Chapter 44: Chapter 44

~Jade~

I stared at Zee.

She stared back.

I stared at her.

Zee stared back.

Then her face dissolved into a huge smile as she started to walk towards me.

'Hey baby. I've missed you'

And she hugged me. I allowed her to but I did not hug her back, my hands laying limply at my sides. She moved back, still smiling.

'Look at you. Did you miss me that much?'

I stared at her, still not talking. I did not trust myself to talk. I did not what to say, what to think. I could only stare at her. I cleared my throat.

'What are you doing here?'

She looked startled at first, then she shrugged.

'Come on Jade, it's my home.'

'Of course, it's the home you left without a backward glance.'

She said nothing for a while as she just smiled.

'I get that you're angry. I understand that.'

I shook my head.

'No, you don't. The only thing that is understood here is that you're self centered and self conceited. It's hard to believe that you're my sister.'

She moved back to steps and then she smiled again.

'I was expecting you to shout and hug me when you see me. Seems like I overhype....'

'Shout and hug you when I see you? Hmm? God! Zainab! You left me without a backward glance. You left home without a goodbye and you have the nerve to tell me that you expected me to hug you? There are levels to this, Zee. I never expected it from you.'

Her expression changed and she turned back, gripping her table mirror. I knew this was her getting angry.

Getting angry? The only person who has the right to get angry here is no one but me. She turned back with a tight smile on her face.

'Jade, you don't understand. There is....'

'Then make me understand.'

I said, interrupting her. I could feel my anger evaporating. My voice shook as I spoke.

'Make me understand. Do you know how I felt that day when I returned home and you were gone? Do you know how I felt sitting right there in my room with my heart hammering in my chest, with my chest constricted, with my breaths uneven. I had a panic attack and I couldn't breath, couldn't do anything. I thought I was going to die. I nearly died. And you have the nerve to stand there and tell me that I don't understand, no..... '

'Then you should have asked!'

She snapped and I moved back at the intensity of her voice. She was angry.

'You could have asked for the reason why I left home but no you did not, you just assumed the worst, you just assumed that I left because I wanted to. You could have asked, a single message, a single phone call and we wouldn't be here but no, you simply assumed the worst of me. You have no right to be angry, baby sis or..... '

She said the last part slowly.

'.....is it step sister?'

She was looking at me, gaze unwavering. I stared back.

She heaved a sigh as if she had said too much and she walked back to where she was earlier. It was then I noticed that she was packing some of her clothes into a travelling bag.

She even came to pack clothes ni. I said nothing as I walked back to my room, not feeling my legs. I collapsed unto my bed immediately I got to my room. I stayed in that position until I heard her bedroom door open and her footsteps as she walked down the stairs. I stood up and went to peep through my window. I saw her walk to the gate. She smiled and said something to the gateman as he opened the door for her. Then she stepped out.

And she was gone.

I stood for by the window for minutes or hours. I lost track of how long I stood there until I heard a knock. I knew it was Fatima. I waited for her to come in and when she did not, I told her to come in. She entered and leaned back against the closed door.

'Are you okay? I overheard your argument with Zee.'

'I'm fine.'

She nodded and said nothing for a while. She then opened the door.

'There is food in the warmer in the kitchen, you shouldn't starve yourself.'

I nodded at her and she stepped out. I moved back to my bed and laid down on the bed, my feelings constricted. I never put my self in Zee's position. I wasn't the one who discovered that her whole life had been an half lie. I wasn't the one who was suddenly confronted with the harsh realities of life.

And I realized with a sinking feeling that Zee was right. I never asked her why she left, I just assumed the worst.

*********

I've been in a shiity mood since the episode with Zee. When Mom, Dad and Saheed got back from work, I told them that Zee came home to pack some of her clothes, they only nodded.

'Do you know that you've being awfully quiet since morning?'

I turned to Uthman who was looking at me with his eyebrows raised. I shrugged.

'So what's wrong?'

'Nothing. I'm just.... In a bad mood?'

He kept staring at me, not saying a word and I knew he did not believe what I said. I smiled and raised my hands in mock surrender.

'Okay, it's about my sister. She came home for some things yesterday. It was the first time I'd see her since we left and we had an argument. It was huge and I've been in a bad mood since then.'

