She Is Blind

Chapter Four: Fighting and Falling

       I had run to a safe distance when I stopped, like a car whose brakes just got stepped on. I couldn’t believe that I had just left my friends behind to suffer, and if I didn’t go back to save them I would never be able to face them again knowing I could save them but I had run off like a scared puppy, or a coward, and it hit harder to remember promising to be Gift's forever friend.

      I ran back as fast as I could, feeling the pain of the still sore wounds inflicted by James and his goons, but refusing to stop until I was near where I left them. I stopped, crept behind a wide mango tree that could hide me well and looked again.

      The guys who were trying to handle Gift had not done much, they had only made her lie on the ground, with one looking down at her lustfully and unzipping his very tattered jeans while the other was looking at James and his partner while still holding her mouth to prevent her from making a noise. He seemed more interested in Blessing, probably because the idea of raping a blind girl disgusted him.

      James was still squatting over her, with his trousers pulled down, and his disgusting arse in sight while his partner was urging him to be quick. He was holding Blessing’s mouth with one hand, ripping off her shirt and inner wears with the other hand, and kneeling on her hands. Enraged by the scene and deciding that I had nothing to fear if I had to save my friends, I picked up a big stone and aimed at him, adrenalin coursing through my body.

      I didn’t miss, luckily, and soon he was groaning on the ground, one hand holding a bloodied head and the other struggling to pull his trousers up to cover his nudity. The guys assisting him in his evil deed were startled, and when I threw another stone that missed, they ran away, leaving James. He had chosen people as lily-livered as he for the job, to my advantage. I kept wondering where he got them from anyway, maybe some beggars on his street. Gallant men would have dared to attack me, but these ones left James.

    I left my hiding place behind the tree and marched up to James who was on the ground, kicking him with all the strength I could muster till I was tired. He gave me an angry look and I kicked his face, enjoying watching him spit a broken tooth. I looked at Blessing and saw that they had ripped off her clothes, and she was half nude on the ground, the whole of her chest exposed. I quickly closed my eyes, took off my shirt, leaving me with only a singlet and flung it at her to cover herself, but she seemed too weak to do it. It was then that Gift crawled over, trying to decipher the direction of the sounds and helped her sister wear my shirt. She seemed to have gotten herself together quickly, and I was happy for that.

     “Are the both of you okay?” I asked.

     “You can open your eyes now.” Blessing weakly responded. I did and for a second I was amused by how big my shirt was on her, while she leaned on Gift’s shoulder.

     I gave James one final kick, one that made him spurt more blood from his mouth before going to help my friends. Gift’s unseeing eyes were leaking tears, and I thanked God that I did not leave them alone. I reached them, pulled Gift close to me not minding how dirty she was, and kissed her forehead, telling her it was all okay, although she cried all the more. I looked at her for a short while and wiped off her tears, fighting a strong urge to kiss her lips.

     I then asked her to let me carry Blessing, and she separated herself from her twin, who I carried in my arms. Blessing gave me a weak smile, and I smiled back, although my body hurt from the beating I had gotten from the bastard the previous week.

     “Dave I am not that weak. Please let me walk on my own.” she said.

     I put her down, and she staggered and was about to fall when I caught her again. I carried her in my arms and told her I would carry her whether she liked it or not. I turned around and saw Gift smiling while sitting on the ground, looking dirty and unlike the Gift I knew and loved, my Gift.