Ipods in Accra (2 page)

‘I ironed my brother's work shirts for two weeks – whilst I was watching
Yana
!' she said proudly.

‘What?'

‘He got into an argument with Mum, so she refused to do it and I offered at a price. I earned about thirty-five quid!' Bharti laughed.

‘Gee, you could give Delphy a run for her money,' I replied.

‘Actually it was something Delphy said a while back, about making an offer someone couldn't refuse, that gave me the idea. I knew the nearest place Tejas could get his shirts ironed was charging four quid a shirt and he still had to lug them there and back. So I undercut them. It also helped that I made sure every morning I was up and dressed before him, and had my own pile of neatly ironed and folded clothing right in front of his nose,' Bharti said.

‘Why?'

‘Well, gotta look efficient, Makeeda. Besides, Tejas is a lazy sod!'

We both laughed.

‘Aren't you excited about Ghana?' Bharti asked, after a pause.

‘Sort of, it will be great to see Nana and everyone but …'

‘But what?' Bharti prompted. ‘As soon as we finish our exams, you get an excuse to do some serious shopping and it won't come of out of your pocket money!'

‘Huh?'

‘Makeeda, there is no way any parent wants a family member commenting on a lack of wardrobe, especially when you're coming from England!' Bharti explained.

‘Yeah, I suppose …' I said.

‘You still don't sound excited, Makeeda. This is totally illogical!'

I smiled. It was our catchphrase for whenever something didn't make any sense. We got it from a comment Miss Oki wrote on my sociology essay.

‘What about Nelson? Last summer we weren't together, because he was in South America and I went to France. Bharti, we barely saw each other and that was when we were a couple!' I moaned.

‘Ohmigod, I guess that's true.'

‘Exactly! We spent more time together when we split up!'

‘Dark days, Makeeda,' Bharti replied gravely.

Last year Nelson and I had split up a lot. The worst argument was when we split up for three months. What started off as a minor disagreement almost ended up becoming a feud of epic proportions. I refused to speak to him until he apologised and he refused to apologise. It was a nightmare as we'd booked tickets to see this top DJ perform in a one-off gig at the O
₂
. Somehow Jordan, Stephen and Bharti got us back together before the gig.

‘I know we haven't been getting on all that well lately, but I guess I was relying on this summer … And how am I going to explain?'

‘Just tell him, it's the only way. I mean, it shouldn't be that much of a problem, should it? How long are you going for anyway?'

‘I don't know, hold on a minute,' I said, walking into Delphy's room. ‘Delphy, how long are we going to Ghana for?'

‘Not telling you,' Delphy replied.

‘Wanna rethink that?' I said, poking her.

She just poked me back. That was the problem with my little sister – she was growing up way too quickly. Delphy was eleven and almost as strong and tall as me. She could actually wear my clothes now. It was weird and annoying for me having to hunt for my clothes in two wardrobes!

‘Delphy, see that pink top over there? I could've sworn I bought it for myself last month …'

‘Fine. Two to three weeks,' Delphy said with a scowl.

‘Thank you,' I said, walking out. ‘Did you get that Bharti?'

‘Yeah,' Bharti said, laughing. ‘You're totally illogical with that girl'.

‘Why?' I asked.

‘I know you were talking about the pink top you don't like!'

‘Yeah,' I said, smirking. ‘It didn't even suit me.'

‘Anyway, two to three weeks isn't for ever. Nelson should have no problem,' Bharti said.

‘You think?'

‘Yeah, listen gotta go. You're burning up my credit!'

‘Huh! That's rich coming from you, Miss Can Chat, Will Chat!' I replied.

Bharti's laughter nearly deafened me.

‘Thanks a lot! I've already got a case of RG to deal with!'

RG was our code for Revision Guilt. It didn't matter how much you had done: it never felt like enough.

‘Bye Keeda!'

‘Bye B!'

So, Bharti was convinced Nelson would be fine about my holiday, but I wasn't so sure. I knew what he could be like when he didn't get his own way. Moody wasn't enough to describe it. That boy could turn cream sour with his moody ways. I'd given up a long time ago trying to snap him out of it. I texted him.

Me:
W R U? Can U talk?
Nelson:
Nah, out with my mum. Back at Dad's by 8
.
Me:
OK. I'll call U l8r
.
Nelson:
What, no x?
Me:
Soz. X
Nelson:
XXX

It was funny that he always remembered to do stuff like that. At least I had time to think about what I was going to say, but RG was beginning to weigh on my mind, so, shutting out any thoughts of Nelson and my holiday, I opened up my revision notes.

I was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at a maths equation that Nick had given me. It was number three in a list of twenty that I had to solve. I was feeling quite proud of myself, as I had managed to write answers to all the other nineteen equations.

