For the hundredth time today, I picked up my phone, expecting a return call or even a text from Princess.
Nothing came through. To say I was agitated was an understatement.
After our visit to her hall, I'd been calling and texting her non-stop, but I still couldn't get in touch. Knowing that Princess was deliberately ignoring and avoiding all my attempts to reach out was as frustrating as hell.
Tossing my phone onto the side of my bed, I emptied out the box of books I'd packed out of my previous dorm.
After Akunna's passing and the vigil, the hall's management thought it would be best to change my living arrangements. So here I was, settling into my new dorm with Deon as my roommate. Unlike my previous room, this place had a balcony, and offered a captivating view of the sun settling at dusk.
I pulled out the stack of books, ready to line them up in the shelf, when an envelope slipped out and fell on the floor. I set the books aside to pick it up.
"Ok!" Shola clasped her hands. "I've completely emptied out your suitcases and lined up your clothes in the wardrobe. I took the liberty to arrange them according to colour. Darker clothes are on the left and lighter clothes are on the right. Your swim gears are in the bottom drawer, along with all your other sports stuff."
She plummeted down on the bed beside me. I had a feeling she would've said more about the clothes, if the card I had just pulled out of the envelope hadn't grabbed her attention.
My roommate's scrawny penmanship was hard to miss on the white surface.
When you two finally become a couple, please don't forget the people who helped you get there.
"Oh Akunna," Shola mumbled softly, when I flipped the card over, reminding ourselves of the first night we'd danced together at the Val's day Twilight Dance, and it was all because Akunna made it happen. He gave us this moment. He was the one who brought Shola to the dance, he was the one who encouraged me to go after her, and he was the reason why I was even holding this picture.
"You know... when you think about it... Akunna is the whole reason we're together right now." My eyes felt watery all of a sudden. "If he hadn't dared me to talk to you at the activities fair..." the memory glowed in my mind's eye.
"Youuu," he tapped my nose, "like Shola."
Alarmed, my voice went a notch higher. "What? No, I-"
"Oh c'mon don't deny it." Akunna crossed his arms, smirking. "I saw the way you were making googly eyes at her. She's the reason why you joined the club, right?"
"I... I uhh...gmph!" I forcefully cleared my throat. But he saw through the act and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry, roomie. I promise you, by the end of the semester I'm going to make sure that you get to call Shola your girlfriend."
And he did. He really did.
The tears poured out of my eyes in waves, and even though Shola was at the brink of letting out her own downpour, she held them back and pulled me into a tight warm hug.
"It's alright, sweetheart." Her hand caressed my back. "Let it all out."
"He shouldn't have died, Shola." My throat hurt as I swallowed, pushing past the huge lump that had lodged itself in there. "He shouldn't have died. I... I wish I could turn back the hands of time, just to stop us from going to that stupid party..."
Ethan's face flashed inside my head, feeding into the pool of hate dwelling in my heart, and in the flicker of a minute, the tears stopped flowing. "Ethan...Ethan is the one who caused all this. If I could just grab that bastard's neck-"
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Shola pushed me back. "No more fights, ok. Especially not with Ethan. Because of him you're on thin ice, if you slip up one more time, they'll expel you. How do you think that's going to make me feel? How do you think that's going to make Akunna feel, huh?" She shot me a stern look that had me turning away, feeling sheepish.
"I know you're upset, but you can't allow your emotions to control you like that." Shola cupped my face, rotating it back to hers. "I care a lot about you, Akwasi, and the last thing I want is to see you getting hurt."
Her eyes gleamed with a thousand emotions, but love stood in front of them all, showing me that my wellbeing mattered a lot more to her than seeking revenge for Akunna's death. And as she pulled me closer, latching her lips on mine, I took my time, promising her through our kiss, that I was never going to let this issue get the best of me. Because the best of me was for her, and her alone.
"I love you," she whispered, the moment we drew back to breathe again.
