Chapter 29 Moyo
Moyo
I TEXTED THE GIRLS SOS AS SOON AS I GOT HOME. IT’S EXHAUSTING and slightly embarrassing to keep having relationship problems. It’s even more embarrassing to have relationship problems with a guy I wasn’t dating.
Anjie comes in holding two plastic bowls of goat meat pepper soup. She beelines for the kitchen, no trace of fatigue even as it nears midnight, while Sewa takes in my fallen face.
“What’s wrong?” Sewa asks. When I don’t say anything, she pulls me in for a tight hug. “Moyosore, talk to me.”
“Let’s sit,” I say.
I guide the girls to my room, and they look at me as I gather the words.
Anjie speaks up. “Ready to tell us what happened?”
I relay the new information I learned, and their jaws drop. A pregnant silence fills the air as they process what I’m still trying to wrap my head around.
“I know, right?” I ask bitterly.
Sewa waves her hands in a circular motion. “Wait, so you mean to tell me you’ve been messing with the shadow man?” she deadpans.
“Can you be serious?” Anjie attempts to chide her, but she cackles. I burst out laughing as well. The laughter soothes my aching heart.
“She’s laughing,” Sewa whispers, obviously pleased with herself. I give her another hug. You can only laugh at the ridiculousness of this entire situation.
“He was very charismatic,” I croak, recalling the line from The Princess and the Frog. Sewa made us watch it one night in college when we’d been reminiscing about Disney movies and Anjie and I confessed we’d never seen it.
Anjie gets our ice cream from the freezer, and I nuzzle into Sewa’s embrace.
“I feel like a fool,” I confess when Anjie comes back.
“Why?” Anjie lowers herself back onto the rug.
“I fell for another liar.”
“Babes.” Sewa shakes me gently, and it clears Niyi from my mind.
“Hmm?”
“You’re not a fool. Especially not for getting to know someone for almost two months before sleeping with him.” Sewa strokes the edges of my hairline.
I can’t help but blame myself. Two months of interacting with this guy, and I didn’t see it. I even mentioned his downright godly looks, and I didn’t see it.
I tell them as much, and Anjie hisses a long, winding hiss that transports me back to Lagos.
“Anjola,” Sewa warns.
“I need to say this,” Anjie says with an edge, and I grunt my approval, preparing myself because I know whatever is about to come out of her mouth won’t be pretty.
“You aren’t a fool. You didn’t see it because you didn’t know. How were you supposed to know? No one would’ve guessed regular-ass people have the spirits of celestial bodies.”
“But—”
“Let me finish,” Anjie says. “He told you the truth the moment it looked like things would become serious, right?”
I nod begrudgingly. “I don’t get how you’re so chill about this.”
Anjie exhales, “Because you were happy, Moyo—aside from this, you were happy. I don’t care if you end up with the fucking Loch Ness monster, if it makes you happy.
Unlike previous times, you haven’t been performing joy and ticking boxes.
You’ve been living! And for that, I would say this burgeoning relationship may be good for you. ”
“Great for you!” Sewa adds. “Plus, he said he’s finding a way to end the whole thing.”
“Also, when I found him here last night, he seemed way more polite and respectful than Cole ever was,” Anjie mentions, and I wince because Sewa’s eyes bulge. I have so much to update her on.
My head tilts back to rest on my bed frame.
I’m not ready to listen to them, so I stare at the ceiling and tune them out.
I understand where she’s coming from. Realistically, there’s no way I could’ve known if he hadn’t told me, minus the comatose state.
And if he hadn’t, I would’ve kept falling for him.
Part of me feels like I should’ve known, the same way I should’ve known about Cole.
I’m tired of being blindsided and not being in control when it’s my life.
“I want some control over my life.” I sigh.
“And you have that. You left and you called us. That’s what you can control,” Anjie says.
“I need more than that. The men I choose constantly disappoint me, and I’m tired of it.”
“Niyi isn’t like the others,” Sewa says.
“Not one bit. You didn’t find out the truth. He told you. He trusted you with a secret that could change his life and the entire app,” Anjie says. “For the first time, you aren’t the only vulnerable one.”
“And that’s what a relationship is, sharing vulnerabilities. Even the scary parts,” Sewa says.
They’re right. I chuckle. The first time a man has disclosed something serious, it’s that he’s part-god. I start laughing wildly, and my friends exchange a look.
“Everything all right?” Anjie asks cautiously.
I try to stop laughing, but each time I think about the situation, a new wave of laughter hits. I fell for a god. A god who hates being a god. A god who, if he can’t stop being a god, I’ll lose. The first guy I’ve been truly excited to date.
“My life is like a bad CW show,” I say through fits of laughter. That makes the girls go from concerned to laughing as well.
When I finally calm down, Sewa asks, “Are you sure you’re good? What if he can’t not be a god?”
“Then…I’ll try again,” I say, and Anjie all but hollers. “I know what I want in a partner. I’m sure I can figure things out.”
The past few months have been a rollercoaster, but I can confidently say I’m not who I was at the beginning—I’m better for it.
“Thank god we’ve stopped the ‘I no longer believe in love’ thing,” Anjie says, and I roll my eyes.
“Since I’ve stopped, you have to stop pretending you and Mike aren’t a thing,” I fire back.
“Here we go.” Anjie sighs.
“Did you know she’s going on a reality TV show with Mike?” I say to Sewa.
“Wait, what?”
“Moyo!” Anjie yells, trying to push me over, but Sewa blocks her.
“Well, Moyo should tell you how she and Niyi were fornicating on the couch yesterday,” Anjie counters.
“Anjola, one matter at a time,” I shush.
Sewa laughs at our bickering. “Guess now is the perfect time to tell y’all I dropped out of grad school.”
Anjie and I freeze like it’s a game of Simon Says.
“Yep. Decided right after Thanksgiving break.”
“Spill,” Anjie demands.
I ask, “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I wanted to sort things out for myself…” Sewa begins.
For the rest of the night, we take turns sharing the eventful, dramatic moments of our lives over ice cream.