~the good guy by day~

⊱𝚄𝙼𝙰𝚁 𝙷𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽 𝙱𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙾⊰

~•~•~•~

Over the past few years, I had grown closer, and fond of Kanye. When I needed fresh air and positivity, he has always been my go-to. 

As a new student in LIC three years ago, I never wanted to relate with any of my obnoxious classmates. I didn't care if not all were the same. Each one of them just irritated the hell out of me in their own unique way.

Including Kanye.

All I wanted was to be left alone and enjoy my solitude, but he made sure to ruin that. He became my seat partner all through Jss3 up till early last year when a new class teacher got assigned to our class and scattered the entire seating arrangement.

Kanye made sure I did at least one sport activity in school. It's funny how I'd never known anything about American Football, but got a hang of it within a month. It became my new favourite sport.

Then Jidenna Kalu happened. It didn't help matters that he joined the AF team later on. So I picked another sport. Something that would not make me affiliated with him. I picked swimming. 

And with Kanye's help, I've been able to tolerate all varieties of bullshit from him.

I drove into the DaCosta's vast compound which his father had permitted since I became closely acquainted with his son.  With the ornamental trees and flower beds planted in specific spots around the house, it made the place seem like a house out of one of those Hollywood reality TV shows.

Appreciating the beauty of the neatly trimmed garden in the middle of the compound, I made my way to the main door. On getting there, I sighted Oma on the other side of the compound.

She was crouched down in front of the large dog kernel busy with something. Probably cleaning it up. Lying lazily by her side was their golden retriever, Mama, and its little pups running around Oma, clearly trying to get her attention. 

I approached her, not wanting to alert her of my presence. But my little surprise was ruined when one of the pups sighted me and barked out loud. Then the rest followed as they ran and all jumped on me.

"Where are you three going for Chris—" Oma got up to catch the puppies but stopped when she saw me.

"Oh, Umar."

"Hey." I smiled as I approached her with the pups in my arms. They had done a good job of masking my face with their fluid. I crouched down beside her, placed them down, and stroked their mother's fur. 

"Hello, Mama."

She responded by giving my hand one lazy long lick. She seemed too tired to do anything. The Mama I know would have barked her pups to order.

Oma continued cleaning up the dog house while the three little golden retrievers kept jumping around, barking and tackling each other. Then their fun was cut short when one of them jumped into the dirty bucket of water and splashed some on us in the process.

"Andre, Carlos, Diana!" Oma yelled, followed by some angry Portuguese, and they sobered up immediately.

"Jesus Christ!" She breathed out, struggling to take off the rubber gloves she had on. I chuckled as I helped her take the gloves off and place them aside.

"My favourite laureate!" A feminine voice called out, causing me and Oma to turn our heads towards the entrance of their house to see the eldest child of the DaCosta children approaching me with a huge smile.

"My favourite DaCosta." I got up and returned her greeting as she pulled me into a hug. Her signature vanilla scent wafted into my nostrils and I inhaled. With a soft pat on the back, she pulled away.

"Please, don't tell Kanye I said that." I pleaded with her as she and Oma laughed.

Adaora was certainly one of a kind. Being a music coach, a nurse, and a fashion designer with a successful clothing line and fashion brand isn't something everyone can pull off effortlessly, but she made it look so damn easy. Also, being a manager for someone like Kanye wouldn't really be much of a hassle. 

Speaking of Kanye, he's one of the reasons I'm here. 

One of the pups barked at Adaora, wagging its tail too. It obviously wanted to be with her but was still restricted by Oma's order.

"Vem aqui, garoto. Vamos." (Come here, boy. Come on.) Adaora gestured for it to come to her and that was all it took for it to run into her arms. She ruffled its fur as she walked back inside the house, speaking her father tongue to it.

Mother and puppies could understand both languages. They could have probably learnt a thing or two in Igbo, because the last time I was here, the four of them were seated in the living room with Kanye's mum teaching them her native language. And she was really into it.

'If these dogs can understand my husband's native tongue, they can learn and understand mine too.'  That was her explanation.

I offered to help out Oma with clearing the place up, but she declined. So I went into the house, and at the same time, their Mum came out of the kitchen. 

She must have noticed my presence, because she looked in my direction and a warm smile spread across her face.  A smile that makes me wonder how in the world Mrs DaCosta still looks this beautiful and young. 

"Good Afternoon, ma." 

"Good Afternoon, Umar. How are you?"

"I'm very well thank you. And how are you ma?" 

