Justin saw her again as he left the mall, where she was packing some of the groceries her aunt had bought into their minivan. For a moment Justin stood still but started walking towards the road as if something was wrong. Tema his sister had been watching all along as her older brother seems like he was about to stalk a beautiful damsel.
“You can say hi to her”, Tema said as Justin got close to the car. He pretended not to hear her and opened the car boot, dropping off the contents of his hands, before walking to the driver's side. Then he took one final look at the car that was leaving the park with that priced jewel inside, before opening the door, immediately he got inside the car he turned up the music to avoid any more contributions from Tema who had been trailing him with her eyes.
Justin was already a page full, he wasn’t sure he’ll complete this one and just after thinking about how he could complete it, he lost what it was all about in the first place forcing him to squeeze the entire sheet from the notepad throwing it in the bin which was littered with more squeezed papers. He sighed as he closed the notepad and went downstairs for a drink.
“How’s the book going” His cousin Nate asked turning from the TV to look at the tiredness on Justin's face.
“Fine” Justin replied as he perused through the contents of the refrigerator looking for what to drink and not being able to make a choice. He finally settled for a soda gulping down half of the contents with the refrigerator still open before he took another bottle with him and headed back to his room.
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Justin’s room was now littered with squeezed papers he managed to gather them just behind his doors. Most of the papers were torn write-ups from his notepad as he wanted to write a book based on his trip to Kenya. He had visited the east African country on a tour with the company he worked for before the economic meltdown and subsequent loss of jobs for many private sector workers. Back in Kenya Justin had found a passion for art and had promised to write a beautiful epilogue of the natives he had spent some time with.
Justin saw the next day as he was going for his usual morning run. He had decided to take an alternate route hoping to get a little inspiration while passing through the African salons. He had just passed a few of those shops when he saw an African mother strictly warning a child who had been playing in the gutters, her clothes were stained with the thick black dirt from the gutter which reminded Justin of his time in Kenya. He was still looking across the road as the mother carried the child away when he collided with a rider coming out of the next.
‘Watch it mate” The raider said as he picked up his bicycle and rode off in a hurry. From his dressing, Justin could tell he was a dispatch rider. He sat down a bit before getting up to walk home.
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“You are bleeding,” a lady said as she pulled him off the roads, her face was seared with concern.
“My house is not far, I’m a nurse let me dress your wounds,” She said to Justin.
“It's no problem ma’am,” Justin said “ I can manage” Just then, he regretted saying it as the wound bit him and he winced a little which the lady observed and denied his request escorting him to her house.
“Sophie” the lady called out as they got to the house which was just a few meters from the place where the crash had happened.
Sophie came out and Justin couldn’t believe his eyes. This was the same girl he had been seeing for weeks now without having the courage to approach. Justin observed her long black Afro hair which complemented her brown eyes. Her skin was like skimmed milk that had gotten an extra spoon of chocolate.
“Can you raise your leg a bit?” the lady said, bringing Justin back from his journey to wonderland.
Justin got his wound dressed and was about to go when Sophie came out to meet him. She gave him something in nylon.
“My mom said it will help with the healing and the scar” Justin took the nylon and thanked her and her mom. He turned to leave then turned back.
“I am Justin by the way,” he said, surprised that he got the boldness to speak to her.
“I know your sister told me,” Sophie said as she smiled back at him.
Justin started thinking of what else his sister must have told her.
It was barely two weeks since they became friends when Justin had invited Sophie to the house. He had finally completed two whole chapters and wanted to show them to Sophie who was a book lover. As she sat on the single sofa in the sitting room reading with seriousness and stopping occasionally to either condemn an ideology or correct a typo. Justin just felt so accomplished which could be seen by his wide smile each time Sophie said something. His sister Tema gave him a wink as she walked into the sitting room. A wink that Justin knew he was indebted to.