With all the affection my heart had to offer, I mumbled a "love you more" against her lips, earning me a soft smile.
"Ok, people!" Deon barged in, obliviously ending our moment of bliss. "We are officially roommates! Just got our hall master to endorse our forms." He waved them in the air.
A knock suddenly rapped on the door and Deon took single step to open it. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
My eyebrows furrowed. "Who's that?"
"Ethan's lackey." He stepped aside.
"Watch it, small fry!" Nana Kwame stood in the doorway; hands tucked into the pockets of his gray hoodie. "I'm not anyone's lackey!"
"Right, keep telling yourself that." My friend moved away, and I took that as cue to begin my questioning.
"What do you want here, Nana Kwame?" I stood up; Shola's arm left my sides.
"Nothing much." He walked in, eyes flitting over my room. "Hmm, nice place," he smiled and finally locked his gaze on me. "Heard you've been trying to get in touch with, Princess. You need to stop."
My eyebrows pulled together. "The last time I checked, you don't own Princess. So you can't order me to stop calling her!"
"Wow," he chuckled. "That dude's death sure made you grow some balls, huh? Look at you acting all confident now."
My hands balled into fists, and if Shola hadn't grabbed my right hand, releasing the fist and intertwining our fingers together, I would've sent that fist flying straight into Nana Kwame's smug face.
"Anyway. Ethan asked me to come over here to give you this." Pulling one hand out of his hoodie pockets, he slapped a thick brown envelope on the stack of books I'd put on the floor.
"What is it?" Deon quizzed from where he sat.
"A little gift from one childhood friend to another," he grinned.
The last surprise gift I'd received from Ethan, ended my roommate's life. As I stared at the brown envelope before me, I wondered whether to pick it up or not.
I didn't need to however, because my girlfriend sensed my indecisiveness, and saved me the trouble of having to check the content. The envelope rustled as Shola peeled the flap open and gasped.
It had been stuffed with a heap of blue 100cedi notes.
Her eyes flew up to my face.
"And there's plenty more where that came from," Nana Kwame voiced out. "...that's... if you choose to drop out of the finals."
For a minute, I thought I hadn't heard clearly until Deon made it even clearer.
"Wait, wait, hold on, lemme get this straight..." he put his hand up. "Ethan is paying Akwasi to quit the finals?"
"Frankly, it'll be for the best." Nana Kwame tilted his head to the side. "I mean, imagine having to practice while mourning the death of your roommate. That's going to be so tough. You might not want to believe it, but Ethan is keeping your best interests at heart with this generous deal."
At heart? My frown deepened. Maybe old me would've believed that, but not the current me. After seeing what Ethan was capable off, I doubted if even had a heart. That two-faced imbecile was the greediest person I'd ever met and I didn't want to have anything to do with him.
Taking the envelope from Shola, I walked up to Ethan's messenger boy and smacked the money hard on his chest. "Tell Ethan to keep his filthy money! I'm not backing down from this. If he really wants to keep the title of Penfield's Greatest Swimmer, then he's gonna have to beat me for it."
Nana Kwame looked stunned, like he wasn't expecting such a vigorous reaction.
Yes, I came from a poor family, but that didn't mean I was easy to manipulate or buy. I knew my dignity, and it was worth a lot more than a bunch of flimsy 100 cedi notes.
"Wow, bold move." Ethan's messenger boy shuffled back, masking away the surprise with a smirk. "You know, I was actually hoping that it wouldn't come to this, but... I see your mind's made up." He nodded, heading towards the door. "Goodluck in the finals, Akwasi Appiah. You are gonna need it."
With that, he grabbed the door handle, yanked it open, and exited the room.
Silent, I turned back to my friends. Shola closed the gap between us with a hug. Deon drew closer, folding his arms.
He gave me a simple nod, and I nodded back, knowing exactly what he meant.
The war had just begun, and I was ready to face.
Ready to face it for Akunna Williams.