Chapter 5 : No way out

• I got down from the stool and made my way to the bedroom, where my bag, phone, and clothes were. I dipped my hand into my bag and brought out my phone. Then I turned it on to see a few missed calls and three unread messages on my WhatsApp. I took a quick look to see that one message was a long rant from Betty. The stunt I pulled yesterday must have really pissed her off. I could tell her message revolved around how she wished she had swallowed me instead. And that would not be the worst thing she’d ever said to me.
• I tapped on my call icon on the screen and went through the call history and saw three missed calls from Lionel, two from Diya, and one from Betty.
• My eyes caught the outgoing calls, and I saw I had called Diya three times last night. Aaron spoke the truth when he said he had called my friend but had no luck reaching her because I didn’t make these calls.
• I tapped on Diya’s name and dialled her number. Unlike the other times last night, this one was successful, and her radiant voice came through almost immediately.
• “Hey, babe, how are you?”
• “I’m good, and you?”
• “I’m doing great. I tried calling a few times yesterday, but you didn’t pick up. How did the wedding go?”
• Ah! Yes, the root of all the paths I took yesterday was Owens and Tatiana’s wedding. “I wouldn’t know. I left after speaking my truth.”
• “What? You didn’t!” she squealed over the phone, and I had to hold it away from my ear. “Now I wish I was there to have seen their smug faces. I bet your mom was super furious.” She snorted.
• She was, and I know she still is.
• “She was, but there was nothing she could do about it,” I answered, remembering the murderous look on her face during our last confrontation.
• “I am glad you stood up for yourself, Zera. You deserve it after everything they’ve put you through.”
• “Me too; I will come back to the campus today. I wanted to give you a heads-up.” The last time I came without informing her, I met her and Greg, her boyfriend, in a heated sex session, and I had to wait outside because I knew they wouldn’t stop for me.
• “Oh, I’m sorry. Greg and I took a trip to the countryside, and we would come back on Monday. I also took the key,” she explained in an apologetic tone.
• “I thought you might stay at the family house through the weekend.”
• “If I didn’t pull the stunt I did yesterday, perhaps I still would have had that option.”
• Diya was my roommate and only friend. I had a few others, but these were people who knew about Tatiana and Owens all those years and kept it away from me. They weren’t my friends. I’d rather sleep under the bridge. Lionel was another option, but he had moved back to live with our mother after he couldn’t afford rent six months ago.
• In conclusion, I had nowhere to go, and that sucks.
• “Where did you sleep last night?” Diya’s question snapped me back to reality.
• “A kind stranger took me home after I passed out at the club,” I answered, before adding, “It’s not what you are thinking, Diya!”
• “What?” she asked, acting clueless. “I didn’t say anything. Is he cute?”
• I nodded, then realised she couldn’t see me. “Yes, he’s gorgeous.”
• “More gorgeous than Greg?” her boyfriend Greg was charming with his green eyes and alluring smile, but he was in no way close to Aaron in looks. Not in a million years.
• “So much more, Diya; he’s like a god of perfection. I want him so bad, but I feel he doesn’t want me to, or at least not as much.”
• “Damn! Take a picture before you leave.”
• Leave. Yes, he asked me to leave. Well, not in the way I just put it, but it was close to it. The reality of homelessness was staring at me, and I was gossiping about the features of the man called Aaron.
• “Where would I go when I leave, Diya? I don’t have enough money to stay in a hotel until Monday!”
• “Your airtime has been exhausted, and your call terminated.” The computerised service provider said so, and my call ended instantly.
• “Fuck!” I tossed my phone on the bed in fury.
• I had to leave, and telling Aaron my friend had gone on a country tour and left with the hostel key would seem like a cheesy excuse. But it was the truth. A year ago, I lost my key and have shared Diya’s since then. If we both went out, one of us would keep the key where the other could find it, and so it has been until this week. She probably thought I wouldn’t be back until Monday, as was the initial plan. Aaron would probably then ask me to stay with my other friends, but I have none, and my family wasn’t an option either. So I was fucked left, right, and centre. I couldn’t even imagine how he would look at me.
• This was the only place I could stay. The only other option was to sleep on the bridge, and sleeping there was just as dangerous as sleeping in the club.
• I heard a small knock on the door, and I turned around immediately. “Come in.”
• The door cracked open, and in walked Aaron with a neutral expression on his face.
• “Did you call her?”
• “I did.”
• “Okay,” he nodded. “You don’t look so thrilled.”
• “She’s not at the hostel. She went on a country tour with her boyfriend, and she took the key because she didn’t think I’d return till Monday.” I explained, hoping to God that he didn’t think I was making it up.
• “Oh,” was all he said.
• “Yeah, I know this sounds like I’m making it up, but it’s the truth. Do not worry, though; you’ve been generous enough, Aaron, and I will not ask you to do more than you already have.”
• Unless you insist, then I’ll accept. I said it in my head.
• “I will gather my things, and I’ll leave.”
• Concern showed on his face. “Where will you go then?”
• I didn’t know, but I’d find my way. He had shown me that good people exist in this world, and I believe I would come across someone outside there.
• “I don’t know.”
• “Do you have other friends you can stay with?”
• I shook my head and said, “Not since last month, I don’t.”
• “Then stay.” The two words came out without hesitation. Yes, I wanted to stay, but hearing him say it now, I knew I couldn’t take it.
• I flashed him a dry smile. “You don’t have to pity me. I’ll find my way.”
• He took a step forward, and my heartbeat skipped. “I’m not saying this out of pity. I really enjoyed your company. So stay through the weekend.”