Purple Bougainvillea

Eight

Saturday saw Vera and Jumoke striding over to Kelly’s house. His mum was home this time and as he opened the door for them Jumoke noticed that he was looking sick, again. Vera didn’t notice, she went on to hug him.
He opened his arms to Jumoke and she noticed he had gone skinny but she hugged him anyway. Vera was surprised and she did well to show it, questioning him all around about when he had started getting along with Jumoke. He just waved it off which made her curiosity grow. His mum was in the kitchen, cooking lunch and the sound of pots could be heard as she opened and closed them.
“Kelly” his mum shouted from the kitchen and Kelly left, leaving her and Vera together.
He came out a bit later, telling them that he was sent an errand by his mom, to the market. He wanted someone to go with him; personally he would choose Jumoke but Vera would start feeling unnecessarily jealous. So he picked Vera and told Jumoke to stay in the kitchen with his mom if she was bored.
She wasn’t angry, at least he told her before he left, unlike what Vera did the other time.
She stayed in the living room alone for a while until a picture on the wall started to creep her out. She decide to move to the kitchen and stay with Kelly’s mum instead, that wouldn’t be creepy. But she hadn’t talked to Kelly’s mum before.
Was she nice?? Was she rude?? Would she ignore her or snub her?? She was nervous; she wasn’t good with talking to older people.
Who was she deceiving??
She wasn’t good at talking to anyone except Kelly and her family including Vera.
She took a deep breath and made her way into the kitchen.
What’s the worst that could happen?? She asked herself as she trudged on.
As she stepped into the kitchen Angel’s eyes landed on her and she froze.
“What to say... what to say... what to say... ” she thought as she struggled with her words.
Angel looked at her and smiled, it was like melted ice on her tongue.
“I’ve been waiting for you” she said and beckoned on her to come closer, she walked towards her and handed Jumoke a piece of chicken. Jumoke was confused, What did she mean by that statement?
“I knew that you’d be bored sooner or later so I was expecting you” she said and Jumoke sighed
“You’re by far the shyest friend Kelly's ever had” she told her turning around to dice the carrots on the board before her “Do you want to help??” she asked Jumoke who was still holding the piece of fried chicken in between her thumb and index finger. She nodded and dropped the chicken in a plate and cleaned her hands before moving to help her with the carrots.
“My name is Angel by the way” she said
“Mine is Jumoke” she introduced
“I know” Angel said and Jumoke shot her a creepy look.
“What?? Kelly talks about you all the time”
“Oh that’s why”
“Yes, you and Vera are his best friends, it’s always Jumoke did this or Vera did that. He hardly talks about other people”
Jumoke smiled and passed the carrots over to her, she laughed quietly and collected it
“Why are you smiling like that?” Angel asked and Jumoke shrugged. She didn’t know why but she was happy.
“I don’t know, I guess I’m just happy”
“You know how hard it is for Kelly most times, especially most times when I’m not here”
“He doesn’t really admit that he needs anyone around him though” Jumoke said remembering the other time that he was sick
“It’s a miracle that you guys are still with him even after knowing about his ailment” Angel said and sighed while Jumoke stared at her confused.
“What did she mean by ailment?” “Was Kelly sick?” she asked herself as different thoughts ran through her in split seconds.
“What do you mean?” she asked and Angel raised her head to look at her, she noticed the curiosity in her eyes.
“Wait, Kelly never told you?” she asked and without waiting for her to answer she started explaining.
“When Kelly was 12, he was diagnosed with Chronic lymphatic leukemia” she paused and let it sink in. she saw the shock clearly written on Jumoke’s face, her mouth was slightly open and her eyes were wide in shock.
“We have been raising money for the surgery ever since. I thought Kelly told you guys” she said and Jumoke’s throat went dry.
Then it all started to come together in her head. The bleeding, easy bruising, nose bleed, shortness of breath, the weight loss, they all started to make sense now. She didn’t even realize she was crying until Kelly’s voice jerked her back to life. They were back from the market; they were holding bags that contained the rice they had gone to buy.
She quickly turned her face away from all of them and tried effortlessly to wipe them and put on a smile but Angel's words seemed to be ringing in her ears. She had seen the pictures of these guys, most of them never made it out alive. And those that did had spent a great deal of money to survive, where was Kelly going to get that kind of money?
And she had asked, every single time but he lied his way through, telling her that ‘he’d be fine’, that ‘it was something minor, he was taking medications’ and now he was dying. They both stared at her, Kelly and Vera that is. They stared at her confused.
Kelly stared at her confused.
“What had his mum told her?”
“Why was she crying?”
“Had she found out?”
“Shit” he cursed under his breath.
The kitchen was damn silent; the sound of the clock in the living room could be heard. Then Jumoke forced a smile onto her face before storming off, making it even weirder.
He ran after her leaving a very confused Vera behind. He walked briskly behind her but she kept on walking faster. He tried calling her back but she refused to answer. He followed her till they got to her house.
“You have to understand, it’s not like I didn’t want to tell you” he said as she ignored him trying to find the keys in her purse. Her hands were trembling and tears ran down her face real fast, but she didn’t stop. She couldn’t even see.
“Please Jumoke you’ve got to understand, my friends before they all left me when I told them. I just didn’t want you to leave. I didn’t want to scare you away” he said trying to hold her hand but she flinched away.
Then she turned and stared at him, that stare she always gave him when she wanted to ask him questions.
“What did I tell you?” she said and he flinched. He remembered her exact words; he didn’t need to be reminded
“If I ever find out that you’re lying to me, I swear it won’t be funny” she quoted “those were my exact words”
“I wanted to tell you, I swear” he said and paused when her eyes darted to him “I was scared”
“You know me; I’m not like the rest of your friends”
“How was I supposed to know that? I just didn’t want to be hurt”
They stared at each other for a while
“I’m not going to talk to you again” she said turning to enter her house.
“So you’re going to leave me because I’m sick?” he asked as his voice cracked; he was obviously hurt.
“No, I’m leaving because you lied” she said finally before walking in and locking the door behind her
He felt like his world was falling apart, his breathing became ragged and it became difficult for him to breath. He wanted to cry so badly but if he did, Vera would know too and she’ll tell the rest of his friends; he didn’t want that. So he bottled up his tears and walked back home with a sad smile on his face.