By Benson Langat
With the creep of a cemetery in the wee hours or wind howls in a grave yard at night, the mansion stood tall amidst the grove and bold tall wall which guarded it. It was secluded from the rest of the city sub urbans and the nearest neighbors were the thicket's occupants. The walls encircled every end of the compound, encompassing every life within the Hanif surroundings. A single gate was the only known way in and out, and it rose at one strategic center of the wall, tearing into it in its awesome hard and strong taupe steel. Well-guarded with 24 hrs. security and surveillance, it felt like this was the very core of paranoia.
The mansion bore the silence of the dead of night. The only noises were those of servants rushing to attend to their boss, one who roared only once before the heavy stench of lead decorated the air or the sound of chocked life slipping off of a stubborn servant, reminded them of what was to be done where and at what time precisely.
Ida in her beautiful skirts looking the usual breathtaking, unusually jumpy but in her own calm way, with a simple smile crossing her lips walked on along the vestibule of their mansion. Her footsteps met the rounded eyes of her best friend, which gradually rose with every step Ida took. Before her were the crossed hands done so as a sign of respect and fear. The quick steps soon drew lesser and slower until she halted before David Hanif, the first love of her life, father and boss.
Rose, standing there beside him, wore a look of betrayal on her face but against all wills struggled to scrape off emotions that could give her away and look just simple although contrary to her personality.
"And where might you have been, Adelaida?"
With a cigar tucked in between his rather moist lips as his head rested on the sofa that both his backs were on, David roared. He looked straight in his daughter's eyes, something he liked doing to discourage her from telling toxic lies, the extent of her lethal poisons. His eyes, bloodshot and as cold as the barrel of the .45 that hung on his shoulder holster, stared at her as if lifeless, awaiting a good enough response.
'She must have reeled me off!' Ida thought as her eyes slowly sway from her father's dread to her friend's rather incomprehensible look. 'But Rose's loyalty is something I can always bet my life on. She said nothing, definitely.'
She moved a final step forward as if that would tear down her old man's wrath, to whichever extent it was being cooked in that old but wisdom filled processing machine of a mind. "I was handling some personal business, dad."
David got up heavily and the first thing that his hands could grab before his breath was even out of the nostrils was his daughter's collar. With a firm grip, he pulled her to his chest like she was some feather and looked down on her like a father about to swallow in one gulp, his one pound baby girl. "This," he signaled to everything surrounding them as he released her from the grip with an exhale which surprisingly shook not for a second, her guts; a sign of utter understanding, "This is your 'personal business,' Adelaida."
"Understood." It almost sounded like she snapped, but just as understanding as his cub, he sunk back into his seat and took a long puff at the cigar that was half burnt off between his fingers. A swing at the beer bottle rested on the small stool just inches away from his knees came before a prolonged smile preceding dead silence.
"Your task was handled," he finally tore into the peace that was starting to envelope and gestured to Rose in a suggestive manner of release. The two friends finally held hands like they had been dying to in eternity and made their way into one of the rooms in the humongous castle of a home.
******
Like chirping birds that do not take a break for even a little gasp of breath, the two girls dipped into each other's exciting conversation. They had a lifetime of events to narrate before the day finally ended.
"First, I should have you killed for snatching my Romeo," began Rose with a crossed look in her face and a slow evident gradual swell of her cheeks as they filled with emptiness. They laughed and slammed their palms against each other as each began to unfold to the other, the events brought forth by zillion questions most of which came from Rose.
"What color are his eyes?" "What about his lips...how do they look?" "Oh, those muscular hands! I wish they would just grab me..." "What about his voice? Lord! He is not from our earth..." "And what was it really like...talking to him?"
"Well, it was the greatest feeling I have had all my life. His eyes fixated on mine as his voice thundered in utter perfection and the way his lips moved in speech, his cheeks just stretched enough to reveal that killer smile. 'O, his manly hands! He held me by the waist once when I pretended to be woozy for a second, and how real Paradise is, I tell you! He..."
And the talk went on and on until late into the night.
As the stars ushered into the night a beauty of the milky way, painting the sky in pure awesomeness, two souls felt drawn to each other like magnets do and as each one looked out to the sky that night, their hearts were drawn closer than they could imagine and this became the birth of a new story and the transformation of both lives into something both didn't want, but needed desperately.
One hand held a phone on its palms imagining how the night would have ended perfectly with a good night text in the least from their more favorite other. Another figure held on to sadness in its heart as the owner felt total emptiness, having tasted the beauty of a second with the person their hearts would bleed for every night until they were together again.
Indeed, a single handshake has an impact of a millennia expressed in humanly seconds of inexplicable feelings that fill your heart with both joy and confusion, ecstasy and sadness, laughter and silence...until when the silence ruptures its bounds, for it is in its confines that everything begins, and in the same fashion does everything meet an end.
The birds in one end seemed to chirp a hymn, a hymn which inscribed a note of poetic pieces in both hearts. From one end, these are the inscriptions that were made:
I wish...
