Imagining Us

Ch.24

"What's up, my sister?" her brother, Kofi asked, his voice groggy from sleep.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" Esi felt a little bit badly for waking him up. She had checked the time, and it would have been around one in the afternoon in London.
She wasn't sure if he was still on shift, but she thought that she'd still try him.

"No, you're good." She heard shuffling in the background. "Why didn't you call me by video?"
She ignored his question. She didn't need him to see her face like this.
"If you're resting, I can call back," she offered.
More shuffling.
"Your sudden concern for my rest is a red flag," her older brother teased. "Seriously, Esi...Wo ho yɛ?"
Are you ok?
They knew Twi basics thanks to their grandmother's insistence.

There were so many things that were running through her mind, yet she didn't even know where to start. She didn't know what to say. Or if there was anything really to talk about.

Esi sighed softly and slid down off her bed to sit on the carpet. She leaned her head against the foot of her bed for support.
"Bibiaraa yε."
Everything's fine.
Her brother knew her well enough to not believe.
"What's wrong, Elizabeth? Was it mum?" he started. "I know how she is when she's set on something."
"It's not mum," she said. "Although..there was an inquisition the other night at dinner.
"Ah," her brother replied. She could hear the understanding in his voice.

"Anyway...how's work?" she asked, picking at the invisible lint on her leggings. A subject change ws in order
"No no no," Kofi protested. "You called me, fam. Don't try to change the subject. Tell me what's going on."

She hesitated–for no reason. This was her brother, her friend before anyone else. If there was anybody that she could trust, it would be him.
"Does this have anything to do with him?" Her brother asked. "Danvers?"
"Who told you ?" Esi asked fiercely.
Her brother hesitated.
"Afia...she was very excited—"
"Well, she was excited for no reason," she cut him off.
"What did he do?"

Esi thought about it. There was nothing about what was happening with Porte that really justified how she was feeling. She was acting like a spurned girlfriend. Like someone who was heartbroken.
"It's nothing to talk about...we're just friends," she said. "He's just being a bit strange."

If that was what you could call the silence.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.
"No."

The irony wasn't lost on her that she did call him to talk about it, but now that he'd asked, she didn't have the words to explain it. Nor did she really want to talk about it.
"But if you ever did...you can tell me, Es," he said.

She mused over his words.

"Okay?" He urged.

"Okay."

Kofi yawned, and she heard shuffling again.

"Why were you sleeping? Do you have a night shift later?"  she asked. Her brother was an A&E doctor. Accident & Emergency. The equivalent to the ER in the US.

"No. I came off of one at six this morning," he answered. "I'm off tonight so I'm going out for a pint with some of my mates. Speaking of—"

"Please don't try to set me up with one of your friends again," Esi cut him off with a plea. "Gaz wanted a mother not a girlfriend."
Her brother laughed. "Oh come off it. He wasn't that bad."

She scoffed. "Really, Kofi? Shall we rehash some of the things he told me? And that was right off the bat..."

He was full blown laughing because he knew what she was referring to.

"The cooking and cleaning suggestions. I had to ask him if his hands were broken," she exclaimed. "Honestly, it was the rash that got to me. I would have taken a look if it was on his hand, but it was only one lunch date, Kofi! Why didn't even think to ask you—A doctor!"

Her brother was still laughing. "Just so you know, there are tears coming out of my eyes. Gaz is a riot!"

She couldn't help but smile as she thought back."He definitely was something else."

Kofi calmed down a bit. "At least you found Remi after."

"True... he was a sweetheart," she recalled while stretching out her legs from their cramped position. "But we haven't spoken since."

"I know," her brother said, the added. " We talk."

"You talk to Remi?" When she was dating him, Remi would sometimes hang out with her and her many cousins. He and her brother were cordial, but not to the point where they were that friendly.
"Yea. We're mates," he paused suspiciously. "He's actually going out with us tonight."

They were that close. She needed to talk to Afi about her conveniently filtered gossip.

"Oh," was all she said.

"He misses you."

"Oh."
Esi couldn't even begin to think about Remi right now—with all the tether things that she had on her mind. They had broken up more than a year and a half ago. If  'breaking up' was even what you could call it.
It was more of an understanding between them. One day she was with him in England, and the next day she was drifting back to living in Connecticut.
Maybe they never technically broke up, but she had made peace with it,  and she had hoped that he did as well.

Her brother must have sensed her reluctance to talk about him.

"So what's this I hear about uncle eloping?"
"Bruvvvv," she stretched the word dramatically. "It is crazy in Trinidad right now. Bri says that granny is constantly slamming pots and pans ."

"What was he thinking?" Her brother asked incredulously.

"He was probably thinking that he a grown man, but he know how granny stay!"

With that, they avoided all talk of Esi's issues, but she felt lighter still—talking to her brother. Gossiping and reminiscing about their families.

However, after she hung up, there was nothing to stop the thoughts from rushing back to her.

Thoughts about Porte Danvers.

Only thoughts about him

Only thoughts about her friend.

A/N

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