Serendipity [BoyxBoy]

Chapter Four

Kome didn’t believe in love. She didn't believe in happily ever after or forever or till death do us part. She believed that relationships ran their course, were good while they lasted and ended when they ended. Two people met, they enjoyed their time together and, when whatever they had fizzled out, they went their separate ways. Such was life.

Her philosophy didn't stem from the fact that she had experienced heartbreak before-- although it didn't help that her parents were divorced-- she just believed it was the smart thing to think. The right thing to think. It was only logical, whatever had a beginning had an end. ‘Happily Ever After’ was a concept created by Disney and whatever love song was on the Billboard Top 100’s. It did not exist.

Kome didn't believe in love. Neither did she believe in happily ever after, forever or till death do us part. So why then did thoughts of her make Kome feel like they had eternity?

▪️▪️▪️

If anyone ever needed a live example of ‘exhausted out of your mind’, Nosa was it.

Yawning, he rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand and glared at his surroundings. Happy church goers wished each other a pleasant Sunday as they streamed out of the church. The mass had ended but Nosa knew he wouldn’t be going home any time soon. He had already received two back slaps, one sticky kiss on the cheek from an old lady and many well meaning but unwelcome questions about his education, and there was still more to come. His family had an after mass routine; the kids waited while their parents gossiped under the guise of ‘laity meeting’. On any other Sunday, he would have ignored it but today, he was anxious to get home.

Home and far away from Irekanmi.

He took Ehi from his dad's arms and put her on his shoulder, walking around in small inconspicuous circles to calm her down. Ehi immediately grabbed his hair and pulled.

“Don’t do that,” he said, wincing. It was bad enough that Ehi hated doing things in moderation, pulling like she wanted to drag a demon out of him, but the sensation was much worse with the sleep deprivation headache massaging his brain.

“You have coco pops,” she laughed into the top of his skull.

Nosa rolled his eyes. He could put her down, she was wide awake and he didn't need to be walking her around. But walking around with her on his shoulder was the perfect way to hide his restlessness. Luckily, she’d made a game of plucking the knots in his hair on the side he didn't comb properly, counting ‘One coco pops, two coco pops…’. She wasn't in any hurry to be put down.

Nosa turned to his mother, who was in a serious discussion with another parishioner. “Mummy, can we please go home?" He asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. “Ehi is sleepy.”

“No!” Ehi yelled into his ear, making him wince again.

 "Hold on dear," his mother waved him off. "I still have to greet Mrs. Osenanga."

Nosa groaned. God, is this hell?

His eyes flitted around the outside of the church, Dad was talking to some CMO men standing in front of the grotto and Mum was greeting, scratch that, gossiping with yet another parishioner. Egho was nowhere to be seen, maybe waiting next to the car. Father Pascal, the parish priest, was near the entrance of the backroom, blessing sacramental objects.

No Irekanmi.

From his own days as an altar boy, Nosa knew that another set of mass servers handled the second 9am mass on Sunday’s. Sure, a lot of them hung around the parish after they were done with their duties but they had no official reason to do so. Irekanmi had probably already gone home… or back to his own parish with whichever visiting seminarians brought him along. They would never see each other again and Nosa won’t ever have to listen to vivid stories about a dog named after an anime character.