Tears or the Sea III: Diamond Deception

"How do you mean the spark is gone? Speak English, b!" Rouge thunders, literally going red in the face.
Her fiery curls tousling at the sound of her vehement head shake.
"Explain to me how you go from THIS. IS. IT! to sparks dying... Are you abnormal or just experimenting with cray-cray? Cos trust me, something must be up with the nuts in your head if you've suddenly forgotten the real reason those sparks got to fly in the first place. So... you better start talking and it best be ENGLISH LANGUAGE this time!" She roars half in tears. What she feared was finally happening.

"Ummm, Rouge, I... I," Liandri stutters

"HEY! HEY!! HEY!!! If you can string my only sibling along all these years and finally wake up to the end of a long honeymoon, which "suprisingly" only ended on your side of the "divide" surely you can tell me to my face, just how these sparks you speak of flew out the window... Speak! And make it fast too, I've got an appointment with a patient" she hollered, half ready to beat the living daylight out of Liandri.

All their life, Alexandre had had to look out for her, their parents had made life changing decisions for him based on her needs and he'd grown up knowing he had to take care of her with his life and he had done just that all these years.
The one time she could've stood up for him and told Liandri off, she decided it was best to put his feelings first, Xandre would do the same... but Liandri wasn't what he needed at the time and somehow at the back of her mind, she'd known he was making a huge mistake.
What sort of self-serving b***h had she let in? Xandre was the reason why her parents had let her trade an American education for Medicine at KNUST.
Everyone thought she was wild. Their wild child, who could only be tamed by Xandre. She wouldn't listen to anyone else and she always managed to get into all sorts of trouble.
Their wild child. Their Rouge. The one who stayed after their mom's countless miscarriages, after Alexandre. She'd arrived red in the face looking like an Albino, but her folks hadn't minded. She was perfect. They were so delighted they picked "Rouge" on the spot.

Rouge: Red-coloured, Fierce One, Fighter, The one who stayed, Their blessing.
"Rouge Nadine" (Nadine: french for Hope).
Besides their parents, Alexandre was all she had (oh and grandparents, back home in Libreville, too - not like they counted for much. They loved politics and power more than anything else). His happiness was her happiness and his pain, her pain.

The day she had invited Liandri to move in with her, she'd heard the rumours of the girl who had somehow applied late for accommodation that session. She mostly wondered what sort of medical student applied late for Accommodation - an international student at that. Secretly, she was grateful for someone who was having a worse time at figuring out life, but a part of her wanted to help. She had a huge fully and tastefully furnished Off-Campus Apartment (courtesy Daddy's deep and generous pocket), and though she knew nothing about Liandri, she felt them Central African babes needed to stick together... because ...duh.
Well, she had the least clue about being Gabonese, but herself and Alexandre spoke French and the Bantu dialect, Fang, fluently and although Alexandre faired better at Spanish, she could hold a decent conversation in Spanish.

Here she was, back in the Motherland, Africa, totally uninterested in schooling in the States just yet, avoiding being alone with her parents in England, they were even considering a move back to Libreville; also, maybe having another friend other than Abena - whose parents had been her Dad's colleagues. Abena's folks had left the service a decade earlier and moved back to a quiet life in Accra.
It had felt right to move to Ghana when Alexandre had landed his dream job in Accra and Abena was applying to KNUST, to study Architecture.
Liandri, the Equatoguinean, her Central African sister, seemed like her type...

1. Eccentric human + really weird, but sexy lusophone accent
2. Lost: Lost Soul, Confused... kinda like her. Soul Sisters!!!
3. Not sure why they're in Med-School... yet thriving. They were gonna be fine ass doctors. Yassssss!
4. She'd also heard rumours that she was quite adventurous. Actually, they'd called her "party animal" (and how her reckless lifestyle may have been responsible for her homelessness now... hmmmm) Not like she looked it; but herself and Abena wouldn't mind a "third wheel". This was more than enough reason to take her in. They'd party together and possibly fail Med-School together... or not.
5. She was really pretty. An actual sight for sore eyes. That worked. She really wasn't about to deal with an ugly roommate who would most likely murder her out of sheer jealousy, in the middle of the night.

She spoke with Liandri that day and offered her a place to lay her head, food and friendship.  Henri Rawiri would be so proud. His little girl following in his footsteps.
Liandri took her offer so fast, she was scared the girl was probably looking to start a relationship with her. She had to make it clear, she preferred boys and boys alone. Turned out, Liandri preferred boys too. Good... No! Bad! Cos that's how they got here.

Look at her, looking all harmless, like she didn't just tell her she wanted to end her relationship with her brother, because she saw the ring. Xandre had spent quite a fortune on that beauty. She'd in fact helped him pick it out on their last trip to New York. He hadn't even had the chance to ask yet. Maybe it was for the better. They'd return the ring... because, this one will deceive him, take the ring and sell it... Okay, that's overreaching.

"Rouge, I'm sorry, I owe you and Alexandre my life, but I can't marry him. I can't marry anyone really... maybe that might change much later, but right now, I want to explore the world and make new discoveries in medical science. I want to make a change in Africa," Liandri pleads.

"Mrs Louis Pasteur, what do you want to cure? Nkonkonsa? Oh come off your high horse and stop sounding bright. As unserious as I am, I am the one who's been prepping for all these exams, so I can move to America or the UK for masters and possibly, Residency. Since our National Service, all you've done is move to Accra with me and work at that depressing Private Clinic. You've done absolutely nothing in the line of Research or at least, volunteering. You couldn't even be bothered with applying to a Teaching Hospital, Lee. So just stop it!" Rouge replies in mockery.

"I understand that I may have been too relaxed about all this, but I do have plans. I'm taking a rest. And that depressing clinic pays the bills," Liandri adds quietly.

Infuriated Rouge asks, "Talmbout bills! What bills, Lee? You spend your allowance from home on nothing. You don't save. I pay the bills around here... Sorry, my parents do. And Xandre handles all of your expenses. So just stop it! Go look him in the face and tell him you do not think he deserves you, I'm done here." With that, she slams the door behind her as she leaves the room, hot tears running down her cheeks.


For 'Nézi
(1991 - 2018)