That by the time the sun goes down,
I will have you in my arms
Look you in those sparkling beautiful eyes
And say the magic words
I wish
That by the time the wind blows
And the trees sway in dismay
In farewell to a day lived
My heart will be swelling with joy
The joy of having you in there
Not with every heartbeat,
But in ever heartbeat
And from the other end, these are the inscriptions that were made:
I wish that by the time the stars shine up high
And the clouds depart in line
I wish that by the time the moon stretches its beam
And then paints the darkness with magnificence
I wish that by then
My heat will have spoken
And you will be mine
For eternity.
I love you,
And I wish that by the time I say that
My world will be complete
With you and I
For eternity
(My Wish By Benie_ at Mirakee)
The day did retire, and the lights went out. But the poetic notes stuck, and in their hearts, they carried along the burden of words unspoken.
******
The hallway was soon crowded with bodies making their way into different lecture rooms and others to their lockers or the lavatories. She thought she saw his kind of smile from across the hallway, until two tiny fingers snapped before her eyes and she came back to reality. Was this how falling in love felt? Probably, and probably not. "Can you for one second just stop thinking about Gus! Heavens!" Rose complained as usual.
If Ida's mind was with her, she would probably be grinning or looking on, acting disinterested but inwardly glad to have her as a friend. On this particular day, however, all she kept seeing was the figure of Augustine Mambo making its way to her and grabbing her gently by the waist. "Did he touch you?" Rose's question hauntingly lingered and kept echoing at the back of Ida's mind. Should she have suggestively behaved just to feel his manly hands draw a tingle down her spine? She drowned in desire!
Looking beside her as she locked her locker with total mental absence, she could see Gus coming up to her for the millionth time, "Hey there, beautiful?" Her fantasy Gus would nod lightly and steal her left hand by the palms, pulling her to his side, letting her body land automatically on his with his chest comfortably and lightly pressing on her breasts. He would hold her waist with his left hand as his right slid into her cheeks, holding her at a slight tilting position. His breath as he slowly advanced, warm, and arousing drove her nuts as each exhaled air with the weight of a ton rested on her tender skin. Air left her lungs with a lot of exhaustion as every part of her body felt weak and vulnerable.
"Ida!" Rose shouted on her face again and she, tottered, lost balance. A set of strong arms held her from behind, saving a fall and helped her get on her feet. "Are you okay, miss?" The heavy deep voice would obviously sound so familiar because of the trance she was in. She swiftly turned while calling out his name with an exhale, "Augus-!"
Disappointment hit her with absoluteness when her eyes met the obviously wrong person and she stood there in disbelief. "You are welcome..." Said he, who walked away with a retired look.
"What is the matter with you today?" Rose said, "I have been talking to myself all morning." She moped.
"Yes, Ida-"
"Excuse me?" Rose turned swiftly.
"Sorry, I thought I heard someone call my name." Gus said failing to recognize Rose. He was about to walk on when Ida turned with a beautiful smile on her face. She almost threw herself in his arms, but instead, came a simple "Good morning, Augustine."
"Please call me Gus," he shook both their hands as Rose silently watched him closely like in a monitoring manner, "and you must be her best friend..."
"Rose...my name is Rose. Very nice to meet you."
"Well, Gus. We're just headed to class, care to walk us?" Ida said almost winking, her hands chocking the already lifeless notebooks and soaking them in sweat and her pen suffering the force of her suppression of the excitement which was increasingly overwhelming.
"I would, but I have a class to catch." He bit his teeth, "it was nice meeting you, though." And went on his way.
"Pleasure is aaa...ll mine." Rose said staring at his behinds as he walked on loftily to a lecture room.
"Isn't he charming!" Rose exclaimed as she buried her mouth in her hands.
******
Happening Three Weeks Later
They stared into each others eyes and the feeling was just inexplicable. Eyes locked and hearts entangled in the shared lovey-dovey, the ocean that has drowned many a folk started washing its water towards their shores. Their mouths ached to speak, but their hearts felt the connection more and craved more of the silent heart to heart conversation.
His heart was calm for a few seconds before it started racing and at times he would imagine holding it right with the fear that it may tear out of its cage and at times the ardour was just overwhelming and he would feel washed away into oblivion and want to extend his stay there.
She in the same line felt more than she had felt in her 17 few years of her life. Her feet were still little and her eyes still as cute as ever. And for the while that she had been alive, nobody had ever made her feel as she felt. As the heart throbs began to scare her of a conclusive heart failure, she hid her face in her hands and let the imagined chills from his touch steal life from her all the more. He actually did extend his manly fingers and touched the back of her hands lightly. The chill became a reality and as she slowly lowered her arms in an aim to rest them where her thighs were, the beautiful face hit a sudden exposure and her audience' impression was not little nor was it conceal.
He smiled to himself as inwardly, his jumpy heart kept reminding him of how lucky a human being he was.
