Abi

Day 35

Date two was amazing.

It was Saturday morning and I felt like sleeping in with my silk bonnet on and a cup of coffee while watching Scandal.

Ooh, Pope is the number one side chick.

My computer started chirping. Someone was trying to FaceTime me! Who could it be?!

I opened my laptop and saw the name: Korede Oladele!! My cousin from Nigeria!

I accepted his call and waited for it to connect.

"It's 12 pm where you are and you are still wearing that thing on your head?"

"Oh, shoot. I could've sworn it was 11:58 AM. And fine. I'll wear my gele next time."

"Haha. I'm kidding. I can't even speak. My hairline is looking busted! Anyways, how's your new home?"

"Oh, I'm the most popular girl at school. Seriously, I was appointed as the Queen Bee. Why don't you move here and we can hang out all the time?"

"I'll be here for Christmas. You know that. Lera and Lolo want you to do their hair again." Lera and Lolo are Korede's twin brother and sister. They're thirteen right now. I haven't seen them in two years. My goodness, I miss them all so much.

"Well, seeing you and Romy will be awesome! Sigh, The Amazing Trio."

Romy Pele is my cousin from Cape Verde. Together, we make The Amazing Trio of our family. All three of us have thought about starting a band, as Korede plays the saxophone and Romy plays the drums. All we need now is a singer! If we wanna be a band, we all have to go to the same college. Hopefully, we find a singer soon. Our band name would be called Noir. 

"Anyway, cousin, I gotta go. Got a big day ahead of me."

"You're gonna watch Scandal all day, aren't you?"

"....Love you! Bye!" I quickly hung up and went to shower. Then I changed into a new pair of pajamas because that's how I roll. That's when Korede sent me an .mp3 file on iMessage. 

"I did a sax cover of Uptown Funk on the streets of downtown Lagos. Listen to it!"

"It's great! Although, it's better you send .mp3 files that were recorded in your bedroom or somewhere quiet. The sounds of the people in town kind of muffle the cover but it's great!"

"Can you send me that .mp3 of that Redbone cover?"

"Well, it's not that long but okay. It needs some work."

"'Needs some work'? More like, 'make a tab of this!'"

"Really? It's just a repetition of the major pentatonic scale scale. I felt like it was basic."

"Are you kidding me? This is really good! Let's do a group FaceTime with Romy and see what she's been working on. Then we can practice during Christmas break."

"Good idea! But bro, it's Scandal time. TTYL."

I went to the bathroom to put my twists in two buns. Dang it, these twists still aren't dry! They better be dry by Monday because wet twist outs equal FAILED twist outs. I didn't make my arms sore by installing twenty twists just for it to not by dry for school. Ugh, having long hair is a struggle. Maybe I should just dye it back to black or let it grow and cut off the colored damage...but then I'd just dye it again. 

"Abi, your dad and I are going to the hospital now. We left food in the fridge and we'll be back by five."

"Okay, ma. Hey, can I invite my friends over?"

My dad went to the bottom stairs while putting on his coat. "What friends? There better not be any boys here."

I rolled my eyes at my dad. "No, duh. I meant my two friends. You know, Fatima and Nina. Can they come over?"

"Oh. Alright. As long as you send me their phone numbers. How about I leave some money so you three can order some food?"

"Oh, Eduardo! We have plenty of food."

"Fola, what if they have allergies or--"

"Parents, we've shared each others breakfasts. They like Brazilian food. Whatever is in the fridge is fine."

"Okay, but just in case..." Dad took out $20 and gave it to me. Mom sighed and nudged her arm with his shoulder. "Bye, sweetie. Don't burn down the house." 

"Oh, Mom, ye hath no faith in thy."

"'Thy' means 'you', sweetie," said Dad.

I lifted my finger and opened my mouth to correct him but then I realized...he was right.