Hey!! It's been a while!🥺❤️

Well, I'd you look to my page now, you'll see I now have 2k followers and I'm surprised at how much people are really following my ass, but thank you!❤️

Also, thank you so much for 85k reads oo! We're 5k away from 90k! All of you reading this book are the best!❤️❤️❤️

Meanwhile, I don't even know how y'all will react to this one sha, but issorite, let's go!😂👏

~ACHA~

I wanted to go into a deep sleep and just, well, stay there.

I wanted to get out of all of this.

For as long as I possibly could. But I knew that I had to linger on a little bit more and face this mess.

To be honest, however, these past few days had done nothing other than give me multiple migraines and it was harder to handle by the second.

Not long after I had ordered a cab to Morewa Estate, where Dabi had told me was where her friend, Chika lived, I decided to find a cab myself to go home and check up on Mum.

I had gotten her some snacks from Gomery on the way back, something that I felt she would like: some red velvet cupcakes and apple drinks, anything that would basically make her feel happy.

I knew it had not been too easy for my Mum either.

As much as I didn't plan to stay too long at home, going back to Nana's place, I couldn't help but stay with Mum until I was satisfied she was just fine.

The house felt empty: no workers, no cleaners, and fortunately, no dad. Just Mum. However, I did not plan to stay too long here, just a few meals with her, a little bit of quality time with her and a little bit of me catching up with her and how he had been feeling and that was how ten minutes turned to ten hours and I ended up almost spent the entire morning, afternoon, evening and pending night at home with my Mum who engaged me like no other. 

"Shut the door behind you, baby, it's cold tonight,"

I heeded, shutting the door right behind me as she instructed as we stepped into the living room the exact moment that light switch was turned on by her.

"We need to start setting up some Christmas lights," She said to me as she did a quick survey of our living room, scanning briefly through the white and gold walls and black and gold leather couches. "December is just around the corner. Right, baby?"

She turned around to face me, a pack of popcorn in her hand and an anticipation in her brown pretty eyes that stared at me, blinking adorably as she waited for me to give an answer.

"Should we also get a tree?" She asked, her skin glistened under the crimson gold lights of the ceiling chandeliers; she cocked her head to the side and stared up at me, "And maybe some presents too, yeah?"

"Where are we? New York?" Sarcasm dripped off my tone and Mum went off with a loud laughter immediately, throwing her head back and slapping my arm hysterically.

I smiled. It felt nice to see her her laugh again. I had missed it.

Sure, it had been just a few days since what had happened with she and Dad, and me, but it felt like ages since I had seen her smile. Talk less of Laugh. It felt nice. Really nice.

"Well, don't blame me for trying to keep up with my 'modern mum' fly, you know it's not easy being a modern Mum in this generation, a gorgeous one at that. God knows what you guys want!" She commented in a rush, laughter in her voice.

I liked that she was also making jokes again. Even if they sounded dismissive and with a wistful undertone to it. Like, she was trying hard to joke enough so it could uplift her mood. Like joking around was somewhat a coping mechanism for her. It felt like that. But what did I know?

"Are you okay, Mum?" I had to ask her.

I saw a hesitance in her eyes on my question, like it had caught her off guard for a moment.

But, it was more or less like a shift on the emotions on her face. She seemed to keep her composure good and fine afterwards, and answered in stability.

"I guess so," She answered with a sigh,  "I kinda have liked the peace and quiet of the house lately. It's a bit comforting."

Her voice sounded tired.

It broke me.

"Where is Dad?" I asked.

Mum shrugged. Fuck, she didn't even know.

"He left sometime yesterday evening and hasn't been home since then," She told me, the boredom in her voice was mind blowing, "I guess he couldn't stand to be in the same house with me." She actually giggled after she said that, like somehow, it was supposed to be funny.

She had been doing that a lot through out the day. Saying the saddest thing and laughing a short, brief laugh afterwards and somehow, it was the saddest thing to witness.

"What about you?" She asked me, "Are you good, baby?"

I put on my best smile.

"Definitely," I lied to her.

She stood on her tip toes and blessed me with a kiss to the side of my face, and I felt the imprint of her red lip stick plastering on my cheek.

"Mum, can I go somewhere?" I asked her as she patted her long acrylic nailed fingers softly on my face.

She was about to go, but stopped and turned around, looked at me with a pause. "Where?"

"Nana's place," I told her.

"It's almost 7pm," She said to me, with an arc in her brows, "Baby, you go out late too much these days. So, what are you up to again? Should I expect to see you and that sweet girlfriend of yours swarming all around my face in Social Media again, ehh?"

I laughed. I actually laughed.

"No, no," I laughed in a hurry, "I dropped Dabi off already. I need to go to Nana's house for something entirely different. I need to take car of something important; that's all."

Mum gave me a look and rounded it up immediately after it landed on me, and the next second, she was walking away, waving her manicured fingers in the air in playful dismissal of me.

"Whatever. Just be back home before 10pm," She said to me as she made her way upstairs, called out her instructions to me, "And I'm serious. Don't do what you did in that bonfire again; Come back on time!"

"Yes ma," I answered behind her.

"And you can go with any of the cars that don't belong to your Dad." She added with a yell in her voice.

Didn't need to tell me twice.

"I don't want you coming back with some cab late at night. This is Christmas period. There are a lot of ritualists disguised as Cab drivers roaming around. Let's be guided, abeg."

I laughed again as I nodded, heeding to her and soon she had disappeared through the stairs and all I could hear was her feet loudly shuffling through the hallways upstairs.

*****

7:09pm.

