Wild West of the Heart
FIFTY THREE

"That was-" Obi fell back into the bed, with a smile across his face as he panted. Abdul rolled from beneath him, trying to raise up the sheets.

"Ethereal?" He said, now he wasn't a scholar who knew that much of the dictionary but it only showed that Obi was rubbing off on him. "Shut up" He hit his bare chest with a pillow. Then after like a minute in silence, as they both tried to catch their breath, Obi scooted closer to him.

Abdul's arms wrapped around his shoulders as Obi rested his head against him. The butterflies had infiltrated his brain as he begun to smile for no absolute reason. His body was moist but he couldn't care less, he just wanted to stay there for as long as he could, his hands atop his rising chest.

The adrenaline still pumped through their very much youthful veins but they had to stop. To hold back their hands, which was tough.

Especially for two hormonal teenagers. It was like the first time they had done it, it opened the floodgates of these overwhelming emotions. Now, they didn't want to stop, how could they-

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Obi asked and Ab just groaned. "Oh shit. Don't remind of tomorrow, it's such a vibe kill" He nagged, but somehow still holding Obi closer. "I'm sorry" He chuckled a bit.

"I hate the fact that we have to resume just after new year's" He rolled his eyes. "It's because of results and all that"

"I'm nervous" Obi replied.

"What?"

"If the almighty Obi is nervous then i should go hide under a rock or something" Abdul teased as he struck his chest in reply. "Ow" He exclaimed.

"For once, take me seriously" Obi urged and Ab let go. "Alright. Alright. At least give yourself some credit. You're going to ace it as usual" He said.

"Well this is isn't like the normal exam, this is fucking mock" He said, pulling away from the covers to reach his briefs. "Look, Obi. I know you're going to do great" He kissed his ass, well not literally at that moment. But who cares- -they'd done way worse.

Obi turned around, once he was set and he climbed back to him. "It's why i love you" Abdul whispered, those words had made home on his lips. Obi smiled, sure now more than ever of a reply. "I love you so much"

A few seconds in, Obi pulled away. "Got to tell Mira you're staying over" He squealed, with half a smile on his face and Abdul sat up, smirking.

"I'll speak to my mum as well"

The thing about his religious parents were, they would rather obliviously have him spending the night with a guy than with any girl. Little did they know of the loophole in such overprotectiveness.

Obi couldn't take his eyes off him as he walked to the door. And something about the stare that they shared was reassuring. He held open the door and Abdul didn't stop looking till he was out of sight.

And when he was by himself, definitely not out of his mind. He gathered the covers in his hands and placed his face into it to take Obi's fresh minty scent mixed with natural perspiration. It wasn't bad, it was very original. Like one of those scents that were oddly satisfying like fuel, or dust.

Or rain.

It was ethereal, one would say. But if only that was a feeling all could have.

Unbeknownst to him, Obi's phone had lit up beneath those sheets with a text from Fiyin.

Fiyin: i need your help.

Not that far from him, she was there. Fiyin had watched her life crumble before her eyes the past few days. And as each second went by, she was taken back to the moment she was on that toilet-

with the pregnancy test in her hands.

For the longest time, she questioned herself as to how worse her life could get. She had no clue the universe was just cackling in her face, waiting for her to realize after eight weeks, that she hadn't even seen her period.

It was hilarious if you thought about it, but then it was quite sad. Her eyes darted from the manual to the two lines displayed on the test. She was new to all of this, it was why she had a fucking manual.

And even if all the signs had pointed to it, and all three tests had come out the same, she was still in denial. Because how much could the universe hate her to have her go through all these. She burned the tests and after a whole week of succumbing to her tears, she had finally gotten up from her bed-

with the realization that school was the next day. She wanted to cry but she couldn't. She felt she had exhausted her tears plus she had cried so much that it hurt her cheeks now. And her eyes.

And her joints. And her whole body, but then that might be as a result of her being strapped to her bed for a straight week, chewing on whatever she could get her hands on. Her father wasn't doing well also, so they never crossed each other's paths.

She looked up at the ceiling, convincing herself that her stomach pain was as a result of her period.

God, she'd never wished for torture this bad.

And once she looked beneath the white sheets, she heaved a sigh, not of relief. But of tension. She fell back into her bed, with her phone in her hands on Obi's conversation. She wasn't sure why she texted him, or how much he could really do. So she did the most illogical thing and typed-

Fiyin: Nevermind.

Now, she was drowning. For weeks, she had been.

But even she, couldn't see it. She couldn't rescue herself from the pit of depression she was falling into. And amongst all these, she still had school.

She still had fucking school. She was convinced this much that the universe hated her. But found it hard to convince herself of the hard truth.

-

"Can Abdul stay over?" Obi flashed his teeth, walking down the basement stairs. There were those colorful lights that met his eyes before he saw Mira-

-who struggled to fit into her glitter pink jumpsuit. The rest of the girls were scattered around the room, either rearranging the room or adding an extra layer of makeup to their faces.

