The sound of Sunbo's cough rose louder and louder, until it was obvious that she was not suffering from any ailment. Romola turned away from the small darkened window and tried her best to ignore the sound. She opened her notes and tried to read. She thought of calling Hadassah and remembered that her tablet was lost property. Hadassah's number, as well as everything she used for her school, was stored on that phone. She settled for linking her fingers together and placing them across her stomach until she could no longer fight her tears.

Yetunde left her a scarred victim. Again. Was there no justice in this world? And Olumide? She'd only caught a brief glimpse of his face before she ran. He wore the same look as he had when Yetunde had revealed her true identity. The look he'd had before he became a raging lion.

Sunbo's cough increased. Chioma's eye strayed until they met hers. She understood what she needed to do but like most problems in her life, she would rather wait until the problem sorted itself. Sunbo was the problem but Chioma's look held the promises of threats that would not fail.

Romola unlinked her fingers and her arms fell to her sides as she sat up. She rose, and slipped her feet into her slippers before going to the door. She opened it as Sunbo cleared her throat, probably preparing for another bout of coughs.

"It's okay."

Sunbo beamed at her. "I told you I would stay here all night if I had to."

"You're not going to stay here."

"I don't understand. You are the same person that said I should not live with a stranger. Now, I want to live with you and you're kicking me away."

"Go home. What's wrong with the house?"

"What isn't wrong with it?"

"Is it Jide?" Romola shut the door behind her and stuck her left thumb into the pocket of shorts. She'd changed, after entering the house, into a baggy shirt and a knee-length pair of jean shorts. "Is he troubling you?"

"That one?" Sunbo pursed her lips. "I can handle him."

"Then if it isn't him, what is it?"

"Plenty things. Number one, I don't want to live in the same house as that woman."

"Which woman?"

"Your mother."

"Isn't she your mother also?"

"Ehn, but she gave birth to you first."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You're behaving like expired ogi again."

Romola sat on one of the Ghana-must-go bags. Nothing had changed since she went into the house. The bumpy hard feeling of the bag under her butt must have been the end of one of Sunbo's shoes. Sunbo always had more shoes. She took all of Romola's old ones, plus the new ones she got from their relatives and whosoever was dumb enough to buy Sunbo more shoes.

"What is wrong with expired ogi?"

"Would you drink it?"

Romola rolled her eyes. Sunbo placed her hand to her mouth to cough again and Romola gave her a side-eye. She shut her mouth.

Romola shook her head. "I hope you don't have Covid?"

"Did you give me?"

"You're very rude."

"Let me stay with you."

"No." The first sting of a mosquito bite had Romola slapping the top of her left shoulder. "How can you stand these mosquitoes?"

"The same way I've been managing at home."

"Will you please, just tell me what's going on? If it's not Jide, then who? Lolade?"

"You know who it is. It is that man and that woman again."

"What about them?"

"They're always fighting and before they will turn me to additional punching bag, I will leave the house. Shebi, you see Jide, he's smart. He only comes home once in a while. I don't know where he is sleeping but it is good for him." Sunbo swatted her hand at a mosquito that danced too close to her ankle.

"So, what if they fight?"

"Hmm." Sunbo shook her head. "This fight is different. They're even threatening that one of them should leave the house for the other. I've decided to carry my load and go before anyone will force me to leave."

"And you're leaving Lolade alone in all of these."

"She's mummy's baby na. Whatever happens, she'll be fine."

Mummy's baby indeed. Didn't Sunbo know that Lolade now hawked bread along with their mother? Or was she still unaware of the text that Lolade had sent her? Or was Sunbo so heartless as to be fine with the fact that her younger sister was no longer going to school? Sunbo lived in the house with them. She ought to know. And besides, if she was there, there would be less attention on Lolade. Maybe Sunbo could even teach Lolade. At least, until she found another way to earn money and pay for Lolade's classes.

"Listen, Sunbo. You'll be there for less than a year. Pass your WAEC and JAMB and I promise, I'll find a place for you to stay. But not here. Not now. This house is too cramped and Lolade needs you."

"I can't wait for a whole year."

"It's just several months."

"It doesn't matter."

"Why?"

Sunbo stood, her bones cracking. She wiggled her buttocks before sitting on her box throne. "Because I'm not taking WAEC."

"What do you mean you're not taking WAEC?"

She had stored some money for Sunbo's WAEC payment so she could take some of the burden off her mother. Of course, she'd lost a huge chunk of her savings by paying for Vicky's cake via electronic transfer to Miss Oyama's account but even if she had to return to the streets, Sunbo would go to school.

"I told you already. I don't want to go to University."

Romola's brows caved. "And what would you do?"

"I will become an actress."

"You're very stupid."

"Ahan, Romola?"

