CONFLICTED

•Epilogue•

Christopher

It was August, the twilight of summer season and I was still enjoying my free time before leaving for Nile in January. Going out with Tracy had been fun and pesky at the same time but just fun.

Staying at my dad's, I've cringed at he and his wife's lovey-dovey more times than I could count on my fingers but they were happy together and so was I.

Tracy now resided in Lagos with her friend and her mom and just sometimes her brother dropping by for a visit when school's not in session. I visited her frequently myself but I was more or less staying at my dad's in Royal for the time being.

Meanwhile, Teewilly had been coming out strong in her concerts and quite exceptional. Literally exceptional. She didn't for once compromise on her fashion sense and a lot of people commended her for refusing to expose her body. That was just her kind of person and comparing her to other artists that loved to show skin was wrong but she was a public figure and people made their opinions known.

It took another month to see how much pressure Tracy faced from being a celebrity. I got to see less and less of her timid side and a sassier and bolder character instead. Where I tried as much as possible to be there for her, I also tried not to be overbearing or somewhat didactic.

Not to get it twisted, I wasn't a guy molded from and into perfection. I was rather inexperienced at this dating shit as Tracy was the third girl I cared to give a candid shit about. We did get into some petty fights lately which were resolved as soon as they took shape, but all the same, our relationship wasn't all too rosy. It only came easier, I guess, for me because I cared to care about Tracy. Being a playboy before my love life was simply knowing a thing or two about being emotionally open but simply choosing not to... not that I couldn't.

It was usually a calm after the storm when she was home for a leisure time as it was only a matter of time before she got all caught up in some radio, tv interviews, live concerts or some rehearsal session she had since she was into throwing it back and busting out some dance moves with other dancers on stage. So yeah, I got to see less of Tracy which was a huge suck out.

Although, goofing around seemed to pull us together when ordinarily we got swept into this tide that threatened to disconnect us. We got smeared and face slammed by jobless bloggers concerning basically everything about us. Rumours twirled up in the air and our past got dug up for the internet's amusement. Most of them got to Tracy as she was really just a soft person and the littlest shits opened the port to her waterfalls.

There were many opinions on our private life. Some said we were too young to date and even show it off, some said I was with her for her fame, some said she was chasing after a rich white guy to keep her fame, her songs were too sappy, her dreadlocks and fashion taste were not inline with trend, she's so fake!, she's ugly!, my grandma sings better than her, I was ill but suddenly regained my strength when Teewilly's music came up on my tv and I got up to turn it off, bla, bla, bla.

They didn't really faze me that much but I couldn't say the same for Tracy and it was disturbing to see her become headstrong and all toughened up after crying it all out. It was cool at first, when she then invested so much more energy and attention to her music to prove everyone wrong. But at this rate, she might just forget how to live life or even forget she was still a teenager.

Back home, everyday felt more like what home should feel like. A supportive husband massaging his pregnant wife's feet, and a grumpy me bitching about their PDA shit when infact I was always smiling at them from a distance.

Deep down, I was jealous of my unborn sibling because he/she would come to a loving and caring family whereas there was once a lieutenant Thompson that gave me extreme punishments when I went out to play with the neighbors' kids.