Kamji opened the doors to the house and quietly sneaked inside. She was relieved that it wasn't one of those squeaky old doors that made a lot of noise. Stepping inside, she quietly tiptoed towards the stairs leading to her room not wanting to run into any of her cousins or her Aunty.
She could hear River and her Aunty making dinner in the kitchen. The delicious aroma of roasted chicken invaded her nostrils. She mourned at the fact that she was going to have to skip a delicious dinner if she didn't want the whole family freaking out about her bruised face. Peter was nowhere in sight and she guessed he must be locked up in his room playing video games. Her Uncle wasn't back from work so getting safely to her room without being noticed was easy.
After changing out of her ripped uniform, Kamji looked at her reflection in the mirror. She wondered what excuse she was going to give for the swelling on her right cheek that had become more prominent. Deciding to take a bath before treating her wounds, she padded towards the bathroom. She had scrubbed herself particularly in areas she recalled the thug had touched her, wanting to get rid of the creeping feeling he left on her skin. It wasn't long after she finished bathing and applying some ointment on her wounds that there was a knock on her door.
"Who is it?" she asked quickly hiding the ointment in a drawer.
The door opened and River popped her head in. "Hey, I didn't hear you come in. When did you get home?"
"River! I didn't say you could come in." Kamji whined avoiding eye contact with her cousin. "What if I was changing."
"Well the door was open." River shrugged taking a dive for her bed. "And so what if you were changing? We are both girls anyways."
"I guess you're right." She agreed not wanting to start an argument with her cousin and at the same time she made a mental note to always keep her doors locked.
Picking up a book and buried her face in it so that she wouldn't have to look at her cousin while praying silently that the girl would leave soon.
"So tell me." River grinned watching her cousin who was looking totally immersed in a book. "How was your date with Joshua?"
"It wasn't a date!" Kamji shrieked, turning to look at her cousin. "We just had lessons and that's all."
There was a look of horror mapped on her cousin's face and Kamji muttered a curse realizing River had seen the bruises.
"Oh my goodness Kamji. What happened to your face?" River shrieked. Her voice was so loud that Kamji had to place a hand over her lips to keep the girl from screaming.
She could hear the girls muffled voices as she struggled to free her lips from Kamji's hands.
"Would you calm down and let me explain?" Kamji asked.
River stopped squirming and nodded slowly. As soon as her lips were released she fired questions at her cousin. "What happened? Where you kidnapped? Who did this to you? Did you get into a fight on your way back? Were you bullied in school today?"
"Will you please calm down?" Kamji stood up to lock the door to prevent anyone else from barging into their conversation.
"Wait." River's eyes narrowed in suspicion."Did Joshua do this?"
"What? No way." Kamji replied coming to her rescuer's defense. "Joshua has nothing to do with this."
"If he didn't then who did?" Her cousin questioned. "Listen Kamji. I know you have a crush on Joshua but that doesn't mean you have to cover up for what he did to you."
"No you got it all wrong." Kamji said shaking her head in disagreement. "Joshua had no hands in this."
River went closer to Kamji, taking her cousin's hands in hers. "I care a lot about you Kamji and I want to help. You do know that you're like a sister I never had but how can I help if you don't tell me the truth?" Seeing her cousin choosing to remain silent River continued. "You can talk to me Kamji. I don't know if Joshua threatened to hurt you if you told anyone but trust me I will talk to mum and dad and they will know what to do about this."
"No." Kamji removed her hands from Rivers grip. "We are not bringing your parents into this and for the last time Joshua didn't do this."
"I need to tell them Kamji. Whoever made your face look like a mashed potato needs to behind bars."
Kamji sighed not so happy that her face was called a mashed potatoe. "Promise not to tell anyone if I tell you what happened."
"I promise." her cousin said doing the cross sign on her chest.
"Well on my way back home I got attacked by a dog."
"A dog?" River arched a brow.
"Yh, it was a really big dog. A Rottweiler to be precise." She said
Her cousin frowned. "So you expect me to believe that a dog did this to you? Do I look stupid"
"It was a really big dog I swear." Kamji used her hands to illustrate how big it was. "And it had really sharp teeth."
" I guess I will have to inform mum about this dog so that they put it on a leash." River rolled her eyes and headed for the door. "It's fine if you don't trust me enough to tell the truth but at least put an effort in making up a believable lie."
"Wait River. Don't go" She called her cousin that was already at the door, realizing that she had hurt her feelings. "I will tell you everything."
"Okay. I am listening" River said folding her arms around her chest.
It had taken Kamji almost half an hour to tell her cousin everything that had happened. From how she got separated from Michael her best friend to the recent event of how she almost got raped while tailing Joshua.
"Wait. So what your trying to tell me is that you think Joshua and Michael are twin brothers?" River asked
"I don't think River. I am sure of it." Kamji insisted.
"It's a small world Kamji and it's not strange to see two people who look alike but that doesn't mean they are related."
Kamji almost cried out in frustration. Why wouldn't anyone believe her? "Wait I will prove it to you." She reached for her phone and unlocked it. Scrolling through her gallery she looked for a picture of Michael.
"Here. Look at this" she showed River a picture of herself and Michael together at an amusement park. "We took that last year."
"You're right. He does look exactly like Joshua. Without the dreads that is" Her cousin agreed, zooming in on Michaels face. "You guys looked pretty good together. Were you guys dating?"
"Weren't you listening to a word I said. Michael is my best friend and we never dated."
"Then why are your cheeks as red as a tomato." River said giving her a sly smile. "God it's so bright I might go blind." she teased.