"I'm doing very well too as you can see. Just a sore throat from yelling at your friends and their pets for the past week." She gently rubbed her neck then folded her arms with a worried look.

"Omasirichi has been spending more time with those animals than we humans. And I'm sure Kainyechukwu has told you what's up."

I felt bad for her. Dealing with two teenagers who have become more or less closed off from everything around them must be really tiring and frustrating.

"Yes, he did. That's one of the reasons I'm here."

"Oh, that's even good." Her face brightened up as she nodded at me then took off her apron and proceeded to call Kanye. At least she would feel a bit relieved.

"Chidubem, Umar is here oh!"

It took a few seconds for him to reply, and once he did, I thanked Mrs DaCosta and made my way up the grand stairs and into a large hallway that had four doors directly opposite each other. The rooms on the left beside each other belonged to Kanye and Oma, while one of the rooms on the right was for Adaora. The last room was unoccupied and for keeping random stuff, according to the occupants of the house.

I approached Kanye's room, opened his door and was welcomed by a blast of cold air. From Kanye's personality, one would expect a typical boy's room with large posters of celebrities and sports stars. But it was the exact opposite. His walls were spotless, like freshly painted ones. 

There was a wide black light stand with many drawers opposite his bed. Two lamps were situated on it as well as two photo frames at both ends, a digital table clock and other things. 

Situated beside his bed was an acoustic guitar, and a small table at the other side of the bed where his alarm clock rested. And at the far end of the room, was a large wardrobe and then another door which led to the bathroom. 

The owner of the room was seated on a chair, with his gaming headphones on and gamepad in his hands, seriously concentrated on the screen of a large plasma TV which had animated armed men running around.

I dumped my bag on the carpet and plopped down on his bed behind him. 

"What's up, Jóse?"

"I'm chill. Busting Lawal's ass as you can see." He took off his headphones, connected the speakers in his room and continued with his game.

Or trying to distract yourself.

"You're playing with Lawal?"

"Is that Bello?" Lawal's voice came from the speakers. "How far na?"

"Stressed. I've been swimming all weekend."

Non-stop practice has been the theme of my life ever since the coach announced The Paragon to us. I needed to bring more than my A-Game this year.

"Big fish." Lawal teased. Something he has always teased me with ever since I became one of the best on the team. Apparently, he calls us in the swim team marine spirits, and I don't know how that makes sense.

"And you still carried your swim bag with you." Kanye pointed out. His eyes were still glued to his screen.

"Oh, that? I'm supposed to train your sister. Something like that." I explained, looking at him intently in search of any reaction to Oma being mentioned. But he only gave a nod.

Lawal hummed. "That's nice. You guys should better whoop their asses in the paragon."

"You guys too," I said, referring to the basketball team. 

"Before nko? We go flog them like last year."

They were popularly called Hugo's boys because of the tremendous growth the team experienced after Hugo Dike became the captain. 

LIC's basketball team used to be nothing to write home about under the leadership of the last captain who was our previous senior. To make matters worse, dude got involved in some shit that got him suspended and stripped off his title.

Hugo had mad potential, so he was made captain on probation before he was given the main position. That made him the first SS1 student to become a team captain in LIC's history.

I nodded at his reply and at the same time received a message notification on my phone which I ignored and put my phone on silence mode.

"Folorunsho!!" A woman's distant but loud voice came from the speakers. From her tone and the yelling of his first name, it had to be Lawal's mum.

"Ohhh God." Lawal groaned. "This woman will not allow me to win this thing in peace." I could hear the frustration in his voice. Being interrupted in the middle of something interesting or important is not what one would find pleasant.

"Your mum?" Kanye asked.

"Who else loves to shout my name till the entire universe knows she gave me that yama yama name?"

Folorunsho Lawal is the name given to him by his parents. But apparently, the owner of the name didn't like it, so he decided to go with his surname instead. Lawal. 

It worked out well for him because some of the students in school don't even know his actual name. They all know him as Lawal or Senior Lawal. Everyone except his parents and siblings call him Lawal.

"Folorunsho, ma je kin wa ba e nibeyen!!!"  (Don't let me meet you there.) She yelled again, causing me and Kanye to laugh.

"I'm coming ma!" Lawal yelled back.

"How is her voice so loud?"

"I'll be back to whoop your ass, Kanye."

Kanye chuckled. "Yeah, sure." He replied before he signed out of the game just as Lawal had just done and took off his headset then placed them on the table.

Gently placing my phone on his bed, I decided that it was time for the long-awaited interrogation session. 

