#crusadersundays

“WHO?” Abdul says aloud as he switches the noisy processor once on.

“Y/N STUDENT!.” She responds back in similar volume.

“Just let him finish grinding before you decide on airing out my dirty laundry.” Y/n annoyingly mutters as the machine comes to a halt.

“He’s a 17 year old who everyone calls Manuel except Y/n. They had surprisingly gotten close until I mentioned that she shouldn’t be paying him for T.A. services.Y/n got mad, they had a fall out and he has refused to talk to her outside classroom etiquette”

“Whoa, why wouldn’t you pay the boy?”he says in shock whilst kneading the dough

“Patience said that they can use it to buy drugs and kickstart another cartel in the area.”Y/n says calmly

“I did not.I only said that they can buy drugs, you filled up the gaps with your whimsical, pessimistic imagination!” Patience retaliates, almost throwing the cob she held crashing to her premade maize seeds.

“You implied it” Y/n retaliates in annoyance.

“No I did not , Before you got all hot headed, I was to suggest an alternative solution” Patience mumbles.

“Which was?”

“Setting him up with a minor’s bank account to analyse his monthly transactions and notice an unusual fluctuation.”Patience knowingly advices

“Oh” 

“Yeah, ‘Oh’ now this argument with him is all on you” Patience rubs it in by pulling her tongue out mockingly.

Suddenly the phone rings and Y/n snatches it and runs to the balcony. Once their sliding windows are fastened, she responds with a slightly gleeful tone.

“Hi Jojo”

“Hi my love” He says tiredly.

“How have you been?”

“Tired , the ride from Zanzibar to Mocimboa was hectic. But I’m glad I made it in time, it's a quiet city yet beautiful in its old town architecture.”

“That’s wonderful. I hope you enjoy yourself there.”

“How can I enjoy myself when you are literally miles away? It takes so much willpower for me not to book a flight and see you.”he sadly admits and Y/n’s breath hitches.

“I thought you loved this Indiana Jones -esque adventure.” Y/n says lightheartedly.

“I did, before I realised how lonely I’d get. I can’t stand the emptiness I feel. I see people with their loved ones and think to myself that it would have been me if I didn’t attempt to run away. Would it have been bad to just stay where we were my love? We’d have been so happy.”Jotaro chokes out the last of his sentences. Y/n sits on the cold tiles, perplexed but most importantly pained. She’s never seen him so open to his thoughts, being blunt and exposing recently hurt scars are two different things and he exposed his bleeding flesh to her.

“I can always come to you, Say the word,I’ll be there.” Y/n assures after a short silence.

“No baby , you enjoy your days with your friends, I’m just down.” He calmly reassures despite his tone implying anything other than those bitter words he said out loud.

“Come over, even if it's just for five days, you can’t stay alone. Just come over, We didn’t mean we’d never see each other throughout the year. I’d have visited you were it not for the fact that I’m still relatively new.”Y/n insisted, pout stretching her downturn face even more.

“What about Patience and Abdul? I’d feel intrusive” He questions waringly

“If I have to put on noise cancelling ear muffs whenever they come home with someone,they can afford to give me some space with you. Besides we’re celibate, what’s the big deal?” Y/n questions with even more confusion.

“That’s not what… anyway it's fine. I’ll find my way to you soon.”He says in a slight sigh, mouth curling up to smile wider at her implication.

“Thank you! I can’t wait!” She cheers afterwards as he chuckles out , the tense atmosphere dissipating as Y/n exchanges a series of events , minus her abrupt resignation that leaves Jotaro chuckling at her exaggerated display of each occurrence between them 

“I need to sleep, Will you let me sleep?” Jotaro softly questions as another anecdote winds down.

“‘Oh I almost forgot about the time difference, Okay I’ll let you go, see you soon I hope?” Y/n replies, the ending notes of her sentence having a softer response.

“Very soon. I love you.”

“I love you too.” 

And she cuts the call. Mind euphoric with the possibility of seeing her boyfriend again. Suddenly she realises a thought and slams the door open and dashes back to the kitchen, the duo is almost done with the tortillas, meat already ready for consumption.

“So nice of you to finally join us once more, my liege. Your chefs have been hard at duty preparing a meal that only your royal mouth should access.”Patience mockingly states in an awful imitation of Victorian English, as soon as she steps to the kitchen.