He reached over and grabbed my hand that was on my desk, giving it a gentle squeeze.

'It's going to be alright, baby girl.'

What? I looked up and looked at him.

'Baby girl? Whose name is that?'

'Yours of course. Who else would I call a baby girl?'

'Anyone but me. I don't want that kinda name.'

'Well, that's what I want to call you.'

'I won't answer you.'

'As if you'll have an option.'

'Let's wait and see.'

We were looking at each other and his hand was still on my hand. We stopped talking and busrt into laughter at the same time. Someone behind us joined in. We both turned back simultaneously. It was Caleb. He kept on laughing.

What's this idiot's deal?

'Are you guys dating?'

He asked as soon he stopped laughing. I hissed and faced front.

'I knew it. Ever since this picture, I've always known that you guys have something going on.'

By this picture, I knew he was referring to the portrait at the back of our classroom.

'Wow, Uthman and Jade are dating each other? Wow.'

Someone else said and soon enough, the whole class were murmuring about it. Seems like the whole school would soon know about it. Not like I care.

'I thought you guys hated each other.'

The voice I recognized to be Keji's said.

'We all thought they hated each other.'

Someone else replied and the whole class burst into laughter.

'And where does that leave Michelle?'

The whole class fell quiet then until a voice I recognized to be Pauline's said.

'Exactly where she is meant to be. Uthman and Jade dating has to be the ultimate revenge of the year.'

'My thoughts exactly.'

That was Ayisha Bello. I turned to Uthman, he was scribbling nonsense on his note. I heard the shuffle of a chair and I looked up to see Michelle walking to where Pauline sat.

'I never knew you hated me that much.'

'Congratulating my mates because they're dating does not mean I hate you.

Pauline replied, still not looking up from whatever she was reading.

'You specifically mentioned my name.'

'No, I did not. I only said you got what you deserve for betraying your best friend.'

Michelle laughed mitlessly.

'You all are pathetic'

Then she walked or stomped out of the classroom. I looked at Uthman. He was still scribing nonsense on his note.

'Baby boy.'

He looked up, startled. Then he burst into laughter.

'There's no way you're calling me that.'

I laughed too.

'And you want to call me baby girl? No way.'

He shook his head still laughing.

********

After we've all ordered for whatever we wanted to eat. We went to sit down. I realized that we've been sitting at that same table for weeks now.

'You know, it's hard to figure which one is better. Sitting in front of you or sitting beside you?'

Uthman said as we sat down. I raised my eyebrow.

'So I'll just alternate. I'll sit in front of you today and sit beside you tomorrow.'

'Kuku sit inside her then.'

We all laughed at what Akin said as we started to eat.

'You know what guys, I think we should celebrate Jade's win. I mean winning that contest is no small feat.'

Akin said halfway through the meal. I looked at Uthman and cleared my throat.

'No. I don't think celebrating it is really necessary. Let's just...'

'You know I said the same thing the other time. If you don't want to throw a party, then let's just hang out.'

Hana interrupted me and I saw Dan nod in agreement. I glanced at Uthman again. His whole attention was on the food he was eating.

'Guys, I really don't think it's that necessary for us to celebrate. It's just a.....'

'We should probably go to the mall or a park.'

Uthman interrupted me before I could complete my sentence. I swallowed.

'Yes, this weekend should do.'

'God, I'm so excited.'

Hana replied Akin and I watched all of them plan the hangout without saying anything.

'So, the five of us are going?'

Akin asked.

'I think Fatima will join us'

'Fatima? Who is Fatima?'

Dan asked Hana and I looked at Uthman again. He met my eyes and he smiled. See this people planning hangout for me when I wasn't even interested in the hangout.

'Fatima is Jade's cousin. She is staying with them for now.'

'Is she pretty?'

I shook my head and glanced at Akin. That one is always thinking about girl 24/7.

'Typical Yoruba Demon, I hail thee. You still have Ayi......'

'Speaking about Ayisha, that's her entering the cafeteria.'

I glanced at Akin before looking at the entrance. It was really Ayisha entering the cafeteria. I looked at Akin again wondering what the connection between the both of them was. I followed Akin's eyes, he was still staring at her as she bought snacks and walked out of the cafeteria.

'That was Ayisha'

I stated the obvious fact and Akin shrugged.

