Wild West of the Heart
SIXTY FOUR

"You sure you don't want to tell him?" Silva asked Mira as she waited for her cup of coffee to fill after the longest night. This much caffeine was the only way she could get through bustling day in the city. "No" She shook her head, looking at Obi through his reflection in the stainless steel filter. "I know how he took Jazz's death" She whispered to him.

Obi rose with his bags across his shoulders. He shut his laptop, abandoning the tab he'd left open on how to stand up to your bully. He'd made up his mind that today was the day he'd finally confront Ayo. He was so much different now, from the person he was at the start of the year-

-the person that would apologize when you hurt him. The person that convinced himself he could go through the beating since he had only a few months left. But with his graduation at stake, Obi realized he'd picked the wrong person to be. He wasn't being mature, he was being stupid.

His eyes fell on both Silva and Mira and he arched his brows. "What's going on?" He asked and they looked to each other, shrugging their shoulders.

"Nothing" Mira lied, keeping a secret. It burned her heart to have to lie to Obi, but she knew it was the right thing to do. He slipped his laptop in his bags, heading towards the door. "Obi" Silva called him.

He threw his head over his shoulders.

"Be safe" He whispered and Obi's eyes went around before he nodded. "Sure" He muttered, and it didn't take him long to figure out something was wrong asides the fact that they were both up by this time. And DaSilva was sober. However, he cleared his head off those thoughts as he mounted his bike. He had troubles of his own to see to. And he narrowed his eyes as he pulled away from the pavements and unto the expressway.

Google hadn't helped, alongside the numerous wikihow articles he'd read. And if he were to follow one that told him to get physical, he knew he'd land himself in a hospital.

Standing up to your bully is never easy. Everything seems so scary because of that control. What they never told him was to take down a bully-

-you had to become one. There was no upside, no bigger person. He goes low, you go to hell. The world was cold and no one really gave a shit. Not the teachers that lied about being passionate regarding such subject matter. It was all a show-

A show where they could hold a million banners of anti-bullying but no one would do shit.

"Are you ready?" Silva whispered to Mira who had downed her coffee. "Reginald” She replied. "Has David gotten back to you?" She called his name like he was some sort of stranger.

And he shook his head. "Not yet."

"What if" Mira halted and when he looked to her, she shook her head off the worst thoughts. "Nevermind" She pushed a lump down her throat.

-

The paper clung to his arm and he peeled it off his skin. It was a poster for spring fling- a certain dance that usually came up the first week of March.

Ola closed it in his hands, tossing the paper away and he peeked from Obi's locker. The moment his hands touched the metal, he backed away, startled.

"Obi"

"Ola" He clutched his fragile chest. "What the fuck man?" He asked, almost letting go of his laptop and his reaction gave Ola a good laugh. "What are you doing here?" He asked, scratching the head.

"First you get mad at me for ditching school and now, you're mad i'm here" Ola leaned against the lockers and Obi rolled his eyes. He shut his device instead at the sound of the bell and jammed the locks before carrying on the hallway. Ola trailed behind him in the silence as both their eyes searched for different people. "Have you seen Fiyin?" It didn't take long before he asked and Obi turned around, shrugging his shoulders.

"Been a while"

"I just assumed everyone bailed on me. Since" He paused, making eyes with Abdul from across the halls. "Since it's what everyone's doing these days" He added and Ola caught the direction of his eyes. "You two good?" He asked. And just then Nathaniel leaped to catch up with them. He had really long legs so each step he took was like two of Obi's own. Ola looked up at him, a tad bit shorter as well.

"Yeah, we are❞ Obi replied, before clinging closer to Nate. And Ola halted, drawing behind. "When-" He stretched his arms out in the halls as they carried on. He scoffed. "What i wanted to tell you" He said aloud, but they were already far from him.

Instead he just ran his fingers through his hair, a habit he'd only learned recently. He watched them walk in the direction of the storage closet. And a sigh escaped his lips- He was only gone for a few days, maybe a week, and Obi had already moved on.

"Those two are pretty close huh?" He'd recognized Abdul's voice from behind him and he nodded. "What's going on with both of you? Saw that stare"

Ab shrugged his shoulders, walking ahead of him. "I don't know man, shit is weird these days" He shrugged his shoulders, acting like it didn't bother him when deep down, the thought of Obi and Nate made him terribly nauseous- he'd be a fool to throw it all away.

