Facade (Romola 1)

18: Cradled Feet

The only thing worse than a liar is a liar that's also a hypocrite!

-Tennessee Williams

Romola sat on her bed with a start. Her ringtone had filtered into the nightmare she was having. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand but the pain in her ankle's forced a scream out of her throat. She fell back to the bed, cradling the injured foot in both her palms as tears pricked her eyes and pooled in her eyes. The cause of her injury was still fresh in her mind. That was the last time she was stalking anyone to a club.

She stretched her hand to the cupboard beside her bed, using it to support her weight as she placed her right foot on the ground. She grabbed her phone off the cupboard, hoping that the caller was Yetunde. Yetunde was yet to return and she already had a thousand questions to ask concerning yesterday's events.

It was Olumide's name that flashed on the screen. She was tempted to ignore his call and go back to sleep but after the disturbing dream she had had, she realized that she would rather speak to Olumide than dream. Her finger hovered over the accept call button while the phone's screen bathed her face with a bright light pushing away the darkness of the room. The call ended just before her finger tapped the screen.

"Tsk." She clicked her tongue in annoyance. She didn't have enough airtime to call back. The phone began ringing again and she picked the call without glancing at the screen.

"Olumide,"

"You want to report me again abi?" Yetunde sounded calm and relaxed.

"No, it's not like that."

"You've probably already reported. How did you even get his number? I don't remember giving it to you." Yetunde asked in the same calm voice. Romola let out a sigh. She had been expecting an explosion not a soft gentle voice. She had no explanation to give. Not one plausible one. She kept her lips sealed instead.

Several seconds of silence passed between them. "Okay, just come and open the door. I forgot my keys inside last night."

"You... You are outside?"

"Where else would I be? Hurry, I feel like I am about to crash. I can just fall down and sleep on the stairs."

Romola's frown faded at the thought of Yetunde curled at the corner on one of the steps. "I'll be there in a minute."

Romola rose to her feet, shifting her body weight to her good foot. She hopped the few steps to the wooden table, biting her lips to prevent herself from screaming in pain. Her fingers picked the cold metal keys before she used the wall to aid her walk to the living room. She followed the wall all the way to the main door and slipped her key into the key hole. Turning the key, she opened the door and leaned against the door post.

"Hey," Yetunde wore a smile that proclaimed good tidings. A smile Romola couldn't reciprocate. "Can I come in?"

"It is your apartment." Yetunde stepped into the apartment while she locked the door. Romola tried to hobble to her room but Yetunde stood in her way.

"What do you want?"

"Romola," Yetunde wore a frown. "I'm really sorry about how I acted yesterday. It was very stupid of me to get mad at you. I'm sure you were only looking after my interest."

"Is that all you have to say?" Romola looked beyond Yetunde's shoulder to her room a few steps away. She brought her gaze back, unblinking, to her friend's face when she didn't get a response. She watched Yetunde clench and unclench her teeth before she decided to hobble left, ready to maneuver past Yetunde but Yetunde moved too and stood in her way.

"Romola-"

"Please, just leave me." Romola set her injured foot down in a bid to march away from her so called friend when a searing pain shot through her hurt ankle. She raised the leg and tried to cradle it in her palms but she lost her balance and fell to the floor.

"Oh my god. Did I do that to you?" Yetunde knelt beside her and tried to touch her feet but she pulled it away from her friend's reach even though that action caused her pain. She tried to bury her screams in her arms as tears ran down her black skin.

"Stay away."

"Let me see it. I can help.'

"N...No!"

"Look," Her teary eyes met with Yetunde's remorseful look. "What I did yesterday... I had to do it to protect you. That party was not our normal kind. If you had been caught by someone else... I don't even want to think of what would have happened. But if something had happened, I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself."

Romola eyed Yetunde's body, starting with her long blonde box braids and ending at her feet shrouded in black peep toe platforms. "It was unsafe but you could stay there and did you have to push me out that way?"

"I knew you wouldn't understand. I've been to more clubs than you will ever be and I can take care of myself. But the people who invited me to that party are not our usual kind of people, You don't know the kind of people they are and if they found out that you had crashed..."

"It's fine." Romola shrugged, wiping her tears with the back of her palm. Her voice was hoarse from the tears she had shed. "You could have just said: go home. I'll explain later. I would have left."

"I'm really sorry. Next time, I know what to do."

"Next time?"

"I mean, I wouldn't hurt you again. You know you're my sister." Yetunde threw her hands around her in tight hug. The fact that her friend still smelt like the strange smoke from yesterday coupled with alcohol and soaked in sweat, did little to appease her. "Please forgive me."

Romola stared straight into Yetunde's eyes, looking for some sign of unremorseful but Yetunde leaned forward asking, "Can I help you massage your leg? Maybe it would reduce the swelling."

"Yes please." Romola allowed Yetunde to work on her foot. She bit her lips to keep herself from screaming but kept her gaze trained on Yetunde. There was nothing weird about her friend expect for the incessant teeth clenching and the fact that Yetunde was pretty active and alert for someone who had spent all night partying. She allowed herself to take a deep breath. She had been worried for nothing. Yetunde was fine. She had done what she needed to do. Olumide would handle the rest.

***

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By the way, I need a cool English name for a boy that will appear much later in the book. Any suggestions?