The cab left them outside a massive style driveway gate. The fresh and rich air took over immediately. The silence was screaming "a rich neighborhood" The first thing that her eyeballs fell on was Filly's Blue car outside the mansion. Alongside it were two other Mercedes, prolly belonging to the other boys. 'Woow! What a mansion with a serene environment,' he remarked. 'She lives here?' he asked.
'They all live here.'
'Even Filly and Loren?'
'Except them.'
'Daamn, your friends are stinky rich.'
'I know,' stretching her hand to reach for the bell. Before she could lay her finger on it Belinda walked out of the house. The distance from the door to the gate felt like she was on a runway. A wide smile all over her face, delighted to see Malaika. She swayed her hips in a light blue nurse attire. Malaika took a step away to the gate as she came closer. 'Here she comes,' she whispered. She was not exactly delighted to see her. Her face was plain, like seeing a friend who became an enemy trying to be all friendly again.
But immediately, she pulled the gate open, Malaika put on a wide plastic smile. 'Berlin… …' With a smile she pretended to put on a disappointment face on '…It's Belinda.' 'Oh! As she giggled sarcastically. Belinda opened her arms for a hug. 'Congratulations on your wins.' 'Thank you,' pulling away quickly. Turning to Theo as she stretches her hand " You must be Theo,' he nods his head stretching his hand back with frowned eyebrows like asking 'How did you know?'
'… … Renzo was whining the whole night about how you frustrated him.'
Mouth wide open, he let out a 'Huh!' That's embarrassing ,' sigh.
'Forgive my manners, let's go inside,' she said welcoming them in.
Belinda led the way in. The air felt slightly humid and heavy, probably because the windows were yet to be opened. They made a few steps into the house. tack-tack-tack sound shoes make as you walk across the hardwood, thanks to a "jungle juice" spill that wasn't wiped up. She slowly turned to Theo who was behind her. As they burst into the sitting room, A heavy, stale mix of spilled alcohol, cooling pizza grease, and the ghost of twenty different perfumes and colognes struck their noses.
The sofa was shoved three feet from the wall. The seven of them from yester night scattered all over the place. Malaika giggling she walked into the kitchen. The dining chairs are scattered in the hallway, and throw pillows have somehow migrated to the kitchen floor. 'Seems like it was a big celebration,' Theo commented trying to find his way through the messy floor.
'I don't … … I don't know how to deal with this. I just came in from my night shift. I am tired. I hoped for a nap but they had different plans for me. As she was ranting a low melodic hum started from Malaika's throat. Belinda looked up, hopeful. "Is something funny?" Malaika let out a clipped, dry chuckle. It was soft, rhythmic, and entirely devoid of warmth—the sound of a person counting cards and realizing they've already won. "It's just," she said, her voice a smooth, calculated purr, "why did you call me here?' Theo stopped waking Renzo up immediately and turned to Malaika. 'What am I? the cleaning lady or something?
'I …I am sorry,' Belinda whispered with a lot of confusion. 'I just … I didn't mean like that… he's… they're a disaster…I didn't know who else to turn to…'
'So you thought ____' 'Gurl please,' Theo cut her short 'this is not the time for fights. You know what I'll do boys, you do girls,' he changed the topic as he began to walk back to where Renzo was. She gave a single, sharp bark of a laugh—a punctuation mark that cut through the heavy air. Her mouth curved into a thin, practiced smile, but her eyes flat and cold as stones at the bottom of a well.
"Don't worry, Theo," she said. "I know exactly how to handle this messes. I've had quite a bit of practice. Do the girls, I'll do the boys.' Walking to the kitchen 'You have any ice in the fridge?"
'Yes, can I get it ____'
'Noooo' she shut her coldly.
'Hey, Loren. Loren,' he tried waking him up. Belinda on seeing this she approached Ivy and Anna 'Hey, Ivy, Anna,' shaking them gently with a gentle voice. 'Wake up.'
Malaika came back with a bucket full of water and placed it on the floor with a thud, she pulled the sleeves of her jumper. 'What are you doing?' Theo asked. She looked at him, then back to Belinda. Down to the bucket that had ice in it together with a jug. A mischievous evil grin is what she gave then. She picks up the bucket of water and walks towards Luca, by this time the girls and Renzo are already awake. She pours a jug of water on his face. The ice cubes skipped across the floor like dice. He sat bolt upright, gasping. He looked like a drowned rat on an expensive sofa. Then he saw her walk towards Seth. "Mtchew." As he wiped his.