'Is there  something between the both of you?'

Hana asked, staring back and forth at Akin and me as if I share a kind of secret with him.

'They have more than something going on.'

Dan replied and I crooked an eyebrow at Akin. Akin and Ayisha? Ayisha?

'Ayisha? Akin, just three weeks ago, it was Bunmi and now Ayisha. Ayisha? You guys don't even talk. Ayisha don't even talk to anybody.'

'Well, it just happened.'

He replied with a grin on his face.

'What just happened?'

'A heated moment just happened.'

Dan replied me and he and Uthman burst into laughter. I stared at Akin, astounded.

'Stop looking at me as if I killed someone na.'

'You and Ayisha? This is unbelievable.'

'Much more believable than you and Uthman now dating.'

He replied and I literally shot daggers at him. He winked. Ode omo. This Akin is a womanizer sha. At his age.

'Before we digress. Abeg are we hanging out this weekend? Palms Mall?'

Akin asked again and everybody at the table except me chorushed yes.

Oh God!

**********

~Uthman~

I noticed Jade wasn't comfortable with the idea of hanging out to celebrate her winning the ECOWAS contest. I think that has to with me, I guess she still feels guilty because she represented the school instead of me. She has avoided talking about competition ever since she won. We had a meeting in the Arts studio, all the senior prefects to finalize our prepation for the upcoming event (Rise Initiative coming to our school to address us on SDG'S and career paths). After the discussion, everyone filed out and it was just Jade and I in the studio. We were sitting beside each other. I turned to face her.

'If you are about to ask me for the reason why I'm not leaving, it's because I want to spend time with you so...'

I burst into laughter. God! My girlfriend is a whole different case.

Your girlfriend?

I smiled and she raised an eyebrow.

'Why are you smiling? Do you want me to leave?'

And she attempted to stand up, I pulled her back.

'Hey, come on. I was smiling at something else.'

'Better.' She replied and sat down. We both said nothing for a while. We were just staring at each other.

'So, are we just going to stare at each other till we run out of time.'

I dragged my chair closer to her.

'Nah, there are other things we could do.'

'Like?'

I moved my chair even closer to her.

She stared back with a gaze unwavering. She smiled.

'Uthman, please move back.'

I smiled but did not move back.

'You're always telling me to move back and yet you initiated a kiss with me.'

I watched her mouth dropped open and closed again.

She repeated it and still no words came out.

'Speechless?'

'No way. Who was the one who said and I quote 'I'd go crazy if I don't kiss you?'

'You could have waited for me to complete my sentence.'

'I'm not a fan of wasting time with words.'

'Of course you're not.'

I replied and we both burst into laughter. It was always exhilarating to watch and listen to her laugh.

'You know crazy? I blasted my sister when she told me she initiated a kiss with a guy at 13 and less than 3 months after that discussion, I initiated a kiss with a guy. I guess it runs in the family.'

'I can't blame you. This face will probably wear your defences down.'

I replied and pointed to my face. She looked at me with mock disgust.

'Whose face?'

'This particular face.'

I replied her, still pointing to my face. She scowled.

'You can't tell me otherwise. You are always staring at the face.'

'I'm always staring at your face? You are the one who keeps staring at me every single minute.'

I shrugged.

'I'm not disputing that. Your face is the most beautiful face I've ever seen.'

She stared at me not saying anything. Something flickered in her eyes.

Love?

Hey. Downplay it.

Then she surprised me when she moved closer and pressed her lips against mine. It lingered there for a minute before she moved back and smiled.

'You were right. Your face is definitely wearing down my resolve.'

She smiled wider and I did nothing but to stare at her.

Oh damn.

I smiled too.

We'd just spend the time smiling and smiling till our cheeks start to hurt.

That won't hurt though.

I just badly want to kiss her and kiss her till we were both short of breath.

Downplay it.

Instead I smiled and cleared my throat.

'So we are hanging out this weekend?'

'Just the two of us?'

She asked excitedly and I shook my head, laughing.

'Are you that excited about being alone with me?'

She only shrugged.

'What's the crime in wanting to spend time with my boyfriend?'

I smiled again.

'Of course there's no crime there but the rest wants us to hang out to celebrate you.'

Her expression confirmed that I was right about her feeling kinda guilty.