"I'm sorry...for yesterday" Obi whispered, holding his maths note to himself and Nate looked to him.

"I don't know man, i just figured something was up" He paused, right in front of him. "You know you could always tell me anything" He whispered, almost as if he was about to reach for his cheeks.

But Obi slightly backed away. He just nodded.

"Thanks"

Nathaniel stared deep into his eyes for a second before Obi pushed him away. Not because of anything between them, but because he had seen Ayo lurking by the corners. And he was alone

It only made sense that he hovered by this time, in his dirty green varsity jacket, a large number nine across it as if he didn't carry enough bad luck.

He was headed down the stairs with unlaced shoes and Obi took it upon himself to trail right behind him. "Where are you going-" He hushed Nate who just followed, clueless as to where he was headed. Obi leaped down the empty stairs, the sound of his creaking shoes echoing loud. And then he turned to Nathaniel to hold on.

His heart completely stopped the moment he turned around to face Ayo. His hands slipped in his pockets as he leaned against the wall, chuckling.

"Oh Obi, fucking predictable Obi" He folded his arms as Nate tried his best not to make a sound above him. Obi wanted to run back but he decided to stand his ground, sternly matching his eyes.

"What do you want from me?" He nodded.

"It was a promise" Ayo chuckled evily like he'd lost his mind. And Obi swore his skin began to crawl. He couldn't imagine anyone in the whole world being a parent or a lover to such excuse for a human being.

It was as if he'd gotten the ick, remembering that Abdul had a thing with him that night. And then it dawned on him, that very statement.

"You're going to tell Collins it was all a lie. I don't care what excuse is it you're going to give but you're going to meet and clear my fucking name" Obi cleared his throat and Ayo let out a jeering laugh. "And why would i do that?" Came the question Obi wanted him to ask. He inched closer.

"Because i know what you fucking are" He said.

"I know why you do the things you do to me, i know why you hate me❞ Obi had a smirk as he climbed down the stairs until he was close enough to Ayo, and it was he who backed away this time. "Why?" He mouthed.

"Because i'm you. You're just like me, and you're fucking scared. I think you're a fucking faggot just like me" Obi scoffed and Ayo pushed a lump down his throat. Ayo clenched his fist and Nate watched from above, preparing to intervene if the need presented itself. He was nervous for him, and he was startled when the door opened behind him.

He turned to see Abdul and he placed a finger on his lips to hush him. Quietly, he closed the door behind him and inched close to Nate. All of them, within that close proximity to each other. Ayo spat in his face. "No one's going to believe you" He said.

"No one ever does"

"It's why you came up with this bullshit thinking i'm scared of you. It's why you're the way you are" His words struck Obi that he needed to close his eyes.

But then he pushed a lump down his throat, looking directly into his eyes. "Are you sure about that?" He whispered. "Because i know you kissed a boy. I know you kissed Abdul and no one's going to give a shit if it was drunken or not. Especially your girl-"

It was Obi who chuckled this time as he stepped back. "Don't dare me. I have nothing to lose" He whispered as he climbed up the stairs, leaving Ayo's jaw to the floor. He was about to attack him from behind but then his eyes matched Nathaniel's.

So he just stood there, admitting defeat.

Nate heard the door close behind him, and he assumed it was Abdul. Obi just stood there, and he nodded. "Shit" He cussed as Ayo went the other side and he brushed past Nate's shoulders.

"Abdul" He yelled, pushing open the door. He was scrambling down the empty halls as his name echoed. "Abdul. Wait" Obi yelled loud enough this time, that he turned around.

He had tears in his eyes as he walked all the back.

"Why would you tell him that?" Abdul yelled at him, sticking a finger close to his eyes. Obi whimpered as Nate just watched by the door.

