WHISTLING BEAUTIFUL

  Thanksgiving at Auntie Moji’s house was lit. As much as I enjoyed going to her chaotic household as ‘the millenial auntie”. The one with a doctor’s salary, no kids, no drama, there was a low-key sense of dread as I got ready to go to her house. A Nigerian household during the holidays was full of drama, aunties and uncles asking awkward questions, the kids running around, for me it was mostly the awkward questions for me. Some aunties would sit and brag about their kids' accomplishments, making other kids feel like they had not done much with their lives. I could smell the Jollof rice as I walked into the house, and worried my fur coat would catch on the smell of the food. I hated homes with open floor kitchens like mine. The smell stayed on everything, and Febreeze was my best friend. “Kemi, come over here, we have a question for you?” my mom called out as she spotted me walking in. I stared at the four aunties who sat with my mom. Auntie Moji, the hostess, was my mom’s younger ...

  L erato opened her eyes slowly and stared at the clock on the wall,the moving hands on the wall moved with soft ticks that broke the silence in the room. She was entangled in the linen sheets of Andile’s apartment. The familiar scent of his cologne lingered in the air. She reached for the phone on the left night stand. The blue screen lit up as she put in her password. It was 2:15 AM. Wait a minute. She looked around, there was complete. Silence. “ Andile ?” she called out her voice sounding raspy from sleep. She got out of bed, her feet hitting the cold tiles, and walked into the living room. Where is Andile? She walked to the corridor and looked at the key hangar by the door. His keys were gone. His black leather jacket was not on the rack either. Where could he have gone? They had dinner, and the last she remembered they were having a good laugh over a glass of wine while watching  Grey's Anatomy.  He never mentioned going out. If he went out, how long had he been go...