Talking To A Ghost

Ify walked close to K and tried to take the cooking from him. He told her he was okay doing the cooking and he does not intend to bother her. He asked her to go and rest. Ify refuse stating that Lanre was there and he was not sending Lanre away but he could send her away. Lanre feigned not listening to Ify. She believes she has the upper hand and whatsoever Ify would want to do will be subjected under Anita’s threat.

“Ify, please stop and go back to your room. It’s not like I eat meals prepared by you”. He said to her.

“Kehinde, are you talking to a ghost or you are talking to yourself? Please no matter what you do, do not spit into my food. I prioritise good food hygiene”. Lanre said to K making Ify feel less. He wanted to say he was talking to Ify but realised Lanre had done that to get at Ify. She wasn’t talking and when she finally did, it was to belittle Ify’s presence. No wonder she never acknowledged Ify’s presence.

“What did you just say?” Ify said turning to Lanre. Lanre smirked and told her she was pretty sure Anita was still awake. On hearing Anita’s name, Ify stopped. She chuckled and then clawed her face out of frustration. Thanks to the nails she fixed, she didn’t get to hurt herself. She told Lanre Anita’s time in Lagos would soon expire and K would no longer be manipulated.

Lanre hummed a song pretending not to have heard Ify. This got Ify angry. She could not stand being ignored over and over again. She should have gotten used to Lanre ignoring her, but it seems the more she did, the less used to it she was. She walked her way out of the kitchen but not without telling K to take his time while it last but dawn was not far from them.

K heaved a sigh of relief after Ify has left.

“You two used to be friends. It’s all my fault”. He said. Lanre yelled at him asking if he intends that she gets food poisoning by cooking his spittle alongside the spaghetti. He apologised to her and continued cooking. Lanre kept instructing him what to fry first before he adds the spaghetti and what to put in last as though it was a gym where the coach did the talking and the student follows the instructions by acting on them. And soon the food was ready. Lanre stood up from the stool she sat on and dished a bigger portion of the food for herself before walking away without even saying “thank you” to K. One would think she would eat at the dinning, but she made her way straight to K’s room.

K shook his head. He sat on the stool and placed his plate of food on the counter. Then he ate his share of the spaghetti. After he was done eating, he remained in the living room not knowing if he should go to his room or not.