The Void Between Hearts ~~ongoing~~

38. Gone?

ᵗʰⁱˢ ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ ⁱˢ ᵈᵉᵈⁱᶜᵃᵗᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ shitddy

The void between you. . .
This begins when instead of going to nowhere, solo,
you decide to base your happiness on volatile new love.
You'll recover though, it only takes a little longer.

~◇~◇~

With the way he tardily drags his feet on the uneven concrete floor, Mama Zite suspects that another day of his endless melancholic strolls has begun.

While she wonders why she hasn't yet sent him away, it isn't unknown that for the first time in years, her generator has been on steady power, Chizitere has new clothes, even she "herself", had not been spared of the good gestures. Wasn't she also wearing a new wrapper?

For a few days now, she has been feeling unwell and unable to go to her place of business. However, she has watched Ivan leave the house countlessly, only to come back dragging himself around.

She watches him pace about the yard, preparing herself to question him again. Maybe today she will just ask him to leave. Before she can clear her throat and begin, he stops abruptly. She looks up but only meets his expressionless gaze, "If a girl comes looking for me, tell her that she'll find me at the place she wants to visit the most, tell her I'll be with the sunset I gave to her." He says. It's obvious that he has no regard for the poor woman's confusion.

"Kola," she attaches an abnormal stretch to the first syllable, making it sound instead like, koala. "You dey talk like person wey wan.... kpeme. I no like all this kind things, e be like say I dey carry my two koro koro eye dey waka dey put body for inside wahala." You sound like someone about to die and I don't appreciate the fact that I feel like I'm walking into trouble.

She continues, "you don dey here, I don dey ask you about your family people, sotey I don tire. I know say you dey give us money, you dey buy us things, you dey make life dey sweet small small, but I kuku know say you be person pikin and you be small pikin. Wetin make you run comot for house?" You have been here and I've asked you about your family countlessly without result. I appreciate that you help around the house but you are someone's child, what made you leave your home?

Ivan doesn't reply her question, she continues, "your family people, dem get money, see as you fresh, dem they care for you wella, then you come call your mama dey talk say make she no look for you ehn?"

She takes a breather, "wey me I been dey think say dem done die. E no good na, abi e good for your eye? As e be say me I don help you so, give you roof, you suppose help me, too tell me who you be, and why you no wan go house, abi no be so dem dey do am?"
Your family is obviously wealthy and you are well cared for, how could you then tell your mother not to look for you, when I assumed your parents were deceased. Since I have housed you, it is only appropriate that you tell me who you are, and what you are running away from. She shuffles angrily in her kitchen stool, murmuring some inaudible conclusions.

On the other hand, Ivan did not hear a word she said. His mind has drifted away to the sunset, he imagines it would be painless, permitting him to ease into his father's waiting arms, just how he always wanted it. In his pockets are two medium sized bottles of concentrated dry gin. He has already prepared the poisonous mixture out of the ground sleeping pills.

He had come to terms with the fact that Boma didn't want him, that she couldn't forgive him, and so there was no point going on. After searching through dozens of Instagram profiles he had found Chinny's and asked for her number. He dropped the message with her because he didn't want Boma to find out elsewhere that he died, it was important that he told her himself as he got some peace knowing that she was done, and so was he.