Chapter 48: Chapter 48

: Interviews

→Narrator: Asa

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I slammed my already battered phone on the dining table, groaning and gripping my head tight.

I forced myself into coming up with a reasonable explanation why Kam hadn't come home all night.

Yes! All night!

The only thing stopping me from freaking out completely was that I remembered his promise.

I'll come back to you. I promise.

But he didn't.

He promised.

I folded my hands on the table, burying my head in them, my heart, twisting in my chest, a huge lump, forming in my guts.

Forever and ever. He promised.

I took a deep breath, my heart somersaulting. Trembling hands, gripping my head, trying to focus on my breathing.

But the dread rising in the pit of my stomach made me want to puke my guts out.

I've been up since four, decided to stop deceiving myself.

I hadn't slept a wink all night. Partly because, I was scared of having more nightmares, seeing as my usual bed-buddy was currently AWOL. And partly because I thought he'd call, at least.

I ended up pulling an all-nighter with Amir as I reveiwed topics I'd read three times over already. Amir had been so considerate and patient, anytime I started freaking out again, he was quick to reassure me.

In the end, he had passed out on my bed, in the middle of explaining a difficult Further Maths question to me. I had tried. I had honestly tried to sleep but I kept tossing and turning and my heart wouldn't stop somersaulting.

Wait for me, Asa. I'll come back to you.

I had to wait and be patient. A part of me was worried out of my mind... What if something had happened to him? An accident... What if he really tried coming back yesterday but got arrested?

Oh God!

What if... What if...

I gulped, swallowing yet another lump.

"Anxiety is very unbecoming of you." Amir grunted, stretching and walking into the kitchen.

"He's not back."

He shrugged, opening the refrigerator and pulling out a jar of orange juice.

Rinsing two glasses, he poured some orange juice into each of them and slid one of the glasses to me, keeping one for himself.

He made himself comfortable on the barstool opposite me, a worried scowl, replacing his usually bored, uninterested look.

"You think something happened?"

My heart went to the gold necklace Kam had gifted me, days ago, gripping tight. "I don't know, Amir." I whispered, my voice, coming out hoarse.

"You've tried calling him?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

I put the call on loudspeaker so he'd hear what the receiver was saying.

"This motherfucker." He cussed, gritting his teeth when the call ended.

"Language, please!" I reminded him.

Amir cussed again, angrily taking out his phone and punching some numbers into it. He brought it to his ear. "Hello? Yes. Is this the host of Naija Celeb-scoop?"

My eyes bulged, jaw dropped as he went on.

"Yes. I'd like to take you up on that offer for an exclusive interview."

"What are you doing?" I whisper-yelled at him when he paused.

He only rolled his eyes at me. "I'm in Offshore at the moment. Is it possible to get a crew here?"

I gaped at him.

"Okay. Send me the address later.... Two hours. Got it."

"What was that?!" I yelled at him.

Downing the rest of his orange juice, he said simply. "You need a distraction and he needs a wake-up call. This interview will kill two birds with one stone."

"Amir-"

"Get dressed, princess." He cut me off, already walking away. "We only have two hours to get your Golden boy's attention."

_

It became clear that Amir wasn't a fan of interviews about two minutes after we walked into the building.

The crew had scampered about, desperate to please and impress the young prince and all their attempts at sweet-talking him into a better mood was stoically wasted.

The host, a breezy, brown skinned woman, probably in her late twenties, with flawless makeup, a big back-side and a charming, albeit, carefully rehearsed smile had approached us minutes before Amir came on air.

"It's such an honour to finally have you here, Amir. I'm sure you thought long and hard of the benefits of appearing on our show."

"No." He said simply.

The woman faltered, her plastic smile, falling off. "No?"

"No." He said again. "I'm doing this for my friend." He gestured to me. "Nothing more."

When the crew gave the signal, he left my side.

"Wish me luck. I'll need it." He had groaned at me. Probably regretting the whole thing.

