Ours

chapter 9: Best friends; the siblings we choose.

I masked my feelings with a bright smile as I entered the house. To my surprise, the house was empty and dead silent. I kept wondering where everyone was then I realized I was home earlier than usual. Mom was probablybstill at her shop, daddy at work and maame still in school. I switched on the television and relaxed in the sofa.my efforts to focus on the movie currently playing, proved futile. My mind just kept drifting back to the ' incident'. In the midst of all the " wahala" that happened, I forgot I was having a chat with Duke. I grabbed my phone only to see just two messages from him. I didn't even bother opening them. I was beyond confused right now. I don't know if I'm supposed to tell him what happened or just keep quiet about it. I entered the kitchen, grabbed some ingredients and started preparing dinner; plain rice and stew. The whole cooking process managed to make me forget about my worries. No sooner had I finished than my family members come trooping in one after the other. Mom arrived first with maame and daddy came home about some ten minutes afterwards. They expressed surprise at the fact that I cooked dinner. It was difficult trying to mask my emotions at dinner. The whole family could see something was bothering me but they know when I want to talk about it, I will. We had our usual family game night. I won twice in the game of 'ludo'. The excitement that came with anticipating each other's move in the game of 'Oware' was enough to set me back into my Friday mood. Tired and worn out, we all retired to our bedrooms around 10 pm. I received a text message from Duke again asking if I was less busy. This time around, I responded to the message. We exchanged pleasantries and talked for a while. I excused myself to go to bed.
I kept tossing about in bed for some time. I picked the phone and dialed AJ's contact.
"Hello", she answered on the second ring.

"Ajoua, I need someone to talk to. I'm not okay".
I heard some shuffling at the background.
"Babe, I wish I can listen but I was kind of a little teeny weeny busy when you called. Marriage stuff, can we do this tomorrow when we meet?

"Baby put the phone down already ", yaya whined in the background.

Hahaha, I'm sorry oh. Extend my greetings to our husband. Good night. I love you.

"I love you more , bye! " she replied.

I cuddled my teddy bears, put my 'lullaby ' playlist on and closed my eyes in anticipation of sleep. The sleep never came. I lay thinking deeply about the right choice to make. That kiss was something else. Ughh!  just a kiss and my sense of reasoning has vanished. A part of me wanted that again. But I like Duke, another side of me reasoned. I kept debating with myself till morning came. You don't know what you have until you lose it. Yesterday made me realize  sleep is very essential. Today is Saturday. A day for doing chores,  laundry and cooking in large quantities in a typical Ghanaian home. By 10 am, I was tired from doing all my chores; scrubbing my bathroom, sweeping and doing laundry. I took my bath and set off to meet AJ at the mall.

"Hey, baby mama", I greeted upon my arrival.

"Hey there crazy girl", she responded.
I took Myron from her and settled him on my hip as we entered the mall. We headed straight to the food court. I may be a dietitian but I sure love junk foods. I just limit the amount and frequency with which I eat them. We walked towards KFC, sat down at a table and ordered fries and chicken. In the middle of the meal, she brought up the 'distress' call I made yesternight. I filled her in, on everything that went on between Stanley, Duke and I.