"So. . ."

I actually agreed to 'walk'. I know a short apology and watching random clips together for a day may not be a good enough reason for strolling with Vincent but I had a very pathetic idea.  If I could still be friends with Chijioke and make Vincent hate me not, then maybe I wouldn't mind Stephen's enmity. After making sure Constance was really sleeping, I and Vincent left the house. Vincent gave some orders to Timi before we left.

We were already out of Adebayo close with an almost six feet gap between us and heading to wherever Vincent was leading us when Vincent decided to start a conversation.

". . .you and CJ are really close?" Great conversation starter, Vincent. Where was he even heading with the question?

"He is my friend."

"Right. How did you get his jacket though?" He asked eyeing my outfit.

I drew the jacket tighter around me and narrowed my eyes to slits. "What are you driving at?"

Vincent backed off a bit raising his hands in something akin to surrender. "Ok chill guy. I couldn't think of anything to talk about and I was tired of us walking like couples who are fighting."

I stared at him for a while then continued walking. Vincent joined me.

"Chijioke. . .he took me out-"

"On a date?!" Vincent's eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"No-"

"When did he do that?!"

"Chijioke did not take me out on a 'date'," I clarified making air quotes. "He just showed up at my house two days after Christmas and said he wanted to take me out because he missed me."

Okay now that I said it out loud it sounded. . .so grossly cheesy.

"That criminal," Vincent only chuckled. "Where do you stay?"

"So why did you suggest a stroll?" I asked. I don't know why I panicked but my voice came out louder than I intended. Sure, Abuleoshun, or Satellite town in general wasn't a bad place. It wasn't for the rich of the richest like Ikeja reserved area where regal high was located and some estates in Maryland where I figured some school mates stay, like Chijioke. And it was very segregated. The almost rich had where they dwelt and the poor had their own place. Yet I still couldn't tell him I stayed there. I felt a bit insecure about that. The fact every  being knew I was a scholarship student was disturbing enough. I think I made a mistake letting Stephen know and now Chijioke knew my exact shack. There was no way on earth any other person was going to know where I stayed. They were permitted to make wild guesses.

"Honestly, I don't even know. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing," Vincent answered me.

I eyed him the boy. Was he being real right now?

"Nairobi." Hearing Vincent call my name always sounded weird. I responded with a hum. "I'm sorry."

The apology almost made me lose my footing. I was lucky enough not to fall face flat on the tarred road. Yep, his statement totally caught me off guard.

"Ehn?"

Did he really apologize or was I beginning to hear things?

"You're making this harder by looking at me like that," Vincent frowned at me.

"Making what harder?" I had to ask.

"Apologizing."

I stopped walking. "Who told you to? Chijioke right?" Vincent ever apologizing to me felt like a farfetched dream. It is true that he sent a short apology after the mess that day but a part of me believed Chijioke actually used his phone to send me the message. Because, well, I don't know.

Vincent was beginning to look pissed and somewhat irritated. "No. I decided to. On my own." He punctuated each statement like he was talking to a dummy.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes as I resumed walking again. "You somehow want me to believe that you, Vincent Adebayo, decided to apologize to me. For what exactly?"

Vincent slapped his palm to his face and muttered 'Good lord'. "If you would let me apologize, you would know why I'm apologizing." He removed his hand from his face and glared at me. "You know what?" I moped at him. "I'm no longer apologizing."

Somehow I was not pained at his declaration. Maybe because I still couldn't understand how he just decided to apologize. That didn't just sit well with me at all. Remember the first tutorial we were supposed to have, Vincent didn't show and he even had the guts to call me a bitch and a psychopath when I confronted him. He didn't even apologize then! I would never forget that day. The memory of it makes me doubt more that I would ever be friends with Vincent Adebayo.

We continued walking in silence.

"How did you know about my mother?" Vincent asked. His voice was as low as a whisper. He asked like he was taking a risk that he was sure he wouldn't like the outcome. "I know I didn't tell you. Stephen told me so."

I scoffed at the mention of his name.

. . .Stephen's girlfriend. . .

Tufiakwa.

I was desperate for Stephen's ill feeling towards me to be a mutual thing. I wasn't surprised that both of us had not talked to each other or crossed paths since Monday. We were both dodging ourselves.

