"What!"

I looked at his face like he had grown five extra heads, I touched my ear to feel if it was still intact, but it was still there. That must mean I heard right. It can't be, it is either Samuel is lying or my ear is having issues. I dusted my ear and looked at Samuel's face with confusion, and if you must known Samuel was giving me this look of fear like he thought I was going crazy or something.

"She is your girlfriend? Then why the hell was she sitting on Ademide's lap?"

"That would be because he is her brother, I don't know if your ear is just not working, or you're just been yourself and ignoring what I said." He said with an eye rol. Believe me,  I wanted to pluck out his eyes, but I would have no excuse for my mum when she gets back.

"That doesn't explain why she was seated on his laps. What sister does that?" I asked, clearly confused.

"Well, there is a reason for everything. She just missed him too much. Do you know how long its been since they saw each other." Samuel said, sounding more gentle now, damn, he must really like this girl. I would have swooned at this, but duh, it's Samuel.

I thought more about it, then I realized that I had jumped into conclusion far too early, damn, what was wrong with me? Does that mean it was his sister he was talking to that day? So, according to what Uncle Seun said, I was giving myself unnecessary heartaches all because of a stupid assumption, but there was a bigger question, and I had to ask.

"Ademide doesn't have a girlfriend?" I asked again. Samuel, who was already once again concentrating on his phone, grunted before looking up at me.

"No, he doesn't. As a matter of fact, I'm the only thing closest to a friend that he has." My mouth was wide open at this point as I listened to what Samuel was saying, finding it hard to believe a word of it. "Most people at our school believe he's gay, and they all think I'm his gay partner." Samuel laughed as though he remembered something funny, "the first day I met his parents they took me out and asked me if I'm their son's gay partner, I assured them I wasn't, swears it was funny."

"But he is definitely not gay," I stated with a wry laugh. I could well remember that he doesn't look like a gay, and I could definitely prove that he wasn't gay, or maybe he's bisexual. I turned to Samuel in horror, who gave me a horrified look also.

"I'm definitely not his gay partner," he said, raising his hand up in mock surrender. I actually breathed a sigh of relief, like what the heck. "Moreover, I thought you guys had something going on, so why would you think he has a girlfriend?"

"What...what...what do you mean?" I stuttered.

"Just cut it. You think I haven't been noticing the way you both are acting. You were so obvious." He rolled his eyes, with a stupid sly smile on his lips, "just don't get pregnant, you know your mother, she will throw you and Ademide out of the house. And I love my Ade."

"You don't even care about me!" I yelled, hitting him on his shoulders. He only laughed at me, getting me more angry, like just how did he find out? Well, I and Ademide made it quite obvious. My mind went over to something I feel was more important, I was curious as to why he had no girlfriend or friends either. Like this dude was fucking hot, then why? "Why doesn't he have a girlfriend?"

Samuel's face dropped all playfulness at this, he became quite serious, and a little sad. I felt a pang of fear go through me, with the look on Samuel's face I knew it was definitely something bad.

"He says there is no use, they are all just girls to him," Samuel said dropping me into a sea of confusion. "He's only ever had two relationships, and the last didn't end well." I nearly choked on air as he said this, if anyone had told me he has only ever had two girlfriends I would have bet my head off that it was a lie. "He ended up confusing his girlfriend with another person."

"Why?" I asked in utter confusion. Why would anyone confuse their girlfriend with another person?

"Haven't you noticed?" Samuel asked me with a confused tone like there was something I should have figured out, but didn't. "Because of his defect."

"What defect?" I asked.

"He has posopagnosia, the severe kind." Samuel stated like he was expecting me to know the meaning of po...pro...pangno...blehh whatever.

"What the hell is that?" I screamed.

"Its called facial blindness aunty, it means he can't recognize anybody's face." He deadpanned.

"What!" I yelled, gripping hold of Samuel's arms. "Anybody's face."

"Yes, not even his parents face, or his sister. That is the reason Temi always seats on his laps, hoping that if she keeps staring into his face he would recognize her one day." His tone was sad, very sad, and I felt that sadness also. "He recognizes people by their dress, sound of voice, sound of footsteps, and all that."

