Wild West of the Heart

Mira was on the couch, and Obi was on the ground.

His back rested between her legs, and he bent his head backwards. She hummed a famous song from her lips as her fingers bent into Obi's hair, braiding it into neat cornrows. It felt like forever since they had a moment like this. It was the thing with public holidays, it forced family time.

Fathers would finally be home from work and you get to see them during the day, children didn't get to go to school. And mothers, well mothers got their house full. And some cherished that. Classic bonding time, and Mira was about to take advantage of that, by peering into his phone. Obi.

He had forgotten at the slightest that there was a living breathing amebo behind him. And he kept tapping his keyboard, typing a message to Abdul.

Neighborguy118: hey.

He swiped through their last messages and how they hadn't talked since the night he bailed on meeting up, which was two nights ago. He kept swiping till something amused him from the texts.

And then Mira's voice startled him. The phone fell out of his hands as he turned to his side a bit, hoping she saw nothing of the flirty texts they sent to one another. And with the sheepish smile on her face, he got his reply. "God, Mira" He yelled, rolling his eyes. He struggled to stand to his feet, picking up his phone and he turned back to her.

"What?" She innocently asked.

"I can't believe you" Mira let out a light chuckle, adjusting in her seat. "So who's that?" She peered, and Obi facepalmed himself. "Nobody" He said. "That is nobody-"

"Obi, come on" She exclaimed, a bit nosy. "Who's she?" She asked, realizing she didn't even see a name across the screen. "Obi" A smile formed on his lips showed how down bad for this person he was. "It's a-" He paused. "It's a boy" And Mira let out the softest sigh. "It's a boy?" She echoed. "It's a boy, Mira" She tapped on the chair for him to sit and Obi took that opportunity- family bonding time.

But it didn't always work like that. For Fiyin, whose dad was slumped in front of the tv since last night, she had to make his lunch so he'd at least get to eat something before he went for his recreational farming. He brought back tomatoes whilst she bought the pepper that she used to make stew.

Plunging herself into household duties was the only way she stopped herself from thinking. After cooking, she cleaned. From the outside, to the parlor but there wasn't much to clean in the small house. She got to her room, and arranged her stuffs.

And planned to wash later. But as she was about to, she sighted her uniform in the pile of clothes. The uniform she had on that day. As she neared it, the flashes from that night came back to her.

Her fingers groped the hem of her skirt, on which there was still dried blood on the back. And she finally paused to think. To think about it. She didn't like the way it made her feel so she just stuffed it away and grabbed the rest of her clothes. If running from it was what made her feel better, then running is what she'll do.

"His name is Abdul" Obi whispered to Mira and she placed her chin on her knuckles. "Tell me more" Mira urged. "And he goes to my school, but i know him from a distance_“

"The texts?" Mira raised her left brow. "No" He let out a soft chuckle. "He doesn't even know it's me in real life. He thinks i'm Michael" Obi continued before he struck out a finger. "And before you say anything, yes, it's your Michael. In that moment, i ran out of names and you were there so yeah, Mira"

All she did, was scoff and shift closer. "I met him on app and we've been talking ever since. But he doesn't know it's me. We did this thing where we seldom send each other pictures but i haven't included my face in any. Told him self conscious and a bit shy. But now, he wanted to meet up and i bailed. I told him an emergency but the thing is " He paused. "The thing is i'm scared"

"I haven't felt this way for someone before. And i just don't want to ruin it. Because the moment he sees my face, everything changes" He continued. "Does it have to?" Mira asked and he shrugged his shoulders. "What if i'm not what he expects? Maybe i'm not the idea he has in his head or "

"Hey, hey" Mira reached for his hands. "Look at me, if things change because of that, maybe he's not the right person. It's his loss come on" Obi looked into the mirror at his half braided hair and sighed.

"I'm not too sure about that" He said and they both giggled for a bit. "So-" Mira let her shoulders rise.

"A boy?" She said, pretending to be shocked.

"Yeah" He exhaled, looking back at her. "A boy" He realized it was the first time, he ever said anything about his sexuality to anyone other than his reflection in the mirror. "So, are you...?" Was this his coming out? Was this the closest thing he'd get to coming out? He hated that there was even such a thing as that. It should just be normal, not having that moment in your life where you have to.

"I don't know" He replied. "I really don't" Mira brushed the side of his cheeks. She always made him calm, and much better about himself. "Well, you have your whole life to figure that out"

The truth was she has always been there for him, especially once he started transitioning close to two years ago. And he, for her. All those sleepless nights that he had, moments of doubt and anxiety, especially when he had to lose that weight to start his hormones, Mira was there for all of it. It only made sense that she was the first person he came out to. All they had might have been each other.

"Maybe i am?" He suddenly said. "But the thing is, i haven't given it much thought because what if i transition, will it change? Will everything, from the way people see me, to my sexual orientation change?" He asked, directing most of the question to himself.

"What if?" Mira asked, and his eyes widened, realizing that he almost slipped. Almost told her the truth, that he was off his hormones.

"I don't know, Mira" He cupped his chin before standing from the chair and kneeling. "Let's just forget it and get back to braiding my hair" He said, and it took Mira more than a second to sit back up. "Just be careful" She settled on. "Be careful because we don't get it as easy as everyone else"

"That's if you want to meet Abdul, though i strongly advise that you do. I've never seen your eyes light up like this, you simp" She teased, but soon that chuckle died down. "We don't get it easy, but you already know that. If not from before, well from Jazzlyn. The world right now, hates us"

"So be careful. It's pretty sad that the closest thing we get to love is through an app, which the government must not even know about. Sad that we can't get to have the high school experiences and go on dates in the afternoon and hold hands at the beach or something just as simple as a kiss in public. It's sad that i have to give you this speech before your first big date-" "What?" He asked.

"It's not a date, please" Obi rolled his eyes.

"Whatever" She combed through his thick hair. "I'm going to make sure you go for it either way"

There was a weight around Obi's chest that suddenly fell off. Like it slowly melted off after that conversation with Mira. He picked up his phone and stared at his screen for more than a second, hoping for a reply from Abdul. He wasn't religious but for him, he muttered a prayer, staring at the text.

Neighborguy118: hey.

To be continued...