"It was the only way, Abdul. I had to" He replied. "It's nothing, he's probably going to stay away from you now. From us" He reached for his hands as tears welled up to his eyes. Ab scoffed, shoving him in his chest. "I told you that in confidence"

"And then you used it like the selfish fucking person you are. What if he doesn't leave us alone and then he comes back for me?" Abdul panicked, heaving a deep breath. "He won't" Obi whispered. "Bullshit"

"You only care about yourself" He yelled and Obi just froze there, not being the words that came from his lips. He stepped back with quivering arms as Abdul pulled away. "I hope he knows that since " Ab pointed to Nathaniel and then back at him.

"We're done, Obi. There" He scoffed. "I saved you from doing what you couldn't do" He didn't bother waiting for a reply, instead he just pulled away, trailing down the stairs. "Ab-" Obi called, holding his chest and a gasp escaped from the back of his throat, as if feeling the pain of a knife circling inside of your heart. He never knew a broken heart could cause so much pain. And he fell into the only arms that were open at that time- Nathaniel.

"It's okay" He muttered, not being an expert on comforting but he tried. At least now he got the answer to his first truth or dare question. He held his back as tears rolled down his cheeks. "Wanna do drugs?" He whispered into his ears. I did say, he wasn't skilled at providing comfort. But somehow, he had the right words. Because then and there, to Obi-

-the thought of drugs didn't seem so bad at all.

-

Mira could remember that very porch.

Three steps below the flower vases, there used to be about three and your guess would be that Ojo loved flowers. Now, they weren't roses or anything basic. They were cactuses, of different colors.

And Mira had noticed that when she was here last, which was about two months back in December. And though it wasn't that far, things felt completely different. She shielded her eyes from the sun, looking down at her mud stained shoes. Silva was the one knocked first, twice. But there was no response unlike the last time. He'd went to side to inspect the curtains but they were shut tight, same as the windows and the dusty porch like no one had been here for a while.

The estate was quiet, with buildings that looked quite alike. And Mira hummed a song just before Silva came forward. "Nothing" He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe he's traveled out for another book?" He said, anything to not believe the obvious.

"Or" Mira looked to him and he looked away. "Or" He echoed and then his eyes caught someone across the road. He paced down the porch, strolling across the street. "Hey. Excuse me" He called.

Mira's eyes darted around, what she knew how to do best and Silva's voice faded behind her. Slowly, she walked to the corner of the building where she had seen stool and walking beside it. Her arms brushed against the bricked walls as she brought her knees to the ground. Hefting up the stick, she could only realize the obvious.

"He was rushed to the hospital a while back" The elderly one replied Silva as she threw away her trash. He cleared his throat. "When was this?" He asked and she stared in the distance, racking her head for an exact date but then she just shrugged.

"A little while back"

"And he hasn't been back. I knew that one" She whispered as ahe climbed back up her porch. "He made a good neighbor" And she walked to her door, the past tense in that sentence like a rod through his heart. "Can you " He paused and she turned around. "The name of the hospital?"

It was then Mira walked out from behind the building and they locked eyes on opposite sides of the street. "Something's wrong" She whispered and he nodded fraily. "I know" Silva replied.

-

"Are you okay?" Rose peered from above her whilst Deborah never let go of her cold palms. "You can do this, Fi" She whispered at intervals.

"Rose knows this. She knows how to do this"

Fiyin's eyes locked with the gynecologist's and the last thing she saw was the needle being beat over her, the painkiller being readied before piercing into her blood stream. It wasn't the only one she'd taken the past day. And she was pretty sure, the only thing that was in her stomach were the meds.

"After this, everything will be over"

That was a reach, but Fiyin chose to believe that as she stared down at her scrubs. The bed was lowered and she squuezed Deborah's palms the moment the syringe pierced into her skin.

"It wouldn't take long" Rose spread her legs apart and she bit into her lower lip, turning to Deb. That, was the last thing she saw before her eyes blurred.

There are some people that fell asleep from pain, and Fiyin was one of them. Deborah struck her hair as her eyes closed. She was a good friend. And even Fiyin didn't know what she'd do without her. Rose looked over to her, giving her a nod. Rarely did she see a female friendship as close as this, it could remind her of her mother. Deborah brought her lips to Fiyin's ears, singing her all time favorite. "When the night is come, and the land is dark" She whispered, stroking her hair. Behind her eyes, she danced to Ben King song and Deb swore she saw a smile draw across her lips. She sobbed- "And the moon, is the only light you'd see"

To be continued...