The Seven, and their Wealth. II

III - Elijah

The mid-morning sun filtered through the cream-white curtains of Elijah's sanctuary: the game room. With mahogany wood flooring, abstract, monotone art posters and shelves that put on display his extensive collection of Marvel and DC action figurines; the last room opposite his bedroom upstairs, looked more like an office than it did a game room.

In the divided half of the room were giant beanbags littered across centred by a large fur rug, all facing a wall-mounted, curved-screen television. An accompanying game console rested on the below-installed shelf; the level lower to that housed all the games Elijah had ever brought – from his early days of gaming on the PlayStation 2 right until now.

Lucas focused on the Ghost of Tsushima while Vusi walked in with a granola bar in hand all listening to the gritty production of The Off-Season, through the room's high-end surround sound system.

'You're going to need to get more granola bars,' he announced, throwing himself on the white beanbag immediately beside Elijah's.

Naturally, he did not respond, Elijah was deeply consumed by his phone screen. His best friends slept over as often as every weekend – especially when Elijah was home alone. His mom did return from her Durban trip but headed out to church with Musa – who had no plans for travel in the upcoming week. An anomaly.

It was weird having him back if anything. Elijah had gradually adjusted to his father being so busy with work, that when he was home doing virtually nothing, he would worry that something went wrong. In the same breath, there was an understanding of why they were always so busy. The manufacturing industry was always changing and staying ahead to mitigate losses that would arise from the changes was necessary.

Very necessary.

'Elijah,' Vusi interrupted again, wondering what had his friend's full attention.

He snuck in a glimpse at what Elijah had been scrolling through, and it looked like it was some other guy's Instagram page. Not just any guy, he looked familiar – Vusi was certain he'd seen him before.

'Isn't that Naledi's boyfriend?'

Elijah shielded the phone away from him and continued scrolling through his feed. Clinton had accepted Elijah's follow request and took it a step further by following him back. Elijah had no solid plan for what he was doing, but he liked how it seemed to be gradually coming together.

'He's been going through that dude's profile for some time now,' Lucas opined, keeping his eyes glued to the screen, while reflexively mashing the DualShock controller's buttons.

'What?' Vusi ridiculed.

Lucas laughed.

'No man, I am investigating something. Something is off about this guy.'

The game was paused as Lucas and Vusi both gave Elijah similar looks that expressed equal parts confusion and concern. They'd agree that he had perhaps gone too far now. Stalking your ex and her boyfriend was far too weird, especially when he was the one who initiated the breakup. They'd expect him to be long over Naledi, but what they did not know was the deeply rooted regret Elijah was feeling – because nobody understood why he did it in the first place.

Yes, he agrees that how he went about it was foul. A breakup was too much of a stretch, considering all the options he had with making his issues known to Naledi being the first, and most optimal.

'You broke up with Naledi, but her current boyfriend is the problem?' Vusi asked, taking another bite of the berry granola bar.

'I am talking about what I saw on Friday Vusi,' he responded speaking Setswana.