"How can you say you don't want to go to school. Do you want to end up like—" Romola paused.

Sunbo didn't know Bukky. And she wasn't about to reveal to Bukky that she would probably lose her job because she wasn't honest about her university degree.

"You? I can't end up like you."

The pride in her sister's voice irritated her.

"And what makes you think so?"

"I won't lie about myself."

"I didn't lie." Romola said through gritted teeth.

"Sorry, you just coloured the truth." Sunbo waved off another mosquito with long white nails. "I already found an agent and he's working on getting me something. As soon as I get my first real pay, I'll move out of this place."

Sunbo's gazed around, "It's even too small."

"You have to be kidding if you think I'm going to support you."

"Well daddy did."

"He's a stupid man. Go to school. I know what I'm saying."

"Go to school. Go to school. How many people that went to school have jobs? Even, look at you. You went to school, yet you still had to do side hustle and I'm sure you could've made more money if your side hustle was your main job."

"This isn't about me, or what could have been."

"Yes, it's about my future and what I want."

"I won't support you and you won't live here. If you need money for your education, or to buy these silly little things," Romola eyed a shoe that looked like red clown shoes, "I can help, but if you want to ruin your life, I won't be a party to it."

"You're not being fair. You had a side hustle."

Romola's voice rose until her voice broke mid-sentence. "And look how that turned out. I can't step into any reputable place."

"What do you mean, you have your job."

Romola's gaze dropped to the pattern of the interlocking stones underneath her feet.

"Right? Romola, right?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know, how?" Sunbo yelled.

"See, I don't have to explain anything to you."

"I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"They found out about your pictures, right? Shebi, I told you to tell them."

"It wasn't like that."

"It was. They found out and they fired you."

Anger and pain formed a lethal brew in her mind as she eyed her sister. "So what? At least I still have a good WAEC certificate."

"But what can you do with it?" Sunbo sneered. "See, I don't need a degree to act. And you don't need one to dance."

"Go back home, Sunbo."

"Nothing can ever make me go back home."

"Okay then, stay here but I won't support this foolishness."

Sunbo eyed her. "You're the worst sister anyone could ever ask for. You're supposed to help me. I helped you when daddy kicked you out. "

She owed her life to Sunbo but this decision was a train wreck she wasn't willing to approve. One of them needed to make their mother's dream come true and she would support Sunbo as much as she could. But Sunbo couldn't stay here. Under the eyes of Lydia and Calabar, Sunbo could pick up the wrong ideas.

"What exactly are you running away from? Do you think the people in these streets are nicer? I know what I'm telling you."

"I can handle them."

"Handle the problem at home first."

"Ohhh, I want to stay with you." Sunbo's voice became tiny and whiney. The way it did whenever the girl wanted to beg for things and pretended that she lacked the capacity to get it. Her lips pursed and her eyed filled with unshed tears but the pity button in Romola's system was not working.

Romola kept a straight face. Sunbo gaze's met hers. Sunbo dropped her eyes, batting those long dark faux lashes.

Why should Sunbo live here? Her life was less complicated and here she was trying to toss everything away for cloudy dreams "I can't take someone that hasn't passed ordinary WAEC under my roof. Pass and pass well and we'll talk, empty head."

"It's not fair. It's not fair." Sunbo cried as she held one of her bags and began to pick the other. She muttered something under her breath. "If Mummy breaks my head, it's you I'll blame."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. I don't even know why I came to you; I should have gone to Maggie directly."

"I better not get to that house and not see you there. In fact--" Romola seized her sister's large grass green clutch purse and pulled out her phone.

"What are you doing?"

"The first thing I should've done."

Romola dialled their mother's number. Sunbo tried to take the phone from her. She fought back, dancing around her sister's arms and trying to keep the phone in the air while it rang. Sunbo attacked her free arm. She tried to wrench it free from her sister's hold. Sunbo possessed more strength than she remembered but Romola managed to push her off.

"Hello, Sunbo. Where you dey? Where are you?" Their mother asked.

"She's here. At my house."

Romola waited for the hostility in her mother's voice but it never came. "Wetin she dey find there? What is she looking for there?"

Sunbo watched her with pleading eyes.

"I don't know oh. She carried her bags and said she wants to leave the house."

"Ehen, so she left me that I'm suffering and came to your house, abi, She'll meet me at home." Their mother cut the call.

Romola handed her sister back the phone. "Your mother is waiting for you."

Sunbo snatched the phone off her hand and flipped the middle finger at her. "I won't forget this. When I blow, I promise, I won't even let you near my dog's vomit."

There. That was one problem. The next was how she would face Miss Oyama or what she would tell her lecturer. The same man that wasn't even pleased with her internship choice.

"Say hi to mom for me."