‘No worries. Thanks very much for coming, Mum. I’m glad you were here for when the doctors came and, and … Well, thankyou for everything.’ As her mother leans over for a hug, Anika murmurs another ‘love you’, finding it easier the second time.
After Nella leaves, Anika relays the news with a message to Wendy and a voice note on her group chat with Tina and Shameeka. She’s met with a slew of gifs, emojis and screeching voice notes in return. Eventually the excitement of the day catches up with her and Anika relishes having some time to rest and let everything sink in. She tries watching TV for a while, but her mind keeps darting towards the diary. She’s almost afraid she’ll jinx it by reading what she wrote the night before the surgery, but eventually Anika pulls it out from the drawer beside her. Turning to the last entry, she runs her fingers lightly over her words. It’s all still there, just like she remembers.
‘Only one way to find out if this is really a thing,’ she tells herself.
She writes tomorrow’s date onto the next page, then hovers her pen, considering what to write. But it’s unlikely much will happen over the next few days from a hospital bed, no matter how plush it is. The doctors told her she could be there for a week or more before heading home.
Anika thinks for a moment, and then scratches out the date she’s written at the top of the page, and instead writes10th July, a few days ahead. With hope propelling her pen, Anika starts scribbling.
The docs are amazed with my recovery …
I’m heading home after a mere five-day stint in this five-star hospital suite …
‘Let’s see, eh?’ she whispers to herself.
She flips the diary shut. Stranger things have happened, after all.
Chapter Eleven
That Night
Saturday 4th July 2009
Kwame folded his lips in for a moment, moistening them, and his lids lowered. ‘D’you wanna rectify that?’
‘Are you saying—?’ Anika’s heart juddered into a pounding rhythm at odds with the slow song playing outside the laundry room.
‘Yeah,’ he said softly. He leaned closer, then paused, his head tilted in his inquisitive posture again. ‘Unless you don’t want … ?’
Anika shook her head, almost imperceptibly.Was this really happening to her?
Her thoughts were cut off as Kwame edged closer. She nodded and then his lips met hers, confidently but softly pressing against them. He angled his body more towards her, his hand reaching up and cradling her jaw to bring her closer still. Anika’s eyelids drifted closed, her breaths shallow puffs in and out of her nostrils as Kwame moved his mouth over hers, his lips easing hers apart, his tongue skimming lightly in to touch her own. He wasn’t forceful, but the confidence of his kiss felt like the melt of warm honey. Too soon he pulled away, his mouth stretching into his glow of a grin, still heart-stoppingly close to her face.
‘Boom,’ he said quietly. ‘Issue solved. Happy birthday and that.’ His eyes held hers a moment longer and then he stretched and jumped down from the washing machine with a nonchalant air.‘Listen, we’re still mates, though, yeah?’ He gave her a sidelong smirk. Anika’s heart sank a bit, but then Kwame’s phone began to ring. At first he seemed casual, but, as he saw who was calling and moved away slightly, Anika could see his shoulders tense.
‘Eni?’
Anika knew Eniola was Zaya’s friend – girlfriend, maybe. But the tone of Kwame’s voice implied they didn’t have casual phone chats as a matter of course.
‘Where?’ He was already heading towards the door. ‘No. OK, OK … Tell her to … I’ll be there in a second, yeah?’ Kwame hung up quickly. He unlocked the door without saying anything else to Anika, leaving it flung wide as he rushed out. Disoriented by the sudden change in atmosphere, Anika jumped down from the washing machine, grabbed her bag and followed.
The house was almost empty and the music had stopped abruptly, like it had got to the end of a mix CD. It was eerie in there now, like it had been abandoned. Interrupted, like a bike dropped to the pavement with its wheels still spinning.
Anika knew the feeling.
Chapter Twelve
Monday 9th July
‘Nah, don’t just let it roll down the ramp! T?’ Shameeka says. ‘T! Hold on to the—’
‘Oh, come then, man! You do it then!’ Tina kisses her teeth and Anika laughs. The joyful sound echoes through the large atrium in front of the pick-up area of the hospital. Emerging into the fresh air is like being reborn. Anika blinks up at the bright sky, relishing the sun on her skin, smiling at passing strangers.
‘I can probably walk it?’ she says.
‘No!’ Shamz and Tina shout in unison. Shameeka takes the handles of the wheelchair the nurses insisted on.
‘I mean, you’ve seen T’s driving, yeah? It’s your fault for letting her be in charge of steering.’ Anika ribs her friends, then settles a hand gently over her tummy as the laughter causes a dull ache.
