I don't like you but i will always care for you.
•|•|•|•|•
Dave’s POV.
I woke up early and helped my mom with the chores. Sam walked out of the room dressed casually. “Where are you going?” I asked.
“Work. Have fun, enjoy life” Sam answered, heading for the door.
“stop talking like that, I’m not a kid” I soured.
“aww, baby brother blues” a voice cooed, coming from the passage door. I saw Kath and I frowned at her. She was dressed in a simple t-shirt and shorts.
“you are still a kid to your elders, especially siblings”.
“stop being a pest. I’m sure your sister must have felt like the elder sister to have had to be dealing with you” I retorted but she brushed it off.
“so petty…” she tsked and I stared at her bewildered. Forget it, Kath will only make you run mad. Don’t ever try to reason or argue with her.
“How could you sleep with that?” I asked eyeing Kath’s cloth. They didn’t look comfortable at all.
“the same way you men sleep in boxers, jeans and whatnots” Kath answered simply. She watched me mop the floors, “should I help?”.
“no, how about you do the dusting?” I suggested. She nodded and grabbed a napkin since we didn’t have a feather duster. She began dusting and she was doing a terrible job. I laughed at her, “what are you doing? Have you ever done dusting? You are doing a terrible job”.
“Don’t mock me” Kath frowned and I chuckled. Now the roles are reversed. I moved to Kath.
“you have to hold the napkin tight and…” I took Katherine’s hand in mine and despite the burning sensation I felt once we touched, I showed Kath how to dust. Kath watched the way I did it and her hands moved in mine. As if being burnt, she jerked and it caused me to fall backwards with her following.
“Ah!”.
“Ouch!” I groaned, “this can’t be happening”.
Kath was on top of me. She rolled so she would be facing me. “Are you alright Dave? Oh, I am so sorry. What can I do?” Kath said, apologizing profusely.
“get off me for starters” I managed to croak.
Kath looked around, “Where? It’s a bit crowded here. Should I roll side or up?”.
“You’re killing me” I grunted wide eyed.
“I thought you said I was light, weightless” Kath said, making herself comfortable on my chest.
I glared at her, “KAATHERINEEE!”.
“Oops” she jerked and I winced as she fell back on my chest. I opened my squinted eyes to take a look at her and her face was so close. Her skin stood out. It is so shiny and brown, it’s beautiful.
Kath finally managed to get off me and I stood up as well, staggering for a bit. I snatched the napkin from her hand. She watched me as I coughed, massaging the back of my head. “I am never going to give you any work to do, you are such a klutz” I said glaring at her.
“Come on Dave, that’s a mean thing to say” Kath whined following me, “and give me another chance. I will do better next time”.
Yeah, never gonna happen.
After that, I finished the chores and went to take a bath and dressed up. Kath was done too and mom had come back from the store where she bought breakfast.
“So, Dave? you are going with Sandra when?” Kath asked.
“this evening at 4”.
“where?”.
“Kath, you do not need to know. Sandra and I are just going to walk around and catch up. It has to be just the two of us” I said fed up, “it’s not even like a date”.
“ooh, but you want it to be?” Kath said giving me a cheeky smile. I sighed exasperatedly, massaging my forehead. No one can ever shut this girl’s mouth. She is a blabbermouth.
“I am officially ignoring you”.
“so you are not taking me?” Kath asked innocently.
I shot her a flat look, “no”. She looked down, “this isn’t fair. I came here with you to sightsee, not sit indoors”.
“then try learning something. Brush up on your cooking, try learning from my mom. She taught me” I said.
“Really? Your mom taught you how to cook? That’s so cool of her” Kath said, fascinated by the idea and a strange light in her eyes. “and Sam?”.
“Yeah, Sam can prepare basic everyday food for himself but can’t make continental dishes like me”.
“oh, that’s so amazing” Kath sighed, “I guess I can try but I can tell this will end horribly. I will never forgive you for leaving me behind”.
I sighed irritated, “agh, fine. Come with me”. I took Kath’s hand and pulled her up. She looked at me puzzled. She asked, “to where?”.
“We are going to have a walk together since you are being so dramatic” I huffed, “that way, I can have alone time with Sandra and you can ‘forgive me”.
“Yay! Let’s go” Kath squealed, clapping her hands happily. I sighed and took her hand in mine as we walked out of the house and down the street. It was a bit early and it was school season so several children were going to school.
“all this is beautiful” Kath admired.
I chuckled, “you have a weird definition for beautiful”. I looked at our hand locked in each other’s and it felt…safe. I felt safe and that I was given the responsibility of keeping Katherine safe.
“are we going to do anything fun Dave?” Kath asked.
“as far as I know, no” I said, my tone flat. “I brought you out here for a walk, not a fancy playful tour”.
