Have you seen the excitement in the face of a child when he/she takes their first steps? It’s perfect. The stage between crawling to walking signifies a significant change in the child’s life. Thus, the excitement. In comparison, it can be synonymous with an exposé coming into the light to quench the thirsts of gossip mongers, ah! Their faces light up, the exquisite excitement, their ears salivating.
(Past-Day of the event)
I never really enjoyed the gossips. I found them shameful and disgusting, talking about people—behind their backs. But these past few days have shown me the level of my hypocrisy. I’ve become the very thing which I hate. Although, in my defence, I got into this by chance—boredom. Well, permit my excuse. I wouldn’t want to be caught dead in my tracks without any reasons.
I became very uncomfortable where I was seated. Throughout the event, my cheeks were hurting because I had to force them to create an insincere smile. Kiki was full of gush, laughing. I wondered how she could be double-faced; I was almost tempted to ask her, How do you do it, being evil and being happy? But I restrained myself. As soon as the event came to a halt, I found myself out the door. Kiki dashed after me, asking me why I didn’t want to wait for the after-party. I simply just told her it was an emergency. I knew I couldn’t stand her being around me. I was sick to my stomach. How I got home was a miracle; I secretly wondered and hoped in my heart that no one from my street or fellow tenants saw me with Kiki. The last thing I wanted was for me to be categorised in the same class as her. I wouldn’t want such troubles. But I got home without any hassles, met my housemate's gisting in the compound, joined them for a while and went to my apartment. The rest of the evening was uneventful, asides Kiki calling me several times. I ignored.
(Present)
Seeing Kiki in front of my door sent shivers through my spine. I was confused and scared. I silently wondered what she was doing at my place. If any of my neighbours or even landlady saw her, it would be disastrous for me. I should as well just pack my clothes and leave. For some seconds, we both stood in front of the door, staring at each other, then at the same instant, we both yelled the words ‘Come inside’ for me, and ‘Can I come in’ for her. I gave way and allowed her into my apartment. I showed her a seat and asked her if she wanted tea or coffee. Still, she opted for only water. I noticed she sat carefully on the couch, as though she was scared that the sofa might grow a mouth and swallow her if she sat comfortably. I glanced at her. She was looking scruffy and different I figured she had not had time to take a bath. I went to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. And when I got back, I saw that she was already on her feet, headed for the door. So I queried why she was leaving so suddenly, she just stared at me for a few seconds saying nothing. Still, even in the semi-bright room, I could see that she was almost in tears, and so I began wondering what tantrum she was about to pull. I simply said to myself, 'she had better pull herself together before she puts me in trouble.’ Then just as if she read my mind, she began talking, her voice shaking. 'I don’t know what I did to offend you. I tried reaching out to you, but you’ve been avoiding me. It’s crazy because I’ve barely slept all week since the event. I kept asking myself what I did wrong, but nothing came to mind, so I decided to go here and ask you face to face, woman to woman, about what I did wrong. However, on getting here, I still noticed that you’re giving me the same cold shoulder as if I’m dirty or disgusting, so that’s why I decided to take my leave. Still, I must apologise for whatever it might be that I must’ve done do offend you. I’m sorry.’ As she spoke, I felt rage cross through my veins. I wanted to charge at her, curse her and hurl insults at her. I wanted to say to her that she’s the worse kind of evil person I’ve ever met, I wanted to say a lot of things to her, but I simply kept quiet and held my cool, leaving her to figure out what she’s done wrong. At least now that she had confronted me, I can avoid her with my chest, without feeling bad or terrible anymore. She stood, waiting for me to say something, but I just stood there in silence, wondering if she was oblivious to the things she had done and what manner of guts she had, to still come to this house, the same house she brought thugs to destroy a few days ago. I simply told her, 'I’ll walk you to the door’ because I didn’t want to start talking. If I did, I would create a scene that I avoided in the first instance. I opened the door, and she stepped out. I followed behind. As soon as I raised my face, I met everyone in front of the door, my landlady and all my neighbours. Then it dawned on me that we had a meeting slated for this morning in the compound. I froze.