I looked at Vincent and hoped he would not flip if I told him. The boy surprised me a lot. He was unpredictable. And he had never wanted me to tutor him in his home so if he realized now that I learnt about his mother from my time in his home, how would he feel?

"I just sort of knew from my days in you home. But it was just a tiny suspicion," I added quickly. "You just clarified it during your episode."

"Sorry. . .for your loss." I added uncertainly. Vincent gave me this particular look that I just couldn't comprehend and I just had to scold myself for adding the last part. I was really pathetic when it came to dealing with people.

"Don't be sorry, Nairobi." He hid his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants but not before I saw him clench his shaky hands.

Stupid. Stupid Nairobi.

"You shouldn't be sorry. It's not your fault she's dead." Vincent's voice was barely above a whisper. "It's not your fault she's dead."

I took his hand and he looked at me, shocked. He looked from my hand on his wrist to my face. Trust me, I shocked myself more than I shocked Vincent. I withdrew my hand from his quickly like his skin was red hot iron.

It is just pity, I convinced myself.

"I. . .stop grieving. Don't think about it. Just clear you head and er. . .smile." I was terrible at this. Omo. I had no idea what I said but I hoped it worked how I wanted it to. Who was I kidding? There was no way on earth that was going to work anything.

Motivational speakers deserve some accolades I must say.

Vincent stared at me for an awkward amount of time. He didn't say anything, he just looked away from me to the opposite side of the road where a blue bungalow stood. Its sign read; Blue Bunny Creamery.

My mind wandered back to the creamy glory that I had with Chijioke and I started craving ice cream and cake. A small, no, large part of me wished that Vincent would decide to buy ice cream.

"Come." Vincent took my wrist and pulled me gently across the road. I could feel my insides leaping for joy. I didn't even mind his hand on my wrist. I just wanted ice cream.

The place wasn't as big as royal bits 'n' bites. It even had very few tables still all were not occupied. I just guessed people bought and left instead of staying to take their treats here.

Vincent wasn't much of a gentleman though. He didn't ask me to make my choice, he just ordered two big cones of vanilla flavoured ice cream and a pack of Maryland cookies for me.

Maybe it was for the best.

If he had asked me to make a choice, I would be indecisive as ever. They sprinkled some colourful things I recognized from my sundae. Chijioke had called it sprinkles.

We walked out of the ice cream place and concentrated on our ice cream. We maintained our gaps as we ate our ice cream.

"Thank you," I said, just to break the awkward silence.

"Anything to get on your good side."

I licked my ice cream. My good side? Was he being really serious about apologizing to me? "I don't have a good side."

"Then your not-so-bad side," he said turning his gaze to me.

I laughed. I laughed because it was becoming harder to understand Vincent and his motives. "Why though?" He raised a questioning brow. "You were trying to apologize. Now you're giving me ice cream as peace offering. What changed? You're supposed to hate me after everything."

"Nairobi, hate is a strong word."

"I know you hated me Vince."

Vincent raked his fingers through his overgrown hair. "I just realised that I had to take responsibility too and stop trying to blame others for what I caused too." He licked his ice cream. "I'm sorry that I was being a total doofus and I'm sorry that I made you feel terrible. . ."

. . . Made you feel terrible. . .

Was that what this was about? I remember I lost my cool because Stephen kept relating everything to me being a terrible person. Maybe I was terrible but I couldn't stomach someone that wasn't my subconscious telling me that to my face.

" . . .Shit has gone down. The deed has been done. I just want to maybe start afresh. It's a new year and a new term. We can just put everything that happened last year behind us and have a new beginning. A new friendship, if you're cool with it. All in all just accept my apology."

My heart actually melted on hearing him apologize with his mouth. Like it formed a stupid puddle in my chest cavity and I could not stop feeling unnecessarily fulfilled. He not only apologized but proposed that we started everything afresh and become friends.

Vincent wanted us to be friends? Oh shoot me.

Wow!

"This is out of pity, isn't it?" I asked him. It was just so unbelievable.

"What?"

"I lost my cool with Stephen telling me how horrible I was so you are apologizing because you pitied me."

Vincent frowned, as if hurt that I didn't accept that his apology came from his heart. "Of course not. It was-" he paused, probably thinking of what to say to me. "I was already feeling guilty myself as of last year. What ever hard feeling I had for you had already dissipated. I was going to apologize too but I didn't know how to do it and then I knew you already hated all of us so it was kind of. . . hard. But it's new year and I made resolutions. Apologizing was part of my resolutions."

