Romola held the warm nylon in her hand, inhaling the spicy aroma of the pepper sauce and anticipating the hot boli. While she took her gift to the small table beside the couch, she watched Yetunde shut the door.

"Why did you buy me food?"

It was unusual for Yetunde to buy her a complete meal. All she got were leftovers from her best friend. A complete meal meant that she was about to be bribed or compensated while a meal cooked by Yetunde was used as an apology. She prayed she was about to be compensated rather than bribed. Yetunde's bribes never ended well.

"Can't I buy something for my bestie again?" Yetunde's smile failed to touch her cocoa brown eyes.

"It's not that. It's just that..." Romola's voice trailed as she remembered that Yetunde had been standing in front of the bathroom while she had been on a call with Olumide this very morning.

"Look," Yetunde's voice was feathery as she sat on the arm rest beside Romola. Her braids cascaded down her left shoulder. "I just feel like I haven't been a good friend lately. I can't even remember the last time we had a good chat. You know about lecturers, your mom, the boy you have a crush on. That sort of thing."

"Hmm... I don't remember having a crush on any boy." Romola was quick to defend herself. She didn't have a crush on Olumide. She just admired his type of person. Beside, it wasn't something Yetunde ought to know.

Romola relaxed into the soft leather feel of the chair. She was expecting Yetunde to say something along the lines of 'Are you still in love with your books?' and she had a reply ready. Yetunde's next question was the last thing on her mind.

"Does your leg still hurt?"

"Not really." Romola placed her hands on armrests, lifted herself and her food out of the chair and walked to the other chair. Firstly, to prove that she was more than able to handle her ankle's pain and secondly, to get away from Yetunde's gaze. There was something weird about it. Like her friend's smile that was dissociated from her eyes. Yetunde peered at her like there was something going on and she was the object of whatever would happen.

"That's good." Yetunde settled into the chair opposite her and the smile vanished. "I thought you had broken your leg or something."

"This leg that I use to dance.... I can't break it by falling down. Do you know how many times I fall down while dancing? In fact, falling down is now a dance step." Romola untied the white nylon. Her mouth watered at the sight of the fried fish, garnished in red pepper sauce, beside the roasted ripe plantain. The burnt skin of the plantain excited her tongue. She was ready to devour the newspaper that the food was wrapped in. Experience had taught her to finish Yetunde's bribes as fast or she could or stand the chance of it being recalled if she failed to do what Yetunde wanted. Her stomach grumbled, relieved that it would finally have some breakfast.

"That's nice." Yetunde left her chair and sat on the arm rest of Romola's current chair. Romola scooted to the left but Yetunde slung her arm on the back rest so that she held Romola's right shoulder and her sides pressed into Romola's left shoulder. Romola raised a brow but Yetunde replied with that creepy smile. "I just remembered that I also bought you a drink."

"Where is it?" Romola paused her counting of the pieces of suya. If there was a drink involved then whatever Yetunde had to say would be big.

Yetunde rose from the arm rest, returned to her hand bag and produced a big bottle of Fanta. She placed it in Romola's hand before resuming her position on the arm rest. Cool water droplets ran down the plastic body of the Fanta bottle. "Wait, mama size. Which year will I finish this?"

"Any year." Yetunde shrugged. "It's all yours."

Romola smiled at the goodies. She placed the nylon on her lap, said a short prayer and dug into the food. The suya meat was chicken suya; tender, spicy and hot. The chewy meat set her taste buds on fire. She quickly reached for the Fanta as the suya left a slightly bitter taste on her tongue. She opened her mouth mid chew. "This chicken... It tastes funny. It has this bitter taste at the ending."

"The suya guy was trying a new pepper recipe." Yetunde laid her head on Romola's shoulder. Romola would have complained of the itchy feeling of Yetunde hair on her skin but instead, she shifted her shoulder to better accommodate her friend. Yetunde had bought her a feast. A feast she couldn't afford because of the spending she had done while spying. Who was she to complain?

"Why would they need to change the pepper. What was wrong with the pepper before?" She broke off a piece of the boli and put it in her mouth. Why did the mallam have to change something no one was complaining about and even if they wanted to change something, they could have lessened the pepper. She reached for the Fanta again and took a gulp. She sucked air through her mouth to cool her tongue.Her mouth was now a pepper Jacuzzi and her tongue was soaked in it. The boli complimented the taste of the suya, masking the bitter taste with it's roasted taste. "It's nice with the boli though."

"That's why I bought them together. They go well like you and I." Yetunde stroked Romola's hair and Romola sat still under Yetunde's ministration. Why was Yetunde feeling so touchy, feely today. Was her friend on drugs right now? That question made her shrink away from Yetunde's hold and she stopped chewing her food, mulling on the possibility. Or did Yetunde just want to talk? She really couldn't tell. Yetunde was like a burst of energy. That was why she couldn't fathom the possibility of Yetunde's use of Ecstasy. It was like saying happiness needed to take happy pills.

"Relax," Yetunde pushed her gently into the back rest. "I didn't poison it. That's what the pepper tastes like. I won't buy this type ever again."

Romola wondered if Yetunde could read her mind? She should have done her research on the ecstasy and she would have done so had she not been distracted by Olumide. She remembered that Olumide had promised to stop by the house later. Would he really come? Would he speak to her in the same carefree way they had chatted on Whatsapp? What would Yetunde think about the change between them? How would Olumide even dress? She smiled at the memory of their time at glass court.

Yetunde nudged her side, pulling her out of her Olumide centered fantasies. She blushed, trying to remember what Yetunde had been saying to her before her thoughts crafted a path of their own.

"I don't think you can poison anyone. You that can't even kill cockroach." Romola commenced her eating, trying to hide her face from Yetunde's sight.

"Romy, don't be too sure." Yetunde used the same calm tone she had been using early that morning. Romola doubted that Yetunde was currently under the influence of the drug. If she had taken the drug, she expected Yetunde to be sort of hyperactive not calm and sober. She hated that she was doubting the person she trusted with her life so much.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Romola belched, hoping to irritate Yetunde. It was one of those things she did to Yetunde that made her value their friendship. She expected a smack behind the head, a look of disgust or a sermon but all she got was a sad smile.

"Romola.. there is something about me that you don't know that I think you should know. And since you are like my sister, you're practically a part of my family, I feel you should know this. I know you won't judge me. You're one of those people I really trust because you know the real me and you don't hate me. At least not yet."

"I don't hate you. I can't." Romola glanced at Yetunde's sober face. Her friend's eyes held pools of tears waiting to flood her cheeks.

"Don't say that. You don't know what I did."