Intimacy in the Vines

Season1: Episode 2

I sped on my bicycle and managed to get home in three minutes. When I entered the house, I nearly fainted, and not because of the furious way I rode my bike but because my mother had come to visit. It was such a welcome surprise, since the last time I'd seen her, I was six. I couldn't contain my joy as I went in for a hug.

My mother brought a lot of gifts. She had shoes, clothes, gadgets, and many other things. The thing that really caught my eye though was a Tom Ford perfume. I could tell that it was very expensive just by the look of it. I was considering gifting the perfume to Bela so that she'd forgive me.

My BECE (Basic Education Certificate Examination) result slip was on the centre table, and knowing that my presents would go back to where they came from should my mum see it, I quickly grabbed it and threw it somewhere.

My mum and dad talked till it was late in the evening. As I carried my gifts to my room, I slowly remembered the perfume and went back to take it. Unfortunately, my mum was watching me, and when she realised that that was what I was going for, she wanted to know why I wanted it since it was ladies' perfume.

I was speechless, to be honest. How could I tell my mother that I wanted to gift that expensive perfume to some girl I'd briefly met at school?

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion as she crossed her arms and observed me like a detective trying to pry answers from a recalcitrant criminal. "Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked.

At that moment, I practically forgot how to breathe. Did she actually expect an answer? My dad on the other hand, was looking at me like he was waiting for a green light to kill me. For some reason I couldn't understand, my mum just laughed and told me to take the perfume. I ran to my room and didn't look back once.

I plopped all the presents on my bed and turned on my phone. I checked and saw that I'd received no messages; only from some group chats. I tried calling Bela but she would not pick up. I waited nearly thirty minutes after texting her, but there was still no reply.

It was about eight o'clock when I got a call. To my disappointment, it wasn't Bela. I paced around my room in frustration, checking my phone every minute to see if she would at least just reply to one of my texts. She didn't.

I could not take it any longer so I decided to go and see her. My dad had left for work again, but as for my mum, she had always been my partner in crime. She even gave me ten pounds to buy her 'kelewele'. She knew I was going to my girlfriend's because I'd packaged the perfume and was holding it.

I took my bike and started riding to Bela's house. The town was still alive during the night–time, which was one thing I loved about my area. Few minutes into the ride, I heard somebody shout my name.

"Legend!" came the masculine voice from somewhere behind me.

I didn't want to stop, but I did. The guy came over, and once I saw his face, I recognised a friend of mine, Lukaz, also known as Lukazdino. He asked me why I never called him or came to his place. I told him I'd lost his number—which was a lie—so I couldn't call even if I wanted to. I was itching to leave him and rush to Bela's house, but the guy wanted us to go and party at Titanic beach. I told Lukazdino that I would go to his house later, but I had to do some convincing before the guy let me go.

It was getting late when I got to Bela's house. I knocked, ignoring the bell since those things never worked anyways. When her mother opened the door, my eyes bulged out of my head. I could have fainted right there, but then I remembered that her mother didn't know who I was, so I was partially safe. The woman was biracial, probably both white and black. If I'd seen her elsewhere, I would've never guessed that she was someone's mother, since she looked my age.

Of course, she started asking me questions like the dutiful mother she was. "Who are you?"

"I'm Bela's friend," I answered, watching her tentatively.

She frowned as her eyebrows scrunched together. "Why are you here this late?"

"Um," I scratched the back of my head nervously, my tell–tale for social anxiety, "it's an emergency."

The woman watched me for a few more seconds, and I had to divert my eyes to downplay the awkwardness of the situation. Finally, she decided to take her eyes off me and call for her daughter. Bela didn't respond, so she let me in and took me all the way to her bedroom door. She knocked, but as we waited for Bela to open the door or at least respond, her mother received a phone call and had to leave to answer it.

I wouldn't have said it out loud, but I was very glad the woman had left. I felt free. Bela opened the door the second time I knocked it. When she saw my face, she looked shocked for a second, then her features settled into a displeased scowl and she banged the door in my face and locked it.

I could see from her face that she had been crying, and the sight tugged at my heart. I begged her to open the door, and after much persuasion, she did. She didn't even let me in, she just asked what I wanted in a very rude manner.

I didn't even know how to answer.

She began sobbing silently and not knowing what to do, I just grabbed her and held her close to me out of pure primal instinct. As I held her, her body perfectly melding against mine, I realised that I had strong feelings for the girl.

All the times we'd both risked getting caught and punished as we used our phones in school to talk to each other, we'd thoroughly enjoyed each other's company, and seeing her in front of me and grasping onto me like I was her lifeline multiplied those feelings by tenfold.

She was fighting to get out of my hold at first, but she eventually cooled down and held onto me. I wiped her tears and brought her head to my chest. We eventually went to her bed where I continued holding her till it was about ten in the evening.

Disrupting the peace and quiet, she stood up suddenly and told me to leave. I looked up at her, not understanding what was happening. I genuinely thought she wasn't angry with me any longer. I sighed in defeat, conceding without putting up a fight since it was so late.

As I was leaving, her mom told me to come and talk with her the next day. As soon as she uttered those words, I knew that my end was near. I'd even forgotten to give Bela the perfume too.

I was so shaken up by the last moments at Bela's house that I could not even ride my bike. I decided to walk home. Somewhere along the path, my phone buzzed. I pulled it out of my pocket and peeked, seeing that it was a message from Bela. I was busily reading when out of the corner of my eye, I spotted some dangerous–looking ghetto boys approaching.
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