Chapter Thirty-one

I stood there in shock, surprised to see the person at the door. It was the guy I met earlier. The one that splashed water on me with his motorcycle.

"You? What are you doing here?"He asked

"I live here"I replied

"You live here?"He said, doubting my answer

"Yes! This is my apartment!"I lied

"Your apartment?"He said

"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"I asked

"No. The last time I checked Ms Nicolette lives here and she..."He said

Aunt woke up from her nap and came to the living room.

"Jocelyn,who's at the door?"Aunt asked

"No one Aunt"I lied

"Are you sure? I can hear voices"Aunt said

"Voices? No, it's just me... singing"I said

"Oh Carlos,it's you. Please do come in"Aunt said, seeing him at the door

I stood there with my mouth opened. If Owen was here, he would definitely take a picture and taunt me with it.

"Wait you know each other?"I asked, closing the door

"Yes. Carlos is my neighbour. He lives in the next floor. Ever since I moved here,he has been helping me out. He's like the son I never had"Aunt said, praising him

"Yeah,a good boy"I said, rolling my eyes

"Ms Nicolette,I brought you your groceries just like you asked"He said, handing a big brown bag

"Aw! Thank you!"Aunt said

"You're welcome"Carlos said

"I'll go drop this in the kitchen"Aunt said, leaving the both of us alone

"So this is your apartment huh?"Carlos said with a smirk on his face

"Umm...I don't know who you are but you still owe me some new clothes"I said

"I owe you nothing. I wasn't the one who told you to stand on the road and get splashed"He said

"Argh!"I yelled

"I'm back. Is anything the matter?"Aunt asked

"No"I replied

"I guess I'll be on way now"He said

"You better be"I said

"Why are you anxious for him to leave? Do you guys know each other?"Aunt asked

"Yes! No!"We both said in unison

It was hard to tell which was right.

"Okay,if you say so"I shrugged

He unlocked the door and I closed it. I was glad that jerk was out of the apartment. Aunt saw the excitement on my face and suspected that I knew Carlos.

"Are you sure you both don't know each other? I can actually see the sparks in you two"Aunt said with a grin

"Sparks? For him? No way! Absolutely not!"I said, disagreeing with her

"You may not see it but I can"She said

I carried Coco in my arms and went to my room. I carefully lied her on her bed and sat on mine. I brought out my headphone from my bag and connected it to my phone. I listened to music with it. I had the songs play on shuffle. It began with 'A Thousand Miles' by The Kid Laroi,'Bad Habits' by Ed Sheeran and so many other songs I had in my playlist. I was so caught up in the music that I didn't know it was night. Time flies really fast. Aunt came in to my room and removed the headphone from my ears.

"I've been calling you from the kitchen but you didn't answer. Dinner is ready,let's go and eat"Aunt said

"I'm not hungry"I replied

"Why aren't you hungry?"She asked

I remained silent and didn't say anything.

"Did you eat anything?"She asked

"No!"I said

"You didn't eat yesterday. You didn't have breakfast either and you're saying you're not hungry? Are you sure okay? Are you sick in anyway? 'Cause even sick people do need eat to take their medication. Are you suffering anorexia?"She said

"No!"I said

"Do you have any disease I don't know about?"She asked

"No!"I said

"Then follow to the living room so that we can have dinner. I'm not taking no for an answer"Aunt said

I sighed softly. She returned my headphone and waited for me at the door. I kept my phone and headphone on the bed and left with her. We went to the dinning table and sat down on the seats. Aunt had already set the table and placed dinner in front of us. She prepared spaghetti and meatballs. It smelt yummy and made my taste buds tingle. I haven't had any reasonable dish except for chips and crackers ever since I became cold-hearted. 

"Mmm! Smell so good!"I said, serving myself

"Yum! Tastes even better too!"I said, eating the spaghetti rolled up in my fork

"It tastes just like Mom's cooking"I said, noticing a resemblance in her cooking

"Yes it does, doesn't it? It was actually Grandma Nora who taught your mom and I how to cook. It is our family recipe"Aunt said

"Wait? Grandma Nora taught you how to cook? Usually,I thought Grandma was good in knitting. I never knew she could cook amazing dishes"I said, enjoying my spaghetti

"Mom was good in all she did. She was said to be an ideal woman. Strong. Hardworking. Peaceful. Loving. Caring. She was an altruist. She always put others above herself. Sometimes I wished she was a bit selfish and thought about herself, even for a minute"She said

She sighed and continued.

"She would take us to the farm whenever we were on holiday and we all helped with the harvesting of the produce. Later,we would go to the market and sell some of the produce we brought. We earned some money and used to make dinner and buy things needed in the house. Dad would tell us stories under the stars while we lied our heads on her lap. There were five of us, before your Uncle Matt died. After Dad died,she was all we had left. She made sure we went to school and accomplished our dreams. We weren't rich but we had all the riches money couldn't buy. It hurts to me to know that she's no more. I didn't even get a chance to say my final goodbye to her"Aunt said,reminiscing on the past

I paused eating and looked at Aunt. She held back her tears. It was about to burst and leak on her face. She noticed I was staring at her and wiped off her tears with a napkin.

"Eat up or your pasta might get cold"She said

After listening to her story,I lost my appetite. I played with my pasta and accidentally dropped my fork on the floor. I bent down to pick it and bumped my head on the table.

"Ow!"I said, touching my head

"Are you okay?"Aunt asked

"Yes! I'm okay!"I said, checking if I was bleeding

"Do you need some ice on that?"She asked

"No! I'm good!"I replied

"Wow! I'm stuffed! Do you want some?"Aunt said, offering me more pasta

"No! Thanks! I'm full as well"I said 

Cousin Ann started crying from the room. Aunt heard her crying and went to check up on her.

"Jocelyn,do you mind putting the leftover pasta and meatballs in the fridge and doing the dishes while I go check up on Ann?"She asked

"Okay"I replied

"Thank you"She said

I kept the leftover pasta in a transparent container in the fridge and did the dishes like Aunt instructed to me to. I tided up the dinning table and retired to my room. Coco was still sleeping when I came back. I lied down on the bed but couldn't sleep. Aunt's story reminded me of home. I kept on thinking about Owen,Mom,Dad Claudia and Chloe. I really missed them. I got up from bed and went to the fire escape. Behind Aunt's building is a lonely alley. The sky was clear and the moon was visible. So were the stars. She shined her light on the streets. The alley didn't look scary like I imagined. I leaned on the metal bars and observed the happenings of the night. There were two dumpsters filled with a lot of cardboard, plastic bottles and some old newspapers. There were also trash bins and the trash are properly disposed in black bags. There was a white cat which was searching for food in the trash bin. She used her claws and torn up one of the bags. Luckily she found a rotten fish and ate. The night looked so peaceful and harmless. Ah! What a life!