's family and another part just wanted to know what it was that was going on, what happened to Adam, his twin brother and what changed him to be the man he was now. Was it New York? Could Tari be right about the disorder? What was Tiara investigating and hiding from her? She wanted to know. She had to.
***
7:02am,
the Cokers Estate.
His phone vibrated next to his head and he woke up to morning, sun piercing into his eyes through the window. He managed to reach for the phone and open a picture message on Hangouts from his friend Dylan that had a very disturbing caption, "What the hell is going on here? Adam is that your son? With Lily? Call me ASAP!"
****