A Nigerian Highschool Romance

08 | Calm Down

TGIF, am I right? It's been a long week. Here's to you guys.

Demilade

I signed up for the art sponsorship. I thought it was the best idea at the time. Plus, I was thinking about what David said. But now, I'm just thinking about what to draw and nothing is coming into my head which is making me panic and I'm just becoming very nervous thinking about how many people's drawings would be better than mine.

"Mummy said that you should come and eat", Damilola said from my room door while I sat on my bed, listening to Rema's Calm Down in my headset.

The music has nothing to do with my anxiety issue but at least it's telling me to calm down.

I looked up from my sketch pad and then to him. "Okay, I'm coming", I answered and he left.

Having dinner with my family would make me feel less nervous at least. Their laughter surrounding me was going to be a good medicine.

My Daddy asked my mother how her day at Aunty Esther's house went and she started telling us about her entire experience. Then she said they're burying the dead woman next month. We were all going to attend. Great, at least I can see David.

Speaking of which, David just texted. He sent me a funny meme and I laughed before reacting to it.

"Phone, phone, phone. All the time, phone. You people can use phone too much. Even when we're eating, you're stil using phone. Drop that phone joor", Mummy said, before giving us a blast of insults.

No, she doesn't hate us, verbal abuse is just her love language.

We dropped our phones on the table quietly. Until Damilola spoke, "Abeg(please), Mummy. It's okay. We've heard", he said and I only face palmed. This boy just wanted more insults, and Mummy Dearest didn't fail to deliver.

As we were eating our food, Damilola spoke out of nowhere. "What if I just ran mad now?", He asked. Mummy and Daddy were just concerned about why he would say something like that. "Wouldn't that just be insane?", He added and laughed at his word play.

Mummy and Daddy didn't get it but to me, this boy was just pure dumb. "I wouldn't be surprised if you just ran mad. I mean, it's not until one runs on the road that they're mad o. You're already a werey(mad man)", I told him and continued eating while Daddy laughed and Mummy scolded me for insulting my brother.

"Speaking of brother, when is Femi coming back home?", I asked.

Femi was my eldest brother who works abroad while pursuing his master's degree. He lives there with his girlfriend, Sola (P.S. Sola is pronounced 'Shola'). My parents know about her. He was 24. Quite young, but he wanted to be done quickly so he could settle down with Sola.

"Yeah, he's been there for like one year already", Damilola added.

"He said that the exams are starting next month, so he has to stay there to study. And he also wants to spend the holiday with Sola", Mummy answered.

The only reason my parents accepted Sola was because she was Yoruba. They wouldn't want him marrying someone from another tribe.

"Oh, that's somehow. Chrstmas this year is not going to be okay without him", I said and I almost felt sad.

"Ehen, speaking of Christmas, when are we picking?", Damilola asked, getting excited.

Every Christmas, we wrote our names in pieces of paper and each member of the family picked at random. Whoever's name you picked, you buy them a gift for Christmas and New Year. We also did that for Valentine's Day too. And guess what? We gave the gifts on Boxing Day while wearing our Christmas night wears.