That was exactly the time my wrist watch told when I drove in through the gates of the duplex that was Nana's home, and never had I felt like there would have been a time when I drove into his house and would feel this disturbed.

Disturbed. That was the way I had been feeling these few hours that all of these had broke out. From home, there was that lingering gutting feeling, sad, numb, yet thick and with a strong presence that I could not pretend didn't get to me,  like there was a cloud of darkness I could not get rid of, just hanging there at the top of my head, weighing me down, dulling every bit of my spirit and breaking me more than ever before. 

It was disturbing how Dad's words replayed in my head no matter how much I tried to get rid of it. Even in the Bonfire party. As much as I had the time of my life there, there was that hollow pain in my chest where his words that sored up. As much as I could not forget that encounter or get over the fact that my Mum was hurting too, just like I was, I think I was grateful for the fact that I was able to get a distraction.

Sigh. A distraction that was nearly costing my friendship.

What made me terrified the most of the outcome of this was that I was not even sure how much Sean was taking this. How he was holding up. As much as I tried to excuse myself for things, I could not pretend that the fact that I had been completely careless and in the process, invalidated such a big life changing day it was for my best friend.

That was problematic. Very.

"Here goes," I swallowed to brace myself as I stepped out of the Lexus Car and shut the door quietly, whipped out my phone to text the first person whom I knew would be apt and fast to respond to me immediately.

Me.

Where are you guys?

<<Sent 7:10pm

His reply came almost immediately before I even hit send.

Nana.

Basketball Court. But my Mum will soon call us for Dinner. You?

<<Sent 7:10pm

Me.

Is Sean there too?

<<Sent 7:10pm

Nana.

Yes. You asked me to make him come out. Only Basketball could do that. We will soon go in for Dinner though. Where are you?

<<Sent 7:10pm

Me.

I just arrived now.—

I started walking towards the house in a bid to circle it and get to the backyard, while simultaneously typing.

—Just keep him there a while longer. You'll soon see me. 

<<Sent 7:10pm

Nana.

No qualms.

<<Sent 7:10pm

That pretty much rounded the conversation and with a quick action, I stuffed my phone into the back pocket of my sweats and my steps increased in pace as I walked there to the backyard of the house to catch up with the guys on Nana's Basketball Court. 

I got there to the cornered edge of the other side of the building where I could already hear the voices of the guys on the Basketball Court from where I was, loud and clear. So precise that I could pick out every sound and decipher who and who it came from: the chants, the jeers and cheers, and the shuffling and racing of feet accompanied with the bouncing of the ball on the ground of the court and much to my shock, Sean's voice seemed to be the loudest one.

That slowed me for a moment. It made me actually stop.

Sean's voice was the loudest, no joke. I mean, on a norms, there was no guy I knew to be louder than him, but I did not expect him to even give a genuine smile for a while after everything that had happened. So, it came to me as a shock that he was actually laughing so loud, practically guffawing with noise, the way he usually would excitedly do whenever he trashed someone in a game.

I imagined him running around the court and flipping his shirt over, knocking down everyone in is way as he screamed out in all his victory, and I could decipher that he was throwing shots up shots into the net with the way he jeered and jubilated every second that passed.

Wow. He actually sounded..... Happy.

Boldly, I took a step to pull myself into direct view of the Basketball Court.

The guys were there. All of them. Nana. Chido. JJ. And of course, Sean.

The boys busy and active in their little friendly game on the Basketball Court and I could see that they had the light stands at the corners of the court lighted up, and as the rays of the lights from it were beautifully reflecting on the court grounds, blending its red colour with the orange and white glow of the light stands, flashing against the skin of the boys on the court who tossed the basket ball to one another, running around the court in all their fun and games. 

I smiled to myself as I admired the beauty of it. Teenage boys on a lighted pretty Basketball Court, having fun. Aesthetic; I thought.

Sean must have been the most excited - and the most aggressive - of them all. As much as it was hardest to look away from Nana and his stunning, yet natural god abilities, Sean's method of playing rather called for attention. In a good and bad way. He was good too, but jeez, he had anyone watching him play to become alarmed, watching him and hoping he did not injure anyone on the court.

I watched him snatch the ball from JJ's hands so roughly, hitting him down slightly by the shoulder as he ran like a man possessed towards the net, and I smiled, foreseeing his victory when he threw the ball into the net, slam dunk style, nearly breaking Nana's poor net as he made a clean, flawless shot.

"Neat!" I said to myself and started applauding, completely carried away.

I might have as well blown a trumpet through a loud condenser microphone because there was not much difference between that and what I just did.

Everyone's attention turned to me.

And, well, fuck me. 

"Bros, Is that not Acha?" I heard one of them say and I could have sworn that was JJ's voice, doing well to further announce whatever was left off my existence to the entire court.

Their game seemed to have come to an abrupt end, but luckily, it did not seem to be all my fault. It looked to me like they were tidying up to leave, with them untying their shoes and stuffing it into the same bag that looked like Nanas', and changing into some palms.

Simultaneously, Chido was throwing me a salute from his distance and I appreciated his attempts to make me feel welcomed even if it felt like the opposite; Nana was staring at me and hinting at me to come over with a slight arch of his brows, and JJ was just being weird, lingering there around a Sean who, um, was practically acting like he did not hear me applaud or hear JJ call  my name....

Well, he surprised me at how well he ignored my existence. 

He shocked me really.

He was not even glaring or anything. He was not looking peeved or bothered or feigning any cold attitude or anything of the sort. He looked just as happy as I had seen him before I alerted everyone to my presence, and with what looked like a genuine smile on his face, his lips moved so I deciphered he was talking to the other guys as he stuffed his Camo-themed shoes into the bag that they all were putting things into.

