Adenike Ekon ✔

02. Anonymous fan

Adenike was out of ideas.

It had been over an hour of writing and rewriting sentences, and still, she wasn't satisfied with her masterpiece. It was true that when it came to writing, perfection wasn't considered. But Adenike wanted at least her work to be perfect.

With her best friend by her side, a laptop and a bottle of water. She sat to work. The words poured from the tips of her fingers and into the screen of her device.

Precious came over and was watching a Nigerian comedy show. Adenike fretted at the sight of her friend. Here she was, struggling to get the words out of her, while her friend lay on her bed with not an ounce of care. On top of that, Adenike hadn't eaten lunch.

She needed to zero her mind if writing was truly what she needed to do.

She imagined herself to be the protagonist in her story, she let Emilia's thoughts invade her.

With the idea of a book in mind, she set to type furiously and blocked the outside world. The sweat was evident on her chocolate skin, and the sun shone brightly through the curtain of her window.

After an hour of writing endlessly, Adenike had finished writing what was to be one of her newest works. Emilia Alberto, she named her book.

It was a tale of a girl, who lived in an unfriendly society. Maltreated and abused by her people, but soon found comfort in strangers.

It wasn't the best idea she got. But it was good nonetheless. Shutting her laptop, she sipped a large gulp of water and moved toward the bed. Where her graceful best friend sat, tired of watching TV. With an earpiece plugged into her phone. Precious was humming to lyrics of a famous song she enjoyed.

But Adenike had other things in mind. She approached her slowly and carefully, with a pillow at hand she aimed in her direction.

Before she got the chance to throw the stuffed material at her, the door to her room was pushed open.

"Lunch is ready," her brother, Taiwo announced.

The sudden disturbance caused Precious to glance their way. She dropped her phone and the earpiece on the side table and moved towards the door.

Adenike followed suit, with the idea of dealing with Taiwo later. If not for him, she could've made fun of Precious.

-❣-

Lunch at Ekon's was always modest.

With her twin brothers, Taiwo and Kehinde filling everyone about their boring day, and their parents listening carefully. Paying attention to each little piece of information, and asking lots of boring questions. To Adenike that was part of the day that she hated the most.

But today was different. Instead of overhearing her brothers' rants, her mind was somewhere else. She wondered if the anonymous person saw her post. If they added the book to their private library. And if they did, Did they like it?

But she didn't dwell on her thoughts much longer than she intended. Her mom's voice disrupted her worry season. "Honey, pass the rice to me please." Absentmindedly, she handed the rice bowl to her.

Taiwo and Kehinde we're arguing about something. Precious and her mom were talking among themselves, not affected by the commotion.

That left her dad, who was peering at her intensely. Adenike's dad was taciturn. He rarely talk and when he did, it was small sentences here and there. But nothing too much.

Adenike scooped rice and beans onto her awaiting spoon. It was their Sunday dish, rice, and beans with stew.

"How was school?" Her dad asked. He had his eyes on his phone. Though he wasn't looking at her, Adenike knew he had his undivided attention on her.