KACELY
Song: Fuckin' perfect - P!nk
Before I know it, it's Saturday. I have so much to do today; I have to go jogging with Amy, come back home and do mine and Afi's laundry. I have to cook too and drop Afi off at her dad's house. And the dessert of the day will be to see Az. I'm so looking forward to that and that's what motivates me more. I do want to study and improve my grades in math but I'm also open to the possibility of what might happen later on.
I put on my sports attire and head out the door. I plug in my ear piece and play my work out playlist.
I press the shuffle button and head out the gate. The weather is colder than usual but the more I run, the warmer I get. Within minutes I'm at the house Amy described. I spot her sitting on a huge rock by the road and call out for her to meet me. She stands up and walks towards me slowly.
"Run!" I tell her.
"No..." She opposes, but increases her speed.
"Come on Amy, you have to put effort into this."
"OK fine!" She yells and starts jogging.
She joins me at the road and I try my best to keep up with her extremely slow pace. Her breathing is so heavy that I'm afraid she might faint.
"I'm tired." She breaths minutes later.
"What?" I laugh. "We've barely covered any distance."
"I told you... I told you this won't work."
"What won't work?"
"This!" She yells and lifts her hands in the air. "I'm no athlete, I'm supposed to be like this for the rest of my life to be extra large." She says and I want to laugh but I stop myself when she bursts into tears before stopping her tracks completely.
OK... What just happened?
"Amy... Hey, listen to me. You aren't supposed to be like this. You aren't cursed or anything. So what if you're extra large? That can change. Your body, your choice."
"I can't do this Kacely, I can't. Trust me I've tried before. I've dieted, I've drank all types of teas, my mom won't even let me drink milk anymore. She says I'm already big enough." She cries further.
"Amy..."
"No let me finish." She says and I take a breath. "I have an older sister and a younger one. They are all so pretty and sexy, normal sized. Whenever we go out for weddings and occasions, they always look so good in whatever they wear while I look like a sac full of potatoes. They get all the compliments and the leftovers are later tossed at me, that's if at all I get noticed. Why can't I be like them? Why do I have to be so big?" She cries further and I hug her tightly, burying my nose in her relaxed hair. I don't even know what to say right now. She wraps her arms around me and I feel her shaking as she sobs further.
I am standing in the middle of a road at 5am and comforting a sad insecure fat girl. What a turn up.
"Hey, Amy." I say and hold her face with both hands.
"Enough with the pity party. Forget about what your mom or sisters or those in the hallway say about you. What matters is what you think of yourself. You should make your body comfortable for you to live in. You should want to get in shape for you, because you want to look beautiful in those gowns, to feel beautiful... For YOU. Ok?" I say and she nods while I wipe her tears. I feel like Jay Shetty right now.
"Here," I say and plug my earphones in her ears. " Listen to the music on this. Bury yourself in it which you run. That'll help." I say and she nods.
"Come on Amy." I say and she puts in more effort.
"🎶 I am dripping in Finesse! It don't make no sense
I am dripping in Finesse! It don't make no sense🎶"
She keeps singing loud as we jog on.
I try my best not to laugh but I finally do. I guess the music was too loud for her to hear me.
We don't go a very far distance but at least we tried... She tried.
"No more... No more Kacely." She begs while breathing heavily. "That's enough" she says and takes the earphones off.
She's all sweaty and is breathing so heavily.
"OK, then." I say. "Should we stretch or something?"
"Did you not hear me? I said no more, E don do." She says supporting her hands on her knees.
"OK, sorry." I apologise through giggles.
"I killed it!" She yells and raises her hand for a high five so I smile and give her one. "Whoa!" She shouts and unzips her hoodie.
"What now?" I ask.
"I'm taking a cab home."
Ah ah...
"A cab?" I laugh.
She can't be serious. Even I walked back home after my first day of working out.
"Yes." She nods and spits into the gutter next to us.
"Shouldn't you at least walk?"
"Walk? No me ohh?" She shrugs. "If I walk, you'll have to explain to my parents how you got me killed, I'll die on the way."
This girl...
I laugh and shake my head. This is way less than my usual workouts but I feel so accomplished because I helped her.
"Alright, take a cab. We'll continue tomorrow at 4:30am?"
"No, I need my beauty sleep."
"I like the last part of what you just said. Your beauty sleep. You're beautiful. Remember that." I say and place my hand on her shoulder.
"I'll try to." She smiles. "But 4:30 is still too early sha, change it."
"5am then?"
"OK." She smiles and rolls her eyes. "Thanks so much Kacely."
"It's nothing Amy. I'll prepare a playlist for you and I'll make sure I include Finesse in it, because you clearly love it....
🎶 I am dripping in Finesse, it don't make no sense 🎶" I mimic and she tries to hit me but misses.
"Don't try me eh." She points me.
And we laugh till the headlights of a cab shine through the darkness and I holla at it.
Amy gets in and I wave as she gets in and goes.
I smile at everything that just happened and plug in my earphones before continuing my exercise.
When I get back home, I do a hundred push-ups before taking a bath.
I make breakfast by the time Afi and mom wake up and Mom eats half of what's in her plate before leaving.