Sean looked simply happy.

Like I was so inexistent to him to the point that my presence did not even shake him with a single bother.

Quickly, I realised that I should be there, and not here.

So, with a sprint, I made my way to the boys who were packing up, movements specifically moving towards Sean who was still laughing loudly with Nana about something. 

"Ease up, brethren," Chido said to me with a smile and a pat on my back and his bud, Nana smiled at me without a word. "We will soon go and eat sha."

I smiled awkwardly, grateful for their warm welcome, and took a step towards Sean who was busy with zipping up the bag, oblivious to my presence or maybe acting like he was, as Nana and Chido waited for him, and JJ, and maybe, me. 

"My guy.." I started with a stutter an a cringe awkward laugh, wishing instantly that I had rehearsed this shit or something, "I just came here not long ago and I low-key watched you guys play for a while and—"

"Nana, water, abeg." A grinning Sean called out to Nana, cutting me off in mid speech and  shocking me even further as he looked through me to the kid on braces behind me and I frowned, turned to Nana who passed the large water bottle to me.

Reflexively, I stretched out my hand to Sean.

My nigga took the water bottle from me.

"Can I continue what I was saying?" I asked him politely.

Sean didn't answer.

But, he started gulping water down from the water bottle instead.

Oh, well. I deciphered that he was very thirsty and since he obviously had water in his mouth, he could not speak. Without waiting for an answer or waiting for him to act like I was standing there, I just continued talking.

"By the way, your skills have dramatically improved. I mean, that Last Lay up was fire—"

Jesus Christ.

He started walking away.

Right there, again in the bare mid of my sentence, Sean just threw the water bottle back to Nana who caught it effortlessly, before he cornered around my frame, brushing past me as he walked away without a warning.

Just like that. He just started walking away like I was not standing there in front of him and talking.

"I'll see you guys inside, na." He saluted Nana and Chido, and I felt like someone slapped a stick of humiliation to my face.

Awkwardly, JJ trailed behind him, rubbing his hands at the back of his neck as he weirdly kept looking between me and Sean who was now a bit far ahead. He almost looked hesitant to follow him as though he had not already clearly picked sides.

I found it hard to understand what JJ's deal really was. I could not wrap my head around it.

Since I had found out what he and those his hooligan boys had done to Dabi in School, I'd had a sore mind towards him, but apparently, he didn't seem to care. For some reason, he had always been more comfortable being more loyal to Sean than me. I saw his behaviour with Sean as something being a thin line between fear and respect.

Still, he acted like his gang boys were not enemies with Sean. He acted like he was unaware of the fact that Kaniru was planning things for Sean. There was no way that he did not know that Kaniru wanted to harm Sean to the point of death. There was no way JJ did not know.

And Sean was a hundred percent aware that JJ was affiliated with the very clique that wanted to harm him. I found it hard to wrap my head around what was going on, and worse, I could not even ask Sean questions because he practically hated me right now.

I didn't want him to get into trouble. But there was no way that he would think I, of all people, gave a shit about him. After all said and done about JJ, at least, he saw it decent enough to honour a big day that I had completely forgotten about. 

"He doesn't hate you, you know?" A deep voice came behind me and I stopped and turned around.

 There Chido was, helping take the bag that Nana just lifted from the bench - the very same one that Sean had dumped for them to carry - as he spoke to me.

"Are you sure?" I asked him.

"I think he is pretty sure," Nana solidified Chido's point.

"You guys saw how he completely acted like I wasn't talking to him. It's so obvious he does not want to see my stupid face again—" I said to them.

Chido walked off while picking up the stray gala wraps on the Basketball Court while Nana was busy stuffing the water bottle into the open side pocket of the bag, both guys doing one thing or the other in the middle of my baby-rant to them, and I stopped talking.

I stopped talking and stayed quiet.

Because they were probably not listening to me.

They probably did not care.

"Why did you stop talking?" Nana raised his head to me when he noticed my silence, his quiet eyes and quiet tone of voice making it obvious to me that he was listening.

"Never mind it." I said to him, shaking my head dismissively.

Chido arrived just then, crumpling some pieces of wraps in his hands and surprisingly, he did not have that signature scowl on his face that he usually had when he picked dirt up the floor.

The spiky hair kid genuinely looked like he was concerned about me.

I realized that contrary to what I just thought a few seconds ago, both Nana and Chido actually care.

"Look," Chido said to me. "Remember when you came here the day before Sean's birthday and  we had that mini conversation about 'friendship'?" He looked at me, awaiting an answer.

"Yeah," I answered. I remembered. I remembered it all.

I had asked because the guilt of keeping the truth away from Sean was killing me. The last thing I wanted to do was tell him about it on a day like that when he was so happy, a day before his birthday and the life changing game of his life. A day I ended up ruining anyway.

"I remember," I said to Chido.

"I should have also mentioned it to you that day that true friendship never dies," Chido told me.

"What is True Friendship?" I asked him.

"Well, I am modestly no old wise sensei or anything, but I am well aware that the answer to that is very relative," Chido said to me, "So, if there is anyone who should have an answer to that question best to your understanding, it should be you." He poked a finger to my chest for emphasis as he cracked a minute smile at me. "Are you following, brethren?"

"Not exactly," I said the truth.

"Only your heart knows what true friendship to you means," Nana clarified for me. 

"Oh," I sighed.

"And true friendship never dies," Nana said to me. "It may shake, it may crumble for a while, it may sink to its near bottom, but it never really dies."

