Bands of the Unpaid Dowry

Chapter 3

"Huh?"

"What?" Both Manuela and Kwaku turned to Millicent with a confused look at her abrupt or what Kwaku then thought as a ridiculous request. He was the first to come out of the moment of surprise the remark had cast on them.

"Are you sure you want to marry me? Cause I'm down little M." Millicent drew a sharp breath in when she saw that the mischievous look he was giving her looked to be mingled with a serious air.

"What in the name of God does that mean and why are you still in my house?" The glare that Manuela was giving her cousin would have been enough to send any other person running for the hills, but Kwaku was already used to it. Millicent's vigilant eyes were continuously darting to the new open chest that was not her brother's and that had begun to set aflame all the desires of her teenage years that her mother and her church had helped to bottle up. Her eyes were a little watery and that heartbeat of hers had ceased to be normal. She cast her gaze quickly to her friend beside her to alleviate her of the sudden onset of unwarranted feelings that were flowing desperately through her veins.

"Don't I help you pay for most of the food you eat in here?" Kwaku caught Millicent's eyes in his hold and he felt his breath hitch in the base of his throat. How could a girl be that beautiful? Her skin was calling out to him but he knew that this was his sister's friend. If he didn't want to get into any other trouble, he had to rush out of there and that too quickly. But her flustered look right now as she looked at him from those fluffy lashes set his skin on fire. He had had a lot of expeditions with the opposite sex after staying abroad in his teens but nothing had taken him out of his element as he had been upon setting eyes on Millicent.

"Okay, I get that but don't call my friend little M. What weird nickname is that?" Manuela's fiery tone called out, making Millicent smile at their bickering. They were behaving like actual siblings that her heart called out to hers right now. The entire meeting had let her forget the heartaches from the past few hours. It was still haunting her.

"What? Millicent reminds me of M&Ms like her name starts with an M." Millicent turned to her friend giggling and shaking her head to her friend to indicate that her cousin was something else.

"Believe me. I didn't know he was that dumb until today."

"Hey, that's uncalled for! Stop trying to make me look bad in front of all of your friends. Well you try but it never works." The two friends were now full-heartedly laughing at the flustered man still standing by the door looking at them. Or particularly at one woman whose skin looked so soft that his fingers were itching to touch them, and the sound of her laugh made him want to laugh and joy in her happiness. He thought he was going crazy when he noticed his own lips were quirked up in a smile.

"I thought the lines from the sibling association was 'why are you always dumb?'" Millicent spoke again in playful sass peeking to look at the man who stood with a little smile and a bit of a wounded ego as the laugh of the two women on the couch was quietening down. But the new words threw them into another fit of laughter with Manuela nodding her head eagerly to the statement her friend made and Millicent was slapping her friend's thigh amidst laughter as was her habit.

"And they say we are the dumb ones." With a scowl on his face Kwaku turned away from the laughing women to the kitchen where he fetched a bowl of cereal for his late afternoon meal.

"By the way, my name also starts with an M. Why don't you call me little M too." It seemed like the fit of laughter that the two girls were in did not want to stop. So, picking up his bowl with a little bit of grumbling and a confused mind, Kwaku made way to the guest room where he slept in his cousin's home. He did not know why he thought of the cute little m&ms he liked to snack upon when he saw Millicent but he had undoubtedly wanted to devour her on their first meeting. With a groan of despair and images of the pretty lady still in his mind, he shut his eyes tightly as if to rid him of the foul thoughts. He was already done with his puberty or was he?