Sometimes we laugh and
Sometimes we cry.
But I guess you know now...
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"You see, Nene had an unhealthy attraction towards Taylor Lautner."
"Crush idiot, it's called crush." The darker girl intervened.
"Shut up Nens, considering all you've done, you don't get to interrupt me. Anyway," Lara continued. "She had this stupid crush or whatever on him that she thought it was necessary for him to be the hero in every goddamn movie!"
"Of course! He deserved it! Did you see him in Lava girl and shark boy ?" Nene interrupted once again.
TJ hung to every word.
Lara glared at Nene. "For the last time Neneoma, shut your trap."
She faced TJ. "So, he didn't end up with Bella in 'twilight saga'. She just had to rip apart everything that reminded her of his loss in twilight, like she did my school bag and bedsheet!"
The darker girl sat up in protest. "I replaced them didn't I ?"
"Yeah, with toy story and frozen!"
Nene just shrugged. "At least it's better than having nothing."
Lara aimed fire and brimstone her way, before waving her off, causing Nene to take the center stage. Jiki raised a suggestively brow.
"I'm still wondering why you suddenly left Spicy Jacob,"
With fingers now twirling her luxuriant fro, she shrugged. "It was high time I let go."
Still Jiki looked unconvinced. Keeping his eyes on the darker girl, he took a swig of his citrus pulp. "Let me get this right, you just woke up on a very pleasant day and decided to do away with the useless infatuation?"
"It's called a crush!"
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, crush, infatuation, they are still useless."
The darker girl sighed, using her hand to wipe off invincible perspiration, while they waited for her response.
It was unlike her to let go easily, let alone quit being a crazy fanatic. One she'd been holding unto over half a decade.
She didn't answer at first, she took her time, taking a sip of Elo's chi-exotic. "Come on, all of you! Have you seen him as of recent? He has gone from hot shot to cold sauce!" Her face was scrunched up in disgust. "He looks like he's gone on a calorie gobbling spree, hairy and shit!"
They let out unravelling 'oohs'
"Anyhoo," the darker girl continued. "I can't dote on him when he looks like a priced cow."
"That's body shaming Nens." Jiki cut in, in his usual bored tone.
"Ooh, that's nothing close to all the tongue lashing I've reserved for him for causing a third degree burn to my heart!"
"Maybe he has someone who really appreciates guys on the plus side." Lara chipped in.
Nene let out a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah she's prolly a blind bitch."
Jiki carefully chewed on his snack before speaking. "You know it's his body right? Not a public property. It's his choice to gain weight Nens. And if he is happy, you as a dedicated fan," he made an air quote to lay emphasis. "Should be happy too."
The rest ignored them, already used to their differing ways of reasoning, which always left Jiki at the winning end. Although winning was a far cry from what he usually had in mind, he just had a knack for speaking his mind and being totally honest about it.
"Oshey mega defender," the darker girl countered, snorting. "No one is suggesting that he should make himself unhappy. He should've been considerate. He could have found a way to create balance by making himself and the society happy. What's that saying about giving Caesar his right and shit?"
"The society is insatiable babe," The fairer boy continued his counter assaults, he took one last swig, rendering the juice can empty. "Greedy and has a myopic way of reasoning. Even if he lays his life down for them, they're still gonna be dissatisfied. He owns his body Nens, that means he can do whatever pleases him with it, without the society's permission of course. Being celebrated doesn't make him have less rights to his body and can I quote you? Even if he decides to go on a calorie gobbling spree, y'all just have to suck it up or kill yourselves."
Nene flashed him a grin, obviously pleased that she got him talking for a long time. "Damn Jikiboo! If I wasn't running out of points, we'd have gone on a long run."
He shook his head at her with sheer amusement, chastising himself for falling prey into her carefully woven web again.
"You'd make a great human rights lawyer though, imagine being the next Oputa, Femi Falana, Ernest Ojukwu -- or even the next El-rufai Dau-"
The words got stuck in her throat as she saw him visibly stiffen at the mention of his father's name.
"God! Nene you stupid hoe!!" She scolded herself, sending him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Jiki, it kinda slipped."
He shook his head in understanding, sending her a small smile.
A cold silence filled the little space they occupied. Nene had obviously struck a nerve tucked away.
Suddenly there was nothing left to say. The slip the darker girl had made left an ugly sore taste in their mouths till the fairer boy spoke up. "I submitted the form though." His voice eerily calm, that almost got them having the goose. Had they not been listening, they'd have missed.
That point, a bevy of possible worst cases flashed same time in TJ and Chimdi's mind.
"Your final choice?" TJ asked, suddenly feeling his throat go dry. He'd seen the boy deprive sorrow of words. He'd seen pain personified in his eyes and he wasn't sure if he was ready to go down that road. Again.
"Law." The fairer boy dropped, like the words didn't have the power to change their moods for hours.
A cursing sound made by Elo broke them off their sullen state as Nene jumped off the wooden desk she was occupying, with her boyfriend.
"Bitch better have my money!" She sang out, stretching out her hands towards her boyfriend. Eyes shining, lips stretched out in a victorious grin.
This caused the rest of the gang including Jiki to mirror a very confused look.
Elo emptied his pocket, fishing out rumpled naira notes before begrudgingly handing them over to his girlfriend.
"What are you two up to this time?" Lara asked, dying to get to the root of their mystery, while catching a pack of cracker thrown to her by TJ.
"We had a bet." The couple spoke same time.
The darker girl counted the wads of naira in her hand, glaring at Elo. "You owe me a ten El, not three."
The shorter boy shrugged. "You don't expect me to walk around carrying ten thousand naira in my pocket." he replied, still sulky from losing to her.
"You'll just have to send the remaining seven to my account." She morphed the wads into a fan, flapping them, before facing Jiki with a silly grin.
"Hope you don't mind, Elo was trying to act like a clairvoyant son of a bitch. Again."
The shorter boy's scowl increased.
An apologetic smile appeared on Jiki's face. "Sorry man."
Elo shrugged it off, a faux sulky look appearing on his face. "So, you'll have to spend the next five years living a monochrome life!" Elo groaned. "Dude, we had plans to take unilag by storm with our matching denims and suspenders." He wailed dramatically, lighting up their moods in seconds.
Chimdi shook her head in disappointment. "Some goals."
"Cry if you want," Nene continued, now turning the wads of Naira notes into a substitute fan. "I got the money."
"And I got the girl?" Elo attempted drawing her close, but got shooed away.
"Chill nigga," the darker girl flapped the notes. "No one's got me. I got myself okay?"
Elo took to sulking, while the rest cracked up in fits.
After a moment, as thoughtful as always, Lara brought up the forgotten topic. "So, what's going to happen to Frisbee and acting?"
The fairer boy just shrugged, tearing open a new snack. "Who said I'm ditching Frisbee? We are not even close to the finale."
His response didn't take them by surprise. Everyone knew he loved the big screen, it was his life. Scripted words rolled off his lips like they were his actual thoughts. He had the tendency to adapt to his role, making his viewers relate and fall in love with his character.
The big screen was sure his home and nobody could take it away from him.
"You're just going to juggle both?" Lara continued.
He shrugged. "Don't really know."
"Bulls." Chimdi cut in. "He can still be successful in the corporate world and still rule the world of entertainment. I mean, look at Ebuka Obi-Uchendu and Funke Akindele."
Nene shook her head, gesturing a no with her index finger. "He cannot come and 'can'. He 'will'."
A grateful smile made it's way to Jiki's face, his heart filled with warmth and love for his gold worth friends. But of course, he was a man of few words, therefore he just kept mute, trying to keep himself from grinning like joker's doppelganger.
TJ stared, confused. "I know Ebuka hosts Big brother, but who the hell is Fonke?"
With a pat on his shoulder, Chimdi let out an exasperated sigh. "Look buddy, you still have a lot to learn." His face had the cutest pout that almost had her cooing. "You just have to keep shut."
Happy that she finally acknowledged him, a self satisfied smile rested on his face.
She can't ignore for long.
"Yeah that's right. There is Falz, KOK and even Naira Marley," Nene added, before turning to face her boyfriend. "Though he's not king material to me."
"And who is king material?" Elo shot back. "Fucking Falz?"
Nene nodded, looking around, like she said the most obvious of words. "Isn't it obvious? You can't compare bop daddy to a street tout."
"That street tout is taking this city by storm."
"Key word babe, being this city. Bob daddy has taken the world,"
"Jeez you guys, we're focusing on how to cheer Jiki up not brewing another migraine igniting argument that won't add a penny to y'all's account!" Chimdi complained.
"It's a sure bet, Jiki's gon' be a great lawyer." Lara cheered. "And also a great actor."