"No matter what," Chido nodded in agreement. "And I believe that there is no way you would have been friends with Sean for so long, your whole childhood even, and it could not be true friendship. Sure, it may not be perfect. No one is. Not me. Not Nana. Not you. Not even Sean himself. And maybe you both may have a lot to work on for yourselves and your friendship—" 

He seemed to have stressed too much on that 'a lot' for me, but maybe it was in my head.

"—But, I am saying that if you could make it this far as friends, then maybe your friendship is redeemable. if you could carry on for so long, have each other's backs the way you did, despite all odds, despite all imperfections, despite all your flaws, and somehow, for over 10 years and counting, you two deeply still care for each other, then imagine what your friendship could do if you both actually worked on your imperfections for the better of your friendship?"

I couldn't even say anything. I did not know what to say.

"And it's okay, really," Nana said. "It's normal for people, even brothers to hurt each other."

"I didn't mean to," I defended lightly.

"No brother ever means to hurt another," Chido subtly and calmly told me, "But, we still do, once in a while, ba?"

"Bummer" Nana lightly joked, shrugged. "But, that's a con of being human."

I chuckled slightly. Wistfully.

"And on another serious note," Chido brought it up, "I really don't like to involve myself in people's personal lives or drama or anything, yeah? But Acha, you see your boy, Sean? I am low-key worried about that guy."

"Worried? How?" I almost had a panic attack in mini seconds.

"I hope he is okay," Chido said to me with a sigh. 

I knew what he meant right off the bat and someone overhearing him may not have. It was evident in his tone, the look in his eyes, and everything, that he meant to elaborate it to me that he was questioning Sean Ayomide's 'sanity'.

Smart way of bringing up the fact that he was worried that Sean was legit running mad.

"I am more worried about his attachment style," Nana lightly chipped it in.

That called for my attention. He continued.

"Kelechi was the first one to pick it up years ago," Nana told me. "His entire attachment/possessive character. He just seems to have gotten worse this session. It's a bit glaring. Is there a reason he is that way?"

All Nana did was bring up a fact that I had been aware of since we were primary school kids.

"I have also noticed he seems happier with people, than alone."  Chido also pointed out.

Okay, that, I had not particularly picked up on it until he said it.

Only to realise that it was true.

I agreed to it because of the multiple times I had witnessed some things, like walking in on Sean alone, scowling at his phone screen while thumbing aggressively on it, then brightening up like a light bulb immediately he saw me, jumping around and just being very extra. He gave two different people in one body - a part of him that was brooding and quiet, and another that was very loud and jumpy. The latter being when he was with me or in a group.

"Is there a problem, boys?" 

I was about to speak when Kelechi appeared out of the blues.

Literally.

She had to have appeared out of thin air because I did not see her here on the Court with us and all of a sudden, there she was, walking her way towards us.

"Aunty Comfort has been crying for us to join for dinner,"  The tall, prim and proper girl made her way towards us as she informed, "And you all deem it fit to make a caricature of her by being defiant to her requests?"

"We were just giving our boy a little pep talk. Nothing's wrong with that," Chido responded to her with a quirky smile as she walked up to him, flipped her arm under his in a hold and used the other to pinch Nana's cheeks, Mummy Kay Kay style, as she pulled him along, low-key, very low-key ignoring tf out of me.

"Sorry about this morning though," I quickly chipped in as lightly as I could to her.

She stopped. Kelechi stopped. Swiftly, almost suddenly, turned to me with a slight cock of her head and a little frown on her dark, pretty face. 

"For?" She asked me. 

She looked genuinely confused, in the slightest taken aback even, as her eyes squinted slightly to stare at me as though she was trying to figure something out.

I mean, with the way she walked in here, spoke to Chido and Nana and ignored me like she did not even see me standing there, me or anyone else could have as well thought that we had beef or something. Like she was holding some petty grudge against me for how Dabi spoke to her earlier.

So, I was even more surprised when she looked at me with genuine obliviousness to why I was apologising to her.

"The entire thing that happened earlier..." I said to her, and because of me, we all were standing there on the court with the boys by Kelechi's side, and she, staring at me with focused and patient eyes that glowed a multi variety of colours under the light, "With Dabi..."

Realisation instantly danced in those colourful crystals that danced around in her eyes.

"Oh," She said in awareness, "Oh that? Oh, that's fine. I hold no malice whatsoever."

So, why did she ignore me like that?

"Really? No hard feelings?" I reconfirmed.

Kelechi smiled assuredly. The colours in her eyes sparked as she smiled at me with a warm and prompt answer.

"Water under the bridge."

I frowned at such use of language and with her parting words, Kelechi took to her heels, nose in the air and spine straight, tugging onto Chido's arms and pulling on poor Nana's cheeks as she walked on ahead.

I came to the understanding that Kelechi might be the oddest girl I knew.

And, boy, I knew a girl like Dabeluchi Orji.

"Let's go, brethren," Chido patted me on the back as he ushered me to walk with them and even if I did not see the need to, my legs moved along with the group.

I could not even lie, it was so peaceful being in their midst. I felt it was a waste of time joining them for dinner because I only came here in the first place for one thing and it had flopped badly. However, Chido's beckon and the pat on my back was comforting, like a call to try again, an encouraging energy oozed off all of them and I actually realized in that moment, how supportive these people were.

It was warming.

Very.

And to think, the years before now, I had looked at people like them as acquaintances by extension. We had been friends with Nana for a while and through him, I could say that we had known the others for practically years now and Kelechi who once upon a time would act like she did not know who I was in school and Chido who visibly was defensive and slightly cold to us were now doing more than just 'tolerating' us.

