"What's on the menu Fabes?" I asked and his eyes gleamed with amusement,
"For starters, we've got carrot sticks and hummus." He declared placing the little bowls in front of me,
"Cute." I laughed, "And?"
"For the main course, we've got turkey and cucumber cream cheese sandwiches from my mom's cafe." He told me and I smiled. It was nice that he put so much effort into this. "And for dessert, we've got chocolate chip cookies."
"Thanks for doing all this Fabian, you didn't have to." I thanked him placing my hands on his,
"I haven't seen you all week, it's the least I could do with everyone being stressed out because of exams and everything, it's nice to take a breather sometimes." He replied taking a bite out of a carrot and dipping it in hummus,
"I really appreciate it, I really appreciate you," I assured him and he smiled. Fabian had a really pretty smile. By the time we were done eating, it was almost time for me to go back to my dorm and study again, it was torturous.
"I have a competition at the museum of the arts on Wednesday," I told him and he looked almost as excited as I was when I heard the news,
"What really?" He gleamed, "You've got all my support, I'm rooting for you Nnandi."
It was nice to know what he was, I didn't realise it then but Fabian always was.
Chapter 14
Academic Validation And Other Plagues
I TOOK EXTRA long in the shower that next day in anticipation for the exhibit, I didn’t know why I was so nervous about everything- maybe it was because this was an actual exhibit that could be the exposure I needed to get where I wanted to be in my career. I slipped into a silk black dress and heels, if I was in Florida people would've said I was overdressed, but this was literally Paris and if I was doing too much it wouldn't even matter.
I went to the salon to get braids done yesterday and my hair was still a little sore but they looked pretty good, they weren't too long, and they merely brushed my elbows. I gave myself a pep talk in the mirror before heading out of the bathroom to find Keomi curled up with a book on her bed.
"You look so hot!" Keomi gushed dropping her book, "Please drop the boys and marry me?"
"I'm seriously considering it." I lied, knowing there probably wasn't in thing in the world right now that could make me droptheboy. River Kennedy. "Are you sure it's not too much?"
"If anything it's too little, you look drop-dead gorgeous ma chérie." Keomi complimented and I thanked her, just then my phone began to ring, it was Papa.
Papa hadn't called me much since I got here, it had been almost two months and he'd only called once or twice to make sure I was still alive. Papa and I had an odd relationship, one where we were never particularly affectionate towards each other but we knew we cared regardless. He wasn't particularly supportive of my artistic path at first and tried to threaten me with going back to Kenya if I chose to pursue it when I was in my senior year of high school, but once that didn't work he settled for it.
Papa came from a very traditional family that expected certain things from their oldest children, and then he had me and I was born with a fire within myself that even he couldn't extinguish. He couldn't control me and when he realized that, he backed away, maybe a little bit too far but it was best for the both of us. And yet despite everything, some part of me was still his little girl, his first everything, and when I looked at him I still saw him through the eyes of my childhood wonder, a vision of this man who I loved and who loved me and who could protect me from the world and promised that he'd never let me down.
"Papa," I said softly once I answered the phone,
"Habari yako, habari za nyumbani?"How are you, how is home?
"Kila kitu kiko sawa nyumbani, you can spare me the pleasantries, how are your studies?" Papa asked and I looked over to the pile of textbooks I was previously going through on the floor,
"Everything is going well, we are almost done with our exams," I told him grabbing my purse,
"Very well, I anticipate your results, and I trust that little hobby of yours that I've paid tooth and nail for is paying off?" He asked, since I was a kid he'd always called my art alittle hobbyin an attempt to portray his disdain for it.
"Yes, it is!" I assured him, "In fact, I'm on my way to accept an award for it." Keomi made eye contact with me at that moment and looked at me like I'd completely lost it.
"Make me proud binti yangu." He said and I took a deep dreary breath and shut my eyes,
"I never intended on doing anything less," I mumbled and he hung up the phone.
"Why did you say you'd already won?" Keomi asked, "You don't know that yet, these things are never that easy."
"I had to tell him something, he was grilling me to death," I confessed and she just shot me a condescending glare.
What I really meant was; most of the time I felt like I had to earn his love, and sometimes I just wanted to feel like he was proud of me, so I said things I didn’t mean. But I couldn’t tell her that, it was messy, and people never know what to do with messy.
