I looked up at my brother. Sometimes he can be a dork, other times, he can be an actual nineteen year old big brother. Like today.
"You got me the latest version of the Road, Dumps And Dirt Nitro PS game?"
"Hey, what can I say? I'm an awesome big bro."
I stared at him for a while then sighed.
"You're forgiven."
He stared at me shocked.
"What?"
I rolled my eyes.
"I'm your brother Lee. You got me the game so I wouldn't be mad at you for not fulfilling your promise to help me with my chores. You're forgiven."
He stared at me like I had grown an extra head or something. I smiled as he began to squirm.
"That wasn't the reason I got it for you. So ungrateful. You can't even decide to buy something for him and he will thank you. Be making me look like I need his stupid forgiveness." he mumbled leaving my room. I laughed. Another fun fact about my brother, he had an ego larger than Lagos. I stared at the game in my hand. I had a ton of homework to do. And I also needed to get ready for the visit to the Taiwos.
But one round wouldn't hurt.
I turned on the home theater in my room and slipped the disk into the play station. The graphics for version 7.0 were so realistic, I almost thought I was actually driving a Bugatti Divo through a track in the harsh Sahara desert surrounded by deadly mutant cactii and junkyards. The rush of adrenaline made my heart pump blood faster than my body needed and I enjoyed the sensation. All I needed was some chips and a bottle of soda. I honestly couldn't wait for the first term holidays to begin.
"Jefferson!"
Mom's call startled me and I crashed my virtual car into a mutant cactus.
"Shit." I hissed, "Coming Mom!"
I turned off the home theater,not bothering to take out the disk. I would continue when I got back. I stepped out of my room and walked to the living room. Mom was at the door talking to someone.
"I hope you two will behave yourselves. He'll be here soon." she turned around and saw me, "Ah, he's here. Baby, a nice young lady says she's here to see you." Mom said, giving me a cheeky grin. I eyed her suspiciously as I looked to see who was at the door.
"Hey Jeff." Sapphire said, smilimg brightly at me and batting her eyelashes. She wore a white sundress with purple hibiscus flower patterns on it and black sandals; the fancy ones with plastic gems and fake pearls all over them. I frowned.
"Hi, Sapph. Uhm, what are you doing here?"
"We're supposed to be doing an assignment together. For English class? Othello?"
I face palmed myself as my stupid brain suddenly reminded me.
"Right. Sorry. Come in. I'll go get my stuff. You can wait in the living room."
Sapphire took off her sandals and walked in. I watched her take in the sight of the house.
"Your house is very pretty."
I shrugged.
"It's just a house. Take a seat, I'll be right back." I said, heading to my room. I opened my backpack and took out my copy of the play. I glanced at the play station longingly.
"Tonight love. I'll be back and we can finally have our alone time." I whispered to it, gently running my fingers over it. I headed to the living room only to find my mom and brother hounding the poor girl.
"And there was this one time that he crawled all the way up to the altar in church and the pastor had to carry him through the entire sermon." Mom said, laughing. I felt sick. She was telling her baby stories. Oh Mom!
"God knows how many times the pastor had to fight with him for the microphone. Oh there you are Baby. Arike and I were just talking about you."
I snorted. Now she's calling her by her native name. Bad sign.
"Obviously. Mom, Lee, could you please leave my partner and I to do our project in peace?"
Lee grinned.
"Aw, but I haven't been able to telk her about the Aunty Winni-Winni story."
I paled.
"No! Don't!"
"What's the Aunty Winni-Winni story?" Sapphire asked.
"Nothing."
"Oh, it was the cutest thing ever!" Mom squealed, and I groaned.
"Moooommmm!"
"When Jefferson was ten, he had this lesson teacher named Winnifred. Such a darling! We all liked her a lot, most especially Jefferson."
I buried my head in my hands and groaned loudly.
"They were so close! Then on Valentine's day that year, we attended the Crystal Cupid party and then my little ray of sunshine, walked up to the stage, took the microphone and told us he wanted to sing a song for his dearest Aunty Winni-Winni."
I wished the floor could just open up and swallow me right now. God, this is so embarrassing! They were all laughing, Lee laughing the loudest.
"You should've have heard him sing Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love. It was a disaster! He sounded like a dying frog! I swear, the looks on everyone's faces! It was priceless! The Aunty Winni-Winni gan had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing. And he didn't stop there, no, he then decided to tell Aunty Winni-Winni that he loved her and wanted to marry her when he grew up." Lee said laughing his lungs out.
"It was an adorable moment." Mom said, her laughter dying a little. I glared at both if them.
"Are you guys done embarrassing me now? I was ten and in primary five! I didn't know anything about love!" I said pouting. I saw Sapphire smile, biting her lip.
"Hope their stories gave you something to laugh at in school." I snapped. Sapphire stopped laughing and gave me a horrified look.
"I would never use this to publicly embarass you! Or anything for that matter. I'm not like that."
I sighed as I sat beside her. A small blush crept up her cheeks as our shoulders brushed.
"Alright, alright, you two need to work. I'll be in my room. No funny stuff o. Do your work and read. It was nice to meet you Arike." Mom said, standing.
"It was nice to meet you too, ma."
"I'm going to Shola's house. Have fun." Lee said, standing. He walked over to me, leaned closer and whispered,
"Use a condom. This girl is damn hot."
I shoved him and he laughed.
"Bye Mom."
"My friend go and meet your girlfriend and leave me alone!" she replied from inside her room. Lee chuckled.
"Love you too."
-----------------------------
"I'm sorry about my brother and mom." I said to Sapph once Lee left and Mom stopped coming to 'check up on us' every five seconds. Sapphire smiled.
