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13: A thief lives with us
My dress is missing.
First, my underwear. Now, my dress. Anger stirs within me, flooding my veins even as I try to stay calm.
I love that dress. I made it myself. That dress is the first complicated dress I ever got right on my own, and now, it's missing.
As I rummage in my bag, I'm on the verge of tears.
It has to be here somewhere, I keep telling myself. Yet, as I dig deeper into my wardrobe, search my bags and hanger, I realize that it's nowhere amidst my stuff. Even my drying rack is empty.
Storming out of the balcony, I try to think up a prime suspect amongst my flatmates. There's no way my dress could've grown wings and flown away. Someone must have taken it. But who? Who could've stolen my dress?
When I knock on Amanda's door, and she says to come in, I immediately strike her off my list.
The only furniture in her room is the flatbed she
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Finding Us 14: Yoruba Demond
“You still haven't told me why you threw that fine flower away,” Annie tells me while we're talking — with Amanda included — in the living room.I'm still contemplating my reply, when Diamond storms into the house, sending all of us to our feet.Upon seeing her swollen cheeks and tears leaking from her black eye, we run toward her.“Diamond.” I gasp as she covers her face.“What happened to you?” Annie asks.“Blood of Jesus,” Amanda says with her hands over her mouth.Diamond doesn't answer anybody as she goes straight to her room and locks the door.The three of us exchange puzzled glances, each asking a question of our own with no one to give us answers.***
Finding Us 15: “I don't owe you anything”
The men in the living room have every girl confused, except Diamond who's ecstatic as she tells them where to put the rug, chairs, TV and tables of different sizes.“Diamond, what's happening here?” Annie goes to ask Diamond while we trail her.“Can't you see what's happening?”“I can see what's happening, but what I don't understand is... Did you buy all these?”“No. Charles did.”Charles? Her boyfriend.I can't believe how easy Diamond is; this guy literally pounded on her, leaving bruises that prevented her from leaving the house until they were completely healed. Rather than dumping his ass, she's here smiling like it's totally normal to be pulverized by your fellow human being, as long as they've got money to satisfy your needs. It's quite s
Finding Us 16: From a different perspective
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Finding Us 17: What are you scared of?
I can't sleep.Not because Eric is right beside me, but because my latest revelation won't stop taunting me. It makes me feel stupid. No wonder Eric will never like me. I'll only be weighing him down.This thought has had me up for a long while, only staring at Eric when he takes a deep breath. Why in the world did I think a guy like Eric will like someone like me? My brain cells aren't even complete, neither are my facial features something to write about.If I'm a guy and I have to choose between myself and Mariam, I'll definitely go for Mariam. Not only is she beautiful, but her brain cells aren't as dormant as mine.“You can't sleep?” Eric's voice startles me.He inhales deeply as he turns over to lay on his side, his fist under his cheek.“I
Finding Us 18: Scared of the worse
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Finding Us 19: Almost
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My speech starts with a stutter, then a quick pause before it progresses with a ramble that has Annie and Amanda giving me looks.Diamond, who is the recipient of my advice, doesn't even move a muscle. Her eyes are trained on me like a hawk's, her arms folded over her chest. Though she remains still when I'm finished, it's clear a storm is brewing within her and I can already tell Annie and Amanda, who are standing behind me, hate me for dragging them into this.A chortle is what breaks out of Diamond first as she shakes her head and regards me with those stormy eyes.“Come let me ask you,” — she gestures at me before interlacing her fingers — “Did I, in any way, mention, even if it was by mistake o, that we're friends?”“Shebi I told you,” Ann
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