We had started to understand each other too, and dare I say it, we had also become more than acquaintances. Friends. I hadn't realised it until I did, but I think I could say that at this point, these people were friends.

It felt nice to have people like them around at a time like this.

"Follow me and get the cups," Kelechi said to me when we got to the rowdy dining room and as much expected, it was one rowdy mess of everyone walking to and fro, setting the table and getting everything ready.

In Nana's house, they had no maids or helpers. Nana helped his mum with practically everything, cooking, cleaning, and sometimes, we joined hands as well.

I had been around for dinner a couple of times to know that when it was time, everyone was collectively putting their hands on deck to bring in all the coolers, large spoons, plates, trays, regular spoons and other utensils, serviettes, fruit juice jugs, cups, and basically everything that needed to be on the table.

Nana's mum loved company as far as we were willing to help out. I mean, without us, this house would have been a graveyard. So, making ourselves useful, we all were bringing everything to the table, arranging them properly, and helping out with setting it as neatly and properly as we possibly could - of course, with Kelechi, supervising everything. 

Sean had joined in with us. Surprisingly, just like back then in the Court, he was ever so jolly, doing his thing excitedly while conversing, grinning, literally throwing himself over the table in the process of laughing with every breathing soul in the room who was not me.

I wouldn't lie, it stung sha.

Nearly, I thought about leaving.

It was a bit hurtful how JJ kept stealing glances over at my side, conspiringly, looking from me to Sean while he lingered around him, and the entire thing was absolutely sickening to watch.

Soon, the glass dining table was filling up with coolers of rice, as well as dozens of Kitchen utensils and plates, jugs of watermelon juice and other appetizers, and the chairs were soon shuffling wildly as everyone was filling up the table quickly.

"Can I talk to you?" I heard a familiar voice say, a feline scent followed as the shadow of the person who talked to me blocked against the light and a large tray with neat China plates positioned in front of me.

"Yeah?" I answered as Kelechi took the seat neighbouring me on the round dining table.

She took one of the plates on her tray. "There is something you do that I have told you I don't like," She said, passed it to me, "But, you're always doing it. Why?"

"What's that?" I asked her.

She turned to look at me and I saw diamonds in her eyes, a colour that contrasted with the white lights of the chandelier that illuminated the whole dining room and glowed in her orbs like jewel stones.

"You are doing it again." She said to me.

"What?" I asked her. Peered in with a stare to see if I could grab where this conversation was going.

Without warning, she looked away from me.

"I will just tell you again," She used her hands as a cover, sighed. "Don't look me in the eyes like that, Marc.... It makes me feel weird." She grabbed the tray and the rest of the plates in it and moved to the other side of the table.

Far away from me.

The table was a round table. Glass and polished. Perfectly reflected the pretty lights of the chandelier against it and it's width was enough to accommodate all of us perfectly with more than enough seats, and she had walked the entire circle of the table, skipped about five or six seats in a bid to sit that far away from me.

Odd.

Everyone was soon settling down one by one after bringing what seemed to be the last item from the kitchen to the dining and with each last item, they filled up the seats one after the other, taking out plates and dishing food for themselves and I did same, reluctantly.

"Throw one for me, my guy," I heard JJ who had actively not said pim to me, calling out to someone who seemed to be behind, walking into the dining room and with one glance at the table where everyone, he, Chido, Kelechi and Nana, were complete except one person, I instantly knew who he was talking to.

As expected, when I turned, I saw Sean walking in, holding two water bottles.

"Shut up your dirty mouth." He retorted harshly, yet playfully to JJ who threw his head back laughing at the clear shade and dismissal, and I gulped down hard, uncomfortably, pained, as I watched my friends laugh without me.

Maybe, I should just leave this place, abeg—

"Take."

Water bottle appeared in my front. Stomped on the space on the table in front of me.

"Eh?" I actually said that out loud as I traced the water bottle down to the person who just gave it to me. The person who was acting so normal and unfazed, like he did not know that he had just given me the bottle of water he denied JJ.

Confusion raped me.

"Thank you." I said to Sean as I stared at the bottle of water he gave me, cautiously.

If he heard me, he did a good job at pretending he didn't.

Because, like he was completely unaware of what he did, he just moved on to take a seat.

I thought I was moving mad when I saw him moving towards the seat that neighboured me.

But, no. He skipped that one. Took the one next to it and sat. Leaving between us, one seat that set the boundary and demarcated us.

I stared at the seat. Conflicted. Thoughts ran through my mind. 

I couldn't decide. Do I proceed to take the other seat that stood between us? Or do I just respect myself and stay here? Was Sean still mad at me? Was he not? I mean, if he was still angry, then why would he give me water? But if he was not angry anymore, then why would he ignore me? And sit one seat after me? Why did he ignore me at the Basketball Court? What the hell was happening?

Damn.

Or was he just playing with me? Torturing me? Because he was not saying anything and seldom doing the smallest things, but somehow, he was making me think so hard. Making me so confused and so disturbed. Making me feel like I was on the verge of madness. 

I said nothing and watched him. The guy looked so much at peace. Completely. Like, he was not even giving a shit or two about anything else but the jollof rice he was scooping into his plate from the cooler while I was there, drowning with all the question marks in all my thoughts. 

He was at peace. I was suffering. What is this?

Do I even take the water he gave me? Was it safe?

I stared at it for an awful amount of time, stared at an undisturbed Sean too, and made a decision to not have anything to do with that bottle of water.

