Resurgence

16. Fused Hearts

“A bond between souls is ancient. Older than the planet.” – Dianna Hardy.

•••

Lani watched the rollercoaster, as it soared and whirred—eliciting yelps of delight and shrieks of horror from its passengers seated in its rectangular seat compartments, affixed to the steel ridges protruding from its center. She couldn’t help but liken her current state of emotions to it, her heart being the giant vessel stashed with overwhelming emotions in a constant state of oscillation, prone to crashing and shattering her world to pieces.

Sighing, she bit hard on the straw buried into her takeout cup of coffee and gulped violently as if the drink was the enemy and she was draining it of its energy and essence. And just like the lasting taste of the coffee that fermented at the back of her tongue, so was the memory of the previous day in Tari’s house – unwavering in its refusal to leave her thoughts. It was the most excruciating type of pain—recounting an event that was pleasurable in the most traumatizing way ever. It could be compared to that of a mother, reliving the gust of pain that hit her while clinging on to the arms of a child being whisked off to prison for grave offenses. Sobriety was of course dominant, but the feeling of holding one child’s arm for the last time no matter the condition was still quite precious.

“Sorry that took longer than expected, those kids cry like they have tanks of water in them.” A familiar voice pulled her out of her haze of worries. It belonged to Fisayo of course, as she joined her by the low metal railings that barricaded the roller coaster, with a spring fence erected behind it. Leaning with her back like Lani did, she peered admonishingly into Lani’s eyes. Her friend was looking swoon worthy as always in a black shift dress embossed with leather lashes that ran from its ends, tightened in buckles and high heeled ankle boots that made her slightly taller and imposing also.

“Don’t tell me you want to get on the rollercoaster also, with the way you’ve been staring at it ever since I left here to join Dare and the kids.” Fisayo added, her voice rich and very much audible despite the cacophony of noise flowing from different origins in the large amusement park. It was Saturday, a day after the fiasco with Tari and she had followed Fisayo and her family down here, only because she thought it’d take her mind off things. Apparently she was wrong. Nothing was capable to take her mind off things. “If that’s it get ready to cry also, because I’m going to have to decline. I don’t trust these Nigerian roller coasters. They never maintain anything well in this country. I don’t want to risk it.”

“I don’t want to get on the rollercoaster silly,” She slurred, her gaze dropping momentarily to her black flats partially buried in the well primed green grass. She hadn’t put too much effort into her outfit today, as she only had a blue lace gown with silver bead lining its ridges and cuffs and her newly-made bohemian curls, left to fall to the crane of her neck as usual. “I just have a lot on my mind, and I thought coming here would perhaps take them away. But I was wrong. If it has done anything, it was make it worse.”

“That’s because you’re being so awkward and not utilizing the environment well to its best,” Fisayo lamented and earned a frown from her. “Yeah, I mean you come all the way here to a park and you’re not engaging in anything stimulating. You’re not a kid, yes but there are lowkey rides that adults are getting on that are really awesome. And even if you became so rigidly matured for that overnight, there is socializing. When was the last time you talked to a guy?”

“This morning,” She replied. “Of course I’m not giving Dare the silent treatment just because we had a disagreement the other night. If it was like that, I’d have pretty much not said a word to him right from when I was conceived and became conscious to know him.”