I failed to knit my love with hers. With a sodden heart she went away; on a long journey beyond the spheres. Any guy will answer such a nontoxic call but not the realist. A bemused spirit lost in the woods; the idiot who spewed out honey poured freely into his orifice. She had visited twice prior to her final offer. I had met her on campus and gave her a perplexing direction to my house. It was a plan to send her off course; but she found her way. I was excited to see her; I was ‘home alone’. I got her snacks from the corner shop. ‘You are so romantic’ she said and planted a kiss on my cheek as I served her. ‘Romantic’; what sort of creature was that? ‘You know how to treat a lady’ she continued with a broad smile on her face. I loved seeing smiles on her face; her dimples were mesmerizing.

Her sweet love was cherished but for the bullies. Resentful they were of her tenderness; they pounced at the least chance; Tanko the nastiest culprit craved for her. The greedy chap wanted them all. A harem; he tried to build and Mercy will not be part of his collections. He felt challenged and flexed his monstrous muscle. I was not timid; not the type that can be bullied. I was tender and calm but strong willed, with likeable appearance. I just hated to be tagged by Tanko and his gang; that was what happened. I was called ‘Mercy’ and she was ‘Ken’. I loathed the girlie name; the reverse was true. She wore the tag with pride.

Amon and the lads had rendezvous with the groovy girls. I wanted to read but no! Memories of her flashed through the disturbed mind. I felt her love oozing through me, I yearned for her softness. I missed her. I imagined her cuteness beside me on my desk one morning. She came with a magazine and wanted to show me something. She sat so close; what a daintily girl. She forever wanted to share my desk. It was a tiny desk meant for one person. She was not bothered. It had rained the night before and it was chilly. I was ready to share the desk with her. She was excited and her face sparkled.

She pointed to a picture of a two story house in the magazine. This time I was tolerant. She was transmitting a soothing energy to the worried soul. It was a nicely decorated semi detached; like the types seen in American movies. Her dad’s house looked like this she said. I was not enthused; that was the least of my worries; the dad’s mansion. Tanko and his thugs; they were. The cat calling games reverberated through the class as she rubbed her velvet self over me. I asked her to go back to her desk. She went reluctantly.

I loved her. Yes I do but something within the worried soul refused to accept it; a thing more ominous than darkness. It had poisoned the disturbed mind. I wrote to her; I loved her exceedingly; I appreciated her affections. I was unkind to her but could she forgive me please. I longed for a response from her but I got none. I yearned for a reply; it never came, I waited for it; it was in vain. On this particular day I was so certain it had arrived. I was wrong; everyone had a letter except the loner.

I was in a mess; I knew I was. Going back to the guys in the dorm was not an option. I got to be away; far away from eyes tearing through me, to be anywhere, somewhere. The shore was just a cross the road. I wandered aimlessly in the wet sand and picked a spot by a lone coconut tree. The Atlantic was ahead of me. Its waves raged with raw energy furiously. The disturbed mind wandered across the sea and saw them; in shackles travelling through time. It was one way ticket for the doomed voyagers. The ships returned empty for more cargos destined for damnation. In vain they yearned for their loved ones back home. Down the beach was the castle; the last known place for the ancestors en route to the paddy fields and cane plantations in the Americas.

Emma’s words came ringing ‘it was all folly to let her go’. He was against leaving Mercy for Amon. ‘It’s you she loved’. Yes I knew; I was aware; but you didn’t understand; did you? I was awoken rudely from my trance by tweet from seagulls soaring beyond the coconut trees. The birds glided the air in pairs. There was the solitary fool longing for lost love.

Amon served her no drinks she said. What? I could be generous but I had my faults too. I had lost Mimi years ago due to foot dragging. She met him; the virile beast and she lost her head. When fecund fields aught to be cultivated the eunuch should not be invited on a date. The fields were well ploughed; she became a tick on him. I sat on the bed and watched her took the snacks silently. She couldn’t hide her excitement. Amon only took and never gave she intoned sadly.

She moved to the bed unexpectedly after the snack and sat so closed; her slender thighs rubbed mine; I felt her coolness. She wanted to whisper into my ears she said coyly; she bent close to my ears. Her velvetiness enveloped me and increased my pulse. I thought it will be a quickie but she lingered on. I was breathless. I floated on the cottons of the clouds; into the horizon unwilling to return to the diseased world.

She burst out with mirth after her message. She was becoming steamy; what a naughty girl; I thought. I frowned; she noticed that. ‘I was only joking’ I knew she wasn’t. She changed the subject. She disliked Amon because of his bad breath. Amon was an old pal but I had no idea he had foul mouth. He used mouth wash often but it was a normal thing for the regulars at the green grooves. They kept good oral hygiene to impress the silky girls. A smelly mouth could be an instant put off.

She found Amon in bed with a lady; she continued. She was at the verge of tears. I drew her closer. She rested her head on my shoulder and I was wet with her tears. I wrapped my arms around her tenderness and she was silent. Earlier in the week she had informed him she was travelling but changed plans. Amon forgot to lock the door. The vintage Amon I whispered, he had not changed from his wily ways. This behaviour got him lotto numbers as exam results.

She wanted to show me her prized assets underneath her dress, was what she whispered into my ears. She offered it; her love, her all. I was to keep it away from vermin but failed. I could tell through the dress they were lovely. Did I or did I not wished to have a look. I desired to but was confused. The solitary fool, the voice said; there he was again escaping from blissfulness.

Francis Kwaku Egu, UK

kwakuhull@yahoo.com