If I Were A Boy Chapter 40

Read Chapter 39 here.

“Hello, remember me?”

Alexa’s eyes widened in shock and a groan escaped her lips as she fell. His eyes met Kay’s whose lips had turned into a sneer. He was tempted to follow him but Alexa’s whimper stopped him. He bent down beside her.

“Alexa…”
“Please…I don’t want to die. Help me…”

Theo woke up in a start. “What the hell was that?”

He winced when he felt a throbbing pain in his temples. He was rubbing them when Theophylline entered.

“Hey, you awake? Kay wants to say hi to you.”

“Who?”

“Theophylline! Have you checked on the food?”
“I’m coming, mother!” She groaned as she left the room.

“Hello?” Theo said, his tone uncertain.

“Hi Theo, how are you doing?”
“What do you want?”
“You see, since your sister has given me a second chance, I thought it wise that we forget the past and start afresh. What do you say?”
“You and I have nothing to start afresh about. And don’t get too excited about getting back with my sister. She gets tired of people quickly. I’m personally counting down the days till I hear the good breakup news.”
Theo heard Kay chuckle at the other end of the line.

“You know, when I went down on the floor at the club the other night, the Uber girl said something to me which has kept ringing in my ears ever since: He who stabs, gets stabbed.”
“What can I say? Karma is real,” Theo said.

“Yes, it is; so I’m relaying the same message.”
“To Alexa? You dare threaten her again? There is a restraining order against you, you know.”
“Well, I happened to have had a look at the CCTV recordings of that night.”
“That was sealed evidence, I was told. Part of the deal to drop the charges.”

“There’s always a way around everything, isn’t there? I happened to see who actually did it.”
“Why are you talking to me then? Why not call Alexa yourself?”
“I don’t have her number and your sister tells me you’ve got the hots for her. And as you rightly said, there’s a restraining order.”
“Stay away from her, Kay. And stay the hell away from my sister.”
“I will. In due time.”
“Excuse me?”

Theophylline entered.

“Time’s up. Hand over the phone.”
“Bye, Theo.”
Theo stared at his sister blankly. She snatched it from him.

“Hey Kay, you there?” she asked, walking out of the room.

He had to tell Alexa about this. He must be put behind bars before something tragic happened.

*

“Are you okay? You sound groggy,” Alexa said to Paul in a Facetime chat.

“Not too good. My work kept me up so was only able to catch a few hours of sleep.”
Paul coughed.

“Paul? You don’t look good. Maybe you should see a doctor.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll swallow some supplements and I’ll be good.”
“Please…it could be something else.”
“What, corona? Come on, I’ve survived worse,” Paul said, laughing it off.

“This is not a laughing matter. If you won’t go to the hospital, then make sure you get enough rest today. No working hard stuff.”
“Look at you, acting all wifey. Really cute, Lexa.”
“I’m serious, Paul. Italy’s numbers are skyrocketing.”
“And I don’t want you to worry about me. I’m fine. I promise to stay in and rest.”
“When are you coming back?”
“Day after tomorrow.”
“Okay. They might shut their borders soon.”
“Yeah, will be out of here by then.”
Alexa sighed.

“I miss you.”
“Get here and I’ll say it back.”
Paul blew her a kiss.

“Talk to you soon. Love you.”
“Love you too. Bye.”
Alexa dropped her phone on the bed and sighed.

*

“Theo, what’s up?”
“I’m good. You?”
“I’m great. Nice to hear from you.”
“Yeah…um, I felt I had to give you a heads up. My sister…is kind of seeing Kay again.”
“Huh.”
“Does all you can say?”
“I’m lost for words, Theo. By the way, it’s her business who she decides to date.”
“The thing is, he keeps talking about revenge and honestly, I’m worried.”
“I see…I’ve a restraining order against him but I understand why you would be.”
“Can we meet up? I’d like us to talk.”
“Sure; would like that. Talk to you soon, Theo.”
“Yeah, take care of yourself. Bye.”
Alexa ended the call.

“Uber boy wants to hang out?” Louie asked.
“Yeah…apparently, his sister is going out with Kay again.”
“Seriously? Is she a bit…you know, cuckoo?”
“If I wasn’t too sure before, I am now. And he’s making threats.”
“Against you?”

“Looks like it since he can’t reach me personally. Apparently, he has revenge on his mind but I didn’t stab him so…I don’t know. Will talk to my dad.”

“Yeah, do that. We’re here,” Louie said, pulling over at a parking lot. They got out of the car.

Louie reached out for Alexa’s hand and they entered the jewelry shop.

“Hello. You’re welcome. What may I help you with?”
“We’re here to shop for a ring.”
“Okay great; let me show you where the rings are.”
“Whoa…these are beautiful,” Alexa remarked with a gasp. The attendant slid the glass case open. Louie pointed to one and the attendant took it out.

“This is nice.”
“Perhaps but this isn’t Esme’s style.”
“You sure? She might like this.”
“Nah. Let me see this one,” Alexa said, pointing to another.

Alexa slid it onto her finger and stared at it.

“Looks great on you. Very pretty. Do you think Esme would like this one?”
“Nah, this is more me than her,” Alexa said, taking it off.

They checked out some few others.

“Yep, this is it,” Louie said, when Alexa put on another.

“I agree. This was definitely cut for Esme.”

Louie held Alexa’s hand to get a better look. A flash of her dream came to mind.

“Hey, are you alright?”
“Sorry? Yeah, I’m good. This is perfect,” Alexa said and took off the ring. She handed it over to the attendant who walked away to the counter. Louie turned Alexa to face him.

