Wild West of the Heart
SIXTY ONE

Fiyin clutched her bag to her chest as they walked through the hallway. Her eyes darted to every post and corner with each step she took. At least there wasn't that stench of perspiration and sweat-

it was different. The nauseating smell of pharmacy and drugs breezed into her nose. This wasn't school, it was the hospital. Each step drew her closer to the receptionist's desk. And as though her heart had stopped, she halted to take a breath.

She felt cold fingers slip between hers and she tilted her head to see Deborah who just nodded, some sort of assertiveness to reassure her that she could do this. "You're okay" She whispered.

Fiyin moved her feet, taking a three sixty to see the very busy waiting area, several women who were at least a centimeter dilated. And others already in labor. They were scattered, on the chairs. On the wheeling bed and some yelling at each other.

"You-Tunde, how dare you do this to me" One yelled as they wheeled her into a room. The man Fi assumed was Tunde halted, placing his face in his palms. "She" He turned around. "She said she wanted kids" He added, raising his hands in the air.

She felt Deb squeeze her hands and a smile took her lips hostage like she was watching some Hillway High low budget drama. "Come on" Deb whispered after promising she'd be there every step of the way. There were the calm women that had magazines in their hands and ear phones plugged in their ears. And it took Fi more than two minutes to fully navigate her environment.

She always did that.

Until she was settled in it. And she pulled away from Deborah, walking to the desk of the receptionist. Black short hair, and braces holding firm to her teeth, she was in a pink scrub.

Immediately she sensed someone was above her, she turned to look at Fiyin, who had tried her best to not look like the teenager that she was that day.

"Hey" Her voice quivered as Tracy looked to her. That was the name slivered on the tag that she wore on her breast pockets. "How can i help you?" Her voice was rather coarse on hearing it. And it was Deb that stepped forward this time. "We're here to see Mrs Rose" She whispered as she cleared her throat. Tracy looked to her desktop before locking eyes with both of them. "Which-Which one of you?" She pointed the top of her pen upwards, waving it in our faces. "I-I'm the one, ma'am" Fiyin whimpered, as she prepared to leave her seat. She stood, chewing gum between her teeth. "It's nurse Tracy" She replied.

"You can take your seat over there" She brushed past Deborah's shoulders. "Ma'am Nurse Tracy" She corrected herself. "We've already spoken on the phone. My mother-She knows her" Deb said.

Tracy turned around to face both of them.

"Like i said" She paused, holding firm to the papers in her hands. "You can take your seat over there" And with that, she turned her back to them. Deb found her hands holding on Fiyin's again. It was just reflex now, as both of them sought comfort in each other. They headed to the chairs in front of a large television and it took a moment before they sat.

-

Fiyin filled her lungs with air, resting her shoulders on Deborah. Deborah's palms stroked Fi's arms as she whimpered. "You're going to be okay" Came a frail promise. "I'll make sure of that" She continued.

"Oh"

Olamide's lips circled as he held unto the phone in his hands, clicking on the button on pointed down. Each click, exploring the back and forth texts Jazz exchanged with a few of her friends- -including Reginald Ojo, her mother and even a number that looked like Mira's. But he wasn't sure. He just heaved a breath as he stood. He turned it off, allowing it to charge a few more bars.

This time, he used to pace around the corridors with his hands on his hip. His mind was infiltrated with a thousand thoughts and he struck his chin, this was much better than if he had gone to school. Peering out of the windows, he sighted his mother, alongside Titi as they left to take out the trash. It was then he ran back to his bed, unplugging the phone. He realized if there was a time he could make it out through the back door, it was

now.

He slid down the stairs with the phone in his hands as he paced through the kitchen and then the door, letting it swing back and forth till it came back to it's stable equilibrium. Titi paused, eying the door in suspicion and Mary halted beside her.

"Did you open the door?" She pointed to it with arched brows. Mary looked to her, shrugging her shoulders. "I didn't" They stared at the locks that hung open. "And you're sure Mide went to school?"

Mary sighed at that question, rolling her eyes to the back once she'd remembered last night's conversation. She dumped the basket and made her way upstairs. Pushing his room door open, that was the first thing she sighted- -the stuffed animal atop his bed. She pinched the bridge of her nose, realizing that was where he'd gone instead of school. And instead of feeling the rage of being lied to, she felt pity instead, having watched her son spiral these past few days. And if she was being honest, these past few months.

