PrimRose

23. Remi's Kitchen

I stood in front of the mirror and examined the tattoo on my lower back.
It was a single rose petal and a few leaves around it. The petal was on the left side of my waist, the leaves peaked slightly from my front and my back.
The other tattoo was on the right side of my neck, it was a single ivy plant leaf. It had a single almost invisible vine that stretched across my back in a straight line and interwined itself with the rose petal.

I was wearing black joggers that partly covered the rose petal and the grey bralette did nothing to cover the ivy. Sometimes the ivy peeked out through the collar of my shirt.

There was a knock at the door and Justin entered shortly afterwards.
“I didn't know you had a tattoo, much less, tattoos” Justin said and sat down on the bed looking at my reflection in the mirror.

I had brought my stuff to his house and I was going to be spending the night in this guestroom.

“I was drunk when I got it. I was upset when mom told me she was getting married so that night..” a small smile formed on my lips, “I decided to rebel”

“Typical Rhys” he chuckled. “What was your mom's reaction?”

I picked up my purple hoodie from the bed and slipped it on.
“She went berserk” I found myself smiling even more, “It was weirdly pleasing. Does that make me a bad person?” I asked him as I looked at myself in the mirror one more time.

“Yes. It makes you a terrible person” he told me seriously.

I rolled my eyes. “After nagging my ears off, she broke down in tears. I felt terrible. I wished I could go back in time and change all I had done. No matter what, she didn't deserve that, it made me realize that I could never be the prim and proper daughter she wanted. I couldn't be PrimRose, not ever. I would rather be Rhys. It fit me better than PrimRose ever would”
I closed my eyes to block out the tears that threatened to fall.

Silence followed my words. I stayed still till I felt a presence before me.

“PrimRose or Rhys, you're your mom's biggest blessing” Justin told me softly.

I looked up at him and a tear slipped from my eye. I wiped it quickly and smiled at him. “Thanks. Let's get going, shall we?”

“Of course. Gold specifically said all black”

“I don't have a black hoodie”

“That’s a lie”

“I know” I shrugged and grabbed my phone from the bed before sauntering out of the room.

He chuckled and followed after me.

“Aunty! We're leaving!” I said loudly as we descended the stairs.

“I’m down here” Aunt Chidinma, Justin's mom said at the bottom of the stairs with a soft smile on her face.

She was tall and slender, a few inches taller than me. She looked to be around 5"8.
She had thick black dreadlocks with gold tips that brushed her shoulders lightly. She had this tender look in her eyes and always gave off this homely feeling whenever I was around her. It was was easy to love a beauty like her.
She had dark beady eyes, button nose that was a little pointed and brown thin lips.
She looked a lot like my mom, well considering they're twins so it's understandable.

She pulled me into her arms as soon as I was close enough. Since we returned to Nigeria, my aunt was fond of doing this whenever she saw me. She said I reminded her of my mom when they were about my age.
“Stay safe” she kissed my forehead.

“I will”

“Take care of your brother too” she said and gave me a small wave.

“Sure” I smiled cheekily at Justin.