Episode 42: The Kilwa Trip 3
The collision knocked me out and caused me to bang my head onto the side of the swimming pool. Blood was spilling out my head. As Mustafa recalls it, Erika came towards me and started calling for help. Immediately, Mustafa and Muksin dived in to help me and pulled me out of the water. They saw a lot of blood leaking out of my head like an old battered faucet. They then rushed me to a hospital and they catered to my head injury and I was up and going but I missed the opportunity to take part in the educational parts of the trip due to having a slight concussion. But it was good to see my friends coming in to check up on me from time to time while I was resting on my bed.
Thursday 14th October 2010, ‘I still have feelings for you.’
It was our last day in Kilwa and we wanted to finish it off good. We wanted the last day to be a day we remembered for years on and one that was worthy to top the following year when we would embark on a trip to Zanzibar. But don’t think about that trip yet, it won’t be in this book.
I woke up with a slight headache and quickly rushed out the bed and undressed before taking off the bandage that was wrapped around my head. I then jumped into the shower in what seemed like one quick and swift movement. I loved how the cold water rushed down my body and cooled down my steaming head and it had seemed to suppress my headache. I lingered in the shower for ages before closing the tap and reaching out for my towel before escaping the bathroom.
‘You took long.’ Said a groggy Muksin. He was rubbing his eyes and staring at the ceiling from his bed.
‘Sorry,’ I replied as I reached for a pair of boxers and put them on.
There was a loud knock on the door that was followed by three others.
‘You awake?’ Erika’s voice boomed. I took a moment to smile at her complete and utter randomness. It was something that was worth a grin. Something that I loved about her.
‘Yeah. Two of us are. Let me change and I’ll be right at the door.’ I replied. I quickly rushed to pick some clothes from my luggage and rushed to open the door.
‘Hey there,’ she said with a grin on her face as if she wasn’t expecting me to open the door.
‘Hi. How’ve you been this morning?’ I asked. She looked a bit too happy with a huge grin across her face.
‘Excellent!’ Giggled Erika. She then kissed me softly and held me by my collar. She slowly pulled away while making no mistake as she stared deeply into my eyes.
‘You?’ she teased in a sexy, melodic voice as she had a slight grin.
‘Couldn’t be better!’ I exclaimed. She always had that effect on me. She sure had a gift in seduction but at that moment my eyes were distracted by someone who had their eyes on us. To my surprise it was Angelina and the look on her face seemed to show that she was embarrassed to be caught. I waved at her with a friendly grin and she grinned back. She looked delighted to see us and she jogged to us. It was then when I started truly paying attention to how much she had changed physically. When I was dating her, she was still quite young and not that physically developed but at that moment, I realized how curvaceous she had become. How mature her face looked. She had changed.
‘Morning Lee!’ she said and I absorbed the tone of her voice. Her voice was so entrancing. Melodic and simple.
‘Morning.’ I said rushed. I had never seemed as anxious as that around her before. There was something different about her that just attracted me. I then felt warm lips on mine and I realized that Erika was still here. It was awkward. I wasn’t ready for the kiss and my eyes were still on Angelina. I forced my eyes shut and continued the kiss but my mind was still on Angelina and her figure. Erika pulled away from the kiss and smiled at me. She turned around and faced Angelina while she put herself between my body and my right arm in a hugging fashion.
‘Hi Angie!’ Erika exclaimed with a beaming smile all over her face.
‘Hi Erika!’ Angelina replied with a even bigger smile on her face. The two walked towards each other and hugged briefly.
Then, a swallowing pain attacked my head and I fell onto my knees. I held my head tightly and gasped for air. My breathing was irregular. My mind was in all sorts of places and a piecing pain was erupting in my head. It felt as if the contents of my skull were proliferating to the point that they were going to crack my skull and empty themselves onto the ground below. My eyes were forced shut. My body’s heat was astounding and I could feel it effecting the objects close to me as if it was rapidly spreading like a disease and it was plaguing anything nearby. I then felt two cold hands on either side of my head, resting upon my shoulders. I felt the presence of both Angelina and Erika right beside me. My head began to cool down and I could start thinking straight. I opened my eyes slightly every five seconds until the two blurry figures could be seen in front of me. My body felt like it was being swept away and the last thing I remember saying was ‘Angelina!’ as my body fell to the cold ground.