"Here you go," Nana quietly moved the cooler he was with to me and curtly, I smiled and took it, occasionally and uncontrollably distracted.

Hell, I couldn't even eat. I couldn't do anything. How could I be at peace?

This was by far the most awkward silence dinner I had ever experienced in my life and soon enough, the discomfort in the air seeped in to everyone else on the table.

Shockingly, in the midst of the tension, Sean whipped out his phone, slid up the screen to open it, clicked on his Instagram and started chuckling subtly to videos, innocently enjoying his life. 

I simply couldn't believe it.

My skin crawled with discomfort and a dozen whiplashes, all invisible, gave marks on my back.

I deserved this anyway. I pretty much deserved it all. No matter how I put it, I kinda deserved this.

There was silence in the room and at this point, no soul asides Sean Ayomide was eating. 

How could anyone eat? Just, how?

This was all my fault. I started to regret coming here. These people would have eaten their food in peace if not for me. I could not stop to blame myself for everything that had happened so far. And as much as Sean sat there, pretending like he did not give a shit, I could see through his charade enough to know that he did. 

He gave enough shit to force his entire being to pretend like he didn't.

I could only imagine how much anger and hurt he was suppressing.

Thinking about ascertaining it was heart breaking.

Defeated, I moved to the empty seat that he left between us.

Immediately, he stood up and moved to the next seat.

I was beyond shocked that he had even noticed my movements, because he seemed engrossed in what he was doing. The fact that he had even noticed such a slight movement from me made me understand that as a matter of fact, he noticed everything that was happening.

As much as he tried to pretend otherwise, he noticed it all. The tension. The awkwardness. Even my existence that he also 'pretended' to not realise. He noticed everything.

Subtly, I saw the shift in his eyes as he stared into his phone. Like, in that short moment, a flash in them that was so fiery, so sharp, so abrupt. So aware. There was a tense in his shoulders too, a guarded energy emitted off his demeanour, and for a moment, his peripheral vision seemed to focus on me.

It was all for a moment.

Like a second.

After that, his eyes calmed. His shoulders settled. His demeanour relaxed. Again, he was back to his unfazed nature, staring at his phone as he tapped twice on the screen with a thumb to like a picture.

I didn't claim the other seat again. I knew he'd just stand and walk to the next seat again, like he did previously, and I was not ready to play some childish, primary school game with him, so I stayed put on the seat I was on, pushed the plate of food on the previous space I was to the new one.

It hurt me to see that a friendship like this that had stood strong for over 10 years and more, amidst all the storms and setbacks, was being rocked this badly. Was so cold and edgy.

Literally hanging by a thread. It hurt like a bastard. 

"Hey," I called out to Sean with a quiet voice. 

He did not answer. Mute, he was. He had his phone in one hand and his spoon in the other, and I was impressed at how well he kept his up, eating and watching videos on his phone like I was not there. 

Even if I knew he knew I was talking to him. He knew. And as a matter of fact, he was actually listening.

That fact that he was actually willing to hear me out melted my heart.

"I get it," I said to him, looked away from him and to the light beads that danced on the glass table between us, "And believe me, your anger is completely valid. I completely understand why you won't say a word to me. I won't fault you, Sean. Not at all."

I stopped to see if he would talk. When I heard nothing, I continued.

"I wasn't there," I carried on, the reminder killed me with every second I recalled it so, "I wasn't there and I can't imagine how that would have felt for you, Sean."

I really could not. I could only try to understand half the pain he must have felt.

"I wasn't there for your birthday; I wasn't there for such a big event on that same day, and I have no excuses whatsoever. I won't sit here and give you excuses to justify my fuck up. I should have been there. I should have....."

But, you weren't. My sub-consciousness haunted me and whipped me with guilt.

The silence didn't do any less to torment me, yet, I held myself together and just continued.

"If it means anything to you," I said, my voice low and slightly wavering, "If it means even the slightest thing to you at all, just know that I am very proud of how far you've come with actualizing everything I know, we know that you have prayed for." With hesitation, I subtly chipped in with a whisper, "Everything that you once cried for, Sean."

I noticed him pause scrolling his phone. 

For just a second.

He pondered on that. Of course, he remembered. We both remembered. There were 'those days' when we were kids. Those days I used to see Sean actually cry. He rarely ever did anymore.

All I had was a second of his time. After that, it felt like I was talking to a brick wall.

Undeterred, I continued talking.

"I have never had the chance to tell you, but I am so happy for you," I told him. "I am so happy you had this chance, this opportunity, and I couldn't be more proud of you for getting to follow up a dream you once gave up on. I can't imagine what it's like to get back a hold of something you thought you had lost, and I know that it was the biggest deal to you and as your best friend, it should be a big deal for me too...."

It should have. Invalidating a day as important as that was a huge no. If there was anyone in the world that should have shared that joy, excitement, and even importance with him, it should have been me. If I could miss something like this, then what could have been next? His wedding? No. That was so messed up.

"I should have been there..." I said. Couldn't even look at him. "I should have been there to support you. Share in that joy too, and I wasn't, and guy, I'm sorry...."

There was silence on the entire table. Complete and utter silence.

"You're doing great," I told him. "I can't be more proud. I can't be more sorry. I know for a while now, I have constantly neglected you and this was the final straw. I know that nothing I say may even change anything and I am no prayer warrior or anything, but over and over, I will continue to ask God for guidance and help on this friendship. To fix it. To fix us. Because only maybe him can, at this point..."

My head was slowly growing hot and I cleared my throat to get rid of every obstructions, everything that was on the verge of choking me to death here.

Because guy, it felt like I'd soon choke and die.