Nick had been tutoring me for free for nearly two years, but Dad had finally persuaded him to accept driving and car maintenance lessons as payment – Dad's a mechanic, so it wasn't a stretch. Nick was an old family friend and he always used to tell people we were cousins because our maternal grandmothers came from the same village and are next-door neighbours in Ghana.

I looked up and caught Nick watching me.

He had green eyes, olive skin and brown shoulder-length hair in ringlets that his older brother Paul said made him look like a girl. Their features were courtesy of a Ghanaian mother and a Polish father. Nick was at least six foot tall and didn't seem to be stopping there. He wasn't as skinny as he was last year and he was really happy about that. Apparently he had been getting fed up with being called lanky at school. Mel always said he was a hottie, despite the fact that they bickered their way through primary and secondary school. Now and again I could see what she meant, but most of the time all I saw was an annoying tutor and a special friend.

‘What?'

‘Have you finished yet?' he asked.

‘Nearly.'

‘In an exam you can't afford to spend twenty minutes on one equation. You have to just get on with the rest of it and come back to that one after you've checked your answers,' Nick said.

‘Actually, that's what I'm doing,' I replied.

‘Yeah, suuuuure!' Nick smirked.

‘Uh-huh. I'm doing exactly what you taught me to do. So shut up and let me finish the test,' I said and that wiped the smile off his face.

Nick had been giving me a hard time since I'd only got forty per cent on a past paper two months earlier. He was so furious, he practically rammed my entire syllabus down my throat and upped my sessions with him to twice a week! If I didn't have a tutor who was one of my oldest friends and a maths genius, I would have been less stressed. I mean, if Mum
and Dad had paid a real tutor, they'd never have given me that kind of attitude!

‘Makeeda, I wouldn't be acting so —' Nick began.

‘Shh! I'm concentrating,' I said.

‘If you think …'

‘Seriously, I really am concentrating and you're distracting me and prolonging the lesson. I'm sure you have your own revision to do,' I continued. He was in the year above and had exams coming up, too.

‘Well, I've done a lot already,' Nick replied.

‘Whatever! You know you'd be cramming right now, if it wasn't for this lesson!'

‘No, you're wrong,' Nick said, blushing.

‘No, I'm not,' I said, returning to my work.

‘Yes, you are!' he said.

‘No, I'm not!'

‘Yes, you are, Makeeda.'

I held up my hand to silence him and began writing the answer to the equation.

‘There you go, all done!' I said, handing over my answers. ‘FYI, I'm not wrong!'

‘Yes, you are!' Nick replied, as he slammed his own book down on the table between us with a huge thud. It startled me. He had a look in his eyes I'd never seen before. It wasn't real anger – it was something else. We just sat there glaring at each other. It was really odd, like there was something in the air – something instinctive but frightening. I'd never felt like that before. Then the phone rang, breaking the spell.

‘Delphy, get the phone!' I yelled.

‘Makeeda, you're not always right,' Nick said calmly.

‘Yeah, I know that, because then I'd be this oracle that everyone worshipped and wouldn't really be human,' I said.

‘So what, you think you're human?' Nick laughed.

‘Very funny! DELPHINA, GET THE PHONE!' I screamed.

‘OK, now you've almost made me deaf, but that still doesn't mean you're right,' Nick said, rubbing his ears.

‘So you're telling me you'd rather spend time helping me pass my GCSE maths than doing your own revision?' I asked.

‘I …'

‘Just what I thought,' I said, leaving the room to get the phone. ‘Delphina, you are in soo much trouble when Mum and Dad get back!' I yelled at my sister upstairs as I grabbed the receiver. ‘Hello? Hello Nana!'

The conversation with my grandmother began really well. She asked me if I was excited about going to Ghana and I vaguely said yes, but then she rattled off a whole load of really boring stuff about what I'd be able to do when I got there. All I kept thinking was I'd rather be in my maths lesson with Nick, which was totally illogical! I mean, it's a maths lesson with a stricter tutor than the one being paid to teach me in school. The phone line started crackling really badly and I could only make out every few words. In the end, I got fed up of just saying yes and told her I had to go. I returned to the dining room to find my revision stuff but no Nick. I was a bit annoyed, but then I saw he'd left my test results and I'd only got two wrong! I packed up my things and my phone beeped.

Nick:
Soz had 2 go
.
Me:
Back 2 revision, eh?
Nick:
Shut up!
Me:
I know U 2 well :)
Nick:
Well done on test. Now do pg 20, 50 and 61
.
Me:
Gr8 – u want me 2 do all that on top of my revision and coursework!
Nick:
NO MERCY!

At nine p.m., I switched on my PC to find Nelson waiting on IM.

To be honest, I knew different. We used to have such a great time, but it wasn't the same any more. It was as if we needed other people around to enjoy each other's company. That couldn't be right, could it? Part of me wondered if I was the only one who felt this way.