She walked to the windows, staring down at him as he crossed the streets, taking the first okada he sighted and still in his uniforms. She watched him speed away before she closed the drapes. "It's him" She whispered, sighting Titi's shadow behind her.

"He was the one"

Titi heaved a sigh, seeing the arch in her sister's brows. She crept behind, wedging her elbows in her arms. "Mariam" She softly called.

"What is really going on?" Came a subtle question.

-

His eyes were fixed on the asbestos ceiling as his sole of his converse unconsciously hit against the floor. He was in the silence, not a pin drop to be heard before he started to hum.

Obi.

Confined to these four walls, he found himself counting the plastic chairs and tables around him for the nth time. Humming an ABBA song, he gripped his temples, realizing just about ten minutes had passed in what seemed like a lifetime. And he still had fifty minutes to get the detention done and dusted—that is, he'd even make it out alive. He didn't even have an idea when Hillway High started giving detentions to students because to be honest, it seemed more of a Western education type of thing. But he was thankful because sitting alone in the quiet seemed to be much better punishment than what he'd deserved.

Collins let him off easy, for some reason he didn't know. But who was he to question him.

It was then the door opened, and he immediately removed his legs from the chair in front of him. His eyes darted to it, thinking it was Collins. But alas, in came Marissa with someone behind her.

"Nathaniel?" Came a doubtful tone from him. He mopped, walking to a seat on the opposite end of the room. "It's Nate" He corrected, though it seemed he was not in the best of moods.

"I know" Obi forced a chuckle but his eyes locked with Marissa's. The keys dangled in her hands, making a clinching sound and then she looked away.

Walking through the door, she used her hands to close it. Obi's eyes navigated around before finally falling on Nate. His hair was friskier than usual in a dirty blonde way that he found sexy. He shook those thoughts from his head, alongside that word.

He wasn't about to give Abdul one more thing to worry about. Nathaniel was lanky beneath the checkered flannel that he wore. His fingers long, and his nails painted in a blue black color.

Obi had realized that he had never actually had a conversation with him. And looking up at the ticking clock, it dawned on him that they still had forty nine minutes to go. And just one minute had passed since Marissa had left. Once they'd finally made eye contact, he parted his lips to speak, only for the walls to return an echo.

"What'd you do?"

"Nate" He called and he cupped his chin. "Drugs"

Obi let out a chuckle, placing his feet back on the chair in front of him. Nathaniel looked to him, dead serious in his eyes and that smile vanished from his face. "You're joking, right?" Obi lowered his voice. Nate relaxed in his chairs, folding his arms. "What makes you think so?" He threw a question back at him and Obi forced a chuckle out of his lips. "Drugs?" He echoed.

"Where'd you even get them?" He asked and Nate stroked his beardless chin. "There's a whole world outside your little bubble, Obi" He teased, a smirk morphing at the corner of his lips. There was this african-american accent he used to pronounce his name but Obi wasn't complaining though.

"I'm not in a bubble" He rolled his eyes. "Have you ever taken Colorado then?" He asked and Obi scoffed. "That's a state in the States. There's nothing like that" He cleared his throat just as Nate stood, only to pull out a chair closer to him this time.

"Oh Obi" He exclaimed. "Sweet naive Obi"

"At least i wasn't caught doing drugs" He muttered a reply under his breath and Nate let out a loud laugh. "Please" He clutched his chest. "Anything to miss the rest of class" He smiled.

"You think i'd be done enough to deal by the stairs" They locked eyes and Obi was taken aback. "You set yourself up" There was doubt in his tone as Nathaniel nodded. "Besides, i really don't have a place to go after school" He replied. "So you'd risk expulsion?" Obi asked like a detective on duty and Nate let out that loud laugh once again. "No one's going to expel me because of drugs. Because if word got out, you already know Nigerian parents" He said and Obi rolled his eyes at how nonchalant he was. He was even worse.

"Besides you're acting as if you don't like the company" Nate leaned forward to him, two desks in between them. Obi looked sideways, biting his cheeks. His eyes went to the clock, relieved to see that four more minutes had passed. "I do drugs" Nathaniel rested back in his seat. "But i'm not here for that" He laughed and Obi looked to him, trying his best to fathom his lies. Nathaniel looked like he lied for fun, unprovoked. Or perhaps to start a conversation. He seemed like a nihilist as well, from the way he behaved but Obi doubted he even knew what that meant. And he would guessed the drugs part, because as much as he didn't look like a crackhead, he didn't also looked the soberest. "I drew a penis on a board during break" He said. Obi tried his best to hold him in laughter, at how sudden that was. "And Miss Sherperd had the guts to report me when it's literally in biology" He said.