To the extent that some of them had very unnatural caked cheekbones, but it was the thing with drag, you could be anything you wanted to be. And it was never too much.

And they all were preparing for the night, fingers crossed they actually made enough to split round.

Now since christmas, people barely stopped by the club. And then new year's passed and they'd hit a record low of attendance. Business was crashing and it was all because this time of the year, most of the people spent time with their families. You know the cheesy family dinners, and cringe karaoke nights none of them got.

But the closer families got over the holiday, the lesser the amount of people that came to the club. And ultimately, it meant meagre or no money at all by the end of the night. But it didn't stop Mira and Dee and the rest of the girls from dressing up.

Like i said, all whilst they had their fingers crossed. Her eyes shifted from her white zipper to Obi's cheeky smile.

"Uh" She was a little hesitant and Obi slid down the sloppy stairs. "Whatever it is you're afraid of happening, has already happened" Obi replied and Mira gasped to the amusement of the rest of the girls.

"Girl" Dee paused, taking her attention off her makeup. Mira felt the urge to drag Obi to a very naughty corner but her self control reminded her she was not that kind of parent.

Fuck it, what if she was that kind of parent.

She gripped Obi's palms and took him, the left side of her dress hanging from her shoulders.

"What?"

He stuttered, "Maybe?"

"Really depends on what you have in mind" Mira let go of him with a disgusted expression. "No, Obi i don't need to know that" She yelled and he chuckled slightly. "You asked " "No, you asked if he could stay over. Fuck"

Obi pouted, looking back at her. "So, can he?"

"I don't care, Obi. Just be fucking careful" He brushed her shoulders as he walked to the stairs.

"And keep him away from the basement" She yelled, and without turning around, he muttered. "Not that this place will be busy at all" He wasn't sure if she heard him but Dee certainly did.

"You know what, i'm going out" She slammed her palms to the table. "What is it they say? That if the mountain doesn't go to Mohammed. Mohammed will go to the mountain-" Tanya looked at her with quiz-locked eyes.

"Pretty sure it's the other way around" They might have known what she meant but if there was ever a chance to pull her legs, they would.

Silva walked in at the crucial moment. "No one's going out. We aren't sex workers" He croaked, in his black leather pants. "We're not that different"

"Dee"

"I got a family to feed. And i need some money tonight. I really need to pay off some debts and i'm not just going to sit down here with fucking crossed fingers" She wore on her pumps.

"Dee, hold on. I could cover it for you" Mira looked to Silva and then to Dee who seemed to have made up her mind.

"Look, it's alright. I'd just get in a car or go to some cheap ass motel curb and they'd be there. Like easy flock. But i'm not about to take your help for the one millionth time" She rolled her eyes with a smile and Mira fell into her chair, looking ridiculous in that half worn outfit.

"What now?"

"Hold on. I'm tagging along" Tanya packed up her makeup bag and trailed right after, just before Silva eyes. "What now?" He echoed her words.

"Be careful out there" Mira piped up from her chair, looking around the empty room. Her voice echoed back to her as DaSilva sat as well.

Even the rest of the girls had failed to show up because there was really no point. The club had never felt this deserted as Dee walked up the curb closing the door behind her.

"Fuck new year's" Silva looked to the ceiling, which in retrospect was the heavens. It was going to be a long night. A very, very long night.

"And fuck resolutions-"

Obi got comfortable in his bed, and stared at Fiyin's text. He had replied a question mark after like ten minutes and he was still left in utter quagmire.

"What is it?" Abdul whispered, throwing an arm around him. He was already sleepy, and Obi knew it wouldn't take long till he was in dreamland. "Nothing, just Fiyin"

He tucked himself in his bed, and Ab still had his arms around him. His eyes moved to the clock's hand about to strike nine pm.

"Fuck, tomorrow's school" Ab cussed, somewhere between realities and Obi just chuckled. Then after a while there was complete silence. In the room, below them and outside the windows. Except the birds and nature sounds though which he was well adjusted to. And then just like that, a minute later, Abdul starting snoring. Like deep, anguished groans from his throat.

He was a deep sleeper, a fast one and Obi could spend the whole night watching him sleep. He looked so beautiful with his eyes closed and so surreal in his arms.

God, he wished he could stay there.

Just wrapped in his arms, feeling the breath that came from his lips against his face. He didn't want much, it was why this was enough. He smiled-

"Ab" He softly called, knowing full well he was fast asleep and couldn't even hear him. "I'm non-binary" Now, it was the first time Obi ever said that aloud and he was the first person he said it to.

He cleared his throat, releasing some weight around his chest through a sigh. The moment wasn't in any way magical but it was something.

"What?" Ab moved in his arms as he wiped across his face. He wasn't sure he heard but he definitely did. Obi just smiled, letting his head fall upon his shoulders. "Nothing" He was flustered. And Abdul held him tighter in his arms with a smile across his face as well. Obi was in love.

They both were.

To be continued...