Lost And Found

Chapter Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

Denise walked out of the bathroom with a towel around her body and her curly hair dripping wet. She walked into the kitchen with her wet feet and took out a bottle of juice.
She downed almost all its content in a long drink.
"Gosh, I'm starving" She began to scan the fridge for something but there was nothing she could throw into her mouth except apples.
"Augh, I need to go grocery shopping"
The sound of the doorbell interrupted her thoughts.
"Who is it?" She called back.
She closed the fridge and walked to the door, she opened it and to her surprise, it was Sam.
"Oh my God!" She exclaimed, realizing she had just a towel around her body. He laughed.
"Gosh this is embarrassing, do come in, with your eyes closed of course"
He immediately shut his eyes and stepped in.
"How do I find my way then"
"I'll lead you" She grabbed his hand, he could feel her hand was cold, she led him to a couch.
"I'm so sorry just give me a second" She said and began to walk away.
"Actually" he opened his eyes and turned to her, she stopped in her tracks and faced him.
"……how's the idea of a picnic?, felt like it today and I thought of asking if you would love to come with me" He hadn't thought of the possibility of her saying no, his heart began to race.
"Sure" She said
"Really?"
"It's not as if you would take no for an answer" She said and he laughed.
"You know right"
"You remind me a lot of someone, my best friend, she is just as spontaneous as you are"
He smiled.
"What can I say, you're blessed"  he said
She giggled.
"Hey your eyes are supposed to be closed"
He shut them immediately and turned away. He could hear her giggle.
Denise walked into her room and began to go through her closet for a dress and settled on a yellow summer Shoshanna dress. She put it on, blow dried her curly hair, styled it beautifully, then put on a pair of sandals. She dabbed on some perfume on her wrist and behind her ears then picked her favorite Zara satchel bag, wore it across her body the way she always wore it, put all the stuff she would need in it and stepped out.
"I'm ready" She found him where she had left him. Upon hearing her voice he stood and turned to face her.
"You look…..gorgeous" He said.
She smiled shyly.
"Thanks"
"You really are a piece of art, was just thinking how lovely your place is and then you walk In and I'm like forget the place"
"Okay now you're flattering"
"Maybe just a bit" He said and she laughed.
"Shall we?"
"Yes"
He led the way and she followed locking up behind her.
"So where do you have in mind?"
"I'll show you"
"But we have nothing for a picnic"
"I got that covered" He winked.
"You planned this whole thing without me"
"Well, that’s just me"
They got to the car, he opened the door for her.
"Thank you" She said.
"You're welcome" He got in, started the car and soon they were on their way. He drove to Hyde Park and picked an amazing spot.
"This is cool right"
"Yes its perfect" She put down the basket she had discovered in his car and offered to carry while he carried his guitar. He placed the guitar down and opened the basket, then took out a blanket and spread it then they both sat down. In no time they found themselves eating sandwiches and devilled eggs to potato salads and salsa dips….he'd prepared a strawberry mint lemonade and to her it was the most amazing drink she'd tasted so far.
"Did you make all this?"
"Errr, not really, mom helped with most of it"
"You got your mom to help?"
"Well she offered, I told her I wanted to go out on a picnic  and the first question she asked was 'with who'?"
Deni laughed.
"Then I told her it was with you, then she said what do I want to take along and I said I was going to make a lemonade but aside that I really didn't know what was okay to take then she started lecturing me on the snacks and salads and stuff you could take on a picnic, before I realized she had gotten all this ready"
"Aww, she seems like a nice person, I mean she is your mom so I wouldn’t expect anything less"
"Yeah she is"
They talked for hours and she'd learnt he was studying pharmacology. He told her about his sister who was likewise in the States but she was more into Art, he didn't speak much about her but Deni knew better than to pry.
"……are you always this nice?"
"I hope so" He said with a chuckle.
"…..well I try to be but I wasn’t always this way you know, I mean I have had my fair share of the world you may not even believe it if I told you"
"I'm interested"
"Okay, brace yourself then" He poured himself some lemonade and sat up.
"Before I finally gave my life to Christ, I was one of those die hard sinners, you name it, I was into drinking, smoking, fornicating, my drinking habits got so bad I had to go into rehab for a while"
"Seriously?"