“so what are we going to do while we are here?” Kath said, “I still have a few wishes left and I want to have a lot of fun while doing them”.
“give me a break Katherine”.
Kath sighed again and pouted, thinking of what to do. A scary mischievous smile took over her face as a thought came to her. I unhooked my eyes from her and stepped away. “what are you up to Kath?” I asked truthfully frightened.
“Dave, can you back me?”.
“What?”.
“carry me on your back”.
A horrified expression made its way to my face once the words registered. “Kath no”.
“why not?”.
“it’s just a simple piggy back ride”.
“we are outside, people will see us”.
“that is the point”.
“No, Kath, no!” I began to run a bit as Kath ran after me. “Come on Kath don’t be childish. This is wrong, stop!”. I couldn’t run away because it would be embarrassing to do that on the street. Kath caught up with me.
“Yay! I caught you, now carry me” She said, “come on Dave, no one has ever done anything like that for me so pleeeeease”. I glared a bit and Kath and grumbled, “you better not be heavy”.
“Yay!” Kath squealed clapping her hands together and I crouched. Kath bent and leaned on my back and I stood up, carrying me on my back. Kath wasn’t’ t heavy, she was extremely light.
“Wow, you are like carrying a feather. You don’t weigh anything, are you sure you are eating well?” I inquired.
Kath scoffed, “of course I eat well now carry me. Wow, this is so cool”. I carried Kath with me and walked around a bit. I began to walk back home when we had reached the end of the street and noticed Kath was snoring. She fell asleep on my back, is that even comfortable? She must have been really tired.
I decided to not disturb her and went inside the house. Mom saw me carrying Kath. She asked, “what happened?”.
“Kath fell asleep on my back. I’m going to drop her” I whispered and mom nodded, looking at me and Kath amused. I entered Kath room and dropped her on the bed but the unequal balance made me fall on the bed. I laid next to Kath staring at her. I wonder why she slept so easily, is she really so tired?
I brushed a lock of Kath’s hair while thinking and I smiled looking at her. She looks so innocent for such a troublemaker. I would have never gotten into so much trouble if not for Kath. She is right though, she made my life more interesting.
My eyes trailed the outlines of her face, her shut eyes, her cute nose, her cheeks and her lips. I still can’t believe I risked everything to save you Kath, I must have been mad. I chuckled and got up, finding it hard to step away from Kath. I went out and saw my mom eating.
“Dave, do you plan to work here?” mom asked.
“yes, I will look for a job in the meantime that I stay here” I answered.
“Then what about money you will need in the few days” Mom asked again.
“Kath will take care of that. She has lots of it”.
“So she is from a wealthy family” mom concluded and I nodded. “so son, do you…like Katherine in any way? Like a boyfriend girlfriend way?”.
I looked at my mom incredulously. I exclaimed, “no! No! I don’t like Kath like that. She is just a friend”.
“Are you sure?”.
“why are you asking me this?”.
“I am just curious”.
I got up, “I think I’ll go and find something else to do”.
“come back, you can’t be angry” Mom said in a teasing manner.
I huffed, “bye mom”. I left the house, mumbling “please, me liking Kath is like a Dog liking a cat”.
Hours later, by the time I came back home it was already four pm. Sandra arrived early and we went out together. “It’s so good you are back. It will be just like old times” Sandra smiled.
“yeah, I really missed home” I said, “the smell, the surroundings…home can never be replaced”.
“That’s good to hear” Sandra nodded, “so how long are you staying?”.
“I’m not sure yet. Maybe when i am done helping Kath but right now, I don’t think I’m leaving anytime soon” I said.
“that’s good. I wanted to tell you something but I couldn’t because you were still dating Miriam at the time and I didn’t want to cause problems” Sandra said, “i–“. My phone began to ring interrupting her.
I looked at the caller ID and apologized. “Sorry, it’s mom. Continue, I will talk to mom later”.
“No, answer it. It may be important” Sandra said. I looked at her unsure before answering it, “hello mom, what is it?”. Mom explained what happened and I felt something hit me in my chest.
“What? What do you mean she hasn’t come back since? Where would she go? She knows nobody here except for me. Why didn’t you tell me she left” I said all these upset, “okay, I’m coming”. I hung up the call, a worried and angry look on my face.
“What is wrong? What happened?” Sandra asked.
“urgh, It’s Kath. I swear if I find that girl I will…argh!”.
“tell me, what happened?”.
“She left the house without letting me know. She left the house even before I came to see you and mom didn’t tell me” I explained upset, “Kath doesn’t know anyone here and she hasn’t been back in four hours. Kath always knows how to make trouble. What do I do now? If anything happens to her, I will…Kaath!”. I huffed not knowing what to do.
“Let’s go home and see mom first”.
“No, you go home. I will go to my house myself. Sorry Sandra that we couldn’t complete our outing” I apologized, “we will talk later”.