"So?"

"So what?" He whirled his chair around so he was facing me.

"What we discussed over the phone last night."

He shrugged with an impassive look. "We discussed so many things over the phone last night."

As nice and friendly as Kanye is, he could be the most stubborn and difficult being in the entire universe. Once he had set his mind to do or not to do something, he was going to stick to it. And nothing was ever going to change his mind. Nothing except a miracle.

"Stop this, Kanye. It's not funny."

We held each other's gazes in silence for what seemed like a minute until he blinked and finally spoke up.

"I haven't spoken to her."

"And why?"

He shrugged again, and I felt like breaking those shoulders of his.

"Nothing."

What a fucking stubborn ass you are, Kanye.

I let out a tired sigh and raised both hands in surrender. 

"Fine. Whatever. Suit yourself. I'm not going to bother you about this anymore." I took out my keys from my pocket and dropped them on his table, then laid down on his bed, face up to the ceiling.

"You might as well be the reason why she's seriously flopping during practice. I don't even want to mention how badly she might perform at the paragon."

If guilt-tripping is the only way to convince Kanye, then so be it. Seeing Oma so far off during practice really got me worried. It seems like he didn't realise how bad this was affecting her also.

He frowned. "Umar."

I sat up. "It's clearly affecting you too."

It clearly was. Kanye was usually 10/10 active. 11/10 if possible. But during the past week, he had dropped to an 8. Most people probably won't notice it and even if they did, they would put it on his condition. But I knew his sickle cell had nothing to do with it.

"Stop this, Umar."

I chuckled and spread my arms wide. "I'm not even doing anything."

"Stop this emotional blackmail."

"Emotional blackmail is for kids. I'm just giving you an update of the past week. Her head is not in this at all. And you don't want to know how many times she has skipped practice last week."

Making silly excuses which somehow, coach bought and let her skip practice. But I'm sure there isn't going to be a need for that after today, because the DaCosta twins are going to be cool with each other once again.

My eyes were trained on him. Watching, as he fought that internal battle. What Oma said to him definitely hurt like hell. I would lose it if someone I hold so dear said that to me. I'd dig a hole, crawl into it and die there. 

He finally let out a defeated sigh as his shoulders slumped.

"Fine. I'll talk to her."

A soft knock on the door interrupted what I was about to say, and Oma's voice followed.

"Mum said I should call both of you down for lunch."

Knowing this fish head wasn't going to reply, I smacked his thigh causing him to wince and shoot me a glare before giving a reluctant reply.

"We'll be down soon." 

I mouthed the words thank you to him, and thank God he got the memo because I would have literally knocked some sense into his brain.

"Thanks."

"Er... you're welcome?" Oma replied.

We didn't say a word until we heard her retreating footsteps. I looked away from the door, and at him.

"See? That wasn't so hard."

And all I got was an eye roll then he swirled his chair back to face the TV screen.

~•~•~•~

"Umar. Have you eaten at all today?" Mrs. DaCosta asked me. We were all seated around the dining table. I, Kanye, Oma and Adaora who was busy with Carlos, one of the pups.

"Not really."

"Why?"

"I need to be light enough to swim."

"You see, Mum? I tell you this all the time." Oma pouted and Carlos barked as if agreeing with her.

"Adaora, no dogs on the dining table."

"But It's hungry." She responded to her mother while showering kisses on Carlos's face.

"Carry this thing away from here my friend." 

The pup barked in response, jumping out of Adaora's lap and making its way to Mrs DaCosta who was ready to send the pup away from here and lock it in its kernel.

"Ogini?  Haven't you eaten?" She frowned at it, and he barked again.

"Mum, just let him stay." Kanye pleaded as he got up to grab the pup's plate from a corner. He dished a little food for it and placed it on the floor. Carlos ran to his plate and dug in immediately, wagging his tail as he enjoyed his meal.

"So you starve yourself all in the name of swimming?" Mrs DaCosta brought us back to the previous topic of discussion.

"It's not starving, mum. You don't eat certain foods before going into the pool."

"She's right ma. Some certain meals will do, and that should be at least an hour or two before going in." I explained.

"Oma doesn't eat," Adaora spoke up. "She doesn't like food in general." That earned a slight glare from her junior sister, but Adaora apparently didn't care.

"I'm dieting. In case you don't know what that means, it's watching what you eat."

"I still see no reason why you, Omasirichi should be dieting." Their mother said, before putting a piece of fried plantain into her mouth.

"Um...cause it's healthy?"