Then I remembered the day my mum had sent me to his room and he had known I was the one without even looking at me, and when I asked he said, "your footsteps." Damn. "For how long has he been like this?"

"Since birth," Samuel breathed. He sighed deeply then smiled at me, for real I've never seen my brother this human, he must really love Ademide. "You don't have anything to worry about."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, for some reasons known to God alone he recognizes your face." Samuel deadpanned shocking me.

"My face?" I asked.

"Yes, your face, haven't you noticed he always stares at your face?"

At this point it all came rushing back to me, everything, the fact that he was always staring at my face. Everything he said about my face.

"I can't keep people faces in my head, but for some reason I can't seem to forget your face, I like it."

I remember him saying this the night of the day we first met, the night we were both watching movies. Damn, I had even yelled at him for confusing the people on the screen, but how was I to know.

"I can't help it, your face is practically the only face I see."

He said this to me the day I was in his room and asked him to stop staring at my face, I thought he meant my face was the only face he sees around, asides Samuel's, and my mum's. I never would have thought. And then I had asked him how bad his eyesight was, he had said.

"So bad, you definitely wouldn't pray for eyes like mine, but at least I get to see your face."

So, does that mean he uses glasses because of his facial blindness? Damn, how did I not notice?

"I think you are obsessed with my face." I remember saying this to him, and his simple but stern reply was.

"Yes, I am."

And the day we had sex, he told me this.

"Your face lights up my world." I remember how special that made me feel, and when I asked how, he said.

"Just, it makes me feel like I'm actually complete." That was because he felt incomplete, I would feel the same too if I were him. That is the reason he is so obsessed with my face.

Everything felt so unreal to me, first off I've never heard of this defect before, I once came about it in a Korean series I watched, but I thought it was fake. Hearing the fact that Ademide has it is shocking, and why my face of all faces, "why does he recognize my face?"

"See this one oo, are you asking me?" He hissed and returned to his phone, like I would really like to bang his head, but my mind was preoccupied with Ademide. Gosh, I felt so stupid for how I treated him, I can still remember how I had yelled at him to stop staring at my face. How could I have been so stupid? He must have also felt hurt, and trampled upon by me. Tears stung my eyes, and they fell freely, I couldn't hold it, I knew I had hurt him, deeply.

I brought out my dying phone, and searched on Google, I typed in facial blindness because I just can't remember whatever that name Samuel called was. I sat there for hours, reading about facial agnosia, wanting to know more about what was affecting my Ademide. Even found out it isn't an eye defect and had nothing to do with him wearing glasses, it is a neurological disorder, has a lot more to do with the brain.

When my phone finally died , luckily for me at that moment NEPA brought their light, I decided to plug in my phone and wait till Ademide returns from work. For some reason he was incredibly late, it was almost nine and he hadn't arrived, I wondered of he was usually this late, or maybe he was trying to avoid coming home. Samuel has since left me alone in the sitting room and was now in his room, but I sat where I was, anticipating Ademide's return, trying to phrase whatever I'm going to say to him.

And at exactly 9:30 on the dot he walked into the house, I sat up immediately looking at him. He looked so tired and worn out, and looked like he needed a rep rest, o wonder what they make him do at work really. I thought of what I was going to say to him, do I greet him, do I smile, won't it seem awkward, he was someone I had been avoiding for a while now. And most of all I feared that he wouldn't even want to talk to me again, and my worst fear was confirmed when he just ignored me and walked right into his room.

I sat where I was dejected, tears freely fell from my eyes as I realized I had actually lost him all because of my hasty judgments, and harsh words. I bent my face over my hands, and cried into my palms. I can't say how long I stayed that way crying, but I really didn't care, I also don't care if my mum comes back to meet me this way, I just don't care.

"Why do I have a feeling you're crying because of me my short screamer?"

My head jerked up immediately, and I was looking directly into Ademide's curious eyes, my heart did a little skip of joy as I realized he wasn't avoiding me, I smiled amidst tears and said, "your feeling is absolutely correct."

What do ya think?
Yay, or nay?
© Mary Aden.