EIGHT

NINE

I was in the edge of the cliff near our school. It was a wonderful view and I was terrified of height.

I cant lie to you all Alberta was an extremely beautiful city from this view I was almost inlove with it. It felt good to have River in my hand again, she was so scared and clinged my jeans through out the drive to school.

“She really missed you”, Beck stated the obvious as he sat beside me at the edge and handed me a bottle of my starbucks coffee.

“Yeah, she has had me since she was what? Three days old and the only times ever I had to leave her was one when I go to school which is only about six to eight hours and this one time”, I paused and sipped out of my coffee. “When we went to visit my grandma in Nigeria and animals don’t exactly get into planes easily and umm Nigerians have this weird fetish that cats have something to do with witchcraft or as my mom calls it juju”, I laughed at how badly I had tried and failed to feign Mom’s Nigerian accent.

He wasn’t laughing and when I stopped to give him the look he was staring at me.

“Earth to Beck”, I said and he moved closer to me. it was almost like all the romcoms I stayed up late at night watching you know the ones with the weird pause and the guy slowly coming up to the girl and in that moment they would kiss. Well, if this was that moment I didn’t know how to react I wanted to move in but I thought off all the movies I had watched I couldn’t even remember if the girls moved in or they just waited for the boys to do it. This didn’t feel right, was I suppose to feel jumpy and sweaty I feel like I’m about to fart was that like the correct way to feel when you are about to have your first kiss well technically my second kiss since I kissed TB once when he was unconscious cause he fell off the bunk bed. I thought the kiss of life was literally a kiss of life. Meanwhile, back at the cliff and the kiss scene it was about to happen when Beck smacked something in my hair. I screamed .

“Sorry”, he said and burst into laughter it was just a bee. I frowned at him and he responded with the most annoying smirk in the entire world.

“Why did you give me a heads up and making me scared at the edge of a cliff is not really a smart idea, I mean imagine if I died or something”, I rabbled on and on.

“Are mad that I made it seem like I was going to kiss you?”, he said and I literally went from one emoji to the another. What emojis did you think that was?

“What?”, I said feigning complete ignorance.

“I made it sseem like I was going in for a kiss, your lips were almost pouting out in preparation”, he said and chuckled.

“What? I dint even think of that why would I want to kiss you?”, I scoffed.

“I don’t know maybe it’s because I am completely gorgeous and you can help but imagine..” I placed my index on his lip and his eyes fell on my index in perfect synchronization.

“Beck Jameson when exactly do you want to realize that I am not like other girls and no I don’t want to and never would want to kiss you, now please take me home”, I took River and my cup of Starbucks in my hand and stood to my feet far away from the edge of course. He stood to his feet as well and in a very awkward silence we proceeded to the car. The silence didn’t end when we got to the car, it also didn’t end when we got to my place. I murmured a goodnight and thank you to him and he did the same. And then I left the car and stood at my porch till he drove off. He didn’t wait for me to enter like he used to and for a very strange reason I was sad about that. I proceeded into my living room and It was a little dark, only the video game noise from TB’s room and then the light from Mom’s office, I swear I wasn’t expecting her to be back so early. 

I said hi to TB who just rudely nodded without moving his eyes from the screen and then I proceeded to my room, got into something comfortable like a baggy shirt and woolen shorts. I walked over to Mom’s office door and stood by the door, she was so buried in work I had to knock to get her attention.

She looked up looking so stressed, the circles underneath her eyes were deeper.

“Hi, Honey”, she said to me and I smiled and greeted her aswell.

“Ma, you need a break like a vacation and some peace maybe a boyfriend”, I said and she nodded.

“No”, she nodded in this certainty. When dad abandoned Mom, she was heartbroken, it wasn’t supposed to be easy especially when her heart was so much for him plus, she had just had her twins. i walked to the leather chair and took a seat at the table she smiled in this motherly caring way like she was suffocated by joy just for having me as a daughter.

“Mom”, her eyes switched immediately to mother mode. I dipped my small frame into the leather chair and pulled the large tee shirt enough for it to cover my feet.

“If I told you that I had my first kiss?”, she was so alert my flashed to a fire alarm about to explode. “what age would you be hoping I was?”.

