Black Pride

02.

After about twenty minutes, Ayo flinched and opened her eyes, startled. She had been woken up by a queer noise which she immediately found hard to place. She looked around her and smiled at the few people whose gaze met hers. An air hostess walked around serving people chocolate tea, donuts and peaches in little silver trays. Ayo looked at the boy who sat beside her. He must have changed seats while she slept because when she had entered, she had seen him sitting down three seats behind hers. He was playing a game on his phone. That was the noise that had woken her up. She shrugged as she gazed at him briefly. "Boys and games," she thought as she reached for the manual she had kept underneath her seat. There were some interesting things there that she hadn't quite managed to catch when she had picked it up at first.

When she got her tea, donuts and peaches, she thanked the air hostess, and the lady smiled appreciatively at her: Not many people thanked her for her service because they considered it just as that – a service, and one which was due to them by right since they had paid for it. The boy who sat beside Ayo paused briefly in his game as he took the chocolate tea and donuts. He politely refused the peaches however.

"I'm allergic to peaches ma'am, thanks," he said and after placing the tray of tea and donuts on his lap, he continued playing his game. The air hostess smiled at him and left. Ayo munched her donut, then she gave the boy a long meaningful look. She discovered that as he tilted his hands playing his game, his elbow mistakenly hit his cup, unknowing to him, just a little more and it would have poured on her.

"Uhm, watch your tea," she said in her most polite manner.

"Aye, yes I'm coming! I just gotta beat this villain boss, it's a boss level, see?" he said and tapped the phone hard, causing the cup on the tray to tilt.

"Your tea," Ayo said politely again. She was getting annoyed now.

"Aye, milady, just give me one minute," he said and tapped his phone faster. Ayo tried to adjust herself by trying to put a safe distance between them but the cup, with another push from the boy, landed on her laps, spilling hot chocolate tea on her dark blue jeans. Ayo gave a shocked gasp as she looked down at her soaked jeans. The cup also fell on Ayo's leg, causing her to wince in pain.

"There now, I've defeated him!" the boy said in triumph and without looking at her side, took her chocolate tea which Ayo had unknowingly shifted close to him, and drank it, mistaking it for his own. Ayo made a low noise that sounded like a grunt. The boy looked over to her side.

"Oh, you got a little something over there," he said as he pointed to her jeans and made a low chuckle of mockery. She hit him on his shoulder furiously and tried to collect her tea cup from him, but he held it on his right hand, far from her.

"Ouch! That hurt! And why are you trying to take my tea?" The boy asked as he moved his hand further away, out of Ayo's reach. Some people's attention got turned towards them.

"It's mine! Look, I broke my peaches inside it," Ayo protested as she pointed at the tea.

On hearing that, his face went bright red and he started to cough. He tried to keep the tea back on Ayo's table but his hand shook, causing it to pour all over her jeans again. Ayo gritted her teeth and wanted to punch him but stopped when she saw him falling to the ground slowly, as he had fainted. She screamed out for help.

Some men rushed over to the boy on the floor and carried him on their shoulders; they were going to take him to the little clinic which was at the back for emergencies. Ayo panicked as the people clustered around the boy and made their way to the little clinic. She didn't think people were supposed to be standing, or even walking on a moving plane.

Ayo took three heavy breaths in order to calm herself down. She then looked outside through the small glass-paned window on her right. All she saw were clouds and a large blue base, which she guessed was the ocean which they were passing over. Ayo looked over to where the boy had been taken. "Was it her fault? Was it because she had burst out at him angrily?" she thought but she quickly dissolved those thoughts because as far as she was concerned, it was all his fault for not paying attention and trying to drink her lovely tea, which he had ruined anyway.