Page 47 of You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty
“Fine, fine. I’m just tryna add some friction to what looks like a slippery-ass slope.”
Feyi grinned. “That’s what she said.”
“Girl, bye.” Joy rolled her eyes. “And congrats on that motherfucking commission! FaceTime me later!”
She ended the call and Feyi rolled off her bed to go help Nasir pack. If she kept moving, then there wouldn’t be enough time to think, and if she stayed in the work, then it would be even better. Nothing had to be as complicated as Joy was making it out to be. It was a huge house, there was no reason she had to be around Alim more than was absolutely necessary. Everything was going to be fine.
The door to Nasir’s room was cracked open, and Feyi knocked gently before pushing it wider. To her surprise, Nasir was dressed already, a packed duffel bag in his hand. “Hey!” he said. “I was just about to come find you.”
“I thought your flight wasn’t till later,” she replied, frowning as he gave her a hug with his free arm.
“Boss shot me a text at like five this morning asking if I could get in any earlier.” Nasir rolled his eyes. “Annoying as fuck. I’m about to head into town.” He paused and took her hand. “You sure you gon’ be aight while I’m gone?”
“Yeah, don’t even worry about me. I’m going into full work mode to come up with something for that commission.”
He whistled. “Oh, shit. I forgot about that. Yesterday was wild!”
“Tell me about it.” She didn’t mention him coming to her room. There were some things that needed to stay and die in last night.
“You feeling good, though? Everyone thought your piece was sick, yo. And Rebecca loves you. Clearly.”
Feyi grinned at him. “I’m, like, buzzing to make work. It’s the best feeling.”
“All right, then. I’ma kill it over there and you kill it over here, and we’ll pick up this vacation when I get back. Deal?”
“Bet.” She followed him down the stairs and out to where the cars were parked by the bougainvillea, wincing at the sunlight. Nasir tossed his bag into the trunk of his car.
“I gotta go find Dad. I think he’s out on the grounds today.” He held out his arms to her. “Come here, you.”
Feyi stepped into his embrace, and Nasir hugged her tightly.
“I know it’s just a week, but I’m gonna miss you. I hope this trip has been everything you wanted.”
Feyi hugged him back, trying to swallow down guilt. “It’s been more than I could’ve expected,” she managed to say. “But you talking like it’s over, damn!”
Nasir laughed and let her go. “Nah, we still got time. Go chill out, I’ma text you from the plane, okay?”
She nodded and waved goodbye as he set off to find Alim, then Feyi turned back into the house, which was now roaring with emptiness, stunning in its solitude. Feyi stood for a few minutes in the light pouring into the living room with her eyes closed, trying to feel the aloneness of being there without anyone else in the house. She was interrupted by a voice breaking into the silence.
“Everything good?”
Feyi snapped her eyes open to see Lorraine staring at her with a quizzical look. “Oh! I didn’t know you were here,” Feyi said, startled.
Lorraine tilted her head. “It my father’s house, yuh know.” It was as if she couldn’t help but be bitchy as soon as they were up the mountain, like something about this house changed her.
“Of course, I just meant—” Feyi shook her head. “Never mind. Good morning.”
“Morning.” Lorraine looked past Feyi’s shoulder. “Where’s Nasir? He tried knocking on my door at some rassclat early hour of the morning.”
“He’s looking for Alim—for your dad. His flight got moved up.”
“Oh, so he going into town now? Perfect.” Lorraine grabbed her purse from a side table. “Tell my dad I’ll call him later, and that I getting a drop back to town with Nasir.” She tossed a cool smile at Feyi and was out of the house in a whirl of lavender, slamming the door behind her.
• • •
Feyi went back to bed after chugging what felt like a gallon of water, but when she woke up around midday, her head wasn’t pounding anymore. She threw on a bikini and went for a swim, floating and staring up at the sky for a long time. The water lapped cool and constant around her face, and the mountain was nothing but birds and sunshine and trees, the view extending like a universe. There was an undercurrent of anticipation boiling under her skin—what if Alim came up on her while she was half-naked in the water, wearing nothing but these scraps of sunshine yellow that Joy had convinced her counted as a bikini? What if he pulled off his shirt and got into the pool with her? She could still see his face in her gold rings, gazing at her in the middle of dinner, and having just a few days left before never seeing him again was starting to sound like an argument in favor of something popping off. Feyi growled at herself and dispelled the image, irritated. His knee had been rubbing all up in Rebecca’s thighs. She was better off just minding her business before heading back to New York, instead of imagining unnecessary things.
Feyi climbed out of the pool and went back to her room, taking a quick shower before changing clothes and heading down to the kitchen. She grabbed a large guava from the fruit bowl as she settled into the breakfast nook with her sketchbook. The sun was hanging bright and high above the mountains when Alim walked in, his presence pushing its way into the room, bending the air. Feyi paused her doodling to glance up at him, and the moment their eyes met, she became terribly aware of how alone they were up on that mountain, with no one to interrupt them for days, no one to hear any of the sounds he could pull from her so easily.