Another announcement seeped in and I had to take my leave. The six of them waved me off as they made their way into the swimming court. I decided to take the longer route to the locker rooms so I could slip through the back door. That way, Coach wouldn't notice that I came in late.
After a brisk walk through a series of hallways, the metallic barrier squealed open when I pushed it, startling Nana Kwame, Ethan and four other guys who were perched up on a bench, surrounding a plastic bag filled with orange tubed pills. At the sight of me, one guy, whom I'd never seen on the team, quickly twisted the mouth of the plastic bag and pushed it into an open backpack.
"Gyan relax," Ethan swatted the strange guy on the shoulder. "We know him, he's not a snitch."
The guy in turn shot me an uneasy glance that readily stirred up a sense of mistrust in my gut.
"What's going on?" I stepped further into the room.
"Nothing much," Ethan said, tossing a pill into his mouth before taking a sip of water. "Just grabbing some merchandise for tonight's party."
My eyebrows dipped low in suspicion.
"Why are you using the back door today, Akwasi?" Nana Kwame switched the topic over to me.
"I didn't want Coach to know that I was late. The competition is about to start."
"Ah shit," Nana Kwame mumbled. "We better get out there before she loses her marbles."
"Mhm." With that, Ethan slapped a wad of fifty cedi notes into Gyan's hand. "Pleasure doing business with you."
"Likewise," Gyan grinned widely, then stuffed the money into his pocket. "I'll keep you posted if anything interesting comes my way."
"Awesome."
They both shared a handshake before Gyan took his leave, giving the side of his pocket a good pat. Nana Kwame grabbed the bloated backpack and quickly shoved it in a secluded part of the janitor's closest.
Walking over to my locker, I opened it and began swapping my clothes for my swimming gear.
"So, you're in the 100 meter freestyle and breaststroke with me." Ethan chocked himself against the locker beside mine.
"Yeah." I pulled my jeans off, leaving my jammers. "Why? Does it surprise you?"
"A bit. I didn't think I'd have to battle my childhood friend for my title," he chuckled, picking up a pair of goggles from my locker and toying with them. "But you do know I'm going to win this, right?"
I shot him a brief look. Ethan stared back, gauging my reaction and a small scoff escaped my mouth. "What makes you think that?"
"Really dude?" He quizzed in a tone that specifically gave an 'I can't believe you're asking me that question' vibe. "I've been swimming competitively for years now. Not to mention the fact that I'm the two time reigning champion of Penfield's Annual Swimming Competition!"
"The fact that you've earned that title twice in a row, doesn't automatically mean it's going to be yours a third time. I may not have as much experience as you do, but I still think I can win this."
"Spoken like a true rookie," a cocky grin crawled up his face. "Anyway, I wish you the best of luck, buddy. You're gonna need it."
Placing my goggles back into my locker, Ethan sauntered past me, confidence wafting off of him like a strong, musky cologne.
I stared at his broad back as he headed out with Nana Kwame. I wasn't afraid of Ethan, mostly because this wasn't my first time going against him. I had battled him once before in the beginning of the semester and won. I had also beaten his rival, Yooku, in a relay race, during Regionals. To me, both victories meant that I had the capabilities. Even with the little experience I had, I believed deep down in my heart that I stood a chance against Ethan.
Pulling my water bottle out for a drink, I found the plastic container empty and stepped out into the lounge, heading straight for the water dispenser. I had only filled it halfway when I heard...
"Yo, Akwasi!"
I turned around. "Oh hey, Seth." He looked better and healthier than the last time I saw him. Maybe he'd found solace in the fact that Amina had transferred to a different university. "How's it going?"
"Ah same old, same old." The big guy shrugged. "Coach has me on a tight leash, but it's all good. Thanks to her, I haven't had a drop of alcohol in a while and I feel...strangely great."
"That's good to hear." I smiled, taking a gulp of water from my filled bottle. "So, will you be returning to the team soon?"
Seth rubbed the back of his neck. "Frankly, I dunno. That decision lies with Coach, so I don't wanna get my hopes up. But you're doing great out there, you know." His eyes lit up with genuine honesty. "Your race yesterday was fire! The moment you dove in, I knew you were gonna win."
Trying to keep my face from heating up, I let out a soft chuckle, "Thanks, Seth. But all that success didn't come easy. I had to practice my butt off and if Princess hadn't helped me, I don't think I would be as good as I am now."
"Ahh Princess." That gleam of honesty in his eyes disappeared, making way for mischief. "So what did you give her in return for helping you, hmm? Did you guys...you know..." he made a circle with his left hand and stuck his right finger in the circle repeatedly.
I nearly choked on my water. "Oh God, no!" I vehemently shook my head. "No! None of that happened. Why would you even think that? Princess is Ethan's girlfriend. There's no way I'll let something like that happen between us." And as the words left my mouth, the incident at the Regionals afterparty surfaced in my brain and quickly killed it off. "Not in a million years," I huffed.
"Bro, don't tell me you believe that shit about them dating?" For some reason, Seth's tone was now riddled with mockery.
"Well...they are in a relationship and they've been together for a while now so..."
Seth burst into a loud cackle, which left me even more clueless. "What? What's so funny?
"Oh God, dude," he wheezed through a second bout of laughter. "There's a lot you don't know about," he chuckled then wiped away some stray tears of joy. "But since I want to be a good friend to you, I'll tell you the truth."
"Ok?" Curiosity wafted into my system. "What is it?"
"First of," Seth started, regaining his composure. "Princess and Ethan are not dating, they never were. It was all an elaborate lie told by Princess to cover up the fact that she's a slut. Why do you think everyone calls her Ethan's fuck buddy?"
The words weighed down on me like rocks. "Wait, wait, so they're not in a relationship?"
"Yep." Seth nodded. "I was there when they made this whole agreement between them. Princess came to Penfield as a local village girl on a scholarship, and because she didn't want people finding out about her poor background, she made a deal with the Mayor's son. He gets to fuck her any time he wants and in return, he gives her money, not less than 500cedis. Smitten by that large ass of hers, Ethan agreed and voila, here we are." He clasped his hands.
Like a jigsaw puzzle, everything else fell into place. Now I understood why their relationship felt like an on and off switch. Because it wasn't a relationship. It was all an arrangement to fulfil both pleasure and selfish wants.
Ethan wanted sex, Princess wanted money. So they came together to give each other what they desired. That explained why Princess was so devastated when Ethan ended things with her earlier in the semester. I remembered how desperate she was to get back with him. She even called him her rock and said she couldn't survive in Penfield without him.
Back then, I didn't think much about the statement, but now it made sense. Ethan truly was her source of livelihood here and that's why she wanted to reconcile with him. It had absolutely nothing to do with love.
She was just afraid she wouldn't get any more money from him, so she did everything she could to get him back and that included stringing me to the Val's day dance as her date. She was just using me to get closer to Ethan and the moment it worked, she ditched me at the dance to go sleep with him. Later, she used the money he had given her to buy me that expensive Rolex watch as a thank you gift. It all made sense now.
"Yo dude, you ok?" Seth looked concerned. "You're awfully quiet. I know this is a whole lot of info..."
I tuned Seth out and silently reprimanded myself for falling into something this shallow and stupid, all in the name of being a good friend to Princess. Everyone abandoned her after the break up with Ethan. I was the only one who felt sorry for her and went to visit her, only for her to use me to get what she wanted. How selfish could she be?
Cracking my knuckles, I stood with a firm decision in mind. Princess wasn't who I thought she was, so there was no point in keeping someone like that in my life.