"You are really doing great," I told him, "And keep up the good work. Keep shining. Keep fighting. And as much as I know it may be difficult to, stay joyful in the midst of these blessings that have come forth for you and don't let anyone, not even me, take that joy away from you. I will continue to wish you everything good in life: God speed. Glory. More blessings upon blessings, and whether you believe me or not, I am wishing the best of everything that life could offer for you.—"

I stopped again, cleared my throat for all death weapons.

"—And, I am sorry, bro. I wish I could have done things differently. If there is anyway you can forgive me..."

There was literally nothing more I could even think of saying at this point. I was out of words.

Sean was not responding and I wanted to run mad. I wanted to flip the table right over. How could he not say a word after everything I just said?

"Bro." I called him.

He jerked slightly in awareness, looked at me and feigned casualness with one look he focused at me. "Hm?"

I stared at him and wondered who he was trying to deceive.

"I.." Swallow. "I know you heard all I just said."

I could swear on my life that he heard every goddamn word. He knew he did. We both knew we did. Everyone on this table damn right knew it too. 

"You heard me," I repeated softly. "Why won't you say something?"

He did hear me. Sean heard me. Every word, hook line and sinker.

But, again, he failed to give a response directly. He hummed a brief, humourless laugh under his breath as he picked up a single serviette from the pack, wiped his mouth with it, discarded, and subtly, pulled the salt shaker to himself to sprinkle on his food.

However, he stopped for a moment. Paused, before he sprinkled. Looked to me and cocked his head to his side as he asked a question that nearly had my head exploding in frustration.

"Did you say you wanted more salt, brah?" 

I would have broken, in fact scattered my China plate on my head if I did not summon self control.

Instead, I gave a quiet answer. "No."

"Oh, okay." With that, He quietly looked away, sprinkled salt over his food and continued eating like nothing happened. 

I stared at him in shock and disbelief, having a horrible mix of disappointment and frustration, heartbreak and everything negative, wash over me like a depressing thunderstorm.

It dawned on me hard and I wished it was not so. But, I knew Sean more than anyone else in the world and at one glance at him, one look at his generally unshaken demeanour, stubborn body language, and unfazed aura, I was able to see it all right off the bat and realise....

"Sean, you are really not going to let this go, are you?" 

He wasn't. I practically wasted my time. This was so nerve wrecking. 

"And, why are you trying to make me feel like such a terrible person for it?!"

Sean snapped.

He legit sparked.

Like electricity from a naked wire.

"Woah," He actually took me aback. He completely took me off guard, because all the while, he was calm and easy, feigning an unprovoked behaviour from start to finish and all of a sudden, he suddenly came so hard in defence. Like he felt attacked.

"No, I promise, I'm not.—"

"Abeg." He didn't even let me finish. Cutting me off with a bitter chuckle left his lips and I saw his spoon drop, clanging upon the plate where he left about half of the jollof rice, untouched, and was up on his feet, walking away and out of the dining room.

It was out of reflex really. How my body rose and moved towards him as he walked away and I could not even stop myself until I was close enough to reach out with a hand and—

Big fucking mistake.

"FREE ME!" Sean literally exploded like a volcano, turning around with a flash and slamming his hands against my chest in a mighty shove and actually had enough force to move my body backwards.

Much to my own shock.

"ARE YOU A BAGGER? IF YOU TOUCH ME AGAIN, I SWEAR, I'LL SCATTER YOUR BRAIN! ARE YOU A MAD MAN?! 

Sean was furious, the most furious I had ever seen him all my life. He was livid. Shaking uncontrollably in rage that could kill him, rage that could destroy him and destroy me. There was blood in his eyes; I could see it, and right before me, every suppressed anger he may have felt was out and overflowing, pouring out before me without a filter.

 Chido and Nana were up on their feet and alarmed, rushing over to our side for damage control, trying to calm down Sean who was going OFF!

"So, what now? Am I such a bad person if I say it that I never want to see your face ever again?" Sean was literally trembling with pure rage, pushing Nana's hands off him when they made contact, and trying to look over from Chido's shoulders to me as he threw his curses at me, "Fuck you, abeg! WHY DID YOU COME HERE?!"

My God. 

"Why are you here now?!" Sean was screaming at me with a voice that I did not even know he could bring out of him, a voice so hoarse, so fiery, so vile, "You haven't been here all the fucking time I needed you, so why the fuck are you all up in my fucking face now?!"

"Maybe, you should leave for now,—" Kelechi was trying to say.

"I feel really guilty for what happened," I proceeded to say as calmly as I could.

For some reason, that seemed to rile Sean up even more.

"Oh, so coming here to apologise and shit would free you from your guilt. Is that right?" He retorted to me, looking me nastily up and down, and I cringed so hard at the vile disgust in his eyes when he looked at me,  "At the end of the day, the only thing that brought you here is your urge to save yourself from the guilt that's eating you up for the awful thing you did. Hell nah. You will suffer that guilt in full force. I am not going to be the one to give you that peace of mind that you so crave and want."

"Sean Ayomide!" Kelechi screamed at him in appal. 

"I just wanted to see if there was any way I could make up for this. Fix this," I said, the desperation evident and pathetically clear in my voice.

"You CAN'T!" He screamed at me.

"Guy, calm down. You'll bring Aunty Comfort down here," Chido tried to talk to him.

"You can't make it up, Acha," Sean continued saying to me. At that point, I couldn't even look at him. The venom in his eyes were too poisonous to hold eye contact. "You can't make it up and you see that's why you don't do shit to people, because when you do things like that brah, you can't just 'make it up' and 'fix it' like it never happened because guess what, it fucking did! It's already been fucking done and that's unfortunate!"