"Don't be. They're fun to be with. You're really lucky."
I hissed.
"They're annoying....but yeah, I guess I am lucky."
We went through the lines and even practiced with props using the couch for the ship and Lee's coffee mugs for beer pints. We plopped down on the couch as we ended the final scene. Sapphire grinned at me as she set her mug down.
"That was a lot of fun." she giggled, "I can't believe you turned Othello into a Caribbean pirate. He's a French monarch!"
I shrugged, smiling at her.
"Hey, I was improvising. Don't tell me it didn't at least put in some flair into our play. It makes ours an original."
"I can't believe you, Jefferson Adelanwa, the boy who's always with a straight face, can actually make fun of a school assignment."
I gave her a mock shocked look.
"Me? I'm as fun and funny as a clown fish."
She threw her head back and laughed. She had a nice laugh, it sounded like tiny bells. The ones people rang during Christmas. The ones that made that cute jingling sound.
"Oh Jeff, you're killing me." Her laughter died as she glanced at the wall clock.
"OMG, it's almost four. I should be going. Maybe we can practice our lines again during lunch break tomorrow?"
"Sure. Let me escort you to the junction so you can get a bike or cab."
She smiled again.
"Thanks."
We walked out of the house, I helped her carry her backpack and we talked and walked. To be honest, I thought Sapph would be this crazy stalker girl that just stares at you like she could eat you alive, but she was actually quite cool and I could carry on a good conversation with her. We talked about school; which was her mainly filling me in on the latest gossip. We talked about celebrities and weird memes we've seen on Twitter.
"That Mbah man has suffered in this life." she said, laughing hard. I was laughing as well. Not because of the meme she showed me, but because she was laughing. We got to the junction and tried waving down a motorcycle but it seemed they were either privately owned or they 'weren't going our way'.
"All these okada men will just be doing anyhow. When you need them, they will be shunning you. When you don't need them, they'll be calling you like as if no o, they will carry you for free."
I chuckled and she sent me a glare which made me laugh.
"God, your facial expressions are so comical." I said, between laughs. She tried glaring at me again but broke into a shy smile.
"Lemme joor."
I chuckled and waved down an oncoming bike. The bike man stopped, he was a thin dark man with a bushy black beard and equalky bushy hair. He wore a thick cheap black parka despite the heat, a pair of brown trousers and a pair of green flipflops.
"Where you dey go?"
"Bankole street, for East."
"Oya na. Two hundred Naira."
Was this guy serious? That's like way more than the normal price.
"Ah ahn, for wetin? Fifty Naira jare."
"You know say those police man go dey for that side. Them go bill me na. I no even suppose dey ride okada for this place. You no say here na estate, but wetin man go do? Na him wey dey hustle, go chop. Oya pay one-fifty."
Sapph groaned and stomped her foot.
"It's only fifty Naira I have na. Oga please. Oya carry me go border. Abeg."
I frowned.
"And how will you get home? The border is really far from your place."
She shrugged.
"I'll leg it ni."
I felt my pockets for any extra cash. I obviously couldn't let her walk all the way to her place for the West-East border. That was like walking from the Mainland to the Island. I felt some money in my backpocket and pulled it out. I had five hundred Naira with me and I handed it to Sapphire.
"What's this for?" she asked, eyeing the money warily. I rolled my eyes.
"Use this to get to yout place. And maybe buy an ice cream on the way."
"Jeff, I-"
"I won't have you walking all the way there. You'll fall sick."
She laughed and took the money. The bike man started the motorcycle and she got on it.
"See you tomorrow, partner."
"See you tomorrow. Partner." I replied, giving her a mock salute. She held on to the bike man as they drove off. I walked back home and found Mom all dressed up in a pink floral chiffon shirt, a pair of skinny jeans and black flats.
"Is your friend gone already?"
I smiled a little.
"Yes Mom. And she's not my friend. We barely know each other."
Mom's brows furrowed.
"Really? But she mentioned a significant lot about you. Like how your favorite colour is white because all your shirts are white. And how your favorite food is plantain and stew because she sees your face light up everytime I make it for you for lunch. Also how you like things arranged in the exact same way you have in your head and how you brood when things don't go according to plan. And how that one time you tripped and bruised your knee. Remember that time? It was your first day of school."
I remembered. But I didn't trip. Diana pushed me down the stairs cos I had bumped into her accidentally. I lied to Mom cos I didn't want her to get worried and withdraw me on my first day. I had no idea anyone saw that. There was no one there. Everyone else had gone home and I had forgotten my pencil in the classroom.
"Yeah. I remember Mom." I said. I glanced at the clock, it was almost four.
"I should go get ready for the evening." I said, then walked past her to my room. I quietly locked the door and sat on my bed. Everything in my room was white. My walls were pristine white, so were my bed sheets, ny blankets, my pillows, my drawer, everything! My favorite food really was plantain and stew. And I most definitely hate it when things don't go as I've planned. I sighed, slumping my shoulders. Did she really know me that well? What else did she know about me? How long has she been observing me?
"Jefferson! Your brother is already here, let's go!"
I sighed again, got to my feet and picked out my outfit.
Yayy! New chapter!
Thanks to all my readers out there! Hope you guys are staying safe during quarantine.
How many of you love plantain and stew? Yum, soooo good. But you know what else I love?
Ships!
Yup. Ships!
How many of you are shipping Sapph and Jeffy right now?
How many of you ship Gazelle and Jeffy?
How many of you ship Diana and Jeffy?
Rita:- Me! Me! Me! I do! I do! I do!
Who else do you guys ship? Let me know in the comments.
You guys are the best! Don't forget to vote, share and comment. You can also follow me! I follow back, honest.
Till next time.
Love y'all❤