Room 1045 Ep06: Queen Kess

Wednesday is upon us once again! You guys make me feel like President Mahama must have felt after losing the elections. I wrote the longest episode and almost everyone said it was short. I was like 😲. I count words and effort, you count the feeling. As for those fighting with me for the way Episode 5 ended, experience should have shown you that cliffhangers are my guilty pleasure. Be like Isabeldee! See the ‘see you next week’ coming. 😉 Christmas is almost upon us, hence the snow on the blog. (Yes I know it doesn’t snow in Ghana but WordPress doesn’t include lights or goat jollof in their themes so we will have to work with snow). I hear those using phones can’t see the snow- please let know if this is correct.

Happy reading and Merry Christmas in advance! I love you guys!! Also, shout outs to CPR, just because he is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! ❤️❤️️️

‘Sala!’

‘Sala!’

‘Kess, call the boys next door. We need to get her to the University Hospital.’

It was when Joan threw the pillow to hit Kesewa. She hit the space bar, pausing the movie she was watching, ready to rain fire, brimstone and some more on her least favourite roommate. That was when she saw that Joan had jumped off her top bunk bed and was holding Sala. She looked like she could not breathe.

Ei God! Don’t let anything happen to her. 

Joan’s voice pierced her thoughts.

‘Kesewa, I need help here.’

Kess jumped into action mode. Forgetting that her morning gown was short and clung to her body, she dashed out to call the boys next door for help.

‘Bryan! Chris! Yooku! PK! We need help.’

PK opened the door, with a quizzical look on his face. When his eyes fell on Kesewa’s robe, he quickly looked away, made the sign of the cross and started speaking in tongues. He had a special relationship with Vaseline and a website called xvideos.com that  Kesewa’s thighs reminded him of.

‘PK, save the prayers for Sala. We have an emergency. Who can drive here?’

Bryan grabbed the shirt that was hanging on his bed and responded, ‘I can. Let’s go.’

In a matter of ten minutes, they were at the hospital. Chris, being the policeman he was, gave them some first aid tips and made sure that they were not crowding around her. Bryan grabbed the car keys and parked as close to the entrance as he could. Joan and the boys lifted Sala and put her in the back seat of the car. The nurses took over and left them sitting outside.

Joan reached for her phone and called Nii Okai.

‘Please pray with us. Sala is not well. We are at the hospital.’

Within minutes, he had also arrived at the hospital. He politely said hello to the rest and sat next to Joan, speaking softly to her to calm her down. She put her head on his lap and he was quietly stroking her hair.

Kesewa couldn’t stop looking at them. At first, it was just because she was curious to see what made this Nii Okai guy like a girl like Joan. But then, the way he acted around Joan made her feel like she was lacking something. Her love life suddenly felt deficient.

Chukwu would have never come here, just to sit with me. Just look at how he is tenderly trying to calm her down. I would have gotten the ‘Stop overreacting. You are embarrassing me ‘ look.

She exhaled loudly and excused herself.

‘I am taking a quick walk. I will be right back.’

The tears started to fall as soon as she was out of their sight.

All of a sudden, she was 12 again, looking at her father’s dead body. Willing him to wake up. To move. To wink at her and call her ‘Queen Kess’. He didn’t. He stayed in the wooden box the whole time Mummy was crying her fake tears. He stayed in the box while Uncle Kweku spoke about what a loving brother he was, but failed to mention how he was sleeping with Mummy on their marital bed. He stayed in the box even though she begged him to stay with her.

Mummy didn’t change. She just moved from man to man. It was hard to tell what she was looking for. Nobody could be as amazing as Daddy and yet she kept sampling all the men in Darkuman and beyond. Tired of seeing men in Daddy’s place, Kess kept to herself. She was either reading or watching a movie. Series became her new haven- she could get lost in the episodes. It was another world- one in which her mother was not heaping her breasts into dresses that were three sizes smaller and laughing at jokes that weren’t funny, told by men who were not Daddy.

That was when she swore that she would never be like Mummy. She swore to stay with the man she chose and to never leave him.

Enter Chukwuma.

