Facade (Romola 1)

20: Romola's Adam

I'm not just any Adam. I'm yours. I'm Romola's Adam.

-Olumide J. Makinde

(Romola-Philip B. Tarimoboere)

Romola spent all day searching through Yetunde's room. She went through everything Yetunde owned. She was careful not to move any of Yetunde's belongings too much. It wasn't that Yetunde would be able to tell that something had been moved but she wasn't taking any chances. Especially not now that she had found Yetunde in her room after her conversation with Olumide. She was worried that Yetunde had heard the conversation she had. She was so worried that she played a song on her phone and then left it in the bathroom while listening to it from the spot where she found Yetunde. She hadn't heard the singer's words but she had heard the singing.

Exhaustion crept up on her soon enough. She hobbled to the living room and collapsed on the closest chair, spreading her body like a beached star fish. Her head lolled on the chair, giving her the opportunity to stare at the swelling on her dark brown ankle. The pain had subsided and she was grateful that she would be able to return to school the next day. She pulled her phone from her pocket and swiped lock screen. A couple of swipes later, she was scrolling through her Whatsapp chats, replying important messages until she came across Olumide's message.

OLUMIDE: Hey. How are you feeling. I hope you weren't too hurt from your fall.

How's Yetunde?

ROMOLA: I'm fine. I wasn't hurt. Yetunde isn't at home. She went to school.

OLUMIDE: Aren't you in school?

ROMOLA: Nope.

OLUMIDE: Okay, I need to do something right now. I might stop by later.

ROMOLA: Why?

OLUMIDE: Because I want to see your face.

Romola sent a rolling-eyes emoji even though her heart was kayaking over rapids and cataracts.

ROMOLA: Just say you want to see Yetunde

OLUMIDE: You still haven't sent me your account number. I've been waiting since morning.

ROMOLA: Leave me jhoor. I need to get back to searching.

OLUMIDE: You don't need to search. I'm all yours. I'll be your Adam and you'll be my Eve.

ROMOLA: Mtchewww! Of all people to compare us to. It's Adam and Eve.

OLUMIDE: Yes. They were together. Both in the good times and the bad times.

ROMOLA: You're a very silly boy.

OLUMIDE: I'm your silly boy.

But what are you searching for?

ROMOLA: FYI, I'm searching for clues that Yetunde takes drugs. I've searched her room but I didn't find anything.

OLUMIDE: I doubt she would keep it somewhere so obvious. It would be in a place close to her or somewhere so stupid you wouldn't think to search. Muyi used to hide his in the sole of his shoes.

ROMOLA: Okay Mister Adam, I'm going to continue the search.

OLUMIDE: While you are at it, if you see the serpent, please run away. I can't afford to search for another eve.

He sent her a smiley face, thumbs up and a red heart emoji.Romola stared at her screen while the giant red heart pulsed on her phone. What did he mean by this? Was he flirting with her or was he just joking around? Her mind flashed to the promise of a date on her part on the condition that Olumide was right about Yetunde but she remembered that he tended to joke around a lot.

ROMOLA: Please, leave your dry jokes in River Niger. Wait! Your joke will kill the fishes in the river...Which kind Adam you be sef? Causing harm to the fishes in the ocean.

She waited for his reply and let her head rest on the right arm rest. Her mind's eyes replayed their last physical conversation. He was much more fun when he wasn't worried about Yetunde. She wished she could take the creases away from his face whenever he spoke about Yetunde. She wished for Olumide's sake that Yetunde was clean even though her head told her otherwise.

She sat up as soon as her phone vibrated with a new message.

OLUMIDE: I'm not just any Adam. I'm yours. I'm Romola's Adam.

Romola's face flushed as she imagined Olumide saying the words to her. Her skin tingled with excitement. She thought of a snappy answer to keep the conversation going and she typed her reply with a smirk on her face.

She was midway through a carefree laughter, her head thrown back in wild abandonment, when she heard the knock at the door. She sat up, cutting her laughter short and realizing how stupid she probably sounded, laughing into an empty room. How had he got her laughing so hard her side ached? It had started with his dry jokes, then she was teasing him, then she was smiling and now she was laughing. Or rather, she had been laughing until the knock.

The knock came again, longer and louder. Furious even. She slipped her leg into her furry pink slippers and stood, careful not to apply so much weight on her swollen ankle. "Who's that?"

"Romola, it's me!" She heard Yetunde's characteristic high pitched voice. She stood still, staring at the door. Why was Yetunde back so soon? She was supposed to have at least three classes today. It was Wednesday. Romola's heart thundered and her lips quivered. She felt as though she was doing something wrong but all she was doing was chatting with a friend. A friend? Did she consider Olumide a friend? Yes, she did. So why did she feel like she couldn't tell Yetunde that she was chatting with Olumide. It wasn't like they had been talking about Yetunde.

She picked up her phone and exited the app. Her eyes were drawn to the digital clock on her home screen. A gasp journeyed past her lips. She had been chatting with Olumide for two hours straight but it had only felt like a couple of minutes.

"You know, opening the door today would be nice." Yetunde snapped. Romola cleared Olumide's messages from her phone then cleared the app from the recently used apps tab before limping to the door and opening it.

"Hey." She put up her best surprised face. "You're back early. Did something happen at school?"

"Is it now a crime to come home early?" Yetunde asked. Romola met her blank gaze, unable to decipher Yetunde's tone.

"No...No... I just didn't expect you back so early." Romola stared at Yetunde's face. Other than shabbily concealed eye bags, there was nothing to give out the fact that Yetunde didn't sleep properly last night. There was also nothing to convince Romola that Yetunde was on drugs.

"Here." Yetunde thrust a warm white nylon package at her stomach. "I bought you lunch. Eat it while it's hot. I...We... We need to talk. I have to tell you something."

TARI says:

Hey awesome person reading this right now...

So, we've come this far. Wow.

Is Yetunde about to confess?

Question of the week:

What is the stupidest thing Romola has done so far?