Between Us

Panic and the Pandemic

When the spirit speaks, listen. S.R.

There were only two days left until returning to the chaos of life. Larry checked his phone again seeing a text from Ri. He'd been trying to enjoy the break from working, but since they came home to London, things weren't the same. The message from the Orisha bothered him, Laurent's scary mood swings and telling on himself to Maddy also bothered him. The spiritual experience at Maddy's home might have provided a few clues about the why, yet it didn't provide a solid answer. Should he and Lau remain lovers?

He splashed some cold water on his face in the solitude of the bathroom. Just outside the door the clacking sound of pool balls and laughter made him want to hide out for a while longer. "Kehinde, Taiwo, Kehinde, Tiawo," he repeated in the mirror looking at the image of Laurent staring back at him. Oshun said that Kehinde was his real name. What did that mean? Just like the scary movie, he expected the mirror to show him something, instead the sound of a baby crying interrupted his thoughts.

The crew in the game room had just started another round of pool. Laurent held his pool stick in one hand and phone in the other. He asked him where the baby was? Laurent crinkled his eyebrows at him. "What baby?" Laurent asked. Larry zoomed across the room expecting to see a child somewhere. "Are you going to play, or do you need more time to stare at yourself in the bathroom?" One of his friends teased trying to hand him a pool stick. Larry left the game room still on a mission to find the crying child.

They were a bunch of guys. What did they know about caring for a baby? The sound of crying grew louder. If they were not attending to the child, he was going to have to do it.

"You look pretty already, come on bro," Laurent teased him. Larry brushed off their jokes trying to find the wailing baby.

In the upstairs room, an eerie silence made his heartbeat accelerate, no baby. He checked every room finally deciding that his mind was playing tricks on him.

Laurent gave him a concerned look when he returned to the game room. "Are you oki?" He asked before taking his shot. Larry laughed nervously, "Yeahhh, I think so." He told himself that it must have been the stress messing with his mind joining the crew for the next round of pool.

The end of the night came too quickly. They'd enjoyed spending time with the crew catching up with the latest in their lives. Most of their friends stopped dancing moving onto other types of careers. Some got married, others were bragging about the women they smashed. Hearing about their lives made him crave something he never thought possible, a serious relationship. The message from Oshun said that his heart was fragile, that much was true.

He watched everyone winding down getting ready to leave. Laurent hugged everyone taking a moment to wish them well. The gentle man he watched giving so much love to the crew wasn't the same man in their bedroom a few nights ago. As sensual as Laurent looked in a light blue sweatsuit, the bruise on his temple reminded him that the Shango entity who invaded his twin's body that night might come back again. How could they have a relationship like most of their friends, especially when Lau could turn on him like the flick of a switch?

They chose to take an Uber back to the apartment after saying goodbye to everyone. It would be at least 6 months before they all saw each other again. The future included judging on the new dance show in Brazil with several guest appearances on TV and workshops before they'd return to London. Larry nervously tugged at the stones on his necklace watching Laurent starting to fall asleep in the back of the Uber.

"Hey, I want to talk to you about the other night," Larry asked him. Laurent popped one eye to look at him. He rolled his head in Larry's direction. "Oh, my bebe ready for more loving? You want to teach me another lesson?"