"I am 17 you know?" She started speaking, and from knowing her in the three and a half weeks, he knew that he was up for a lengthy monologue which instead of making one lose interest, this particular one drew the listener even closer with the attention unparalleled.
"You are 17...okay." He noted with a smile and she reciprocated irresistibly. Leaning forward unexpectedly, her heavy warm breath landed on his cheek from the right as the sweet smell of her skin hit his nostrils. Her lips, moist, weaker than she would want them to be and without life from the draining unimaginable feeling, danced in her mouth as her heart seemed frail and thus failing her whole body at an opportune time. She was petrified by how this human being made her feel.
He remained in that position like a frozen statue, except all statues are usually without life, and frozen like; unsure of what to do in such a situation. Both hearts felt more drawn to each other as their bodies came closer and eyes grew dimmer. She let her left hand rest on his face, her long fingers stretching up to his hair and slowly stroking them. The hand simultaneously slid back down onto his chin as she looked at him closer, warm heavy breaths leaving their noses. She stared at his lips for a few seconds and finally hers rested on his cheek, the taste of his skin lingering on her tongue as she drew back.
The cold mark she left sent chills down his spine and a feeling like none other, back and forth his heart. He looked at her in the eye unsure of what to say or feel until when she snapped her fingers. That was as far as they had both ever got. "You are 17...what about it?" He broke the awkward silence which was starting to make him feel uneasy.
"Oh, that. Well, I have never told anyone about this before. My mother left us when I was a child..." Being a patient man and having understood exactly how to handle his prize, he let her talk on. "I was only 7 when she and dad split. Well, my father used to do horrible things for our sustenance but my mother did not agree with his means."
A long silence.
"What does your father do?"
"Just some dangerous work, one which I cannot really tell you for your own good, Gus." He listened and nodded at the end in understanding.
"And where did your mother go?"
"God knows. I have never talked to her ever since. She literally abandoned her 7 year-old because she didn't agree with how dad handled his business."
Augustine was silent for a very long while, silence that scared Ida for the first time.
"Are you okay?"
"Oh-yea...I am! Your story just took me down memory lane"
"Tell me about it"
"My mother died a few weeks before I moved to this place."
"What happened?"
"The morgue report says she overdosed..."
"But you don't believe it's true."
"My mother didn't use any kind of drugs or medication, at least she had not in a very long time."
"What do you mean, 'in a very long time?'?"
"She used to do drugs when I was a kid but she stopped when my father passed on."
"What happened to your dad?"
"He was murdered by the same people who killed my mother."
"Did you tell the police about what you think, especially in your mother's case?"
"Not really."
"Why?"
"Our police system is corrupt, Ida. Justice nowadays is but a dream whose awakening may never happen. As much as the loss of my parents saddens me, what saddens me more is the fact that I cannot do anything about it. At least not now..."
Silence. Awkward silence. Ida was deep in thought. She bit her lips more than once, raised her eyes then crossed the former. "I noted the word 'at least' in your statement."
"Retribution is to me my ultimate goal, Ida. Nobody ever did anything about the parents I lost. May be I can help myself get rest some day when Im ready."
"Hmm...okay."
She, with time noted the sadness in his eyes and the sulky look. She knew what was bothering him and let him grieve silently for some time before she could chip in.
"Gus my dear, in life, we get and lose people. But every time we do, you have to learn the art of opening up to all the pain and finally letting go. Just like relationships at birth. You never knew how you got into this earth and if you did, probably you at that moment would stop crying and instead pity the person who bore you. But did that person pity herself or rather felt proud?" She sighed as tears welled up in her eyes. "My point is, at the conception of every relationship, the outcomes are usually a complete blur. Nobody has the power to know or alter tomorrow. Now when you have a chance at happiness and have used it to your advantage or not, remember that sorrow will always come knocking as well.
"But do not tie your life down waiting for that day to come because as long as it may take it sure will come. Rather, live life with the knowledge that this world being not our home, any status can change. Therefore be open-minded about everything and always ready to accept any situation be they good or bad."
August was already in tears. Hardly ever as men like him shed tears, certain situations can get just too compelling.
"You lost your parents, but you did not lose your life. You have a beautiful one, by the way, and you have people that care about you. I care about you. I love y-"
Whoops! Had she just said it? A very awkward silence enveloped, and the two just sat there looking at each other with total confusion written all over their faces. For a few seconds, everything seemed to have stopped moving with time, and it was just a split moment of a stationed adoration. His teared eyes started drying, and heart started swelling with love. Sharing in his sorrow, she wiped the remnant tear drops that had lingered on his cheeks. Without realizing it, they were both in each others arms, rolling their bodies on the ground like little rabbits playing and in a gradual overturn with a moment of Gus on top of her, and a moment of Ida on top of him, the loop continued. Their lips locked and sucked into each other, the feeling seeping into their souls like water into dry sand.
-B.L.