'I don't think that's really necessary. I mean it's..........'

'Come on, it's just hanging out with friends, there is nothing spectacularly big about that.'

She heaved a sigh.

'I just don't think I'm up to........'

'Do you feel bad about representing the school instead of me?'

'No, of course not.'

'Of course yes. It's pretty obvious. You avoid conversations about the contest. When anybody mentions the contest, the first thing you do is to look at me as if you are trying to see if  I'm okay with it or not. Why?'

She heaved another sigh before talking.

'It's just that you worked hard for it. You wanted to win and......'

'I wanted to win' I interrupted her again. 'I wanted to win because I wanted you to lose. It was nothing more than that. You wanted it more than I do and with sincerity too. Maybe it was just right that I fell sick that day. It was your contest to win.'

She said nothing for a while and then she smiled.

'But you were really an asshole then. You just wanted to win because you wanted to lose. Did you hate me that much?'

'Trust me, I was very blind then.'

'Makes the two of us.'

She replied and I laughed again. She joined in.

Oh my God. What a time to be alive.

********

I met dad at home when I got home. He was sitting in the sitting room, staring at a framed picture of mom, moji and I. I stopped short at that sight.

Did he miss them now that they've left? After all the maltreatment all these years? No way. He turned to me and his expression confirmed my thoughts.

'How was school?'

'It was fine Sir.'

He nodded and we fell into an awkward silence after then. I cleared my throat.

'How far with mom and Moji?'

He was silent for a minute that I was starting to think he did not hear me.

'I don't know. It's like a dead end. I don't think she is coming back.'

He replied and slumped down on a chair, cradling his head in his hands.

'Good.'

I replied before I could stop myself. His head jerked up.

'What do you mean?'

'You never treated her like a wife, you never treated Moji like a daughter and you never treated me like a son, at least since mom died. It's just normal that she left.'

He grabbed his head and looked down again.

'You don't understand anything.'

He said and I shook my head.

'I understand that you lost a wife and I lost a mother. You were an adult then and I was just a small boy. But you wallowed in that loss, you are still wallowing in it that you pushed everybody away includimg your son who needed you the most. You failed as a father and a husband. Aunty Wura should have left a long time ago.'

I rubbed my hair in frustration as I talked. This feels good. Saying everything I've always wanted to say to dad. I turned back and climbed the stairs to my bedroom.

To the solitude of my bedroom.

********

'Baby boy'

Jade whispered into my ears and she rounded the table to sit opposite me. This girl will not relent on this baby boy thing.

'Baby boy? Is that what you call Uthman now?

Akin asked and without waiting for her to reply. The three of them burst into laughter. I mean Akin, Dan and Hana. It was lunch break and we were all in the cafeteria.

'Wow, never knew someone someday would call Uthman by a name so feminine. Wonders shall never end.'

I mentally rolled my eyes at Dan's words and turned to look at Jade. She smiled and stucked her tongue out. I smiled back. Two can play the game.

Wait for my comeback.

'But you guys look good together. Who could have thought that someday you would even sit down to have a normal conversation not to talk of actually liking each other.'

'But we envisaged it remember, Akin. There was this day we were in the cafeteria when we made a joke about Uthman and Jade dating and they both discarded it. Now, look at them, can't stop staring at each other, can't stop touching each other.'

I remembered the day Hana was talking about. It was the day I heard Jade's laughter and it wasn't bitchy or mean. It was just carefree and her. It was the beginning of seeing her in a whole different light.

I heard someone's heels clicking on the floor and I turned to see Michelle walking towards us. She got to us and sat down beside me.

Talk about ruining moments.

'Hi'

She said cheerfully and I could picture everybody's expression at that. What's Michelle's deal this morning?

She started eating while everybody exchanged glances.

'So, Jade, how is your sister?'

I glanced at Michelle.

'You were always going on and on about her but I've not heard you talk about her these days.'

I looked at Jade. She was looking at Michelle with a bored expression.

'You were always going on and how about how your sister was this, was that, was everything to the point that you made those of us without sisters feel bad.'

She paused and I wondered where on earth she was going with all her blabbing.

'Turned out that that sister of yours wasn't even your sister, not your biological sister. Isn't Karma wonderful?'

My head jerked up at that.

Jade was staring at me.

With

A

Murderous

Glance?