My heart starts pounding this definitely have something fi do with Sash.
“Zara, yuh know the girl weh name Sash?” Anna asks, and I notice Lizzie looking away, uncomfortable.
“Yeah… a mi cousin,” I say slowly, trying to steady my voice.
“Mi a go through Gutta phone and mi see seh she send nudes to him,” Anna spits, her anger sharp. “Mi mad fi send it off, but ‘cause mi know mi see you wid har before, mi a seh no.”
She have every right fi be mad. A deep sigh slips past my lips.
“Mi affi talk to har,” I say quietly, “but weh Gutta deh?”
“Him try stay weh him deh, enuh ‘cause mi swear mi a go kill him!” Anna yells, her voice breaking. Father God, please.
Sash gone mash up dem life fi real. Yuh see dah gyal deh!
“Mi understand say you angry, but please don’t do nothing inna yuh anger,” I tell her, trying to calm her.
“Zara, a true yuh nuh understand. All dem texts a grief me… God know mi anger a boil,” she says, and I believe every word.
I sigh heavy, heart sinking.Watch mi and Sash!
“I’m sorry about it, hun… mi a go try talk to har, ‘cause mi cyaa believe har,” I mutter through gritted teeth before I end the call.
My hand trembles as I dial. That’s how angry I am.
“Yeah, Zara?” Sash answers, her voice way too calm.
Don’t call mi name, man. “Sash, wah mek yuh disgusting so!? Eh? Mi never yet cuss yuh, but mi swear, yuh gon’ hate mi today. Yuh gone cause drama between Anna and Gutta, and yuh have a whole man already! Yuh nuh have Marko?! So why yuh gone inna the girl relationship fi mash it up?!” I snap. The words flyfrom my mouth like bullets. No filter. No breath. No pause. She doesn’t even get a chance to defend herself.
“Zara, him tell mi seh dem lef! So how dah gyal deh a call yuh bout me?!” she shouts back, voice rising, cracking at the edge. She sounds guilty.
“Gutta woulda neva seh dat! Him and Anna serious real serious. And from my birthday, yuh been watching him, like yuh just waiting fi a moment. Knowing damn well seh him have him woman… now yuh gone mash it up!” I feel Lizzie touch my arm gently.
Calm down, Zara… remember the baby,my subconscious whispers. But mi nuh care right now.
“Zara, so a pick yuh really a pick up fi stranger ova mi?” she hisses. “We a family! A me yuh know all yuh life! Now yuh switch pan me, and yuh not even a gimme a chance fi talk mi side?” I laugh. A bitter one.
“Look yah, miss, that’s not the damn point. Mi nuh deh pon nobody side. Mi a call it like it is. Yuh been a look pan the man long time, and now yuh a mash up dem relationship. Fi wah? Some money? A little clout? Yuh nuh have Marko? Why yuh so damn greedy? A the same way yuh woulda try tek my man too under quiet. Actin’ like yuh pure, but all the while a slither like snake. Cause when yuh find time fi look Gutta? A Swear yuh dangerous.”
A long, shaky pause follows. “M-mi never wah yuh man, Zara. Mi just… mi happy fi yuh,” she shouts, her voice breaking. Really?
“Happy fi mi? Or bitter? Or just jealous so yuh couldn’t help yuhself? So yuh settle fi somebody close to him. That’s how deep it go?”
Silence on the other end. Then she breaks. “No, Zara! No, mi and Gutta been a talk fi a whi—”
Click. I hang up. Mi tired a har.
My chest tight. My head hot. My hands shaking. She calls back once. Then again. I block her number, then block her on WhatsApp. Then Instagram. Mi cyaah have somebody like this around me. Somebody who pree from close range. First, she a spy pan Anna and Gutta, now she go after the man, knowing damn well how weak man can be to woman. Now a strong, solid relationship crumbling.
I sit back on the lounger and inhale deep, trying to calm my nerves but mi mind is spiralling. Mi cyaah tek snakes… And that? That was a snake move fi sure.
Sash di snake,my subconscious screams, over and over.
My phone buzzes. A message from Suzanne: ‘Results out now’.
I exhale, rubbing my belly instinctively. Then—
“Zara.”
