24 hours as a boy (4)

I was amazed by Ziad’s skills. He repeated everything I said so naturally. He clearly wasn’t in the drama club by chance. My boyfriend just watched on keenly occasionally shaking his head or saying “she won’t fall for that.” I didn’t even mind him. “So do you have a girlfriend?” Caren asked. I could tell from her voice she was nervous. “No, but I’m hoping to get one in the very near future. Smile.”I said and Ziad repeated the same thing even the SMILE! There is just something wrong with the boys in my family. “What?” Caren asked. This was bad. “Your smile, it’s really interesting. It has this warm touch to it. Where did you learn how to smile?” I quickly said and Ziad jumped on it quickly. Caren started giggling now. She was throwing her hands in the air. I couldn’t help it. I started laughing. Yawa girl if only she knew who she was ACTUALLY talking to.

Kwame nudged me. “Hey, time.” He said, pointing to his watch. He was right, it was time for the show stopper. I quickly said to Ziad, “Ziad it’s time. You are on auto pilot now.” I hanged up the call and walked to the restaurant. When I was within sight I increased my pace. I could see Ziad staring at me. This better work oh. I opened the door and walked straight to them. “Caren sorry, to interrupt but I think I left my notebook behind.” I said with a little pant. She looked at me with the strangest expression. I’m sure she was thinking, “Get out of here you tramp.” 

Ziad was still staring. “Hi.” He said holding out his hand. “Oh hello. Yes that’s it. Thanks. Caren if you ever reconsider helping me plan the party, just give me a call.” I said, grabbing the book. “Ahh, ehh yea.” She stuttered. “I didn’t catch your name.” Ziad said, holding on to the book as well. “Oh I’m Sekina. Enjoy your date.” I said and pulled the book. “Sekina that’s a nice name, you can join us if you like and tell me all about the party you are planning.” Ziad added. The look on Caren’s face was priceless. She didn’t give up though. “She has to leave. Can’t you see she’s in a hurry? I’ll tell you about the party.” She said, Ziad looked at her for a second and turned back to me. “Really, where are you in a hurry to?” He asked. “I have to…” I started but Caren ended the sentence for me. “Meet her boyfriend! She has a date with him!” She thundered. Eiiish, boyfriend? This was not in the script. I didn’t think Caren would be so aggressive. Blasted, what was Ziad going to say now? 

“You have a boyfriend, so why aren’t you here with him?” Ziad asked giving me a wink. Herh this boy was good. “Actually my boyfriend isn’t in the country but we cyber date all the time. It’s kind of goofy but…” I started but Caren cut in again. “Yes, so don’t keep him waiting.” She said. Ziad turned and was smiling now. “That’s really interesting, cyber dating. So it’s a long distance relationship right, nice.” He said nodding. “Yea, I have to go, don’t wanna have to struggle for a bus home. It was nice seeing you, bye.” I said and turned around to leave. “Wait, oh you didn’t bring a car? Where exactly is home?” Ziad asked. “Labone Estates.” I turned around and answered. Then he grabbed the keys like it was his own car. “I’ll give you a ride home. I can’t let a cute girl like you hustle for a bus.” He added and got up. Caren couldn’t believe all this was happening. Her mouth was wide open. “It was nice meeting you Caren. I’ll call you later.” Ziad finally said to her. I’m sure she wanted to tell him to stay but she didn’t want it to seem as though he was leaving her. She managed a smile and grabbed her phone. We walked out of the restaurant and Ziad opened the door for me. We drove off slowly.

I had been laughing for so long, my ribs hurt. I will never forget the look on her face. We were at Kwame’s house. He had to rush the car home before his father noticed it was gone. “Ziad I’m so impressed. Excellent work.” I complimented. He smiled and took the tie he was wearing off. I took out my purse and brought out the rest of the money I owed him. He grabbed it quickly and smiled broadly as he counted it. When he was done he told me he had to leave and rushed off. Chop time no friends, lol. “Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked Kwame as we walked to the garden at the back of their house. 

“I want to know what you learnt from being a boy because from what just happened today, I don’t think you are a very kind guy.” He said when we were seated. How dare he turn what happened back at me? “What are you trying to say?” I asked sternly. “Sekina, you wanted to see how it felt like to be a boy so you could prove to me that you could be a better boy and you just screwed up some girl’s life.” He replied bluntly. I couldn’t believe him. “You went contrary to every single thing you wanted to prove. You used wealth to your advantage, lied, played tricks and nicely misled a girl so tell me, what did you accomplish?” He added. “Kwame, did you hear the things she said about me? I’m very sure I would have been a better guy if she wasn’t a selfish rich brat! Not all girls are like that.” I stated. I was beginning to lose my temper. Kwame put his palm on mine to calm me down. It seemed to work. “Yes Kina, that’s all I wanted you to know. Not all girls are as shallow as her and the same goes for us too. Not all guys are ignorant cheating bastards. Some actually love their girlfriends to the core. Like the one you are looking at right now.” He said softly. He leaned over and kissed me. He was right, what he said made perfect sense but I’m sure the kiss was clouding my vision. 

That night I had a nightmare where Caren was chasing me at a graveyard. She looked very old and was shouting, “You took the only man I loved from me. Now I’ll take you to the grave with me!” When I woke up I was sweating all over. I had to confess my sins, this was eating me up. My whole day was awful. When Kwame called me from work, I didn’t really want to talk but I told him about the dream though. I heard if you have a dream and you keep it a secret it will come true so I let it out SHARP! He told me to forget about it and we planned to meet and discuss how I would confess, this time for real. After work I rushed to Dellio’s, my favourite bar. Kwame was already there. I sat down next to him. He turned around and hugged me real tight. He had a weird unsure look on his face. “There’s something I have to tell you. It’s about Caren.” He said, looking into my eyes.

To be continued…