“okay, take care and call me when Kath is found” Sandra said and hugged me, saying goodbye. I hugged her back and said goodbye as well. I came back home to see Sam and Mom worrying. Well mom was worrying while Sam was standing by being cool.
“what happened?” I asked as soon as I was in earshot.
“Kath woke up earlier when you were out and asked if she could go out to walk off her energy. I didn’t like the idea since she didn’t know anywhere” mom explained, “she still persuaded me and I let her leave. Since you came back and left to meet Sandra, she hasn’t returned or called”.
“dammnit!” I cursed, twisting the key in my knuckles. “That girl, where could she have gone now? She is just like a magnet for trouble. Have you checked the street?”.
“Yes” Samuel answered, “I searched for her on my way coming. I saw nothing”. I grunted angrily as terrible thoughts filled my mind if what could have happened to Kath. I called her phone.
Sorry dear customer, the number you are trying to calk is switched off. Please try again later.
“Kath…” I growled angrily, “this girl will be the death of me. How could she leave without letting us know where she was going? If anything happens to her, I will be dead”.
I sat down waiting for a while. It was getting dark and I had not gotten a call from Kath. I got up, “I’m going to look for her”.
“where?”.
“anywhere, I don’t know” I answered, “I just can’t sit here. I need to find Kath. I just hope she is alright”. Sam nodded and I left the house looking for Kath.
“Kath?! Katherine?!” I yelled sometimes, “where are you?!”. I didn’t get any response. I even went to the main road after our street but I didn’t find her. I returned home dejected, mom felt worse. She felt it was her fault.
“if anything happens to Kath, it will be the end of me” I said thinking about Don Okafor. He will kill me. Oh God, this can’t be happening.
I waited outside in case anything happened. Some more time passed and still no sign of Kath. Half my mind was telling me to go to the police, the other half was holding me back. Reporting the missing daughter of a Don to police officers? That would be a disaster.
My ears perked up hearing the gate open and close and I stood up immediately, going to the person. My heart skipped once I saw the person, it was Kath with a broad smile on her face. Anger kicked in and I grabbed her shoulders tightly. I saw Mom and Sam come out, they must have heard the gate open.
“Where were you?” I asked in an angry low growl. I didn’t even recognize me voice and I could tell Kath was surprised too.
“I-Dave, I just went out–“.
I shook her roughly, “Where?!”.
“J-just around. I went sightseeing” Kath spilled, frightened at my behavior. “I knew you were going to be going out with Sandra so I thought I should go out myself to see the sights. I am absolutely fine–“.
“What is wrong with you?!” I yelled angrily, shaking her. “Didn’t you think that we would worry if we didn’t see you? You were only thinking about yourself, you didn’t think about how mom would feel or me. Is that how little you think of us? That we are not important? Do you understand what would have happened if you never returned tonight?!”.
Kath stared at me shocked while I fumed at her. I pushed her away and walked inside. “Dave, wait, please wait” Kath begged following me but I was much faster.
“Dave! Wait! I didn’t mean to hurt you, Dave–“. I entered my room and slammed the door hard. I could hear her calling me but I ignored her. What was she thinking leaving like that? Didn’t she care that I would be worried? Didn’t she think I would go crazy if she went missing? I would probably die without her in my life–
What am i saying? Stop thinking such things. I decided to call Sandra, “hey”.
“Dave, did you find Kath?”.
“Yeah. She just came back” I narrated everything to Sandra.
“That was wrong of her. She should have informed you. So she is begging you?” Sandra chuckled.
“yes, I want her to realize her mistakes. She can’t keep doing this”.
“okay , it’s okay. Relax, don’t treat her badly just because she is apologizing okay? Take Care”.
“okay, bye” I said, “by the way, what did you want to tell me earlier?”.
“um, it was nothing. I will tell you later, bye” she said and hung up. I looked at myself in the mirror, “I need a shower”. I took off my shirt and went to the bathroom, a towel wrapped around my waist but Kath stopped me. I frowned, “What is it?”.
“Just give me a chance to explain Dave”.
“what is there to explain?”.
“Many things. I didn’t mean to hurt you by leaving, I just thought…listen Dave. I’m sorry, please don’t be angry with me” Kath begged. I ignored her and moved to the side. She blocked me, “Dave, this isn’t fair–“.
I shot her a flat look, “why are you so intent on blocking my way to the bathroom. Do you really want to follow me inside?”.
“No” Kath shook her head embarrassed. I almost smiled seeing her look embarrassed but I didn’t. I wanted Kath to know what she did was wrong so I had to refrain from the dirty words coming up in my head. As I walked into the bathroom, I heard her sigh, “What have you done Kathy?”.
I smirked to myself, shutting the bathroom door. This punishment is going to be very interesting.
_________________________________________________________
What will happen next? Don’t forget to VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE.