Chapter Four

Justus had gone into the kitchen and made me a cup of Lipton. Surprisingly, he'd gotten the milk and sugar just right. They always had tea and most beverages with bread in this country, so when he asked if I wanted some, I said yes.

"Why are you being so nice to me? Do you think you can rectify your father's mistake or something?" I asked him. I hadn't meant to sound agressive. I was honestly curious.

"No. I... it may sound funny but I'm an activist against rape culture. Ironic, since my father is a rapist and a lot of people think I attempted to rape Elorm."

"How did they find out?"

"When she became famous, she tweeted about what happened between us. I mean, she's one of the most hated people in the country but I got my fair, well deserved share of hate too," he was smiling as he spoke, but then it faded suddenly. "Though a lot of people were saying she deserved it or she was lying. When we reconciled and she forgave me, she sent out another tweet explaining what happened and my real intentions, asking people to forgive me. By then they were convinced that it was a publicity stunt and she got double hate for 'using such a serious issue for monetary gain'."

Of course. It was the reason why I didn't follow Elorm even though she was so popular. I would've sent triple the death threats she received to all her haters.

If only they knew how she'd suffered, all she'd been through, and the beautiful person she'd come out to be in the end.

"I wished they could all just get to know her. Like a reality show or something."

He shook his head. "They would say she's just faking it or something. I love how they judge people they don't know. It's honestly so refreshing."

I chuckled a little bit.

"You know, I've seen you a couple of times. You've always seemed so happy, but since you came here, you've had this look of sadness and anger in your eyes. You just smiled," he said, tilting his head to the side playfully.

"I did, didn't I?" I asked, smiling again.

He smiled too. "It's a beautiful sight."

He looked at me for a few more seconds, then he tapped my shoulder and said, "I should go and pick up the boys from their mother."

"What?" I asked.

"Elorm's mother took her brothers and Etornam's son for the weekend. I guess Elorm is trying to mend their relationship or something."

"She trusts them with her, and you? No offense to you, but you... yeah and her mother allowed Etornam to be defiled by her husband. How can they trust her after that?"

Justus laughed. "They don't, don't worry. They have the boys' nanny with her. She's this strict scary woman. I don't understand how the kids like her so much, she reminds me of Cruella De-Vil, minus the skinning Dalmatian puppies for clothes and all the money. Besides, Atsu and Tsey are grown men now. They can definitely protect the younger ones if she tries anything funny, like trying to sell them to the black market."

I didn't know why I was laughing. He was funny, but I was exaggerating.

Once my laughter died down, I put my cup down and turned to face him. "Why are you here though?" I asked. "Did you come to visit Elorm or..."

"I came to visit..." he confirmed, smiling, though I could see the pain in those bright irises. "She's not here though, and I'm glad I met you."

"Can I come with you?" I found myself asking.

"Uh... yeah!" he smiled brightly. "Come then. Just to be clear, we're friends right?"

I paused for a little bit, then smiled slowly. "Yes?"

"Okay. Can I have your number?" he asked, handing me his phone.

I took it and entered my contact. Even though I hated the nickname Elorm had given me, it'd grown on me somehow. I saved my number as 'Barbie'.

When he took the phone back and looked at it, he grinned. "Barbie? I can't say it doesn't suit you."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't really like to be called that, but okay. Let's go."

I got to my feet before I remembered the slight pain I was in. I stumbled, but he caught me quickly before I could fall.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, don't worry, just a little dizzy," I said, spacing myself from him.

"Just don't faint okay?"

I could tell that he wasn't completely joking. I nodded.

We were heading out, but we stopped when the elevator dinged. The elevator's doors opened almost ominously and I groaned when Edinam stepped in. As soon as she saw Justus, she froze. He was holding my hand normally before, but as soon as he saw her, he began to squeeze so tightly that it hurt.

I moaned slightly and pulled it out of his grasp.

"Sorry," he said, turning to me. "Let's go."

Edinam remained frozen after we circled past her and entered the elevator. Justus was trying desperately not to seem affected by her, but he obviously was. My heart ached for him, strangely.

"Justus wait!" Edinam yelled after him, few seconds till the elevator closed and started descending.

He kept looking at her, his leg bouncing.

She didn't let the machine close. She put her hand in between the doors before they closed and they parted again. "Justus please, I just want to talk," she begged. She'd already began crying even though they hadn't started talking.

"I'll wait for you upstairs," I said to him, then took off in the direction of the stairs.

Because Justus was the second true friend I'd made on my own -- Etornam and Edinam didn't count because I was only friends with them because of Elorm -- I stayed back to eavesdrop. It was none of my business, but I was curious.

"Two minutes. I just want to understand why you hurt me this way, but if you're going to ask me to forgive you, forget it," he said harshly.

"How did you find out? Was it Nate?" Edinam asked. There was a harsh, hostile silence after that. He must've been glaring at her. She inhaled and exhaled deeply. "I... I love you--"

"Bullshit."

"I did, I do, but I love him too. And I didn't want to lose either of you."

"Well now you've lost both of us."

"Justus, I really love you, with all my heart. I tried to tell you, but I just didn't know how."

"I have a question. Who was the main and who was the side? I was the side, wasn't I? It's why you didn't want to be seen in public with me. You also blocked me on all your social media profiles because everyone knew about Nathan so you had to post him."

"You were my first," she said.

He went silent after that. They were quiet. I wanted to stretch a little to peer at them, but I was too scared that they'd catch me, then Justus would know how much of a creep I was.

"I didn't know that. I thought..."

"I was raised to start having sex after I got married. And I really wanted to do that, but then I... I love you so much, and it's only natural to want to bond like that with someone you love."

"If you wanted to wait till marriage, you could've told me. And you weren't acting like a virgin when we made love."

"I'm talented I guess," she laughed softly, but there was no sound from him.

"So," he paused a little, "you haven't slept with Nathan?"

There was silence and I assumed she was shaking her head.

"Why me and not him?"

There was more silence and I assumed she shrugged.

"You didn't sleep with me because you 'love' me. It was spontaneous and we never spoke about it before. You did it because we were alone and in the mood. If that same opportunity had come to Nathan and you, you would've done it too. Now that you're done with your lies, excuse me, I have somewhere to be. Barbie!"

On hearing my name, my eyes widened and I climbed back up the stairs and made a show of coming down, stomping my feet so loudly that they were bound to hear me. "Coming!"

Bless Elorm for having a house where you couldn't see everyone at any time.

When I got back into the living room, Edinam was sitting on the sofa and sobbing silently. Justus was looking at her, fists clenched and tears falling down his cheeks.

He saw me and quickly wiped them away. "Come," he held out a hand and I put mine in it.

Edinam's head lifted, then her eyes went to our hands. "What is this? Where are you going?" she asked.

"That's none of your business," he hissed, just in time for the elevator to close.

* * *

Justus and the scary nanny took the children to get ice cream before they returned to the penthouse apartment.

Using a pathetic excuse he probably saw through, I took a commercial motorcycle ride into the dirtiest, darkest parts of the country.

They'd probably never seen a white person in those parts before, because they all kept looking at me. I knew I had to get out of there soon. They were all men. Strong men, and their eyes didn't stay confined to my face.

I trudged into a red tent, where the person I was looking for was.

I could've probably found what I was looking for if I talked to the right people, but it would've aroused too much attention to me especially if the doctor I asked wasn't corrupt. I wasn't Edinam's biggest fan either. Besides, I heard traditional medicine was the best.

The tent was small and crowded with weed, alcohol and other addictive substances. A greying old man with skinny legs, scabbed skin and brown, rotting teeth sat crossed legged in the middle of the tent. There was a small table before him and it was covered with weed he was smoking.

The whole tent smelled like weed, if weed really had a scent.

The man's eyes widened once he saw me, and he looked like he thought it was a prank. "An obroni in my tent. Hei! Wonders shall never end!" he laughed.

"I want this concoction," I gave him the paper that was previously in my pocket. "Can you provide it for me?" I asked hurriedly, wanting to leave the place as soon as possible. For some reason, I felt that I would have to pay for the concoction with my body too.

One of the men who was eyeing me outside stepped in, his lips curving into a small smile once he laid eyes on me.

"M'aba," he said quietly, coming to sit beside me.

I held my breath. He smelled. He smelled like sweat and weed and bad breath. I didn't him anywhere near me.

"She wants wei," the old man said, handing the younger man the paper.

He took it and scanned it, then turned to me, the toothpick in his mouth dangling as he spoke. "What does a fine lady like you want with this?"

"That's none of your business. Just tell me how much you want for it."

The old man scratched his bare chin. "The ingredients for that concoction are hard to obtain. We won't take less than five thousand."

I had a feeling that they were overcharging me because I was white. A lot of the people in the country thought white people were ignorant, especially Americans. Not that we mostly weren't, but I wasn't. I'd never been book smart, but I was street smart. I've had to be.

But five thousand cedis was approximately one thousand dollars, and I had one thousand to spare. I didn't want to deal with these people anymore than I had to.

"That's fine. When I have the concoction in my hand, you'll have your money."

"Good," the old man smiled. "A number we can use to reach you?"

The younger man gave me his keypad phone to enter my number. I didn't want them calling my own phone, because I didn't want them to be linked to me in anyway but I also didn't have a choice. I would change my number immediately all this was over.

I entered it and saved my contact as obroni.

"Be back by tomorrow," the smelly one said, "with the money."

I nodded.

As I was leaving, I got stopped by the younger man. He'd caught up with me just as I was about to climb the motorcycle I rode to get there.

"Wait," he said, smiling coyly. Even with the massive age difference, his teeth resembled the old man's. "I'm sure you don't want anyone to know you came here, right? Whatever you need this for, it's illegal, isn't it?" he asked me.

I nodded, knowing what was coming next. "Call me this evening, I'll tell you where to meet up. Bathe and brush your teeth before you come."

* * *

i feel so sorry for barbie, wow.

vote or whatever, see if i care. 🌟