He stares at her now, breathing fast and heavily through his mouth- uncontrollably fast, and uncontrollably heavy. He stares hard into her eyes in anger, disgust and disbelief.
“That’s what you want? Is that it? Here it is then. Here I am looking at you. Happy now? Now let get the hell out of my way and let me go.”
“Is that the only way I could get your attention? Do I need to smash something so that you can bring yourself to look at me? Huh?”
She walks over to the cabinet, and flings it doors open. Then starts picking out the glasses one by one and hurling them everywhere. On the ground, on the walls, at the wall unit. Everywhere, each time tossing insults and cursing.
James only stands and watches.
“Is this how I can get you to talk to me?”
Smash.
“Is this the only way you can look at me?”
Smash.
“Is this what it will take me to have you treat me like a person? Like your girlfriend?”
Smash.
Smash.
Smash.
“Stop it.” James calls.
Smash.
“Stop it, Aisha!”
Smash.
“GOODNESS AISHA, STOP IT!”
She is out of glasses to play catch with, so she looks around and finds the only thing left around her to break, and finds the one litre of Jack Daniels that is now halfway and throws it at James direction. He bends in time to dodge the bottle, but he does not escape the explosion of mayhem created when glass meets concrete and shatters into a pieces then trickle down and smash into another million more pieces.
Some of the whiskey splashes onto his shirt, some on the ground, while the rest trickles down the walls in streams onto the tiled floor.
He gets up and finds Aisha’s menacing eyes waiting for him. Still visibly shaken, he struggles to find words, and when he does, he cannot help his trembling lips.
“What the hell is wrong with you!?”
“You. You are. You are what’s wrong with me, James.”
She starts walking towards him. Eyes fixed on his face. She walks slowly, but steadily, like a predator to a prey. Not caring the glasses that were on her way. Not caring that she was barefoot. All she cared about was to drum her message into him so that he could get it right. She throws her hand around as she approaches, yelling at her highest pitch. James says nothing all this while. He takes in the insults, the taunting and the intimidation; because he knows better than to return her insults with another in equal measure. He has been around her long enough to know that arguing with Aisha is like getting arrested. The only right he has is the right to remain silent; anything and everything he says would be used against him. So help him God.
Gloria
June 6, 2013 at 12:15 am
Liked the last page, felt like an excerpt from Wahome Mutahi (bless his soul) and his established ilk…the previous pages were too much of a slow melodramatic buildup…bland. but thumbs up in general
Magunga Williams
June 9, 2013 at 1:32 am
Appreciate the comment
Magunga Williams
June 9, 2013 at 1:32 am
Thanks guys