“Are you alright? You almost lost your balance a minute ago.”
“Yeah, just a flash of a dream that came to mind. I’m okay,” she assured him with a smile.

Louie paid for the ring and they left the shop.

Louie noticed that Alexa was quiet. She began texting on her phone.

“Are you alright?”
“Yeah; just a bit worried about Paul. He sounded unwell when we spoke yesterday.”

“He doesn’t have the ‘Rona’, does he?”
Alexa glanced at him to see if he was being sarcastic but his face showed real concern. She sighed.

“I hope not, Louie. I pray not. He is due to return on Sunday. Feels like eternity away.”
“It feels more real and scary when someone close to home is at risk, huh?”
“Tell me about it.”

“He’ll be okay. You got to believe that.”
“I know.”

*

Theo walked up to Alexa’s car as she parked her car.  He opened her door and helped her get down. They hugged. Theo closed the door.

“You look great, Lexa.”
“Thanks Theo. You look good too.”

“How long has it been?”

“Far too long.”

They walked to the beach and sat down on some wooden seats.

“I got us some milkshake.”
“Aww…aren’t you a darling?”

After they had both tasted their milkshakes and nodded in satisfaction, Alexa asked, “I’m sorry but I’ve got to ask; what does your sister see in Kay that she’s still seeing him?”
“Honestly, it baffles me. I don’t see him as so extra that you’d ignore the blaring red flags and keep seeing him.”
“Well, she kind of despises me so if seeing him would rub more insult to my injury by reminding me of my assault, then so be it. I can see her reason; however silly that is.”
Theo only shook his head.

“I’m going to order khebab. Any preference?” Alexa asked, getting up.

“Why don’t you let me do that?”
“Come on, Theo. It’s me. I’ll just get assorted then,” she said and walked away.

Alexa’s phone started ringing. Theo glanced at the screen. A call from Paul. Theo looked in the direction of which Alexa had gone. When he saw her talking to the vendor, he quickly swiped the screen to ignore the call. It started ringing again. Theo swiped again. He quickly switched it off.

Alexa rejoined him and sat down.

“Will be ready in ten minutes, he says.”

“Alright.”
“I love the beach. Can stare at the waves all day.”
“Helps in clearing thoughts, doesn’t it?”
“It surely does.”

Theo also ordered food and after they had finished eating, they took a stroll along the shore.

When the sun set and the darkness started to set in, they decided to leave.

“My phone has been surprisingly quiet today,” Alexa said, taking out her phone from her pocket.

“Oh gosh, has it been off this whole time?” She switched it on.

“Really? Hope you were not expecting any important call.”
“Not a call per se…but I like to remain accessible, you know. You may never know when an emergency comes up.”

Theo noticed someone coming up to Alexa from behind. He squinted to have a better look as he was wearing a hood. Theo gasped when recognition hit him and he grabbed Alexa and turned her around. Alexa shrieked out of shock before noticing someone was right behind Theo.

She wanted to scream when she recognized Kay but to her dismay, her voice failed her. Theo groaned and fell in her arms. Unable to bear his weight, Theo fell.

“He who stabs, gets stabbed. Remember?” Kay said and quickly walked away.

“Somebody help!” Alexa shouted and bent down to look at Theo. He was bleeding.

“Somebody please help me. He’s been stabbed. Please.”

Two gentlemen helped to carry Theo by putting his arms around their shoulders. They took him to Alexa’s car and put him in the back seat.

“Thank you very much,” Alexa said gratefully and got into the car. She started the engine and turned on the hazard.

“Theo, are you with me? Please stay with me. You’re going to be okay.”
“I don’t want to die, Lexa.”
“You’re not going to, Theo. You’re going to be fine.”

*

Alexa got up from her seat in the waiting area when she saw Theo’s mother and sister walking hastily towards her.

“Mum, I’m so sorry…”
“This is entirely your fault!” Theophylline hollered, grabbing Alexa’s blouse with both hands.

“What are you doing?”
“Get your hands off her! What is wrong with you?” her mother scolded.

“It’s her fault, mum. My brother is in critical condition because he was protecting her. It should have been her, not my brother.”

“What makes you so sure she was the target?”

Theophylline did not answer as she kept glaring at Alexa.

“Because she knows who did it. Her boyfriend.”
“What boyfriend again?”
“The same one who stabbed me in my Uber ride and got stabbed in the club that fateful night. He was out for revenge,” Alexa said.

“Theophylline, is it true? Why are you still going out with that brute? Did he tell you he was planning on hurting her?”
“No; he only mentioned revenge.”

“Against who, me? Did he categorically say I was the one who stabbed him?”
“It’s your fault. My brother wouldn’t have been out there if not for you.”
“Maybe you should ask your brother if your boyfriend meted out his revenge on him or he just got in his way of hurting me.”
“What are you insinuating? That my brother stabbed Kay back at the club?”

“Who knows because I know I didn’t,” Alexa said.

Theophylline slapped Alexa hard on the face. Alexa staggered back. She touched her face in shock.

“How dare you?!”
“What is wrong with you, Theophylline? Is that how I raised you?”

A doctor came out of the ER.

“Theophilus Grant.”

“That’s my son. How’s he doing, doctor?”

“He’s fine but still in critical condition.”
“May I see him?”
“He’s being sent to the ward. Follow me.”

Theophylline stood in Alexa’s way when the latter started to follow the doctor.

“Family only.”
Theophylline followed her mother and the doctor, leaving Alexa alone in the waiting area.

Alexa’s phone beeped. She took it out of her pocket.

Tried reaching you. Been admitted to the hospital. Feel terrible.

“God, no.”

(c) Josephine Amoako 2020

Read Chapter 41 here.