Mend

𝑻𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚-𝑵𝒊𝒏𝒆

Latoya slumped onto her bed, which was now in the home office I'd converted back into a bedroom soon after she accepted the invitation to move in with me. We were surrounded by boxes and furniture, our backs aching from dragging, assembling, packing and organising, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I went from wondering where my sister was, sometimes wondering if she was even still alive, to being able to help her out in the toughest season of her life. I was swimming in gratitude and holding onto hope that everything would turn out fine now that Ketura had officially met and started working with Latoya.

Ketura had insisted on me paying only her consultation fee, even though I'd been more than willing to cover the whole case somehow. I knew the amount I'd paid was just a grain of salt in the ocean that could have been the legal fees if she'd charged the full amount, so I was grateful. So far, they'd had a preliminary hearing in which the judge reviewed the charges and set a trial date. Latoya had spoken to Ketura almost everyday since, the two of them building their defence.

"What are you going to do in the two weeks before the trial begins?" I asked her as I took a seat on the tiled floor to give my back a break as well.

"Just drive around Kisho Valley, I guess. I've never lived here before, so I want to explore."

"I'd join you if these deadlines at work didn't have me in a chokehold."

"It's fine. I've kinda been writing again. Nothing too serious, but enough to actually put together a whole song," she said in a trepidatious tone. "I write best when I'm alone, so I'll probably get a lot of inspiration from just driving around."

"Sounds cool. You should let me read some of your stuff if you're comfortable."

"Oh, gosh, I don't know." she said shyly. "None of it is that good."

"Not the songwriter downplaying herself. I googled you the other day, saw your name under a lot of Note(d)'s music." I told her with a proud smile. "He was such a big deal a couple of years ago. I was obsessed with him. It's crazy that you were working with him on his music and I had no idea."

"He is a big deal." she chuckled. "Master lyricist. I learned a lot about songwriting from him."

"How did you even end up working with him?" I asked, amused. The closest I'd gotten to rubbing shoulders with someone famous was when I was still friends with Koffi, and we all know how that turned out.

"I used to work at his dad's studio in Kitalo City." Latoya shared with a nostalgic smile on her face. "He heard some of my productions and asked me to help him work on his album."

"What's your favourite song that you produced for him?"

"Choka." Latoya said without missing a beat. I could hear a grin in her voice from the way she said the title of a song I'd once had on repeat for weeks. "Since Note(d) is an R&B artist, a lot of the songs I produced for him had a really mellow, sultry sound. Which was great, but I wanted to expand my range. When I made the afrobeat demo and asked him to listen, I didn't think he'd like it. He loved it. Went straight into the studio and made up the lyrics as we recorded. It was a pretty cool day."