I held my forefinger in front of his nose to make sure he was still breathing.

Yes he was. I tickled the shin under his feet like I used to do when I was small, to make him laugh, but he just lay there paying no attention at my pathetic attempt to get a rise out of him. In a last attempt to make him react, I grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him as hard as I could. He then stood up straight saying, “Okay! I’ll talk… It’s just that… Well, it’s not as easy as you think it is.”

For a moment after he spoke I was confused, nothing he said made any sense. I wanted a reaction out of him but not a confused one. I told him that talking about one’s problems or challenges helps. I also added that not talking about the things that eat at your soul would ultimately lead to you sacrificing the things you hold dear.

Mduh stayed quiet after I spoke and finally replied with, “Yeah I know Vicky.” Who the hell was Vicky? But he continued, “It’s almost been two years hiding this growing idea and worst of all its humiliating. Surely I’ll discuss it with mom and dad and I bet that bastard of a brother of mine will enjoy every moment of it.”

He didn’t even look at me as he rambled on.

I was grateful for that otherwise he would have seen the expression of surprise on my face.

“I didn’t know that I was a bastard, after this I’m eating that food let him suffer he started it! I know it was supposed to be a naughty one night stand, and I was too drunk, my hands were all over her and I didn’t bother with a condom. I hope it’s not…” At this point I was sitting on the edge of my bed a million thoughts running through my mind. I had no I idea who Vicky was but I sure wanted to hear the rest of the story.

What shocked me the most was the last part: “my hands were all over her and I didn’t bother with a condom.” When he said that he was beaming as if it was something cool that he had done. After he said the last perplexing words, Mduh rose and went straight to the fridge, took out the plate he hadn’t eaten at dinner, came back and sat on his bed again. He finished the food in less than two minutes and placed the empty plate under his bed. Mduh then looked up at me and said, “You still awake, yoh I was hungry.”

I blinked at his statement, who did he think he was talking to this entire time?

I climbed under the covers of my bed while he did the same and turned my back to him in an attempt to fall asleep. I couldn’t fall asleep though, when I turned and looked at him, Mduh was out cold. I thought about his confession and who Vicky was and how irresponsible it was for him to have unprotected sex. Finally I consoled myself by thinking about the delicious dinner we had that evening and fell asleep soon afterwards.

Usually Mduh was the first one up every morning, making a big fuss and noise as he got dressed or complaining about a headache he had. This was how I knew at times like those he craved a puff. Those are the normal signs of addiction. But today was different. Judging from the light in the room, streaming through the window curtain, I could tell what time it was.

I woke up to a different alarm tone. I felt a hard head-splitting knock on the side of my head followed by, “Who told you to eat my chicken you bastard?” It was Mduh who probably had the munchies and was taking it out on me. He punched me so hard that it took me a moment to register what he was asking me. I blurted out Vicky, the girl he spoke of the night before as an answer.

Before I could turn to look at him, he was already out the door.

***

Tell us what you think: What would you do if you were in a situation like this?