“How wonderful ! Perhaps tonight I may let you see your families if all goes well.”Y/n responds unruffled.

“How kind of you!” Abdul inserts himself with another subpar attempt.

“Anyways , Jojo is coming.” Y/n says with a small smile as she reinserts herself in the conveyor belt of rolling , pan frying and sitting the tortillas.

“Really? When?” Patience asks in slight shock as she fails at rolling another tortilla in a perfect circle

“You both can’t stand even a month passing without seeing one another huh?” Abdul laughs out as he flips over one.

“He seems  a bit down and if I will be the cause of his happiness, so be it.”Y/n responds as she sticks out her tongue to him.

“You? cause of happiness? Weren’t we discussing Emmanuel just an hour ago?” Patience references in mock.

“Jotaro considers me his sunshine, everyone else’s opinion pales in comparison”She says haughtily.

“More like a black hole.” Abdul mumbles which ensues another bickering session and by the time that dials down, they sit down for dinner.

“Oh and by the way, Tomorrow I may be busy after work so y’all do what you need to do but don’t ask me what’s for dinner, I couldn’t care less.” He says as they sit down and switch on netflix, an unhealthy amount of birria tacos in every one’s plate

“Oh, what a surprise, who’s the lucky lady?” Patience questions , eyebrow raised at the surprising news.

“Why would you assume she’s a woman? Maybe I’d have involved myself with a mafioso and my parents sold me to them once every week to pay for their debt.” He responds calmly.

Y/n side eyes and responds,

“You’ve been giggling at your phone for the past few days. One minute you're upside down on the sofa , sprawled out laughing and the next minute you are attempting to walk the walls.” 

“Was it that obvious?” He mumbles with a slight chuckle of defeat.

“You’re acting like you didn’t want us questioning who she is for the past few days.”Patience retorts

“And why didn’t you” He responds

“I’m self centred” Y/n muses

“I couldn’t give less of a f-”

“Okay , since you guys are practically pulling my socks, I’ll tell you. She’s a data analyst like me and when I tell you she is the definition of a goddess, I don’t think you’ll believe me. And she’s also from Kenya. Her name is ..”

“Hold on , you came all the way to Brazil and somehow still found a kenyan. You really should look into diversifying your dating pool.” Patience interrupts and Y/n chuckles.

“Says the whore , anyway she’s Jane and prefers to go by Wanjiku.”He smiles absentmindedly in response.

“Look who is in looooveeee.” Y/n jests before adding

“But seriously I’m happy for you. I hope she’ll continue to make you as happy as you are”

“Thank you”

“Yeah congrats man . Seriously,” 

* * *

After excusing the class, she sits at her table before saying.

“Emmanuel please stay a minute after class” And the usual jeerings commence as they all quickly scatter off to the next class.After ensuring that no one was left except the both of them, she kindly requests him to be seated .

“Look, I’m sorry.”

“For what? Immediately assuming I’d have used the money for drug related reasons? Yeah, that's very easy to forgive.” He says as he slouches back on the chair. Y/n notices his slightly wounded hand, reddened and slightly swollen on the affected area.

“What happened to your hand?” 

“I was grilling some sausages and I burned myself on the grill.” 

“I’m sorry. But it looks like an infection might occur if a bandage isn't placed. Here , I think I have one.” She says as she rummages through her backpack filled with oddities like gum wrapper, an inkless biro pen and some newspaper wrapping and after some more shuffling comes across the only piece of elastoplast that is left.

“Its fine.”Emmanuel insists despite Y/n already unwrapping the bandage,

“Here, let me.” She insists and slowly takes his hand.

“Thank you , it was quite itchy.” He bashfully says after his hand is returned.

“No problem. I just wanted to help out, and I came up with a solution for our little issue. As long as you tell me where the money goes, you don’t have to show me any other proof other than your bank statement or even a small  business then I will be allowed to give you the promised amount.” She calmly says

He slightly scrunches his face and after mulling it over looks over at her and says.

“Are you busy?”

“No, I’m done for the day , why?”

“I’ll show you. Nothing beats tangible.”