"Yep"
"It was difficult breaking away you know, I couldn’t do it on my own…..i mean I was in church helping out and all with the instruments and singing but my heart wasn't there, I just did it because they needed me to do it, then after Gracie died……" He looked down for a moment and looked up again then he wet his lips.
"…..Gracie was my sister, she died five years ago…."
Deni could see that talking about it was difficult. She warmly touched his hand and smiled at him.
"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it"
"No, I want to" He said.
"My sister was this funny fun loving person, and she loved water.....you know, she could stay in a pool or at the beach all day……she got hooked up with this guy and he introduced her to drugs and knowing what drugs and alcohol could do  I kept advising her to stay away from him but she wouldn’t listen. Gracie and I were pretty close she was closer to me than any other person but when she became what she became, it was difficult, I couldn’t be around her because I felt she could get me hooked on those things again, I mean I smoked weed and took alcohol but she she went all the way to cocaine and meth, it got so bad my parents decided to get her into rehab and it was affecting them because my dad was just beginning his church and she was a bad influence, that’s what everyone saw her as. At a point she would call me and I wouldn’t pick up or she'd tell me she wanted to see me and I would just ignore her. We grew apart so she formed a bond with my elder sister, Eme and Eme just couldn’t help seeing her so desperate, Gracie ran away from home and she did a lot of things that scared us...  attempting suicide twice, first she took an overdose, second she slit her wrist right in front of my mom, she needed help and my dad threatened to send her into rehab that was when she ran……but she had no money, my dad froze her accounts she could no longer use her credit card she would call Eme and Eme would send her money, my mom discovered it she got so mad, but Eme wasn’t only helping her with cash she was helping her with drugs too, she would help her get them, I mean it was so horrible when she had withdrawal symptoms she acted possessed sometimes and Eme would just call a friend and get her a dose, my mom discovered that too and she got so mad she actually hit Eme…..not long after, Eme told me why Gracie had changed so suddenly……."He paused, Deni noticed that his eyes were tearing up. He looked away.
"It's okay you don't have to do this, let's not do this today, talking about sad things okay coz I don't want to cry"
"Yeah you're right, so yeah I gave my life to Christ after all the drama and I've been happy since then, its like I'm a new person….trust me it’s the best decision anyone could make" He smiled. Then a pause again....
"I realized my boyfriend of six months, the only man I've ever really loved, was engaged to this pretty girl whom he had been with for a year and he didn't even tell me, I found that out on my own….."
"That’s cold"
"That day you found me was the day I found out"
He swallowed.
"I'm sorry"
"I am too but it hurts more to think that I was used….."
"He was a jerk" Sam said and she giggled.
"Yeah, he was...So, what do I do now, I mean how does this whole Christianity thing work?"
She asked.
He reached into the basket and brought out a bible.
"You had that in there?"
"Yep, I never go anywhere without it"
Deni took it from him and opened it. She realized there were a lot of highlighted verses, in different colors.
"Yellow is my favorite color so my favorite verses are in yellow, orange are those that talk about loyalty, green talks about faith in difficult times, blue is for those that I need when I am in pain….."
"Wow, that’s a lot of blues and yellows"
"Yep"
"Can I keep it for a while"
"Sure" He smiled.
"Thank you, I promise to take care of it"
"I know you will"
"So, why do you limit yourself to just church?"
"Simply because Church is enough for me, I don't have to go into the world to find contentment or fulfillment, I feel fulfilled, at least I know I'm doing my best to make use of all my gifts in the right way so I don't risk having them taken away from me like the story of the talents in the bible"
She frowned and he giggled. Okay, try reading Matthew 25: 14-30, there's a lot of lessons in there."
"And how do I find that?" She felt embarrassed asking but she did anyway, he didn't act like it was strange to ask he just said 'let me show you' and took the bible from her.
"There are so many books in here and they are divided in factions….what we call books"
"The old and new testament" She said.
"Good" He smiled and gave her a look that translated as he was proud she knew that.
"Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are found in the new testament, so to find Matthew, that’s where you look, the chapters in this particular bible are the big highlighted numbers the verses are the small ones" He showed her.
"Oh okay, I'll study it and I promise to get better at quoting scriptures than your dad"
"HA!, may I live to see that day, my father has memorized over a 100 scriptures, I think he lost count"
"Seriously?"
"Gee, my dad, you should live with us and watch my mom and dad argue with scriptures to make a point, my father could give you scriptural proof on why you should laugh, he'd say, hey…." He mimicked his father.
