CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Khadijah came crashing to the ground, her white shirt stained from the spilled food in her tray. Someone hollered from the background, ‘Ooh!! The Nigerian terrorist is down! What a blast!’

In a split second, I saw Kaffy rush to her feet and run to the speaker like a maniac. She punched his face and held his hand to his back, ‘You asshole, what did you say? I dare you to repeat it.’

She shoved him away and turned around, ‘Who tripped her?! If anyone dares to bother her, they’ll answer to me.’

We were all astonished. We had gone to help Khadijah up and Trina took her to a restroom to clean up. The boys were impressed. Cole was smitten, admiration written all over his face. Leo had a smile on his face. Jay nod in approval and Nick did not seem surprised.

Ten minutes later, we were eating in silence, watching Kaffy like we would, an injured lion. Leo broke the silence, ‘What you did was brave!’ Kaffy merely nod and her attention was diverted to Trina who was ushering in a freshly cleaned Khadijah.

Khadijah had changed into a long black gown which seemed new. Her head hung low and shoulders slumped, she followed Trina to our table. She was still embarrassed from the bullying incident.

She sat on the seat opposite Kaffy. She was crestfallen and feeling dejected, her food already in the trash. Kaffy pushed her plate to Khadijah, ‘Eat up!’ She stood up abruptly, leaving us perplexed. She arrived ten minutes later with a blue plastic bag which she dropped in front of Khadijah.

I saw the ghost of a smile on Cole’s lips. Kaffy might seem to be a cold person but she was one of the sweetest people I know though she’d rather be shot than admit that.

Khadijah was close to tears but she comported herself. She smiled at Kaffy who shook her head. It really was a dramatic brunch. It was relaxing though as I got to unwind from the harsh realities of my life. We spent several minutes talking about different topics.

I had missed Tim so I decided that I would spend the night at home and arise early tomorrow to meet the exercise at the PTO.

Excited, I got into Kaffy’s car. For the first time, the ever punctual Kaffy was not in the car. I called, worried about her. She did not pick, however and instead, sent a text that she had to sort out something urgent with her cousins.

Trina was also running late, though that was not exactly a surprise. She came in five minutes later, looking a little weak. She collapsed on the seat, her head rolled to the back. Reaching for a bottle of glucose, I opened Kaffy’s tote bag and gave it to Trina.

She took it and seemed alright after a minute. She smiled at me and shut her eyes to take a nap. Kaffy came in with her cousins, not long after. The atmosphere was a bit tense but I decided not to ask about it.

Kaffy hit her favourite carpool playlist and Boss bitch by Doja Cat began to play. Trina had woken up and we began to rap alongside Doja Cat. It was fun as we began to rap to different songs.

We stopped by the kids’ school to pick them up and a mini ice cream van. That seemed to diffuse the tension between Khadijah and her sister.

We made a stop at the fuel station where we met an obnoxious attendant who kept making passes at Aleema. The protective Khadijah tried to shield Aleema away from the paedophile however Aleema seemed to be basking in the attention.

Kaffy immediately walked up to the creepy dude to warn him but he was not listening and tried to gaslight her.

‘Loosen up and do not be so aggressive. Chill! I was just joking with her, okay?’ he accused. Kaffy wagged her fingers at him, ‘You freaking animal! She is just fifteen!’

An argument started, which caused quite a scene. Trina asked around for the manager and reported the paedophile, John Bush. He was queried and asked to apologize.

To placate us, we were given a business card and a special access to their VIP package. This, however, did not seem to satisfy Kaffy, who did not want a paedophile to go scot free.

A familiar figure appeared suddenly from the main building. It was a stunning arab guy with beautiful brown eyes and curly brown hair. He walked lazily towards us.

‘What’s going on?!’ he demanded. The manager bow respectfully, stuttering, ‘I…I…It’s…not a problem.’

I saw Kaffy roll her eyes, ‘Cuz, dumbo here thought it was a good idea to flirt with a fifteen year old.’ The accused, John, began to shake.

Rolling her eyes again, Kaffy signaled to go to the car. She turned to the stunning guy, ‘I trust you to handle this well. We’ve got to hit the road. Take care.’

I was brimming with excitement and jumped off the car as we got to the entrance of my home. I knocked the door and jumped into Tim’s arms as soon as he opened the door.

We clung tightly to each other as I basked in his brotherly love. He pulled my cheeks, ‘You look a little…off… I baked some cookies. Care for some?’

Smiling, I nod and he led me to the kitchen where he stuffed me with cookies and some milk. I burped in satisfaction and lay on the couch like a lazy potato. I switch on the TV to watch Blood Sisters, an intriguing Nigerian blockbuster movie.

It was a relaxing evening as Tim kept my company and even helped with my hair. He combed and curled it with some flexible rods. He painted my nails just like he used to do when I was eight. I smiled a bittersweet smile as he cut and painted my toenails, remembering an highlight of when we had some sort of normalcy.

The doorbell rang and I stood to check who it was. It was a man who looked familiar yet strange at the same time. I opened the door frantically like a mad woman. I stared at the man who stared back at me.