Melancholy...

Chapter 19

I got out of the trotro tired and sleepy. The ride back home from the hospital had been a tiring one. We stopped to pick and drop off people so much that the 25 minutes drive turned into a 50 minutes drive.

Balancing a sleeping Mia on my hips, I murmured to Crystal to walk in front of me as we got closer to the house. Though it was a Friday night, the slum was filled with people as usual. Some stared as we walked home and others just went on with their business.

I held on tightly to the 50 cedis note that Sister Owusuwaa had given me before she dropped off the trotro.  It took me a whole 10 minutes of pleading to get her to drop off the trotro. She insisted that she would come home with us later that night but she looked so tired that I had refuse. She had reluctantly dropped off at the junction before ours after giving me the 50 cedis note and telling us to stay safe.

From where we were, I saw a figure sitting on the terrace in front of our room. The other tenants we shared the house with stared at us as we walked to the room. None of them had the guts to actually ask where my mother was or why we were coming home at that time. They would, as usual, just form their own conspiracies to fit their thoughts.

As I got closer to the room,I made that figure out. It was Christian. He got up slowly as we approached the room,wiping the dirt of his black shorts.
"Here take the key. Go inside I'll be there soon. There is some rice and left over stew on top of the fridge. Wake Mia up and ask her if she is hungry. If she says no let her sleep and eat some of the food. Immediately after you finish, go and bath. I'll come and bath Mia myself." I told Crystal as I handed Mia and the key to her.

After she went inside the room, I looked at Christian and smiled a bit.
"Thank you for the money you gave to Crystal earlier today. You know you didn't have to do that but I appreciate it." I said as I got out the coal pot and put some water on the fire.

"Don't worry about it." he said. It was quiet for sometime then he asked, "how is your mother?"
"She is..she is okay." I said slowly.
"Do you want to talk about what happened?"
I looked down in thought. I did want to talk about what had happened. I wanted someone to talk to because I was just so confused.

"Urm yeah. I do. But do you mind waiting for a while? I just want to bath Mia before it gets too late." I said as I dipped my hands slightly into the water on the coal pot.  After offering him some water, food and a seat on the veranda (he refused the food by the way),I gave Mia a quick bath and took one myself.

Mia refused to eat anything and I had also lost appetite so I dished the remaining food into a bowl and placed it in the small fridge. By the time I had finished Crystal and Mia were already asleep. I woke Crystal up and told her to go and sleep by Mia on the bed that she shared with my mother. After making sure that they were both comfortable and fast asleep,I got a stool out and went to sit by Christian on the veranda.

"Sorry I kept you waiting." I said with a small sigh.
"Relax Lina. It was just like 20 minutes. It is worth the wait—oh and by the way,thank you for the water." He said as he played with the glass.

I smiled a little as I fidgeted with my fingers.
"So like you know my mom has a problem with her leg.." I started,still fidgeting with my fingers. The next 15 or so minutes comprised of me talking and talking. I told him everything, including bits of my past life. I had never told anyone about that before except Sister Owusuwaa.

"...and yeah that's why we are in this situation."  I finished with a small smile, keeping the tears away. I could feel his eyes on me the whole time. He moved his stool slightly, making him like 1 cm away from me.
"You are the strongest person I've ever known." He said as he wrapped his hands around me.

Hesitantly,I put my head on his chest and wrapped my hands around his tall figure. He hugged me tighter as tears began to fall out of my eyes.

For the rest of the night,I cried and cried and cried,completely soaking his shirt as he stroked my hands lightly,whispering words of encouragement into my ear.

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Q: How old are you?
A: 15😚

Hiii. I miss you all sooo much. Here's chapter 19. Hope you liked it. And oh,it seems like Franklina is slowly falling for Christian? Or am I too much of a quick judge?
Well let's see what happens in the next chapters.

Xoxo
Arianna❤️