"Uh-" Obi paused. "I dont know how i feel about that" He continued and they burst out in laughter.

"It was erect" He said. "Shut up" They looked to each other, narrowing their eyes. "Don't tell me" Obi palmed his lips. Nate nodded "Veins" He cackled, almost falling over his chair. Obi stamped his feet against the ground, for that moment forgetting that he was in trouble.

"I want to see it" He held himself up from the table and Nate looked to him. "It's probably cleaned off by now" They laughed till they were both on their feet. And Obi's back was against the door.

It was funny if you'd think of it, the kind of shit that teenagers found hilarious. Something as stupid as a veined phallus could spark this much humor. Obi's hands gripped the door when he had calmed, only to realize that Marissa had locked it with the keys.

Nate leaned against the table, raising one feet up.

"Let's play a game" He suddenly said and Obi turned around to him, invested in this. "What?" He asked and Nate had flashed that infamous smirk.

"Truth or dare?"

Obi scoffed, moving closer to him. He sat on the table, placing his leg to another. "Truth" He felt the need to start off with that.

Nate pretentiously rubbed his palms together to instill tension, or maybe because the air condition was a little too much. Either way, Obi was left waiting for his question. "Are you seeing Abdul?"

One thing about Nate was that he was direct, without the need to go through corners. And that was sometimes good, except in this scenario. He'd felt the need to ask to ascertain his assumptions from what he'd seen in the hallways. But the smile sharply went off Obi's face as he stood defensively. "Who?" He asked. "Calm down" Nathaniel whispered. "I'm not homophobic" He added weirdly and Obi looked to him.

"Didn't say you are" He flatly replied. "So-" Nate shrugged his shoulders. "You could trust me. I'm an ally-" They matched their eyes but he wasn't about to get the truth from Obi that easily. Besides, it was not like he was officially seeing Abdul. They'd had sex and kissed a couple times. They'd exchanged a few pictures but Ab had never asked.

No matter how long Obi waited, he never did. So his answer was a definite no, leaving room for not a single doubt, especially after their last quarrel. Something that seemed to happen much more often these days. And it was always Ab's fault. "No"

He heaved a sigh as if that question had struck some part of him he didn't want to uncover. So he just shook his head and that did the trick, purging his thoughts off anything that was Abdul.

"Your turn" Nate rubbed his thighs.

"Truth or dare" Obi looked at him. "Dare" He said.

-

His fingers struck the keyboard, typing in the infamous search bar. Mira leaned against the table, with one arm against it and one around a mug that said world's best mum-

-a gift Obi himself had gotten her sometime back. But there was nothing sentimental about this moment. "You sure that's it?" Mira took a sip of the coffee. "I've never heard of that shit before" Dee peered from above, cozied up in a blanket after a night she'd spent in a federal jail.

Mira eyed before looking back to the desktop and remembering Dare's exact words.

"She was sick-Jazzlyn"

"Terminally"

"Cancer" She remembered asking the first thing that popped up in her mind. And he drew the papers from beneath her palms. "It's a new virus. Discovered not long in the States" He read off the paper. "What?" There was obvious doubt in her voice as he tossed it back to her. "The Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus" He lowered his voice as Mira arched her brows.

"What the fuck is that?"

"There's nothing really on the internet about it" Silva looked to her, resting back in his seats. "You think it's something they made up?" Mira asked, walking back to the couch, alongside Dee and Tara.

"It's something these bastards can do" She muttered. But then as he scrolled low with his cursor, his eyes caught a particular article. One that was beneath several that seemed false.

"Rare cancer seen in forty homosexuals" He read aloud as he clicked on it. It was an article that dated back to the late eighties so he was quick to brush it off, but that was until he read that the rare cancer was later defined as the HIV. He plunged forward, burying his eyes unhealthily close to the monitor and he scanned the thousand words.

It was him now, that looked like a detective in action. He hummed, stretching his arms to Mira.

"I dont think they made that up" He said to her, so much that he didn't bother looking back. She was quick to walk up to him, timely enough to see the graphic pictures across the screen of dead bodies being bagged in a local hospital- written off as casualties to an unknown disease.

"What is that?" She whispered, perplexed. And Silva as invested as he was, replied. "No fucking clue "

To be continued...