"I second that!" A foreign voice cut into the group, getting comfortable beside Jiki, who sat alone.
They all looked up at the new voice.
Chimdi groaned, Nene barred her teeth at the intruder. "Stalking us as usual, Abike?"
"It's nice seeing you too Sister in-law." The slender girl snarled back, before facing the group.
"Hey, who missed me?" Her gaze solely on TJ, causing Chimdi to see nothing but crimson.
The self satisfied smile was back on TJ's face as he made his next move. "I did."
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"Look at us making lifetime choices, getting and thinking of getting into relationships," Abike casted a hopeful look TJ's way. She'd joined them in their discussion, much to Chimdi's dismay.
"Just five years ago, El was wailing like a stray banshee with braces and running nose. Running after daddy's car!" Abike began after the spotlight left her, causing Elo to groan out in frustration.
"I wasn't wailing idiot." The darker boy threw in, defending himself.  "Can you ever let me live that down?"
"Nope." Answered his twin. "Till you grow toothless, maybe."
"Dude I was pretty embarrassed, damn." Jiki added, joining them on their embarrassing trip down memory lane.
Nene howled out in fits of laughter. "Y'all I was like, why the hell is his teeth shiny? You know that moment when you're frustrated, but find an object of fascination."
"So you had to laugh at him in other to ascertain why his teeth were shiny?" Chimdi asked, remembering the first time they were all admitted into Pacesetters.
After she'd found Jiki and had followed him around like a stray puppy. She'd caught sight of a small boy being held back by the school's security team, as he tried to chase after a silver morano.
The sight had been a spectacular one, especially when his sister was having the fun of a lifetime.
"What? He was being a sissy." The darker girl defended, while the rest cracked up, much to her boyfriend's discomfort.
"Can't believe he actually ended up liking you." TJ muttered.
"My thoughts exactly." Chimdi concurred.
Nene stuck her tongue out at her. "He just needed a little straightening up." Her hands patted the rounded collar of Elo's shirt in sheer affection. "Right babe?" She asked, while he replied by peppering kisses on her face before placing an open kiss right on her lips.
The action morphing into a semi make out session, causing the gang to let out irritated protests.
"Come on, you two!" Abike groaned, face scrunched in mock disgust. "Show some respect for the public eye!!"
"Bitch seriously," Nene retorted once she detached herself from her boyfriend. "You need to get hooked up, so you'll stop being a wet blanket!"
And that got everyone to burst out laughing, much to Abike's discomfort.
"Everything is falling into place guys, I think this is the It moment!" Lara said, after the laughter had died down.
They all nodded in affirmation, but TJ begged to differ. Everything was almost falling into place for him, he thought as he glanced at Chimdi who was making faces at Nene and Elo. He just knew the right thing to do.
"Let's make a toast!" In Elo's hand was an empty pringles container.
They stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue.
Chimdi emptied the last crumbs of her milky cookie into her mouth, causing a few to spread on her sweats. "To what exact?"
The shorter boy shrugged. "All of us?" He thought for a second. "To Jiki for being more than conqueror?"
Jiki shook his head, a full smile making it's way to his lips, this time he didn't hold back. He raised an empty cookie wrap up, actually surprising them by carrying on with Elo's suggestion.
"How about to all of us? You guys are the best set of beings a human would want to get involved with," though speechless, they smiled. His words obviously baffling them.
"Though sometimes, y'all can be a lil coo coo," he spared a glance at Nene, who showed him the middle finger and a sincere smile which he returned. He looked at Chimdi "And tiny pains in the ass." The skinny girl rolled her eyes, fighting back an annoying tear. "But you all are God's gift to mankind."
"Awwwn," Abike cooed, setting aside her brash attitude. "You just made me think of tears and runny noses."
"You stupid ass!" Elo cried out in mock wail, wiping off an invincible tear. "Hard guy, hard guy, you're still stuffed with sentimental bullshits."Â That got them cracking up in fits. This time, a few heads turned their way, but they cared less.
Lara raised an empty fanta container. "To us then?"
At that moment, TJ couldn't make out what life in Nigeria would have been without them. Their colourful curses, sincere bond and differing, yet infectious personalities.
Milo would have loved them as much as he did, he thought.
"To us!" They grumbled back, rolling their eyes in mock embarrassment. Deep down, they felt the opposite.
"We're playing T or D next!" Nene announced, causing incessant groans to fill the small space occupied by them.
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