And before she knows it they are already walking up the hill of the favela. Despite it being late afternoon, the sun is still bright enough to make her slightly sweat and by the time they get to a dilapidated shanti just at the beginning of his populated neighbourhood, Y/n is not only heavy breathing but also extremely thirsty,

Emmanuel pays little mind to her and instead walks into the shanti and opens up the windows. As she looks up she notices its transformation. Its rustic metallic sheets that hold faints of its old silver colour hold indoors a grill that sits half of the space. Emmanuel places plastic discoloured stools and a small wooden banner that simply reads “abrir” is placed on the door.

“Is this how you earn money?”She says as she sits on one of the stools as he begins preparing the ingredients for Cachorro Quente. He skillfully cuts up the onions and tomatoes and tells Y/n

“Prepare the sauce.”

“Wasn’t I supposed to be a guest?”

“If you want me to forgive you, prepare the sauce.”

And Y/n is directed to the jerrican to wash her hands. She is properly directed as he starts the fire with a combination of wood, charcoal and some leftover plastic and old newspaper before fanning it out.

He tests out the now hot grill with a slight pat on his palm and seemingly satisfied with the heat, places the marinated sausages on the grill. The aroma is absolutely mouthwatering and Y/n cannot help but consistently gaze on them which Emmanuel slightly laughs at.

Soon, people start flocking to the area, from young kids trying to bargain their way out of paying the full price to the regulars who take an immediate notice of the newcomer and question her presence. And after entertaining small talk they leave not without saying an English phrase in acknowledgement to her. One of them even says ‘Good evening baby’ to which she simply chuckles at.

When the sausage stock is done, he shooes away the crowd and takes his jerrican to begin washing the dishes.

“So, this is what you do every evening after school?”She asks

“Yep, it's the only way I can eat.”

“And your parents, what do they do?”

“Don’t know, I last saw them when I was 3.” He nonchalantly says whilst scrubbing the grill hard.

“Oh I’m sorry.”

“It's fine. But anyway you see why I need the extra income right? Money is always tight and as much as I can feed and shelter myself, it's always a game of fate.”He looks down at her as he stands upright.

“I'll give you a bit more than I promised.”

“Thank you, and here, for you and your teacher friend.” He says whilst quickly handing her two hotdogs that he had placed on the side.

“Thank you but you should keep it, I’ll be fine.”

“No, you helped me out, I appreciate it.” He says while scratching the back of his head whilst looking away

“Well thank you once again.Its getting late and I think Patience is waiting for me. I should go.”She says as she picks up her rucksack.

“Oh, okay, goodnight.”

“Goodnight!”

As the bloody sky transitions to its blinding darkness as she walks down the steep hills, she notices the splendour of the city beneath her, with its illuminating artificial lights and its stunning starlights.

* * *

“Good afternoon Ms Y/n, You seem to be in a jovial mood today.” Ramirez notices as he decides to walk into a softly humming Y/n who is momentarily distracted from her notes.

“I took your advice on how to handle my student and it's been working out great. Not only was he willing to show me a side of his life that I would have never been aware of but because of him, the classes are livelier.” She says with a smile.

“That’s great to hear, I’m glad I was of help.”

“Would you like to see my students? They may seem unruly but they are honestly what are making me enjoy my work.” She says as she excitedly pulls out her phone in enjoyment. Ramirez nods and walks over to her and she can immediately smell the dior sauvage on him. Slightly shaking her head in an attempt to diffuse how she enjoys his cologne , she shows the picture and immediately regrets it as he leans in even more to properly see them

“They seem like good kids.” He slightly whispers , very close to her ear and she braces her phone even tighter to expel the tingling zap that just coursed through her.

“They are,” She says and immediately locks her phone.

He leans back and goes back to his former position and after a slightly awkward silence where Y/n decides on simply going back to her books he says , unnaturally hoarse.

“Would you mind repaying the favour with a request of mine?”

“Sure, what is?” 

“My mom’s retirement party is coming up and I’d like to give her something that is very special. Can you help me get a gift for her?”

“Well, I’m not the most knowledgeable in gift giving but sure, I can help out.”

“How about today, after class?”

“I’m free between 4 and 7 so okay!” She says with a smile and they pause the conversation as the other students begin coming in.