I was on a white bed and the room I was in was bright. I could hear birds singing outside and the atmosphere was astounding. It was so peaceful, so serene. I reached for my forehead and it felt cool. I looked around the room, observing it’s appearance. There was flowers on a table nearby. Red flowers. I couldn’t see them properly but they looked like roses. To my left were three empty beds with their duvets missing.
‘Are you alright?’ I heard a voice call from the only entrance from at the back of the room.
The door creaked open and Angelina stepped in. Her hair was darker than usual and she was wearing a big white shirt with a blue mini skirt on.
‘I’m alright. I’m really good actually.’ I replied as I forced a smile onto my face.
She approached the side of my bed and smiled.
‘Good. That means we can get back to this…’ she exclaimed as she quickly climbed on top of me, with her legs on either side of my body and started kissing at my lips. I pushed her off.
‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing? I’m with Erika.’ I shouted.
‘Who?’ She replied before snogging me again. I was falling for it. Her kisses were so smooth. I managed to resist it and push her off for the second time.
‘Erika! My girlfriend!’ I exclaimed.
‘Ohh… Erika. You still wonder about her? She left. A long time ago. It’s you and me now. Reliving our old selves. Isn’t that what you always dreamed of?’ she teased. None of what she said made sense. She bent down again to kiss me and she pulled my hands up to her waist. I grabbed on and continued the kiss. It was addictive.
‘To think you almost lost it to her. Lucky you said no that time. Otherwise it wouldn’t be so special today. When we lose it together the way it was always supposed to be.’ She said. It brought me back to reality. Reminded me of how just a few days before this dream, I turned down Erika because I thought we were rushing things. It was a good reminder and I was suddenly, yet slowly, brought back to Earth.
My vision was blurry as I woke up. The pain from earlier was gone and I felt extremely better.
‘Listen, before he comes to being, I want to tell you a secret. Something I’ve been holding down now for a while.’ I head Angie say. I immediately closed my eyes to make sure they didn’t realize I was awake.
‘What is it? Erika asked with an honest tone in her voice.
‘You obviously know that Levi and I had been dating for a while right?’ Angelina said. I quickly felt an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach. It was obviously the butterflies that seemed to find a way into my digestive system from time to time.
‘Yeah…’ Erika replied with a soft voice as if she did not want to talk about it.
‘We were extremely close. We were too serious about our emotions at the time. I… I loved him with all my heart.’
‘Yeah but then you cheated with him at the prom.’
‘I know!’Angelina shouted ‘I know… I felt that Levi and I were going a bit too serious and I was afraid of the commitment. I also had this ongoing bond with Mustafa. I wasn’t supposed to kiss him but we just sort of… did. Before I knew it, everyone is staring at us. I had to make my mind up quickly and I chose Mustafa over Levi. At first… at first I thought it was for the better but when I saw him in the beginning of this year… He had changed so much. He was more mature. I fell in love with him all over again but I already lost him to you. It’s a fight not worth fighting. The way he looks at you... I could tell the war was over before it even began. So I have a small request…’
‘What is it?’ Erika replied in a cracked voice.
‘Love him more than I loved him and never break his heart like I did. Treat him right. Please. I’m begging you.’
‘Yes… I will.’ A tear the ran from my eye to my cheek. I wiped it off.
‘She still has feelings for me.’ I thought. This was going to make a lot of things difficult.
Friday 15th October 2010, End of Trip
I was on the bus going back to Dar es Salaam. I sat at the back with my earphones on. Listening to my old iPod. It gave me a nostalgic feeling of the past. When Erika and I started dating. It was a good warm feeling. Digging in the past always found a good remedy for the problems in the present. My problem though was the fact that I still had strong feelings for my ex-girlfriend while I had strong feelings for my current girlfriend. My life felt complicated. I just wanted an escape from all this but I was always brought back to reality. To my left and right both Erika and Angelina were asleep. It brought a smile to my face. Complications were a part of life. You just have to deal with them.