Page 55

They sprang apart, swirling towards the door closest to them. Charles stood at its threshold, mouth opened in frozen horror, a half-finished carton of canned beer at his feet, golden liquid beginning to leak out.

Ten minutes later, after Timi made Charles clean up his floor thoroughly as Esther wasn't available, they stood before him in the kitchen. He and Alex at one side of the counter, Charles at the opposite side.

“So, to clarify things,” Charles said. “I didn't mistakenly mix my beer with Colos and hallucinate what I just saw, right?”

“Is that what you'd like to believe?” Timi asked.

At the sound of the crash, Timi's soul had briefly left his body.

Then, a calm from nowhere descended. He'd wanted this to happen.

Keeping Alex a secret had become harder than convincing himself he still needed to travel to find himself.

Alex was here, with him, where else could himself be?

And who else deserved to know if not Charles?

The worst he could do was out them, but somehow, he believed Charles would be a different face .

And he was right. Asides a severe frown, Charles' face remained handsomely bearded.

“Listen here, young man,” he was saying, “don't pull that shit with me. And you!” He waggled a finger at Alex. “Drop those shoulders immediately. Today, I own the gaddem show. You don't get to be anything but humble. Why? The dude you're boning is my friend. Oh, God. Did I just say that?”

Alex must have also cancelled out Charles as a threat, because he relaxed his stance, face softening.

Charles paced back and forth, before leaning against the counter towards them, lowering his voice. “So, to be straight—”

“You'll have to be neither of us,” Alex supplied.

It took a minute for Charles, but by then Timi was already having a full laugh behind his palm.

“Ooooh,” Charles exclaimed. “He's got jokes. He's hilarious. Any more? So, I can understand how this…” he gestured at them, “...came to be?”

Timi dropped his hand, but his grin remained. “Charlie, ain't you going about this all wrong?”

“Shouldn't I be asking you? No offence, but when I dreamt about this moment, my imagination never got past sizable melons and giant asses, you know, your spec you've imprinted in my brain for the past five years?”

Timi's grin faded “You've dreamt of this?”

“What other use is a best friend for? I had lists of questions. Like, what the hell were they thinking giving you a chance? Have they been held hostage before? All right there next to my best man's speech.”

Best friend.

Yes. That was what he was, wasn’t he? Not a fob watch or a costume. His friend.

Charles must have seen the confusion on Timi's face, because he scratched his beard, rambling.

“Err, well, I know we aren't those kind of people to say stuff and all, but if anyone has pushed jobs they could have done to me, hyped me up to my employer, topped my meagre savings when I wanted to buy my house, half-footed my dad's burial, plied me constantly with drinks after my first love married, they better be best friends with me or I might start thinking they're after my as—I'm not saying you're like…I just—”

“Thanks for being my friend, Charlie,” Timi cut in softly. How could he have been so blind?

Charles snapped his mouth shut, now looking flustered. “You're not going to cry on me, are you?”

Timi frowned. “Why would I?”

“You look…I heard gay people—you’re gay, right? Or, is it Bi? It’s hard keeping up with all these names for ordinary boning. Auto, Mono, Demi, Sapio, Bi, Pan, Die, jeez.” He let out a deep breath. “Well, I heard you people are like…sensitive, because of the feminine thing making you—”

“Seriously?”

Charles gave an explosive sigh. “Look, man, you have to cut me some slack, I've never had a…never been in this type of situation. Who's the man, the woman? Who do I lay into, dropping all my worldly wisdom and warning them to behave or—wh…what are you doing?”

Timi continued wrapping Alex's arms around his waist, then he asked him to lift him onto the counter. Once up, he encircled Alex's neck, then glanced backwards at Charles. “How about now? Have you figured out the woman?”

Charles looked like he would throw up at any minute. “So, you carried your shamelessness into your relationship?”

“We're not—” he began.

“We're not like that,” Alex said. “This isn't what you think.”

Timi's heart fell. We're not your regular couple . That was what he wanted to say. He must have lost his sense for a moment. He was leaving soon. How could he have forgotten?

Charles's lips tightened, brows furrowing.

“You're not like…wait, are you playing with my friend's heart?” Then, as if remembering who this friend was, his shoulders slumped.

“Maybe it's you I should even warn. I guess you know him, and you can, well, understand and still love him, if he, uh, seeks other wo…men, men—”

“Seriously?” Timi said again.

Charles threw up his hands. “I don't know what to say, okay? What about Nejeere? Does she know about this? Is that why she's been hiding? You hooking up with her ex—”

“I'm not her ex,” Alex said, as Timi's arms began falling from his neck.

Charles waved his hand. “Fling, whatev—”

“She isn't a fling either. We're nothing like that.”

Timi hugged himself against a sudden chill. Why was Alex still lying about it? He'd kept quiet because there wasn't any need discussing a past when they had no future. But did Alex have to continue denying her like that?

“Really?” he said lightly. “So, you're going to pretend that night didn't happen?”

From the silence that fell, he probably didn't sound as casual as intended.

Charles looked remorseful. “Hey, man—”

“After my father's death, I got mad drunk one night,” Alex said quietly. “ And apparently, I promised to marry Nejeere once I turned thirty, in front of our friends. She said there was a mock engagement party and that I kissed her. But I remember none of that till this very day.”

Another silence fell, but this time, Timi wanted to disappear into it and never surface again.

Charles exhaled loudly. “Oh, man, that was…well, I guess I'm happy for you guys? I take it no one else knows?”

“No,” Alex said. “And no one can, you understand, right? No one.”

Charles picked up his beer. “Especially Nejeere. I get. Lips sealed. I'll leave you to, er, finish up. I’m relieved though.”

“Why?” Alex asked.

Charles raised the can. “Better a boyfriend than a new bestie.”

And soon, they were alone.

“Alex…” Timi said hesitantly.

Alex stepped between his legs and gripped his face with both hands. “I'll never lie to you; can you believe that?”

A mortifying hotness pricked Timi's eyes as he nodded .

“Whatever I've kept from you, it's because I feel it's the right thing to do. But I would never lie.”

Swallowing a painful lump, Timi nodded again.

Alex's eyes were dark and intent as he said, “There can't be anyone but you.”

Timi gripped Alex's hands still holding his face. “And there's no one for me either. Only you.”

In that moment, an amorphous image of a man began taking shape. Who, despite his faults and failures, had chosen the right people to share his life with. And all he could feel was faith. In himself and the decisions he would eventually have to make.