Purple Bougainvillea

Twenty-Two

Kelly sat on his bed as usual, he was reading one of Jumoke's novels, the one she was reading to him when he was asleep the other time. He didn't notice her come in and when he did, he looked away. He was embarrassed because of his hair, he felt like he would cry whenever he looked at himself in the mirror, he didn't know why she was still here, he looked damn scary. His eyes were sunken and a bit yellow in colour, he was extremely lean and now his hair was gone. He was at the verge of tears as he thought about how he used to look.
"Heyy" she greeted and he hummed in reply, still looking away.
"I have a surprise for you" she said and he chucked sadly
"Bougainvillea stalks?" he asked, looking at her
"No, something better" she said and he sat up properly
"Okay? What's it?"
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, would it?" she asked
"Close your eyes" she said and he rolled his eyes before closing them tight, wondering what she had up her sleeves.
She took a deep breath before pulling off the wig that served as a cover over her bald head. She took another deep breath before asking him to open his eyes. And he did, he opened his eyes to see Jumoke with all her hair gone, just like his. He was shocked.
"Are you sick?" he asked, scared as to why her hair was gone.
"What happened? Geez. What's wrong? Talk to me please" he said in quick succession while she stared at him amused at his behaviour.
"You don't get it to, do you?" she asked and immediately realisation hit him.
"Don't tell me you..." he said and dropped the book immediately covering his face with his hands to hide his tears, he couldn't hold them in anymore. How would she do this? For him? His shoulders jerked as Jumoke wrapped her hands around him, trying to calm him down. He held unto her tighter, his tears wetting her shoulder. After a while, he grew calm but he still held unto her, breathing slowly as different thoughts ran through his mind.
"Why?" he asked and she smiled sadly, her eyes were wet with tears too
"I noticed you were feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable, we don't have time for that" she said
"So you shaved off your hair?"
"Yes, I wanted you to feel comfortable around me. That was all I could think of doing, cheering you up with jokes weren't doing anything"
He sniffed and disengaged from her, staring at her for a long while. He stared at her until she started to feel uncomfortable so she looked away, a smile playing on her lips.
"Thank you so much. Geez..." he trailed off
"I don't even know what to say, I'm just.. Wow" he said and she placed her hands on his shoulder, a full smile on her face.
"You're welcome" she said "Everything would be okay. Always remember that there's no time to be sad and gloomy"
He nodded and hugged her again, this time longer than before.