'He sleeps as twice much as Luca,' he said and poured him the first jug. The sound of the water hitting his face was a wet, heavy slap. He didn't just wake up; he convulsed, his body arching off the sofa as the ice cubes bounced off his chest and clattered onto the hardwood. 'Anna, stop this madn____he yelled and Anna shut her from the other end 'Eish leave me out of your hoeing mouth.' That's when he spotted Malaika walking to his next prey Filly. 'You're crazy,' he insisted as he tried to dry himself with his hand.
She dipped the jug once more and poured the water on Filly. He sat upright taking a deep breathe like nothing had happened to him. He didn't even utter a word. She approached Omar, who was lying on the floor and dumped half the water on him making everyone else flinch. Omar scrambled, his wet socks slipping on the hardwood as he tried to gather the ice. His reaction made Anna and Ivy laugh. Belinda was so worried. The humiliation—the cold water, the hangover, and Malaika standing there like a silent jury—finally boiled over.
"WTF!" he roared, his voice cracking. He lunged to his feet, chest heaving, water dripping from his chin onto his ruined shirt. She dropped the bucket and stared him dead in the eye. He stepped into her space, his hand snapping up, fingers curled into a trembling white-knuckled fist. He didn't strike, but the threat hung in the air, heavy and jagged. "In front of my fiancée ? In my own home?" The room went deathly silent. Belinda was frozen, her eyes wide with a terror she hadn't known she should feel. Omar was vibrating with a blind, pathetic rage.
"Oh, Omar," she said. "The temper. Still as predictable as a recurring nightmare."
Stepping forward, directly into his line of sight without flinching at his raised hand; looking at it with a mirthless, practiced curve of her lips. "Is that the plan?' she asked. 'To hit me? Go ahead. Let Belinda see the "Good man" she's about to marry. Finally she pronounced her name right.
Filly wasn't slumped on the sofa anymore. He was standing behind it. His hand was gripped white-knuckled around the back of the sofa. Unlike Omar's roar or Malaika's chaotic moment, he was perfectly quiet. He was "surface acting"—hiding a volcanic level of protective rage behind a mask of neutral concern. "Omar, sit down," he said. His voice wasn't loud, but it had a soft, vibrating edge that made Omar's hand drop. The realization hits him then: he is outnumbered in his own home. Not by strength, but by his stupid actions and the past.
Amidst the tension and deathly silence, Malaika's phone rings. She slides her hand into her sweatpants pocket and reaches for it. Immediately she glances on the caller's name, she walks some two meters away. 'Mother,' she says with a calm voice and all eyes are on her. 'Where are you at her mother asks?'
She turns to them and takes sometime before answering. 'Having fun with friends.' Omar scoffs
'Ok, we've missed you. Can you come by this weekend?
'Yes, it's been a while since we went shopping and ice cream shop,' a thin, piping voice spilled from the speaker. It was tinny and compressed.
'You have not been calling Khita lately, your____
'Mother,' she cut her short 'I'll come tomorrow I have some good news for you,'
'A suitor perhaps,'
'Mother,' she said, disconnected and walked back to the ruins she had created.
The water was still weeping into the floorboards, making a soft, rhythmic drip against the subfloor. She looked at Sarah—not with anger, but with a clinical, bone-deep pity. Take this card. If the wood warps—and it will—call that floor specialist. Tell him I sent you.'
'No No No,' she hissed 'You've already helped me out enough.' Sliding it back into her pocket, her gaze drifted to Omar. She didn't see a man; she saw a stain. The room was a graveyard of damp upholstery and cheap regrets. The other friends, were frozen in their sits, dripping as they shivered. Renzo Anna and Ivy shivered not because water was poured on them but they had slept in the cold room. She looked at them.
"Don't just sit there," she said. Her voice, perfectly clear and terrifyingly calm. "The ice is melting. If you don't start mopping, the mold will set in by noon." Her eyes traveled over each of their faces—searching for a trace of the friends she used to know, only to find strangers. Turning her back on the room. She stepped into the hallway, she didn't wait for a reply. She didn't look for a reaction. Her Nike sportswear striking the floor with final precision.
'Theo,' she breathed.
'Coming,' he panicked and abandoned Renzo for the second time in less than twelve hours.