I didn't miss the quick but subtle look Adaora and her mother exchanged. I couldn't decipher it, but I knew something was up. I had no business probing because it might be a delicate family issue. The DaCostas might be my second family, but I know my limits.

"Omasirichi." Mother called daughter.

"Ma?"

"We'll talk later."

"Yes, ma."

Knowing that I needed to be home before evening, we had to get our training started as soon as possible. So I told Mrs DaCosta that we had to get started, and even promised her to take some food home with me.

Oma and I got up and left the dining area, and I stepped out of the house through the back door. I turned left and entered the small building which had all sorts of pool equipment, a shower room and other pool-related things. I changed into my swimming trunks, then decided to test the waters a bit while waiting for Oma.

She finally came out after a while in a swimsuit that made her look different. The good different. 

She looked…good.

Really good…

Umar Hasan Bello!

Shit.

I caught myself before my mind could drift away into the unknown and brought my eyes back up to her face.

"Nice." I complimented and she flashed me a huge smile.

"Thank you."

"So, are you ready?

"Yeah. Just nervous." She stopped at the edge of the pool, fiddling with her fingers as she looked into the water. "Don't worry. It's just one of those things."

I gave her an assuring smile. 

"You'll do great, Chica." 

The nickname made her lips stretch into a wide smile.

"You're just going to show me all the basic styles before we begin."

Her eyes went wide. "In continuous laps?"

"In continuous laps."

Oma stared at the water like she was seeing it for the first time. The last time we had rigorous training was back in ss2 when coach made us swim laps for almost the entire day. My arms couldn't function properly for days.

"I'm ready when you are," I told her and she inhaled deeply before giving me a thumbs up. Then I blew the whistle and off she went.

Sidestroke, backstroke, freestyle, breaststroke and the front crawl. She did all flawlessly. No surprise as to why she's one of the coach's favourites and one of the team's best.

My applause echoed throughout the vast backyard, as she got out of the pool.

"Super impressive."

"Thank you." She picked up her towel from one of the beach chairs to get water off her face while I went into the pool and swam to the other end.

"Omo." She breathed. "It's the fact that this butterfly shit is a basic style for me."

The butterfly stroke has proven to be quite a challenge for her. And she's not alone on this table. Among all the basic swimming styles, the butterfly stroke is the most difficult to learn due to its strenuous nature. It didn't take me as long as it was taking Oma, but it really gave me a hard time.

"Practice makes perfection, Oma. You'll get it eventually. It might take time, but you'll definitely get it."

"You do know that I have to be perfect at this before The Paragon, right?"

"I'll guide you through it."

Her gaze remained on me, before she finally let out a breath and dropped her towel back on the chair.

"Fine."

She got back into the pool again, swam towards me and I positioned myself behind her. Placing my hands on her shoulders, I felt her go taut. I proceeded to ease the pressure area in her shoulders by gently pressing down and rubbing them, but she wasn't making it easy.

"Oma, you are too tense. Calm down."

"I am calm." She said, but her voice sounded otherwise. 

"You're not." 

This was obviously not her first time, but I could understand how she was feeling. With the Paragon just a week away, she must have a lot of pressure on her. The high expectations from every single person in school and those around her, and not wanting to disappoint any of them.

"You know what? Just take slow deep breaths." She did that immediately and got relaxed after a few breath intakes.

"You're okay?" I asked, and she gave an affirmative nod.

"Okay. Let's go through it one more time."

Together, we practised the steps again until she was sure she could do it without help. I watched as she followed all the steps shown to her, while correcting where and when necessary. 

The one thing I really admire about the twins is their ability to not give up easily. Oma had gotten a hang of it already, and she was doing pretty well. She swam four continuous laps, but seemed like she was already tired by the fifth lap which she didn't complete by the way.

Then she emerged from the water, panting. 

"Can we...can we stop here...for today?" She asked in between breath intakes and took off her swim cap to let her long hair free.

"Sure. Rome wasn't built in a day."

I placed the stopwatch on the table and helped her out of the pool.

"Thank you." She breathed.

"My pleasure." Was my reply before I dived back into the pool, swimming the butterfly stroke a few more times. Oma decided to pick up my watch at a point to make it an unfair competition between me and time.

I finally beat her set time and heard her snort as I got out of the pool.

"Show off." She uttered with a sneer, which caused me to chuckle.

"Cheat."

"I'm not. I timed you properly." She waved the watch in my face before throwing it to me without warning. My heart almost jumped out of my chest as I barely caught my watch. Wide-eyed with shock, I stared at Oma who just sheepishly smiled at me.

