Zara || A Nigerian Lesbian

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢-𝚜𝚒𝚡

𝚉𝙰𝚁𝙰
━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

There was a knock on the door at two in the morning. I was still wide awake, waiting to hear from Yasmin. She stayed back with her mother to talk-since her mother insisted they speak at that moment. I didn't think it would have been nice for me to sit there with them-they needed privacy.

Now, I felt so uncomfortable being alone, but it had been hours since I left them at the restaurant. Nena kept me company, and it surprised her that Yasmin's mother was responsible for part of what Lolia did.

The knock on the door continued, which prompted me to leave the room with Nena snoring her life away. Once at the door, I took a deep breath and opened it. "Hey."

Yasmin walked in and headed straight for the couch. We both sat there in silence. There was so much to talk about that the silence didn't last long. "She said she'll ask my half brother to take charge of the investment if you don't want her involved anymore," she said, squeezing my hand.

"You have a half brother?"

"That is a story for another day, Zara. My family, as you can see, is dysfunctional. What do you think about her proposal, though?"

"I don't really know, though," I whispered.

"It's not like I am on my side, but she didn't really know about us when she made up her mind to invest in your company. I know my mother for helping small businesses here in Nigeria."

"You know how Nigerians are. When they find out she is your mother, which they would, they would think you practically handed me the investment."

Yasmin laughed heartily. "Don't worry about it. People will always talk," she said calmly. "Besides, no one even knows she's my mother, except that evil witch Lolia."

Lolia ruining my life once again seemed to be a given, and it was terrifying. Even if she had said how sorry she was, deep down, I knew she was going to do more if given the opportunity. "How are we going to handle Lolia?"

"You leave her to me. Just know my mother won't let her get involved in any way at all."

As assuring as her words were, I didn't quite have a choice but to believe her-for now. I placed my hands on hers, rubbing her wrist with my thumb. "Do you forgive your mother, though?"

She scoffed. "Which part?" I felt a sense of sadness looming over us. I couldn't imagine how hurt she was. "She knew my father killed Belema and then killed himself-which was partly her fault. It's hard to forgive."

Her eyes shifted to the side again and became glazed with a shimmered layer of tears. As she blinked, they dripped from her eyelids and slid down her cheeks. She bit her lip tightly in an attempt to hide any sound that wanted to escape from her mouth; my heart sank.

Her lower lip quivered as words slowly made their way out of her mouth. "It..." She began, yet what followed was engulfed in the tremors. She paused for a second before continuing. "It doesn't feel right, Zara. I feel like if I tell her I have forgiven her, it is the same as saying what happened was okay. That is just so wrong, even if my father wronged me first."

Her voice cracked, and she covered her eyes for a moment, breathing in deep.

When she takes her hand away, her eyes are so red and glassed with tears. "I don't know how anyone can forget that, honestly."

"Yasmin, I don't think anyone wants you to forget what happened. What your mother wants is for you to forgive her, in any way you can." I spoke slowly, trying to keep myself calm and sound reasonable. I felt so horrible seeing Yasmin in this state; I didn't even know she was hurting this much.