Acquaintance

1. Cherry

     We had so much in common. If experiences were a sea, we were sailing in the same boat. The waves and storm had struck us just the same. The rains of misery and pain had soaked us both. I could feel her relation to everything I said and this feeling was mutual. Cherry had no shame to share everything with me. She told me of an experience she had had when she was young. How she felt like she was standing on the edge, how she felt like she was gazing into hell. She was only sixteen when it happened. Her step father, a man she described as the devil himself, had raped her. This trauma never left her.

"He had been looking at me with these eyes, eyes of a scavenger. Like he wanted something and he would eventually take it. I always felt afraid in his presence. Even when my mother was in the presence too, he would still give me that look. He was shameless! One day I was sick and I had to miss school for a doctor's appointment. My mother had left early. He reckoned this was his chance... to take whatever it is he had always yearned for. He forced his way into my room. And raped me right there..." she explained.

Cherry's eyes were now watery. This was something that had shuttered her ever since, I could tell. There was no way I could understand her pain. But sympathy and rage, I could feel.

She continued,

"Every time I am about to get intimate with a guy, I start to feel that demon's stench all over me. His pressure on me. I start to feel him forcing his way in. It makes me sick, it's why Jeff left me. Because I couldn't do it. And Yes! I had told him of this. He just didn't seem to care."

     I wished I could help Cherry. I wondered how though. I was really sorry, and she knew this. She had shunned me from feeling pity for her. She was strong. Just by being able to share this with a total stranger, well. I liked her sense of completeness; it was as if she was in a battle with her memories. And winning, she was. Cherry had made sure that this ordeal never took away her beam, she made sure it never took away her glow.

     The sun was rising. It was another beautiful morning on this scorch called earth. Cherry had built a bond with me. On arrival, she had already invited me for breakfast. Her house was not far from where we alighted so her place was most ideal. Her personality was refining by the minute. I liked this about her. She wondered why I didn't have much to share too. The thing is, her experience was far worse than anything I had been through. I only opted to keep the extents of worst experiences to her level. She had won.

     Her house was neat and serene. She did not have much but she had enough. I felt comfortable on arrival. She immediately started preparing tea. My mind was all over the place. I couldn't help but notice a painting on the adjacent wall from where I sat.

"It's an adorable painting. Tell me about it" I said

"Well, there is not much to it. It is a guy watering a young tree and a rope around his neck and this rope is attached to a branch from this tiny tree. It symbolizes how we invest in things that only take life out of us rather than focusing on those that bring it. I painted it by the way." She replied.

There was no way I was going to believe that she painted such fine art but again, I had to. She was Cherry.

     Her tea was ready. She served me and sat next to me. The tea was really good. I wondered how she was good at everything. How could this be possibly possible! You know? Cherry had changed into an oversized t-shirt. I couldn't really tell if there was any other linen beneath it. I tried to take my mind off it but I simply couldn't. I tried to distract myself through a conversation but all conversations seemed to lead in that direction. I even tried to focus on the greatness of her tea but my mind would eventually drift to the greatness of her body. But wasn't this intentional? The act of putting on just a t-shirt? Right? Too many questions spiraled in my mind.