Throughout the lesson Ramirez gives subtle glances at Y/n to the point that she has to look away or completely ignore them after the 10th closed lipped smile. Though more than uncomfortable, she felt confused, and questioned his behaviour. After class and a flirty “bye” from Britney they are once again alone.

“Y/n should we leave?” He asks

“Yep” She responds while rising up , carefully perusing the area for anything she might have forgotten

They soon walk into his car and for the second time Y/n is amazed with the interior of his Aston Martin with its white leather seats and its scent which engulfs her the moment she sits in the car.

“Seatbelt on?”He questions as he reverses.

“Yes, you drive like you're cast in fast and furious.”

“Actually the franchise encouraged me to get a sports car.”

“No surprise there.” She says and they both laugh. They soon step out of the car into the parking lot of one of the most luxurious malls in the area. Y/n slightly gasps at the golden carvings that are sculpted at the grecian pillars surrounding the building and says,

“I didn’t even know this place existed.”

“It's owned by the country club nearby, members only.” He shrugs as they walk to the building. The receptionist welcomes them in and after he removes his membership card , they are allowed to walk in and y/n basks in the complete opulence of the entire vicinity.

“I’m sure anything you get her from here would be pleasing to her.”

“As much as I do love my mother, she's as easy to please as a cat. I’ve been blundering over her birthday gift for three years.” He says as they window shop throughout the first floor. Y/n nods at this and takes up the challenge. Looking over the watches and the very expensive designer bags, nothing really clicks and after taking the second floor she is still unamused .

“Who knew luxury could be so..boring?” She says as she finishes scouring the second floor, feet aching over the rounds.

“I feel you. I think you’re tired. Would you like some dinner? It's the least I can do after all the walking I’ve forced you to endure.”

Y/n smiles though she feels too queasy to say yes. To her a coffee date is very friendly, Dinner is a tad too romantic. 

“Um, I don’t think..”

“Please, it shouldn’t mean anything more, just dinner.”He insists, leading them to the rooftop where the bar is illuminated by the clear glass roof windows right in the middle of the circular restaurant littered with shades of grey green and mustard yellow.

“Wow , this is stunning” She says

“So is that a yes?”

“Well, how can I say no after seeing this?” She responds whilst taking a picture of the whole establishment. They are led to a sitting right at the corner, though close enough to see the mixologist swivel and shake his way into beautiful looking cocktails and mocktails.

Y/n is redirected to looking into her menu and says,

“I can’t understand.”

“Consider it an impromptu quiz. What words do you recognise?” 

And after a few stutterings and looking into the words, she recognises a few ingredients that she assumes are not as bad and decides on taking that. Ramirez orders something completely unknown to her and says

“I think you’d like it , it has an unfamiliar taste but sits well after a few mouthfuls,”

She nods at that and a comfortable silence takes over. The murmurings of the restaurant are carried over by the soft jazzy instrumentals the live band plays and after Y/n informing Abdul and Patience that she might be later than expected she switches off her phone to notice Ramirez simply staring at her.

“What’s with that look?” She chuckles uncomfortably while fiddling with the napkin.

“Nothing. You know my mom would be really happy if I brought someone home instead?” He says as he looks keenly at her.

“I’m not the best matchmaker but I know a lot of good friends.” She says while looking away. He refuses to dignify her response, instead only giving a smile that showcases his ‘father’s smile’ that fits him very well.

Soon the food arrives and before Y/n can bite into the mouth watering delight on her plate, he motions for her to take a bite of his dish, a forkful of food hanging between them. She attempts to  grab the fork but he instead refuses to hand authority and once more gestures for her to take a bite. She slowly comes closer to the fork and bites the food and afterwards quickly sits straighter, hand obscuring the chewing of her mouth and  Ramirez says with a tinge of amusement coating his tone

“It's good, right?” And she nods in agreement but looks away.

He then attempts at feeding her again which this time she refuses completely, joking instead at how her’s is better.

Soon a call rings out from Y/n’s purse and after silently thanking God for removing her from that awkward situation , excuses herself to answer the call in the women’s restroom.

“Hi” She says excitedly once she notices the caller.

“Hi baby how are you?” Jotaro responds .

“I’m doing fine and you? How are you coping? Are you still coming over?”She questions in quick succession, not even a breath to be caught.