The nerve of this girl sometimes.

"40 seconds for a lap!" I exclaimed, still in shock of my precious watch almost shattering to pieces and the absurdity of her statement.

"If that's how coach trained us, you won't even be on the swim team."

No one would be on the team. It wouldn't exist anymore because every single one of us would quit out of sheer frustration.

Footsteps made us turn back and Kanye was approaching us with two glasses of chilled orange juice. He dropped one on the stool, while I took the other from him and thanked him.

"Um...I'll be inside." I heard Oma say. Turning to look at her, she had covered up her wet body with her towel and was already walking past Kanye when he stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Oma, wait."

She halted and turned back to her brother with obvious surprise. 

"Me? Is he talking to me?" I gave her a shrug as I took a sip from my juice, and began walking towards the pool. I made sure not to walk too far so I could still hear them. Any fuck up, I pour thus glass of juice on his head.

"Yes, you. I'm talking to you."

Okay, Kanye. Don't fuck this up.

"I heard that you've been skipping your swim practice, and..."

And what? Why the heck did he stop?

I turned back confused, but just in time to see him pull her into a hug. That one single act conveyed every single thing they would want to say to each other. The sight was so warming to look at.

"Although what you said really hurt, I hate to see you down because of me. It's also really weird not talking to you for a long time."

"I'm really sorry, Kanye." Her voice had begun to quiver and break. She was crying, which was the second time I had ever seen her do so. It took me by surprise and didn't at the same time. 

"And I've forgiven you, Oma. I already did for a while now." 

They remained in each other's embrace for a while with Oma still quietly sobbing, until her brother was fed up with tears ruining his shirt.

"Okay, stop crying." He pulled her away and held her at arm's length. "Jeez, you're such a baby." He chuckled while wiping her tears away.

"Well," she sniffed. "I'm technically the last born."

I had no idea when a huge grin spread across my face. 

"I love you always." He hugged her again.

"I love you too. Always."

Mission Accomplished!

I cleared my throat causing the twins to turn back to me. "You two are so adorable and all. But I'm famished, and your twin love isn't going to feed me."

And we were all laughing like nothing ever happened.

I quickly went into the pool house to gather my things and get them out.

"You see, that wasn't so hard." I nudged Kanye as we walked back into the house.

"Thanks, Umar."

"Anytime. I was glad to help."

~•~•~

Gym, hospital, groceries for mum.

I reminded myself for the 100th time again today as I walked out of Kanye's bathroom in nothing but joggers and a towel in my hand after taking a quick shower to get out of the pool water.

Kanye had just gotten on the phone with someone while I continued getting my hair dry.

"Hey, Dami. What's up?"  

Dami?

I paused the movements on my hair for a second with a brow raised at Kanye.

"I'm fine. Please, where is your blockhead of a sister? I've been calling her phone since yesterday. She's not even online!"

His phone wasn't on speaker, but her voice was loud enough for one to hear. The energy of that girl baffles me all the damn time. I looked away from Kanye and continued to dry my hair.

"I don't know why she didn't pick up her calls or hasn't been online. But as far as I'm concerned, her phone is working pretty well."

A loud groan was the reply.

"I swear I'll kill her in school on Monday."

"Yeah." He chuckled. "So, how are you?"

"I'm tireeedddd! This house is so fucking boring. There's no difference between this and a prison cell and even—" She stopped and there was silence for almost a full minute. I was starting to think her call card had finished.

"Wait. What am I even doing?" Her voice came from the other end.

"What are you doing?" He repeated her question, looking quite amused.

"I've told you times without numbers that you shouldn't engage me in any of your petty convos." Dami sounded quite pissed, and I'm sure it's not just me.

"It's not a petty convo Dami. I just asked a question. How are you?"

"Well, I do not want you asking me about my welfare. Next time, I'll slap sense into your head." And the line went dead.

I just watched Kanye with so much interest as he stared at his phone with a smile.

"And do you care to let me know when this started?"

His head snapped up with a slight glare at me.

"What?"

Oh wow!

I knew I was grinning from the way he now frowned at me. But I couldn't control it. My guy had gotten himself whipped.

"You like Dami."

He scoffed and swirled his chair to face the TV in his room.

"Not even close."

What a bloody liar you are Kanyechukwu José DaCosta.

Having bothered him enough for today, I let it slide. "Okay. I'm not going to bother you this time."

"Good."

───────•••───────

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