CHAPTER THREE “WHEN WRONG IS LOUD!”

©️ Opeyemi Akintunde
As Inspired by the Light!

As always, Sikemi’s room was a mess, but this time around, it was not just underwear. There was alcohol on her dressing table. There were also strange substances I knew I had no business touching.

Temptation is real.

The drugs said hello to me.

It was more of curiosity. Like, what on earth did it feel like?

“You can have some if you like,” Sikemi said, catching me off guard.

I guess I must have stared hard enough for her to read my thoughts.

“No, thank you,” I replied sharply, before the devil had his way.

“Exactly why the poor remain poor,” she said, like she had just recited a powerful quote. “They never take risks.”

I was trying to figure out why she said that. Was taking drugs now a risk? Or was taking drugs associated with wealth? I was not getting her philosophical statement.

“You see, poor people love something, but fear of the unknown or fear of rejection makes them not reach for it,” she continued.

As I cleaned on, I was still putting my analytical mind to work. What was she driving at? This was the longest she had ever spoken to me.

“Am I right or wrong?” she asked.

Right or wrong about what exactly?

I wanted to ask because she was definitely not making sense.

“I am not sure what the question is,” I replied respectfully.

“You like me,” she said. “But you are afraid of reaching out for me, just like you are afraid of reaching out for the drugs.”

She honestly lost me.

I froze.

I am not kidding.

From where to where?

That was the question in my head.

Sikemi had never appealed to me. Or better still, the thought of us ever being attracted to each other had never crossed my mind. Low self-esteem? Thinking small? Imposter syndrome? Logical reasoning? Cutting your coat according to your size? I don’t know if it was any of these reasons, but it had never crossed my mind.

“See! I caught you!” she said, laughing. I looked at her, still confused.

“Come on, Matthew. I’ve always known you liked me since primary school. You always love cleaning my room. You never let your brother near it.”

Oh my! She got it all twisted. My brother couldn’t stand her mess. That was why I took it upon myself to do the dirty job. I bowed my head, wanting to hide my emotions.

“Don’t let poverty mindset limit you from what you want,” Sikemi continued. “Let me open you up to the possibilities of following through with what is on your mind.”

I still had my head bowed, but my ears were very sharp.

“If we start dating, Dad will find out and help you with your school. Martins told me you want to attend one of the Ivy League schools. That’s a far-fetched dream for a poor boy who is not ready to take risks.”

She stopped talking, and silence hung in the air like a cloth drying under the sun. The silence was thick.

“Am I right or wrong?” she asked again.

Honestly, I still did not know the question. Eventually, I had to find one.

“Are you asking if I like you?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said. “Because I like you. A lot. And I want to know if the feeling is mutual.”

Ha!

God!

I am finished.

I screamed within me.

What kind of hot seat was this? How was I going to tell the daughter of the family that put food on our table that I had never liked her in that light? How was I going to tell her that whenever I wanted to date in the future, I would not do girls like her? How could I tell her I had a girl named Rosie whom I had been shadowing for three years but had never asked out? How could I tell her that my kind of girls were intellectual, purpose-driven, God-fearing girls?

And Sikemi was not on the top one hundred list.

To be continued…

DEEP THOUGHTS NOVELS
Written by Opeyemi Akintunde
As Inspired by the Creative Word

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