[]Chapter 8
It started with little sobs, and then she broke down and cried uncontrollably. Patrick couldn’t help but move in closer, and hold her in his arms as her body vibrated.
“I messed up real bad.” She said between sobs.
“It’s okay.”
“Patrick, I’ve been a bad person; a real bad and ungrateful girl.”
“It’s okay.” He repeated, patting her hair. After some time, the sobs turned to low sniffs, and then she went quiet.
“Yusuf’s dad is an Oba.” She said all of a sudden. “Yusuf is the guy Ahmed saw me with.”
“Oh! Okay.”
“I never had s*x with him.” She said as she lifted her head to look him in the eye. He was caught off guard with that and didn’t know how to respond, so he kept quiet, and she put her head back on his chest. “He’s really harmless, but he has a lot of hothead tag-along friends because of his money and his dad’s position.” She stopped to wipe tears from her eyes before going on with, “He has helped keep a lot of guys off me. I mean a lot.” She went silent for a few seconds before adding, “I’m not a saint, but I never slept with any guy asides from Ahmed. But he definitely won’t believe that now. He won’t believe me.”
After a prolonged silence, Patrick lifted up her head and said, “This guy isn’t coming. Let’s go and see if the car will start now.”
She had actually been dozing off and staggered a bit as he stood her up. He held on to her in a reflex action, and she laughed as she said she was okay. He let her go and headed towards the car. She looked down at the bright lights below for a few seconds, sighed, turned around, and walked off to the car.
Patrick got in the driver’s side of the space wagon, and she leaned on the door. He took a deep breath before turning the key in the ignition; the Sienna started right away.
……….
Ahmed and Ruth had gotten to talk and know each other better when they ate late dinner at a restaurant in the same building that housed the club they were going to be partying in that night. Now they were at the club, seating side by side on a couch, drinking and bumping their heads to music; occasionally leaning in to talk into each other’s ear, while Abike and her lanky boyfriend danced in front of them. The place was packed. There were two higher institutions within close proximity of the club, and most of the students had wound up work for the year, so it was like they had come to unwind in a major way.
Ahmed was about to ask Ruth if they could go out and talk when Kehlani’s CRAZY song came on, and she slowly got off her seat nodding her head. She adjusted the black Chinese style mini gown she had on, and started a slow dance; she picked up pace when the beat of the song came on. He couldn’t believe how flexible she was with her thick body. With a smile on his face, he looked from Abike to Ruth, and then got off the couch to dance with her.
