Let Us Love

Reasons

Tina's POV.
Unedited

I really need to think carefully about this whole situation before it get out of hand.
Who am I kidding, the thing is already out of hand. My mischievous little cunt throbs every time I think about him.
He left me flustered, I cannot allow him to control my emotions like that. Who does he think his to mess me up like that?

He is a pleaser and a teaser, number one bedroom love teacher. The punisher and the savior of your needy little cunt.

I am a mess!! 🙄

Honestly things will never go well with us, I mean he is a Nigerian and I am a Ghanaian. He is from the Igbo tribe and I am from the Ashanti tribe. The Igbos are patrilineal and we the Ashanti's are matrilineal, we have different cultures, past rivalry and lingering rivalry as well.
Although the two countries pretend to be "brothers" there is this endless competition between us. From sports, food, entertainment, language to everything. Our petty fights doesn't have boundaries, from facebook to Twitter. I know these can be conquered with love but odds are so much against us and I am not sure either of us can stand the pressure if family gets involved.

Just look at me thinking about a future. God I am a mess!

I need to quench this fire while it's still a spark. It looks like a fling yet full of drama. I want stable not a roller-coaster.
Considering Grams in this situation I am sure it  will be a total no from her. I just need to to stop this madness although it's the best thing that has actually happened to me in a while. I need to talk to him the next time we meet.
A knock on the door startles me and I am forced to come back to life.

Who could possibly be knocking by this hour? It's past 11 and if it's any of the girls she'd call. I hope it's not that guy again. I swear I will kick him in the sack.

Grandma has retired to bed and as usual I am stuck behind bulky past questions for my coming end of semester exams.
I stroll lazily to the door to know who is there
"heeeyy..."
How did she get to know where I leave? Was today meant to be full of surprise visits?
"hey..." she looks drenched and it kinda look like she has been crying.
"have you been crying?... Please come in" I rush to the cabinet to get her fresh towel
I usher her to the old couch and she dumps herself straight in with her wet cloth
Great!! Study session is over. Lemme put on my friendship suit on.

" do you want water or perhaps tea?"
I queried I can't stand people's tears not because I am insensitive towards the but I get too emotional.
I guess my reason for not going to the nursing school is justified, I can't stand to see people suffer.
"anything please" Mandy looks like she has been crying for a while. Her pupils are red and swollen due to constant vigorous wiping of her face. I rush to the kitchen to boil some water for tea while she dries herself.  I hand the tea over to her and sit right next to her.
Times like this I know exactly what to do, I just have to wait for the tea to calm her nerves till she is ready to talk. 
She turns to look at me as an effort to talk. I know Mandy and I have not been friends for long but I am happy she sees me as a friend enough to come to in the middle of the night to share her troubles.
" I am sorry I came unannounced but I dont  know anyone else and I don't have much friends here"

Don't worry at least you came here troubled, your brother came to trouble me instead.

The fact that she found out where I leave still baffles me but thus isn't the time.
" don't worry I am here for you. What's wrong? Who did this?"
Honestly she looks terrible from all the crying which indicates the problem is grave.
"my brother" she responds

Ifeanyi?! Why am I not surprised, he is a jerk but I am not going to say it in front of his sister

" he is  a jerk!" she agrees and wipes her tears
You read minds? Lol

"my mom called this morning and she was crying bitterly about some misunderstanding between them..." she sips her tea and turns to face me again
" I confronted him and he seemed unbothered about it and even asked me to leave his office" the sad look of her face is turned to anger and confusion all of a sudden
" I don't understand why he keeps fighting her over trivial issues" she looks away to hide promising tears
" our father died last year in a gruesome accident which broke all of us but it seems he cannot get past the anger and stop blaming our mother for daddy's death"

So terrible to hear, that must have been really awful for them. Now I am starting to know why he is sometimes cold.
" he left our fathers funeral and forced me to leave our widowed mom all by herself in her grief"

That's terrible!!

" I left my friends and the little business I had started all behind because of his impulsiveness"

A business? How old is she to have started a business, are they that rich? Some of us are struggling to pay our student's loan and other are starting businesses, life is really unfair.

"it is exhausting to be the bridge of the family. I feel no one considers my feelings and don't even notice I exist" she starts chewing her lower lip and her eyes swell up with tears again. A flood of tears gush out her dark cheeks, she tries to suppress the hiccups by moaning bitterly.
Into a warm hug I pull her to my bossom and keep pating her back as she sobs silently.
" I don't think I have enough  strength to go on. My mother is compulsive and my brother is stubborn. Dad was the only one who could control them and now I am left to carry this burden"

I do nothing but keep patting her back.
It is painful to have no one to listen to your problems especially when you are caught between two screaming people. You feel invisible, the constant effort to dismantle the situation seems futile. You don't know whether to scream too or disappear. I really understand her because I have once been a bridge.

"let it my dear... Let it all out" I keep patting her as her sobs some more.
Ifeanyi is such a hypocrite to be fighting to female strangers when his own sister is dying from within. They say madness begins from home and charity also begins at home. He should be listening to his sister more and stop being a macho on the streets.
One's effort to taking care of his family is fulfilled when they are mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually satistified. He needs to listen more and act less. Another reason why we can't be together, I don't need another man like my dad.