"Sean.—"

"Brah, you still don't get it?" He fired at me. "God knows I WISH it was possible to undo the hurt you cause people, but you can't. Do you understand that, my guy?"

That statement felt deeper than Sean intended it to. 

Almost like there was something else he was pouring out aggression on me for?

I looked to Sean whom I knew was one who had endured way too much hurt in all our childhood. Hurt that I felt he was incapable of feeling for a while now. To say, I had never seem him this way before. So angry. So expressive. So not in control. He was an overflow of emotions right now, boiling so hot that I could see the beads of sweat on his forehead, dripping down.

"If you know fully well that your actions are going to cause people to hurt like that, then why even do it in the first place?" Sean asked me.

He spoke like he did not pack a bullet dipped in acid with the words that he said to people.

"I understand its already been done," I explained calmly, "And, no, I didn't come here because I felt guilty. I came here because I cared. You know I do. As much as I can't fix anything, the least I can say is sorry." 

"When has sorry ever fixed anything really?" He asked me.

The quietness in the air was deadly.

With another bitter chuckle, Sean shook his head and waved his hands in dismissal.

"You know, Acha, you could have saved the both of us some of this bullshit drama if you had the decency to communicate all these while." He said to me.

Communication was one thing that had lacked recently in this relationship, I had noticed so.

I could have communicated all these while, instead of bailing out of the blue. And each time, Sean had dismissed it, let go of it like it didn't matter. 

Also, I should have communicated the truth to him too. Everything that had happened with Ada in SS2. I should have communicated it a long time ago. Long before now.

God, I still had that on my plate. And while this matter was literally still on my neck.

"My head is paining me," I heard Sean say and I felt my heart split in half when I heard the tiny crack in his voice. Very tiny, but clear. His voice wavered with a shake and that crack confirmed that break in his voice.

Was he really about to cry? Nah, it couldn't be possible. He rarely ever did. 

"Shift." He pushed through Chido in his way, turning and shielding his face subtly as he walked away from everyone and no one stopped him this time around.

The tension in the air when he left could be sliced with a knife. Thick. Uncomfortable. Absolutely horrible. The rest of us, Chido and Nana who stood where Sean was not long ago, as well as Kelechi and JJ was looked dumbfounded on the table, just moped aimlessly at one another.

"Well, that didn't go well." Someone commented. I was not in the right headspace to figure out who it was as I was still trying to wrap my mind around everything.

"I will just go home," I said to everyone. "He needs some space."

With that, I stood up and picked up my Samsung phone.

The exact moment that it buzzed with a text message.

ADA IDIOT

Na me be idiot, abi? I am an idiot, right? Na me you dey carry play? Ignoring my calls and texts? Really? Okay na. Whatever you see from here, you take it. E go choke.

<<Sent 7:48pm

Blood of Jesus.

I saw red. I saw red and multiple shades of it as I imagined the worst.

Could this girl just disappear for now? For God's sake, this was the WORST time for her to resurface into my life! Not now! Not now when things with Sean were already going haywire! She could NOT send him that video on top of all of this. Couldn't she chill a bit? Couldn't she just wait until he wasn't so fucking broken already? What the FUCK was all of this?!

Quickly, my hands in a frenzy, in panic, in a quick urge to shut her up for now, just for now, to do anything to stop her from showing Sean anything that would legit destroy him for good, I opened my Pacific Bank app and out in double of what I was supposed to have been paying and while at it, cursing myself for still doing this at a time like this, but damn it, how else could I have stopped her for now? How? HOW?!

140 thousand naira. I pulled that right out of my Allowance Savings, stared back at the seven digit balance after I was debited in that instant.

Without any waste of time, I texted the idiot.

Me.

I sent double of it. Can you stay quiet for a while? Things are really messy right now. Shut you mouth and keep that video with you for now, abeg.

<<Sent 7:48pm

ADA IDIOT

Mumu.😂 Don't give me bloody orders. Mamba does not tolerate disrespect. You be learner?😂😂

<<Sent 7:49pm

Laughing emojis? I could not believe this was a joke to her.

I whipped my phone to type a response, but before I could, I saw the money I just sent to her revert back into my account and my eyes nearly bulged out of its socket to see that it was not a Network error.

Ada legit sent me back the money I just sent her.

ADA IDIOT

Abi, you have seen your money oo! I don't want again. It's too late. Rest, uncu.🙄

<<Sent 7:49pm

What the fuck did she mean by that?

I wanted to decide several things for it, things that would make me feel better but Ada was hell bent on ripping me apart.

Her next message slaughtered me.

ADA IDIOT

It's been too late since the past 15 minutes. Ask your guy Sean what's up.
Nice doing business with you, motherfucker.

<<Sent 7:50pm 

Jesus Christ.💀

Omoh.💀

Um, thoughts??

Let me know everything you're thinking, abeg. Every single thing. I want to hear it.

And meanwhile, I understand Sean is being a brat, but he's hurt and before you talk, remember that you probably could have reacted worse sha. The thing is, he's overwhelmed with so much rn. You know that thing when you're already low-key depressed and then, you someone does something that triggers you (even if it's small) and you just start remembering all your life problems and having one mental wreck? Yeah, that's sort of our boys Sean's state right now. Bear with him now, because you may not stand him in the nearest future.

Book one may soon come to an end legit. We still have some more madness to unravel in the coming chapters. And more mind boggling twists to unfold. I hope we all are set!❤️

See you this weekend!❤️