He reminded her of Daddy in so many ways. He treated her like a queen- for the most part. The other things, she tried to make excuses for. It was just her way of making life bearable. She knew that everyone thought she was crazy but she did love him and she didn’t want to break her promise.

---

‘Kess, are you okay?’

She sniffled and quickly brushed away the tears.

‘Yes, Bryan. I am fine. How is Sala?’

‘Oh, she is a lot better. It was a panic attack. Probably triggered by her constant worrying about getting into medical school. They just want her to rest a bit and take her mind off school for a bit. Joan and Nii Okai are making her laugh.’

‘That’s good.’

‘Kess, you are lying to me. You are not fine. You can talk to me.’

And so she did. She told him everything.

As much as one could tell in an hour.

‘Kess, you should break up with him. I think your dad would have wanted that.’

‘No, my dad would have wanted me to stay with the man I love and make it work.’

‘No man who claims to love you will ever put his hands on you. I have seen you jump when he walks into a room. You are half afraid of upsetting him. Your dad treated you like a queen. No queen gets beaten like a slave. So what is it going to be? Queen Kess or Slave Kess?’

Kesewa smiled through the tears.

‘Queen Kess.’

‘That’s what I am talking about. Do you wanna hug it out?’

She kissed him instead. Only problem is he didn’t kiss her back.

‘Kess-‘

‘I thought you–we– I– ‘

‘I am sorry. I must have given you the wrong impression. Don’t get me wrong. I like you but not like that. Especially not while you have a boyfriend. You are a sister to me. I feel responsible for you.’

‘Wow.’

‘I hope this doesn’t make things awkward.’

‘Oh no. I am the one who misread the situation. Thanks bruv.’

‘That bruv made me wince. It was a little too emphatic.’

‘Don’t worry. Thanks for listening to me and helping me make the right decision.’

‘Always.’

---

‘Open the damn door, Kesewa!’

Chukwuemeka kept banging on the door.

‘Come and face me. Tell me to my face. Don’t send me a text. Look me in the face and tell me you are done with me.’

‘Chukwu, you are making a scene.’

‘Then open the freaking door.’

Joan came out of the bathroom, with a towel covering her hair.

‘What’s the racket about?’

‘She broke up with Chukwu via text and he is not amused.’ , Sala quipped.

‘Open the door.’, Joan said calmly.

Kesewa turned to look at Joan.

‘Are you crazy? You want him to come and beat me up?’

‘You are no longer his girlfriend, remember? There is no reason why you should be his punching bag.’

‘He doesn’t seem to have gotten that memo.’

‘Call the boys next door. I know things are awkward with Bryan, but call them anyway. Sala, call them. I am opening the door.’

Chukwu barged in as soon as Joan unlocked the door.

‘You have some nerve. Breaking up with me via text and then making me literally beg you to open the door. Who do you think you are?’

‘A queen, Chukwu. I am a queen.’

Lunging forward to grab her hand, he exclaimed, ‘What’s gotten into you, Kesewa?’

Brian and Chris barged in just when he grabbed her.

‘I’d strongly advise you to take your hands off her.’, Chris said in a commanding voice.

‘I am an officer of the law who will arrest you for battery if you even touch a hair on her body.’

‘Police? You called the police on me?! Wow Kesewa!’

‘I am more than just the police. I am her next door neighbour and she is like a sister to me. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like a punching bag.’

Tears welled up in Kesewa’s eyes.

With the exception of Bryan, she rarely spoke to the boys in the next room. And yet here they were, rooting for her.

Chukwu looked back at Kesewa.

‘Make sure you don’t come back.’

Joan replied, ‘Trust me, she won’t!’

‘You will regret this! You will be sorry.’

‘Why are you still here, Chukwu? Leave before we add trespassing to your crimes. My roommate isn’t coming back to you.’

The boys cleared the way for him to walk. That was when they saw the lady standing behind them. She had a bewildered look on her face.

‘Is this Room 1045?’

‘Yep!’

‘Well, that was some welcome. Hi, I am Stacy but you can call me Enyonam. I am your fourth roommate.’

See you next week!