STORY CONTINUATION: The Company We Keep

THE COMPANY WE KEEP
(INSERT 7)

I then became aware of one thing that day, there are certain things I admired but could not have simply because I was called a church freak. If viewed from another angle that’s what in fact made me not to indulge in certain activities but since I went to OWU (Open Words University) and oppressed my personality, I started doing things that I would not have done if everyone knew about the real me. It’s funny how we spend time trying to be what others are running away from I thought to myself. I heard the gate open, mum was on time as usual. “Let me just have a shower, I will be sonic!” I shouted out as I left the living room.
“We are not going for a beauty contest you know?” Mum’s voice sounded in all corners of my room. “Almost done.” I said. I heard her laugh as she walked away from the door, I guess she understood what I meant every time I would say ‘almost done’. “Can I come in?” Monica asked from the other side, “sure.” I was now trying to figure out what will look good between slippers and snickers. “Dad just called in, he was asking if we can meet from here…” she said. “ooh! Have you spoken to mum about it?” I gave an abstruse look. She took a close look at me, I knew she was trying to understand what my expression meant, “Yes. She said if am comfy with it then it’s okay.” She answered.
We sat in my bedroom for a while as we awaited the arrival of Monica’s dad. I could tell she wasn’t happy about seeing him, maybe that’s the reason she wanted mum to be present. “Something happened while you were in the bathroom.” Monica said. I could tell from her penetrating look that something really happened, “what happened kaili?” I pressed on. “Zuckerberg called.” She answered with a silly smile. “I think I still don’t understand what you mean.” I was definitely sure that if this was a chat on phone I would have hit her with that annoying emoji.
“Okay, Kennedy called again.” She said. “Huh! the Facebook guy, now I get it. What did he want?” I answered with an absorbing look. She knew I was aware of the fact that she fancies the guy. But her reason for turning him down earlier was something I had no clue about. “Nothing, he was just checking up on me.” She said with a blissful smile.
“Jane! Your phone is ringing.” Mum called out from the living room. Having Monica around came with a lot of advantages, I had gone for hours without checking my Facebook page. “Has Monica told you her father is coming?” mum asked as I reached for my phone on the table. I gave her a short smile as I picked the call.
Jane: Hey Norah…
Norah: Hey, is your line on WhatsApp?
Jane: Yes, it is why? What’s up?
Norah: Just wanted to confirm. I will send you the note using Mutale’s WhatsApp. Bye.
“Is everything okay?” mum enquired. I was sure she had noticed my ambiguous facial expression. “Monica says she wants to move here for a couple of days.” I stated. “Yes, she asked me about it. I think she feels emancipated around you, that’s why I thought maybe if she moved in you can help her heal.” Mum pointed out. “Emancipated! What’s that?” I asked. Mum was always scolding me about improving my vocabulary with novel words. “It means she’s not limited socially” she smiled.
“Hey, dad is at the gate.” Monica said as she came to the living room. “That’s good. Tell him to come in or you girls can go and get him.” Mum said as she stood up and walked to the kitchen. I was overwhelmed by the thought of meeting Monica’s dad; I had not heard much about him but from the little knowledge I had he seemed to be the difficult type. The type whose nicknamed ‘Undertaker’ I might add.
“Dad will probably ask you a lot of questions” Monica said as we walked to the gate. “Huh! Is that a good thing or bad?” I asked. My anticipation was slowly building. The feeling was like that of a child waiting to open a present but keeps getting called every time he tries to open it. I stood behind as Monica opened the gate. Immediately he entered I noticed his chromatics were similar with that of Monica, “Good afternoon sir?” I uttered eagerly. “Good afternoon. You must be Jane?” he said politely. This was not what I expected, I took a deep breath to calm down as I answered. “Jane’s mum is waiting inside, let’s go.” Monica said.

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