I had rolled my eyes and smacked his wrist, but nonetheless, mouthed a "goodluck" at him when he settled down on the plush couch, a confidence about him, like he knew he was the shit.

It was hard not to admire his aura. He basically oozed intellectual cool and charm. A bored, expressionless look on his face as he practically glared at the host and the cameras. His answers, tense. Scarce. Clipped.

If his intention was to make everyone uncomfortable, he was succeeding.

"What exactly is your inspiration for your songs. Your lyrics have such a deep, mature meanings. And you're just a teenager."

"Not what. Who." He corrected.

The woman stuttered. "Oh... Okay. Who is your inspiration?"

"My mum."

The host waited until it was obvious Amir wasn't going to elaborate on his answer.

"Don't you have a background story to tell about her? Something interesting, perhaps?"

"No." He shrugged. "The public already knows all the shit that went down in her life. Those that don't can check it out in the news. I don't feel like divulging my childhood memories just to make headlines."

She had pressed on. "What about stories that inspired you to write such lyrics. Something the public doesn't know about?"

"That's still personal but maybe some other time."

"We have time now," she challenged. And I wondered how much longer she'd melt under Amir's intense gaze. "And I don't know when next you'd agree to come on the show, so let's make do with what we have, yeah?"

"I don't know about you, but I don't plan on dying anytime soon." He said, abruptly.

"A... And neither do I." She had stammered, unsure of what to say.

"Good. We've got all the time in the world. Some other time, some other place. Maybe when I'm in a better mood and state of mind."

She sighed, deciding to drop it.

She asked him direct, straightforward questions. And he'd reply stoically, giving one word answers, and making it damn obvious to the world that he really wasn't a fan of interviews.

The subject drifted to Xenophobia and that was when Amir sat up, a slight fire in his eyes.

Last year, there had been violence against Nigerians in South Africa that caused a massive outrage in the country. Nigerians in retaliation had vandalized, looted and misused properties owned by South Africans based here in Nigeria...

Amir sighed, rubbing his forehead. "It's all fucked up! We're fighting racism and bribery and corruption and we still allow Xenophobia to exist?! It's almost like the oppressors have won when we begin acting like this."

The host had flinched at the anger in his voice, the mad fire in his eyes but Amir wasn't done.

"We're blood. We are one. The oppressors used the 'Divide and Conquer' tactic to enslave us in the beginning and we still let that shit happen to us till today. We look for the tiniest differences in a human being like ourselves and latch on to it and let it fuel our hate."

The woman had smiled, subtly motioning at the camera crew to zoom onto his face.

If Amir noticed, he said nothing about it. "So what if I'm fulani and you're Ghanaian? Who the fuck cares if an Ethiopian marries a Tiv? I still get hate for being half-caste. They hang on to the fact that I'm part Arab and use it to further separate themselves from me. I am Nigerian. I'm Egyptian. But who the fuck cares? I'm African and we're one."

He was seething through his teeth. "And it's not even any better here in Nigeria. Hausa hating Fulani. Igbos hating Hausa... You're looking for a job and the job is as good as yours the moment the employer finds out you are from the same hometown. The fuck? Everyone needs to stop being so fucking stupid and wake the fuck up. Africa needs to wake the fuck up!"

The host sighed, shaking her head and for once, the expression on her face seemed genuine. "It's sad when you look at it that way. I have my own story to tell but sadly the spotlight is not on me at the moment."

Amir kept quiet and looked at her as if he was just seeing her for the first time, nodding appreciatively. "I wouldn't doubt that."

She smiled at him. "So, as a member of the gifted gen Z, what do you think the solution to all this is?"

Amir laughed and for the first time since the show started, he looked genuinely comfortable. "I'd say the Millennials are just as gifted as the Generation Z. But to your question, the simple answer is that we need to something that unifies us and hang on to it."

"Our Skin colour?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No. We need a unified voice. For a continent with over fifty thousand languages, we need to understand each other. We need to understand that we're all fighting for the same thing."