But to my surprise, everyone simply said hello, and acted calmly. Kiki also greeted everyone and said her goodbyes. As she was leaving, I heard my Landlady call from behind, ‘Kiki, what time will you be at your saloon? I wish to retouch my hair?’ And I became confused. Why is my landlady trying to mingle with the same lady that is making her life miserable? I simply sat down in confusion, feeling a bit foolish. Maybe I had read the whole situation wrong. Kiki looked at me, then at her, and replied, ‘whenever you’re ready, mummy.’
The meeting began and finished in a few minutes. I neither participated in nor listened to whatever issues were raised. My mind was distracted by what I saw happen earlier. ‘How come no one freaked out or was angry at Kiki? How come she felt comfortable to come here, and no one simply paid any attention to her? What exactly am I missing?’ The more I reasoned the whole situation, the more confused I became. I was still racking my head when my landlady tapped me the shoulder and told me she’d love for me to accompany her to Kiki’s saloon later that evening. I was in shock, my heart beating fast, I wondered what my landlady was up to, but instead, she felt very calm and pleasant. I accepted, her request. I was tempted to ask my neighbours if the Kiki they met earlier was the same Kiki that brought thugs that day. But I resisted the urge. I didn’t want to complicate things further.
Time was prolonged that weekend, as I counted down to the evening when I accompanied my landlady to Kiki’s saloon. At 4 pm sharp, I heard a knock on my door. I figured it was my landlady, so I opened the door, exchanged pleasantries, locked up, and we were on our way. We didn’t to the shop till a few minutes past 5 pm. My landlady strolled, making sure to greet everyone we encountered on the way. By the time we got in, only a few customers were present. Still, there were signs that the saloon had been busy earlier. We sat down as one of the apprentices greeted us, asked us what she could offer us. We both settled for water. I silently prayed that we don’t encounter Kiki. I stylishly asked after her. I was told she went home not too long ago. My landlady sighed, mentioning that she had hoped to meet her since she was highly skilled in hair making and retouching, and moved to have the apprentice call her. Still, I dissuaded her against it, telling her that she shouldn’t bother that the apprentice is also skilled. This flattery made the young lady blush. The apprentice soon began working on my landlady’s hair, another apprentice asked me if I was also interested in making my hair, but I told her I’m not. I became bored, flipped through the pages of every magazine I could find in the saloon, watched customers come and go, listened to the humming of the air conditioner, dozed for a few minutes, had a bit of a chit chat with my landlady and the apprentice working on her hair, rested again, stretched a bit, moved around the saloon checking each machine, cream, tried listening to two elderly women gossip in hush tones. Still, I couldn’t concentrate, I wasn’t in the mood of listening to gossips, I just wished to leave the saloon as soon as possible, it was choking, something about the place didn’t seem right to me, and I wondered what made my landlady comfortable, 'or maybe she’s pretending’ I thought silently to myself.
It was already dark when the hair was completed. It was a few minutes to the hour of 8 pm. As we were about to step out of the saloon, we saw Kiki come in. I froze, in my tracks, my nemesis was here, I simply adjusted myself back and behaved casual, my landlady elated at the sight of her, she asked why she came back, Kiki simply explained that she forgot something and decided to get it at the last minute. My landlady cautioned her against moving around at night. Then they exchanged goodbyes. I was silent throughout, avoided Kiki’s eyes and murmured a flimsy goodnight. I hated her guts for all the pretentious acts. I judged her. Then as we moved a few distances from the shop, Kiki called out my landlady and asked her to wait, jogged down, and apologised for stopping her abruptly. The next question she asked caught me off guard, ‘Ma’am, I know it’s none of my business, but how’s the case with Kiki going?’ She asked. I was lost, 'Why is Kiki asking about Kiki?’ I found myself asking aloud. The two women turned and stared at me. In unison, they asked, 'Pardon?’ I began to stammer...
I see you've perfected the art of adding suspense beautifully to your writings. Well done fam.
What a wawu