She's putting on pair of leather brown trousers today and an ankara top... As always. The material on her shirt is the same as the one her sneakers are coated in.
I ended up downloading the whole album of the song Az told me to listen to the day we met.
My favourite song is -Like a drug. I don't know why but I feel like it describes what I have with her, I can't seem to control it. I also love -All These Thoughts and Love Yourself. Love Yourself is really very optimistic, different from the other tracks on the album. I guess Phora isn't bad after all, he's good actually.
God, Az is really getting under my skin.
I play the album on repeat while I do our laundry and then clean the floor. By the time I'm done, it's already 11:07am.
I hurriedly prepare a pot of fried rice before giving Afi a bath and taking one myself. I park my bag quickly and comb my hair nicely before heading out my room.
When I get downstairs Afi hasn't even eaten half of the food I dished for her. She's tuned to Nickelodeon and her favourite show is playing- Garfield, yet she isn't watching it.
She could be really annoying when she wants to be.
"Afi what are you doing? Why aren't you eating the food? Didn't I ask you if it was enough before you took it? Why are you playing with it?" I scold.
"I don't want to go there." She says and looks up at me. It's evident she's been crying.
"Go where? To your dad's?" I ask and the sides of her lips turn downwards before she bursts into tears again.
This is the second person I've seen crying today and it's barely 1pm.
I drop my bag on the stairs and hurry towards her. She opens her arms and I carry her onto my laps hugging her as he sobs. The plate of rice falls on the carpet but I couldn't care less. I'll deal with that later, I hate seeing my baby sister cry.
"I don't want to go to those people." She repeats.
"Why not? Don't they treat you well?" I ask and dry her cheeks.
"They are OK, but I don't like it there, I don't feel at home there. Please don't take me there.'' she begs and hugs me tighter.
I want to hold her and tell her I won't take her there, but it is her father and her baby brother. She has to spend time with them... And more importantly I have to spend time with Az!
Well, it's not more important but it's also important. What is wrong with me?
"Afi." I say and look into her glossy eyes. "You have to spend time with your dad, he's part of your family."
"Why?"
"Because you do." I shrug. "He wants to be in your life so you have to let him... And you baby brother and your Stepmom."
"I like her..."
"Who?" I ask.
"The other woman, she's nice."
"You mean your Stepmom?" I ask and she nods.
"I like the baby too, he doesn't cry much. But I don't like the food she cooks and she never lets me watch Garfield, she's always watching a show of some women who just live in a house, go shopping and say so many meaningless things."
It has got to be the Kardashians, I laugh and shake my head. I don't like the show either, not at all.
"But Afi you watch TV here all the time." I say, in an attempt to console her.
"It doesn't matter. They said it's my home but it doesn't feel like it." She says and leans into my chest.
"And your dad?"
"He's never even home." She says and draws circles on my chest.
I don't know what to tell her, I've ran out of motivational speeches. My Jay Shetty bundle has expired.
"Listen Afi, you may not know them enough yet or be used to them, but you will, with time. You just have to try, OK?." I say and she nods.
"When you go, tell her you want to watch Garfield, politely and if she lets you, good and fine. If she doesn't, let it go. You'll catch up during the week, ok?"
"OK." she says
"Will you still eat or are you OK?"
"I'm fine," she says and gets down from my thighs. I wipe her eyes and kiss her forehead before getting a broom and a dustpan to pick up the rice grains from the carpet.
She drinks a cup of water while I throw the grains in the trash.
"Let's go?" I ask and pick up my bag from the stairs. She nods in response and picks up her own bag lazily.
We head out of the house and I lock the door. When we get into a cab, she lies on my laps the whole time till we arrive at the house. I had to offer to carry her in before she could agree to get out of the cab.
I ring the bell and minutes later, Afi's stepmom opens.
"Hello Kingsley." She smiles.
"Hi, it's Kacely." I correct.
"My bad." She apologizes. "Afiba, how are you?"
"I'm fine." She answers after looking at me.
"Don't be such a big baby, come down from your brother's body." She says and Afi slides down reluctantly.
"Good girl." She says. "I've made some meat rolls, would you like some?"
"Um... No thank you. I'm actually running a bit late for my study group."
"What are you studying for?" She asks
"My exams in June; the A levels."
"Oh, OK. Good luck then. Don't let me slow you down." She smiles. She seems like a nice person.
"Thanks" I say.
"C'mon Afi," she smiles and stretches out her hand. Afi looks at me and takes it. She walks a couple of steps and then runs back to me, wrapping her arms firmly around my left thigh. I lift her up and give her a proper hug before kissing her forehead again.
"Bye bye baby. I'll see you tomorrow evening, Okay?" I say and she nods before wiping her eyes again.
Her stepmom opens her hands and she leaves my grip to enter hers. She rests her head on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, she's in good hands." She assures me with a smile and walks away. Afi waves me while still crying as they enter the house and I wave back just before the door closes.
I'll try my best not to have a child before marriage, so this type of thing doesn't happen. I don't want my kids dancing between homes the way Afi and I do.
Well, you could still get divorced and experience this, it's a matter of what is meant for you.
Life's crazy.
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