"….you know God laughs a lot that’s one of the reasons he is called ancient of days, he lives forever because he lauggs and laughter of course is good medicine......for Psalm chapter two verse two to four says 'the kings of the earth take their stand, marshalling themselves 'against the Lord….and against his anointed One, then, the one  enthroned in heaven laughs' and also Psalm the thirty seventh chapter……somewhere……says the wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them but the Loooorrrdd, oh yes, he laughs at the wicked, for he sees that their day cometh, therefore son, laugh while you can still feel your toes"
Denise was laughing so hard and he begun to laugh too.
"And my mom would tell my dad he should wash the dishes or help with some job and when he is not in the mood, he'll say woman that’s your job, oh…but my mom is worse when it comes to scriptures, she has scriptures to back her in every argument including proof of the earth being round"
"Seriously?"
"I tell you" He laughed.
"Interesting home you've got there"
"Yeah it is quite interesting, your turn tell me about your family"
"Well I don't have any direct siblings, my mom remarried after my dad and we haven't really been particularly close over the years"
"Why?"
"I guess it hurts that she moved on quickly and I never did. I was never happy around my step family because I always felt out of place. She never had any kids with him though but he has two daughters so yeah I have two  sisters, one soon to be married, the other probably in Las Vegas, she just loves to globe trot"
He was quiet for a while.
"You should call her"
"Who, Gina, my sister…..forget it" She shrugged.
"No, your mom but why do you say that?"
"She cares about herself and no one else"
"Well then that is her problem but you don't have to assume that she is okay without you, trust me"
"Fine, I'll call them all if that’s what you want"
He smiled and then touched her lower lip taking off a tiny piece of cracker.
"Thanks" She kinda felt embarrassed about it but it felt nice in a way.
"Lets take a walk, should we?"
"That sounds nice" Deni agreed. He stood and helped her up but as soon as she was standing she swayed.
"Whoah…..are you okay" He immediately held her to support her balance.
"Yeah just felt this pang of dizziness, its becoming a thing these days and I don't know whats wrong"
"Are you taking your meds?"
"Ummm, I think I haven't taken them today"
"That must be it"
"Did you bring it along?"
"Yeah I did" She reached into her bag and took it out. He picked a bottle of water from the basket and handed it to her. She took her meds right in front of him.
"Good girl" Sam extended his hand and she took it then hand in hand they began to walk around staying close to where they left the basket then stopped at a point watching a few kids play around with a ball. The ball rolled to Deni's feet and she picked it up. A cute blue eyed kid walked to her and smiled, she handed it over to him smiling back and he run off again.
"You know what I see when I look at you?" He said and she turned to look at him.
"Tell me"
"I see that" He turned to look at the kids and she figured out what he was saying.
"There is something about you that I haven't seen in any other person and its inspiring"
"Inspiring?"
"Yeah, inspiring, you're just like that you have this sweet nature this calm, kid like personality and an innocence that is heart warming"
Suddenly she began to think of Kobe and she felt dizzy and nauseous, her head was aching, She placed her palm against her forehead and then sighed.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"I kinda feel tired and there's this sudden weird feeling in my stomach, its nauseating" She said and he frowned.
"We should go back"
"Yeah we should"
They began walking back towards the blanket, when they got to it, Deni immediately sat down, straightened her dress and laid down.
He looked down at her, she had her eyes closed and she was breathing calmly and then she spoke.
"Its sunset"
"Yeah it is"
"It's beautiful isn't it?"
"Yes it is" He said and lay down beside her and shut his eyes too.
"Wanna hear something I wrote about sunsets?" She asked.
"Sure" He said.
"Ok, this was one of my first poems, wrote it when I was fourteen so it may sound kinda amateurish"
"Okay, I wont laugh I promise"
She took in  a deep breath, he heard that with his eyes closed.
I can feel you Mr Sun
so don't try to hide behind the clouds
you probably feel the way I do
like nobody truly cares about you
I watch you play hide and seek
in an attempt to get noticed
rising high above the clouds
when everyone is still tucked in bed
and disappearing again
when everyone is out
tell me how you give everything else a soft glow
when your rays cut through the gloominess
how do you do that though
I want to say that I love you most when you rise
but it's funny how I notice you most when you begin to set
I'm sorry
but I love you most when your rays no longer hurt.