I remember Richard always talked about new year resolutions and tried to make me make some. He even talked about it when he called me on new year day. But up till today, I've not really had a new year resolution talk more of 'resolutions'.

"Oh." After that I just concentrated on my melting ice cream as we walked on. "You made me part of your resolution. It's hard to believe."

"You talk like we're sworn enemies." Vincent sounded amused. "my resolution was actually to fix my relationship with everyone I caused enmity between us for example Jessica, you. . ."

"That's more believable."

Vincent shook his head. "You must really think terrible of me. Apology accepted?" Vincent asked slowly.

I just blinked and nodded.

"Friends?" I didn't blink and nod.

"Vincent," I called. He hummed in response. "I'm not good at this friendship thing. Honestly. At the moment, I'm on a break from Jessica and co."

"You fell out with them too?"

I looked at him. "Yes. And both of us–" I gestured between the two of us. "–are a perfect recipe for disaster, no offence."

"Non taken," he quipped.

"I. . .you. . ." instead of giving him every reason I felt our friendship would be a disaster, I decided to cut the long story short. "It's just that I really can't promise you friendship." I'm a terrible person, I added in my head.

"Honestly I believe you are thinking like that because we started on the wrong foot. There's no way you fight with someone the first time you meet them and believe you can be friends with the person–"

"Especially when they promised to hit you," I added.

Vincent rubbed his neck in something akin to embarrassment. "Honestly I didn't like you then." There seemed to be more he wanted to say.

Why didn't you? I had to ask because honestly I never did anything to him. He just decided to be annoying. What about now? I didn't ask these questions though because I wasn't ready for any awkwardness that might come with it.

"I think things would be better if we started afresh."

I wasn't getting Vincent's deal with being my friend. This boy was rude to me this morning even.

"What about having a good teacher-student relationship?"

"What's the difference?" I asked him.

"We're not 'friends'. Just two people with a good enough cordial relationship."

"Should I be honest with you?" Vincent nodded. "I feel weird. This feels weird like I've never imagined you asking us to be friends. Dude, we couldn't even most do our chemistry practicals without arguing. It feels like I'm in an alternate world."

Vincent found that funny. He laughed. The sound of it made me stop and watch him. His shoulders shook and his eyes crinkled at the sides.

I made Vincent laugh? I almost faltered at the shock of it.

"Ro-" that nickname again. He stopped and turned back to me. "I don't even know what to say to you."

I walked up to him and munched on my wafer cone. "Good teacher-student relationship it is."

At least I knew Vincent didn't hate me anymore. I didn't care why only that fact mattered.

*
A frown kicked off the smile I had on my face as I entered the room. I had been musing over how the day went and immediately I stepped into the room it was like all my happiness had been sucked by an unknown vacuum.

Paulo, Dinma's boyfriend, was stretched out on the bed smiling stupidly at something on his android phone.

"Nao, how far na?" I gritted my teeth in annoyance at the nickname. One, for the fact that I didn't like him. Two, because it was the shortened form of Naomi.

Paulo wasn't bad. Yes, he was most definitely feeding off Dinma and was using her to pass time. But, he didn't look at me somehow, like a pervert. And it seemed like he was keen on getting on my good side but one can never trust these men.

He usually made me wander the neighborhood, because I didn't want to spend more than necessary time alone with him in the room and he also usually cost me a good night's rest so yes, I basically didn't like him.

I hung my schoolbag on a nail on the wall and glared at Paulo in anger. This was one of those times I wished Richard was around. I wouldn't have a problem crashing at his place.

Now it was just me against this wicked world.

It was late already. I couldn't go to Bolaji's workshop and I didn't want to go to madam hips. I just wanted to lay on the bed and eat my Maryland cookies while trying to believe the fact that Vincent not only apologized but bought me ice cream and proposed friendship.

I made Vincent laugh.

Hell, today was really a day.

"Babe." Dinma barged into the room. She didn't even acknowledge me. "You never even wear cloth." She scolded her boyfriend.

Paulo stood from the bed and stretched. "Na to just wear top na." Paulo threw on a Nigerian jersey over his faded baggy jeans.

"Naomi."

That name. I hated it.

"Eh?" I looked at her.

"Your mama call."

Dun dun dun

Vote. Comment and Sharreee.

Ciao.