Seething
PRESENT DAY
Tunde arrived home seething. Seeing Abby in another man's arms made him feel infuriated and he felt like kicking the bastard's teeth down his throat, who cares if he was her boyfriend or not.
He poured himself a stiff drink, took his pack of cigarettes, and went to sit outside his bedroom balcony. As he was smoking one cigarette after another, he was thinking...
'How could my life be this messy in a matter of hours?... And how did I managed to fuck things up this bad!?'
After sometimes when he still couldn't sort out his feelings as everything just feels all muddled and jumbled up, he picked up his phone and made a money transfer of five hundred thousand naira to Mide.
"I knew it!... " Mide suddenly said after he got the bank alert of Tunde's money transfer. He also immediately understood that it wasn't just a money transfer he got from his brother, it was also his way of asking for help.
He was sure that the date, if he could call it that, didn't end well and his emotionless kid brother had no clue about how to handle it.
''You knew what?" Lekan who was always at Mide's house except for when he wants to have a female company asked.
"Hawk just transferred five hundred thousand naira to me right now..."
"Oh shit!..." Lekan exclaimed. "You were right after all, so he truly likes her!?... This is so fucking unbelievable!" He added with surprise. He was expecting Tunde to call and gloat about his conquest, not a money transfer.
"We need to go meet him. The idiot had probably fucked things up with the girl, I know him quite well." Lekan said.
The brothers could have passed for triplets if not for Tunde's lighter skin and brown eyes, which was exactly like their father's. They were each other's best friends, with the twins being older than Tunde by just a year and three months.
When their mom discovered she was pregnant again after six months of giving birth to the twins, she panicked and immediately informed her mother-in-law who insisted she come and stay with her in Georgia so she could be able to care for her properly throughout her pregnancy.
After giving birth, she left Tunde with her mother-in-law when he was one year old and returned back to her job as a military nurse. Even though the boys grew up apart they were still very close as they visited each other on every holiday.
The boys look alike but had their different personalities. Mide who was the eldest of the twins by ten minutes was the borderline between Lekan's crazy and Tunde's cold personality. He was also the peacemaker between them whenever they started their bickering.
Apart from being cold and aloof, Tunde was also temperamental. He could go from being unusually calm especially when he's angry to suddenly erupting like a raging volcano that destroys everything in its wake. That was why he would rather be cold towards people than show them his true self which could be devastating.
The twins came to join him on the balcony where he was sitting. Lekan sat beside him on the lounge chair while Mide stood resting his hands on the railings.
"So how did it go?..." Lekan asked, helping himself to a stick of cigarette out of the pack that was lying on the table.
"'kay" Tunde answered gruffly.
"Just okay... That all you gonna say?" He asked as he squints through the cigarette smoke coming out of his mouth.
"Yeah."
'Okay, my ass, who are you trying to deceive?' Mide thought to himself and said, "...so I got your money alert..."
"Yeah, since I lost the bet, gotta pay up, right?"
"Wanna talk about it?" Mide asked.
"Nothing to talk about..."
"Whatever then!..." Lekan said, in his usual carefree manner. He stubbed out his cigarette and reached for his phone.
"Let's order some food I'm famished"
"Fool, do I need to send you a reminder before you send my money?" Mide asked towards Lekan.
"Sending..." Lekan replied showing him what he was doing on the phone he had in his hand.
"Let's go to the kitchen, there's food," Tunde simply said curtly.
"Did you order already?" Lekan asked.
"No, she cooked." He replied in the same abrupt manner, stood up, and headed downstairs.
"How are we going to help him if he refuses to talk about it?" Lekan asked Mide after Tunde had gone out of earshot.
"He will talk when he's ready." Mide replied and looked down at his phone that just beeped. "Got it. One million naira richer" he simply said, slapping Lekan on his back.
As soon as they entered the kitchen, Lekan went straight towards the pot left on the cooker, however before he could open the pot to see what was inside, Tunde quickly grabbed it away from him.
"That's for me, go make something else."
"Something else like what?"
"Cereal is faster..."
"You have cereal... Since when?" Mide asked surprise written all over his face.
"Don't be stupid... Have you ever seen anyone take cereal for dinner? Lekan asked with a frown.
"Better than nothing" Tunde replied coldly.
Mide was amused by Tunde's grumpy behavior. He went to the pantry to see what he could cook. He was amazed and whistled softly when he saw the pantry filled with different kinds of food.
"Bro, you went shopping just to impress her huh?" He asked jokingly. "This is so unlike you man."
"No, I didn't! She bought them for me." Tunde replied proudly, his face showing a crack of emotions since when his brothers arrived.
"Really?... You mean she pitied you when she saw how pathetic the state of your kitchen was right?... That's mighty nice of her then." Lekan taunted.
"You're such an idiot!" Tunde replied Lekan. Mide just laughed as he picked some instant noodles, canned sardine, and eggs and went back to the kitchen.
"Anybody cares for noodles?" He called out towards the direction of his brothers.
Lekan: "Yes, since this dick head is hugging a pot like it's diamond.
"Tunde: "No, I'm good."
"Hawk, I think your girl left her wristwatch behind" Mide picked up a black leather gold-rimmed wristwatch that was lying by the sink and examined it. He was however surprised at what was written at the back of the watch.
