I think I’m Jinxed(2)

Ha! Two days to my birthday and I was still paranoid. I paced so much that I wore a trail into my living room carpet. My sister stared at me all day as if I had lost my mind but I couldn’t care less. Maybe I had lost my mind. Being jinxed was absolutely and completely impossible and yet here I was starting to believe that maybe I was actually jinxed.

“Tony, you need to relax oh. Losing your job is not the end of the world now. At least you’ve sent your CV to some other companies, right?” My sister asked me, exasperated. “Yes, I have.” I answered her, in an absentminded way.

“Ehn ehn. Your birthday is in two days so focus on that and not on your misfortune. You’re not the first person  to lose a job and you won’t be the last. Besides, I’m the female and I’m not complaining so please Tony please, do not let me  start wondering if my brother has suddenly become a lunatic.”

“I’m not insane, Seyi.”

“Then, prove it.” She snapped at me then started walking away but before she could get away, I stopped her with my next question. “Then how do you explain Bingo’s death, the spoilt fan, the blown up transformer and Kemi cheating on me, ehn? How,Seyi? Just tell me how because none of these make any sense to me.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Coincidence maybe.” she said sarcastically before storming off and muttering “jinxed my foot”. Maybe she was right but still, I couldn’t shake off the looming feeling of doom. Maybe there was really something like being jinxed.

Thursday passed and I still felt as helpless as I had the day before and by the time I went to bed I was too sure I would get a call or text message telling me someone close to me had died. I woke up at exactly 7:00 am on Friday like I usually did on every workday even though I had no job and was surprised that Seyi was not at my bedside ready to scream Happy Birthday in my ears like she did every time it was my birthday. I waited for like ten minutes and when she didn’t come, I had my bath and dressed normally, staring at my phone like it was going to blow up any minute. Gathering courage, I left my room and went to look for Seyi. I found her in the kitchen packing my lunch for the day as she usually did whenever I was going to work and I asked her why.

“Ahn, ahn, Tony. Are you not going to work today?” She looked at me as if I had suddenly grown horns on my head and I  looked at her as if she had suddenly sprouted a tail. Maybe the jinx affected everyone and everything around me because Seyi was also going insane. Maybe I should move to the South Pole. How could she be asking me if I was going to work when today was my birthday and I had lost my job more than a month ago.

“You are not talking Tony and you’re not even dressed properly for work. Hurry and go and change or you will be late.” I kept on staring at her with my mouth wide open and my left eye was twitching dangerously. I was on the verge of yelling at her to come back to her senses when a small voice in my head told me to ask her a simple question.

“Seyi, what is today’s date?” I asked. That should bring her senses back.

“Ahn. See question. Today is 2nd of May now. And today is also Friday, a weekday so I advice you to go and get ready for work before you lose your job for being late.” With each word she said, my eye twitched faster and my body grew stiff. “S-s-second o-o-o-of May?”

“Yes now. Tony, are you okay?”

Do I look okay to you? I screamed at her in my mind.

“You mean, I have a job and we are still in May.” I managed to ask. “Yes.” Realization hit me like a bowl of ice was just poured on me. It had all been a dream. None of all these was real. There was nothing like a jinx but… just to be safe. “Seyi, what is the time?”

“07:30 ”

” Then, get your bag and wait for me by the car. We are going to work.” I said happily.

“Of course, I know that.” She said and stared at me again before going to get her back. At exactly 07:45, we left the house and as I dropped Seyi at work, I burst out laughing hysterically and she threw backward glances at me as she walked into her workplace. Sorry for the embarrassment Lil’ sis, I’m just so happy.

07:56, I stepped into my workplace smiling at everyone I met and greeting them jovially. When I got to Dunni’s table, I smiled at her the brightest and she gave me a weird look which I returned.

I had a job, my dog was not dead, my fan was intact, the light in my street was okay, I’m sure I still had a fiancée. It was a big, bad dream. Just to be sure, I dialled Kemi’s number and waited for her usual greeting and I got it.

“Hi honey.” She greeted. “Hey, I just wanted to hear your voice and see how you are doing. I guess you are fine so I’ll talk to you later. Dinner after work?”

“Sure.” I hung up and swung back and forth on my chair. Definitely a dream. There was no such thing as being jinxed.

As I left work that evening, Dunni called me and asked “Do you believe in being jinxed?”

“Of course not.” I answered her with certainty in my voice. “But why?”

“It’s simply because I think that for every action, there is always  a corresponding reaction. Therefore there is a logical reason for everything that happens. There is really nothing called a jinx.” I answered her proudly with no doubt in my mind. But I still had a strange feeling of dejavu.

“Okay then, there is a myth that…” I cut her off before she could continue. “Hm hm. Not this time.” I muttered loud enough for only me to hear.

“What?” She asked. “Sorry Dunni. I’m in a hurry because I have a date. See you on Monday, okay?”

“But I was going to say…” she started again. “Dunni, enjoy the rest of your day okay. Bye!” I cut her off again and waved as I walked out of the building. Whew! That was close. Now, to convince myself-THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS BEING JINXED.