Fool's Paradise

Chapter Seven

For the next two days, Cesar kept out of Laura’s way mainly because he was still angry with her. Juliana constantly sought him out but he didn’t mind, he found that he was enjoying her company. The buzz around St Andrew’s College was that they were an item.

Theo was confused, he was sure that Aida wanted César; he had heard it from several sources that he considered reliable but this rumour about César and Juliana was very baffling. Maybe he needed to re-evaluate his sources. He brought up the subject with Alex, Kaye and Danston. Alex wasn’t interested, he was too busy fending off Imelda Ariko’s advances; Kaye was too absorbed in his relationship with Suzanne Aseya and Danston chewed him out for sticking his nose into things that did not concern him. Theo was miffed.

The only one who seemed to be taking him seriously was Morgan who appeared to be revelling in the sleazy aspects of school life. Which made Theo wonder about his burgeoning relationship with Connie Mafabi. That was another thing that puzzled him, “Morgan, Connie isn’t exactly girlfriend material.”
“Your point being?”
“Come on, Connie has been around quite a bit and she shows no signs slowing down.”
“So? She can be tamed. As a matter of fact, she’s seeing me exclusively.”
“Okay,” Theo was doubtful, “If you say so.”

Things were heating up at St. Andrew's college and Theo was beginning to wonder if he would be seared by the intensity of it all and again, Danston told him to mind his own business.

♣ ♣ ♣

Cassandra found her brother sitting alone by the swimming pool. She sat next to him. “Hey bro., you’ve been avoiding me.”
“No I haven’t. What makes you say that?”
“Well, you’re normally in my face at every opportunity, but for the past two days I haven't even so much as gotten a glimpse of you. Juliana’s keeping you busy, huh?”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, César, the whole school’s talking about you two. The other night Laura and Juliana had a screaming match. Laura accused her of stealing her man and Juliana replied that if she hadn’t been so busy humping around she would still have one. Man, you should have seen the shock on Aida’s face! The old bat was so convinced that Laura was as pure as the driven snow. I wonder why?
“Yeah, well, Aida thinks that she’s a saint and therefore has the right to judge everyone.”
“You’re telling me! Anyway, to be honest, I’m surprised you took Laura even remotely seriously.”
“Yeah, I know. I knew what she was like, but…well you know how you’re always hoping that things will get better even when you know that they won’t? To tell you the truth, Laura has a lot of good in her; she just doesn’t take herself seriously.”
“Of course, the fact that she has a great body doesn’t exactly hurt her chances,” teased Cassandra. César laughed. “You have a point there…but then again maybe it’s what’s contributing to her current situation.”

They sat there for a while in silence. “You know,” César spoke up, “This is nice sitting here talking. We haven’t done that in ages.” Cassandra put her arm through his. “It’s mostly my fault. I was so convinced that you were out to make me miserable that I always had the urge to spite you. With hindsight one develops…what do they say? Yes, one develops twenty/twenty vision.” César grinned, “I see that we’ve been paying attention in class.”
Cassandra punched him playfully then put his arm through his again. “So tell me, are things getting serious with Juliana?” César made a face, “Um, I think that she would like them to be, but I’m not so sure. Don’t get me wrong, I like her a lot, but…”
“But you still want Laura.”
“Something like that. Unfortunately, that’s not meant to be so maybe I should give Juliana a chance. She just might get me over Laura.”
“No, don’t go into anything unless you want to and you’re sure of it.”
César gave her a surprised look then started to chuckle, “Well, well, well, baby sis is growing up. That was quite a mature statement.” Cassandra rolled her eyes, “It may come as a surprise to you but I can be sensible.” They giggled at that.

By now there were more people in the swimming pool area. The siblings observed their antics.
César turned and scrutinized his sister. “Tell me, Cassandra, which teenie are you into?” She made a face as she said, “Don’t be silly.” César nudged her and grinned, “You’re doing a poor job of being evasive…what about Kamal, hmm?”
“Kamal who?”
“Kamal Latif,” laughed César, “Stop trying to look so innocent. I know for a fact that you sent him food when he was down with malaria…for a whole week! And you very well know that cooking is illegal in the school. You don’t even do that for me so you must like the guy.”
Cassandra looked embarrassed. “Well…he is cute.” César laughed at that and Cassandra quickly added, “And he’s charming, he’s always looking out for me.” César shook his head in amusement. “It’s obvious that you like him.”
“Although I’ve known him for a long time I never really thought about him, until his body changed. Man, have you seen his body?”
“I’ll take your word for it,” César grinned. Cassandra rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, “Guys! We girls don’t have problems with admiring each other.” César laughed out loud, “That’s one of the reasons we’re different.”
“Yeah, I hear you!”
César paused as if in thought then said, “Look, Cassandra, I hope you won’t think that I’m pulling my big brother act, but a word of advice…don’t let Kamal pressure you into anything. I think you know what I mean.” Cassandra raised her brows with mock innocence, “Oh, you mean sex? Don’t worry; I plan on remaining a virgin for a while longer.” César grunted, unwittingly expressing his discomfort, which made his younger sister laugh, “Oh, you big brothers can be such prudes at times.” And César grunted again.

Cassandra was silent a moment looking very thoughtful. “This girl/boy thing... It’s just so complicated.” She leaned back on her elbows and gave an exaggerated sigh, adding, “I suppose it’s all about compromise. That’s about the only way we can get along.” César liked what he was hearing. She was turning out to be more thoughtful, maybe she had always been. “You know something, Cass, maybe my protectiveness has probably been blinding me to the fact that you’re intelligent enough to make your own decisions.”
“True, but then again, you were just simply looking out for your little sister. To tell you the truth, I was just being stubborn and was just using your escapades as a plan for my revenge on you for being so protective. The night at Mama Sissy’s awakened me to the danger I was putting myself in and to the fact that you cared for me.”
“Wow! That’s certainly food for thought.”
“It doesn’t mean that I still don’t need your protection. You can be my brother as well as my friend.”
“That’s a deal.”

César got up and dived into the pool. Cassandra watched him glide through the water with the ease of a dolphin and was glad that they were friends. She was proud of him though he sometimes did silly things like getting hooked onto Laura.

In the distance, Laura watched brother and sister and sighed, then turned and walked away.