“What?”, her Canadian accent was completely gone in this moment it was all Nigeran now.

“If for any reason I was suppose to walk into the room and tell you hey Mom, I just had my first kiss at what age would you hope I was telling you this?”, I decided to break it down for her understanding.

“Did you kiss anyone?”, Nigerian accent in full swing. I dipped myself into the chair even more.

“Nobody okay, geez I was just asking”, she looked at me. I know black moms are tough but Nigerian moms go to a whole different level.

“Just answer the question Mom”, I said with a smile.

“Well, I would want you to be ready I mean that could be any age, ten, twelve and maybe a hundred”, she said with smile. “Honey you’ve always been daddy’s little girl and when daddy left, you became my little girl and TB is crazy protective and he loves you”, she said. “So on like you I was fairly ever cared for and in Nigeria you can’t date till you are about umm 18 and that’s for the linnet parents”, I was so shook, what why?

“I think Beck was going to kiss me today but I didn’t know why he didn’t go on, and I don’t mean that I want it I am just curious like if you’re gonna kiss a girl kiss her”, I ranted and pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose.

“Who’s getting kissed?”, TB said and we turned to look at him.

“Honey go play some video games”, Mom said.

“Wait did Jameson try some shit?”, TB asked.

I looked at Mom and she nodded toward me; she was going to handle this situation. I cuddle more into the seat, while TB walked into the office.

“You can’t be friends with him anymore”.

“You can’t decide who the hell is my friend and especially when I only have one”, I said to him in the calmest voice I could manage at the exact moment.

“Well, he might be trying to get into your pants it’s the reality of teenage relationships”. No, he did not just say that because this is about to go down like he was having sex with Maggie bless her soul, when they were like fourteen.

“Are we going to go there?”, I asked and he didn’t flinch. “Number one, I am not going to let anyone so much as touch me because it is against all my moral principles and unlike some people I actually believe that obedience is a thing”. I stood up from the chair and made a beeline from the office to my room and locked the door ignoring my mom who was calling my name.

Why was I overreacting I mean maybe he was just sccared but I thought he and Beck were cool now. I did the unthinkable and for the very first time I was calling someone that’s not a famly relative or a customer care line. I was calling Beck.

“Hey..”, I whispered into the phone.

“OB?”.

“Yeah?”, I replied.

He didn’t say anything and I heard some noises in the background like voices but after the soft slam of a door the noises were gone. I felt safe now, it was just like talking to him when were alone. Wait, is it okay to put it like that? Anyways y’all know what I mean.

“You called me this is a first”, he said and I let out a soft laugh almost a giggle but remember when I promised myself never to giggle again? I was being serious and keeping to that promise.

“remember that place you were going to take me to that night before wee got followed and TB caught us. I was thinking that since it’s a weekend and I am free you might want to take me there now”, I knew I was talking really fast.

“Slow down, baby girl”, he said and chuckled. “Are you doing good?”, he said and I laughed.

“What the hell is wrong with you, you like that I called you, didn’t you, I’m hanging up”, I was going to hang up, I mean I was not going but y’all should pretend that I was when he said.

“Chill, I mean I am happy you called me feels good that a girl called me especially when she’s as beautiful as you”. WHAT??? IS HE DRUNK?! I mean……

“What I’m I expected to say now?”, I asked and he chuckled. I could picture his smiling face in my head as I fell on my bed back flat and some how calling Beck had changed my mood that night and we just spoke till about midnight.

“Can we switch to facetime?”, he asked and I replied in the affirmative. I quickly put on my purple larva lamp, yes I still have a larva lamp now might your own business. He was in his room, on his bed in a baggy pair of Nike shorts.

“Is weird how this is the longest conversation I have ever had with someone on the phone”, was th first thing he said the second that the facetime connected.

I had to look so he didn’t see me smiling, then I looked back. “is it weird that you are the only non-family member or non-customer care agent I am ever speaking to on the phone in forever”. I was smilng like an idiot. Keep it together, Obelem.

“We are in so many ways different then, because my phone is always beeping from all the thots at school”.

“Well, then Mr. Celebrity I hope I am not interrupting any beeps”.

We talked for another hour till I fell asleep and the best part was when I woke up in the morning he was still on the facetime and he was asleep.