Bloom

6. different minds

Zephaniah

Fiddling with the strings of my joggers, I smiled at Cooper as I watched him, lying upside down at the edge of my bed. "How'd you see me now," I whispered, staring at his big, brown eyes that stood friendly every single minute.

Placing my feet against the wall, I gave myself a light push and slid off the bed, onto the floor in front of my sleepy dog. I brought my face close to him and smiled. "Hi,"

Cooper squinted his eyes and opened his mouth, sticking out his tongue as he breathed. I stroked his soft hairs, noticing a few grey ones sticking through the brown and black. "What do you think of me, Coop?" I whispered again, my heart jumping as I suddenly heard Baba's voice.

"Zephaniah, did you finish your work for Uni?" He wondered as he stood in the doorstep of my bedroom, a soft expression visible on his face.

I quickly stood up and sighed a little, walking over to my desk. "Got distracted. Sorry, Dad." I mumbled, my cheeks warming lightly as I picked up my pen and opened my notebook.

"It's more than okay. That's why I asked." He walked over to my desk and briefly ruffled my hair, peeking over my shoulder, into my notebook.

It might look like my father was extremely controlling over me, but, that wasn't the case. I was easily distracted, to the point where I would forget what I was doing in the first place, and wouldn't ever finish it, until someone reminded me of it.

It was annoying, as I knew this about myself, and I wished my span of concentration would be just a tad bit longer, as it happened while showering too. I would get lost into my own thoughts, my mind wandering to unnecessary things.

The one time when my parents weren't home, I had stood underneath the spray for over an hour, and when I got out- I wasn't sure if I had washed my hair or not. They weren't exactly happy with the bill that came, but they never blamed me for anything as I simply couldn't help it- something people didn't always understand.

"What do you have to do?" Dad asked as he lightly bent over me, to search for the assignment.

I simply wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. "Hug my father. What's for, uhm, dinner? And is mum sick?" Frowning, I thought about the morning, where I heard mum retch. The sound was disturbing, but I had felt bad for her.

Baba briefly glanced at me with a frown on his face, and I wondered if I had said anything wrong, though those insecure thoughts faded when he smiled. "Those questions have nothing to do with one another. Not that it matters," He chuckled, ruffling my hair again.

"Mum isn't exactly.. sick." He hesitated, I could tell by his expression. "Hey, mum's and mine anniversary is coming up soon, fancy eating cake at the outside garden store?"

I hummed, staring at the necklace my father was wearing, my fingers somehow getting tangled in it. "Always,"

"Okay, bud. Uhm, we're eating chicken soup today. Didn't really have time to cook properly." He explained, making me nod after a moment of processing his words. "But what do you have to do for Uni?"

I stared at him in confusion for a while, then understood what we were doing in the first place. Staring at my notebook, I huffed, pushing it away in frustration. "Can't do it, baba. It- it is hard."

"How so, Zeph?"

Biting my bottom lip, I shrugged.

"Words, Zephaniah."

I groaned, closing my notebook with a loud thud. "Every student has perfect questions and I- I don't- I cannot think of proper ones."

"What did I tell you about comparing yourself to others, Zeph?" Dad's expression softened as he sat down on my bed, looking at me.