"And what's that?" She leaned towards him. Thoroughly captivated.

"The right to live happily and at peace with one another."

"And what's going to help us do that? This unified voice you say?"

"Simple. English Language." Amir laughed.

She looked at him skeptically and he chuckled lightly. "It was originally used for the convenience of our invaders as a tool to rid us of our identity, but we can use it to our advantage and find a unified voice."

"We need to respect our individual cultures and traditions but also have a common language that unify us. We're really just one large extended family, related by a shared region and a common goal to survive and live happily with the ones we love."

"But isn't it too late for all that?" The host asked.

Amir shrugged. "I don't think so. Most Millennials and Generation Zs speak English as their first language. Notice how there is a significantly lower rate of ethnicism in our generation and in urban areas like Lagos and Abuja. Ethnicity is almost non-existent in our generation. Xenophobia and Racism too. I believe as the decades pass, the dark history of hate and blood shed will be long forgotten but the movement has already started with us and our Millennial counterpart. It's not too late to rid this continent of the hate planted in our hearts."

The host was nodding, enraptured in his halo.

Infact, the entire crew had gone quiet, watching him with a new found respect.

"Wow, Amir." She was nodding, speechless for a moment. "That's... Wow!"

The passionate speech helped thaw his coldness and his answers became freer. Less clipped. He honestly looked like he was having a great time out there until the show started rounding up.

"And that's a wrap, guys, you've heard it from the prince himself, Amir Aleikzandre Aziel. Even though he's topping charts on YouTube with a huge fan base already, this rising teenage music sensation has no intention of pursuing music professionally."

She suddenly turned to Amir who looked as calm and collected as ever.

"So, Amir... Any last words before we go off in two minutes?"

Amir chuckled, facing the camera, a small smile on his face. "Uh... I owe coming here to a very important person. To be honest, I wouldn't be here if she hadn't agreed to come along. She's very close to me and she's one of the few people I trust in my life."

What??!

That's a big fucking lie!

Amir!

My blood started pounding again.

Is this.... God, is this what he meant by a wake-up call?

The host shifted closer to him, conspiringly. "And who is this girl to you? A special person."

Amir grinned now, suddenly turning his head, towards my direction and my stomach flipped at the soft expression on his face. I didn't even know if he was faking it.

Of course, the cameras followed his line of sight and suddenly, I was under the harsh glare of multiple cameras.

I awkwardly smiled and gave a shy wave at the camera, inwardly contemplating the murder of that bloody prince.

He must have read the look on my face, because he smiled and winked at me, before the cameras concentrated on him again.

"A very special person. Just a friend for now." Amir replied. "But I'm hoping to change that soon."

He was saying and I was fighting the urge to walk over to where he was and throttle the hell out of him.

"Oooh!" The host giggled. "You mean... Like, you want to ask her to be your girlfriend?"

I wished the host would just shut up and stop egging him on.

"Oh no." He shook his head.

"No?!"

Amir shook his head again. "No. I'm trying to make her my princess... And maybe in the future, my Queen."

I facepalmed myself.

Amir, Shut the Fuck Up! I practically screamed with my eyes, glaring at him.

The host giggled. "My. My. You kids of nowadays are go-getters. You're what? Eighteen? And you're talking marriage already."

Amir shrugged. "My mother always told me to chase my dreams early. The earlier the better... I failed to listen to her once, and I regretted ever since. Right now, I'd be damned if I don't listen now. That girl is gold. And I'm tryna think fast here. We all know that gold don't stay in the market for long."

My jaw dropped and I gaped at him in amazement and shock.

The host beamed at him, nodding her head.

She turned to face the camera, smiling in satisfaction at this added scoop. No doubt, this will be the latest gist for a couple of months. Everyone watches Naija Celeb Scoop and reads their news blog.

"And that, my country people, is all we have time for now. Goodbye and have a blessed day!"

I had only three words to say to Amir if Kam, by any luck, had watched the show.

Rest In Peace.

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