Kamji threw her cousin a pillow embarrassed at the statement. Sure she liked Michael but being separated from him had made her come to terms that they weren't meant to be.
"Although you have valid reasons to be curious about Joshua. I still think it's not a good idea to pry into his life." River said. "I mean it's risky. You almost got raped Kamji." her cousin reminded.
"I will just have to be careful next time."
"There's no next time. There's no way you're going back there. And besides I think there's a logical explanation to all of this. Maybe their parents decided to separate when the kids were little and that's why they can't remember each other." River said.
The two girls were interrupted by Aunt Ebere's voice down the stairs telling them that dinner was ready.
"We will be down in a minute." River shouted back before redirecting her attention back to her cousin. "Besides there are safer way to do this. Just show Joshua a picture of Michael on your phone."
"But cellphones aren't allowed in school."
"Just put it in your bag and don't bring it out until school's over." River shrugged. "How hard can it be."
Kamji nodded, agreeing that the idea wasn't bad although it wasn't too good either.
"You don't have to worry about coming down for dinner. I will cover for you." Her cousin said giving her hand a pat before leaving the room.
As soon as school was over, Joshua packed his things ready to leave. He had been feeling so numb and dizzy throughout classes and all he wanted to do was to go home.
"Hey Joshua." He looked to see Kamji approaching him.
"Our lessons today is cancelled. I will make up for the time lost today in the next lesson." he said slightly in a rush. He noticed that she had covered her bruise with make up and only on closer inspection will one notice the swelling.
"Oh. That's fine." Kamji said. "I was wondering if you were busy I would like to show you something."
"What is it?" He asked
She looked around nervously, "Can we go somewhere more quiet?"
"Look I am quiet in a hurry, so I will see you on Monday for the tutorials." He slung his bag over his back, making a beeline for the door. He didn't have time for the girl's crazy antics.
"I just wanted to show you proof that you have a brother. I have a picture of him on my phone." Kamji said unzipping her bag.
Joshua's eyes narrowed. "I can see you still haven't given up on your silly assumptions. What happened last evening wasn't enough to bring you back to your senses."
"But I am not making assumptions. I can prove it to you." She said switching on the phone in her hands. She had switched it off earlier to avoid it ringing during classes and she began to wonder why she didn't just mute it instead.
"Stay away from my life Chikamji. It's for your own good." His voice was low as he issued the warning, before walking off.
Kamji stood there with the phone in her hands wondering what she was doing wrong? Maybe everyone was right. She should just mind her own business. She was about to put the phone back in her bag when she bumped into Mr Idris
"Well well, What do we have here? You do know that cellphones in school aren't allowed , Don't you Miss Ubah?" Mr Idris asked, an evil grin on his face. He seemed happy about the fact that the girl always did something to land her in trouble.
Kamji was about to say something, but he lifted a finger silencing her.
"No need for explanations. I will meet you at the Principal's office in ten minutes."
Before heading home Joshua had decided to stop by at a local clinic to get some drugs.
"So what do you think is wrong with me?" Joshua asked the elderly man who stood at the other side of the counter. They were different types of drugs displayed on shelves around the room.
"How long did you say you've been having these symptoms?"The man who happened to be a physician asked.
"Four months. I am not sure, exactly." Joshua said.
"That long and you didn't do anything about it?" the man asked and Joshua shook his head.
"The symptoms didn't occur frequently so I didn't think it was anything serious."
"Do you smoke?" The man asked writing down something in a book.
"Sometimes."
"Drink?"
"Not really."
"How many hours of sleep do you get daily?"
"Four to five hours." Joshua frowned not seeing the need to be interrogated
"What do you do with the remaining hours of the night?" The man cocked a brow, staring at the lad in front of him.
"I work." The boy curtly replied.
"What type of work?"
"I don't see how these questions are related to my health." Joshua replied.
"They are, as a matter of fact very related boy. These symptoms you've described are the usual symptoms experienced by people with a Cardiovascular disease." The physician explained.
"So?"
The man frowned at the teenager's rudeness. "So it means that if not handled properly, your life might be in grave danger. The frequent chest pain you experience is also known as Angina. You will need to visit a real hospital to know what is really wrong with you."
"Don't you have any drugs that can help me at the moment?" Joshua asked, not in the least bothered by what the man has said.
"I do have a few prescriptions." the man turned to the shelf behind him and began looking at the labels of the bottles. "Where are your parents boy? Cardiovascular disease are usually inherited."
"My father's dead and my mother is indisposed at the moment." Joshua bluntly replied
"I see. You're one of those kids fending for themselves." the man grabbed two bottles off the shelf and placed them at the counter. "This will help with the pains and hopefully reduce the risk of you getting a heart attack. But I strongly advise you visit the hospital soon."
"How much for them?" Joshua asked
"Five thousand each but because I see you're not well off just give me three thousand for each."
Joshua tried not to wince at hearing the price. Fishing out his card from his pocket, he paid for the drugs.
The man packaged the drugs as soon as it was paid for "The dosage is 1capsule for each drug twice a day."
Joshua nodded.
"You should also avoid smoking and anything that would increase your blood pressure. I will advise you to get more sleep too."
"Ok" Joshua buried the drugs in his pocket.
" Oh and if you have a girlfriend, try not to get too physical with her for some weeks until the symptoms stop." The physician added.
Joshua gave a puzzled look "Physical?"
"You know what I mean. No honkey donkey or Bouncing Wompy or—"
Joshua rolled his eyes, "No sex. Got it."