Deadly Ava

Solitude

I got inside the house using the spare key. The pleasant house scent got me like it did all the time. After I inhaled for a couple of seconds, I let out my breath noisily. My shoes came off my feet while I left my socks on. It was a relief that my parents were not home even though they soon will. They had gone to pick up my cousin Jacob from the airport.

The mere thought of that made my body itch. I travelled upstairs and dumped my bag on the bed. Then dumped my uniform in the washing machine. My full Afro was always disheveled in this attractive manner whenever I got out of the shower. It looked unruly rather than the orderly person I was.

Relaxing my hair was a waste of the natural softness also. I was neat. Cute, according to my mum. Friendly but reserved. Above average in class but then the last time I actually talked to a girl was 2 decades ago...my interpretation of two weeks. If inaccurate then close. My teachers were not girls either.

But I can explain.

3 years ago...when I arrived my school, I was the guy everyone wanted. I was extremely quiet but still caught multiple girls staring at intervals in class sessions. The boys hated me for it. What they struggles for I was being offered on a platter of gold. I chose to mind my own business so I didn't talk much.

Never make a girl sad is what I hear. No one told me why. Every girl who came my way got automatically turned down. It was by whichever means of approach. I was like a sniper positioned across the entrance of a building. It continued till I was in SS1. Sophie showed up and everything changed.. Including my mind.

But she was even more snobbish than I was. And mine was only subconsciously. It was difficult to approach her and easier for the rest of the class, most especially the girls..to know about. And then quicker than the drop of a missile in water. No one seemed to care about the new boy anymore. Sophie now had all the attention. I was Mr nobody.

By SS2 I encountered Christopher for the first time. I barely knew he went to my school. And then...encounters after encounters.

I came back to the room and grabbed my guitar and my music book. It was the soothing thing to do to rid myself of the day's disappointments. I had demanded a tangible reason from my parents when I was told Jacob was coming. And they gave me one that had my head banging.

Jacob's mum had relocated to the UK so Jacob would stay with us and continue school as long as his mum wanted. Which meant Jacob was doing to my school.

Jacob was much loved but just as much as bully as Christopher. From every memory I had with him that I could remember, I found mist unappealing. The irony was... he was literally the only friend I had. And I hadn't seen him in years... Living in an overly quiet estate your whole life. You'd probably make zero friends when you move to a normal neighborhood.

Besides I liked staying indoors, I was used to it. Little shift in business and my parents dropped down a loop. Thank God for savings... So basically anything can change, at any time.

"Found myself to play alone on the pitch... In my clumsiness I fell into a ditch.. Try to..."

"Try to-try to make..."

I left my guitar on the bed and went back downstairs. My tummy rumbled all the way. When I got to the kitchen I met Lucy. She was wagging her tail happily with her tongue drooping. She barked whwnshe saw me.

"Heyy baby girl... So sorry. I didn't know you were in the house."

I stroke her furry back and her head.

"You want some cereal?"

"Of course you do."

When I opened the fridge. It was a warehouse. Filled with every cereal possibly known, so to say. Whatever was bigger than a warehouse was our storage room. I began to scan up and down till I found what I wanted. Cornflakes. It was mine and Lucy's favorite. Just that the flakes had to be more and the milk had to be thick.

I made hers first. Then I started on mine. By the time I took a seat she still wasn't eating.

"What's up?"

Dogs don't talk. I was hungry so I didn't bother for long. I started scooping spoon after spoon. And surprisingly when I looked at her, she was eating too. I didn't know what to make out of that short scenario. But it sure would stick to my brain forever. Lucy was more my dog than the family dog. And a very mature one too.

I wanted to be sleeping by the time my parents arrived. That would save me the trouble of... Too late. I paused on my way to the kitchen sink. I heard a car drive into the compound. Lucy had started barking. First I took a deep breath before I walked to the door...