“Deep breaths honey. I think I’m doing better, maybe it was just a case of the blues. And I’m no longer coming.I got caught up with something so spectacular you wouldn’t even believe it.” He responds excitedly. She furrows her brows.

“Not coming? But , I miss you? I thought you were still buying the ticket?” 

“I’m sorry, I’ll make time, I promise.So what about you? How has your day been?” And Y/n goes on about the current situation she’s in and says,

“He has made it a bit awkward by feeding me a piece of his meal but aside from that we’ve …”

“Excuse me , what? Feeding you what?” Jotaro says in shock and a hint of irritation.

“Don’t worry I politely refused the next time he tried it.”

“You should have refused from the beginning. Anyway, I have to head back, I’ll tell you about my expeditions soon and  also, get home soon and safely okay?I Love you.”he says as backdrops of conversations keep happening.

“I love you too. We’ll talk later.” She says and cuts the call. She washes her hands and after a quick checkup on her makeup and face heads back to their seat.

At this point he’s done with the food and says

“You took quite a while, I instructed the waiter to heat it up for you and ordered dessert and some drinks in the meantime. I hope you don’t mind.” He says offhandedly.

She smiles and says,

“Oh I was chatting with my boyfriend. He insists I share every second of my day with him.” She says and graciously takes her reheated food.

“Is it a long distance relationship you two share?” He questions.

“Yep, he’s touring the coastal straits of Africa for a year. He’s a marine biologist.” She says proudly as she washes off her food with a glass of sweet mango juice.

“Interesting.And why didn’t you follow him?”

“I have a life of my own and he recognises that” She says  with a strained smile.

“Me personally , I wouldn’t have let you go so easily, in spite of the job.” He says in a slightly nonchalant tone that threatens to set her off.

She bites her tongue instead and refuses to say nothing . The bartender approaches and says

“Two cocktails for the couple?”

“No we’re not….”

“Yes please, thank you.” Ramirez talks over her as the bartender sets down the drinks . As he is about to walk away, Y/n says

“I’m sorry, but could you switch this for a mocktail? I don't drink alcohol as frequently.” She says with a smile and before the bartender takes it away Ramirez says

“Not even a little?”halting the bartender’s footsteps.

“No, I appreciate the gesture but I’m simply not a fan.” She responds and he walks away with her drink right as the dessert , a brownie with butterscotch ice cream comes by.

She takes a bite and is absolutely amazed with the fudginess of the brownie.

“Wow, this is the best brownie I’ve ever had.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” He says as he takes a spoonful of his apple pie.

“I think I should be headed home soon. My friends have begun anxiously texting about my whereabouts.”She says as she finishes the absolute delight that is her second mocktail.

They begin small discussions about Y/n’s workplace and tensions slowly dissuade.By the time he’s winding down an anecdote Y/n is squealing in absolute joy.

“Oh what a shame, I really enjoyed this even though we literally got nothing we planned done.” He says as he flags down the waiter for the bill and she snorts at his comment . After paying and generously tipping the waiter, they head out and he insists on dropping her home which is surprisingly not far from the area.

They soon arrive and Y/n unbuckles her seatbelt.

“Thank you for dinner and the drinks. It was lovely.”

“I’d love to do it again.” He says slowly, inching up on her face. She smiles and attempts to walk out of the car and notices

“It's locked.”

“I’ll only open if you promise we can hang out again soon.”He says with a mischievous twinkle on his eye though this makes y/n a bit unsettled

“I don’t think teachers usually ask their students out.” She says.

“Then I’ll quit. Besides, it’s not like we are doing anything wrong.” He says leaning in once more, to the point that she can even smell a whiff of the Amarula he had been nursing the entire night.

“We’ll see” She says and opens the car door after the click id heard. She waves bye and after ensuring he has taken the first corner off her street, rushes to the gate next to where he dropped her.

She quickly greets the receptionist and takes the elevator to their floor.

She is greeted with Patience and Abdul slouching on the couch, Barbie, life in the dreamhouse playing in the background.

“Hey”

“Where have you been?” Patience says as they switch off the TV.

“Do I have a story to tell you two?!” She says and Abdul sits straighter immediately after the phrase is said.

I want to start uploading regularly again especially since I’m almost done with the fic. Like Crusader Sundays. Trigger warning to those affected by the fall of  Constantinople