She Is Blind

Chapter Five: Pain Of Rejection

I woke up  the room was dark, and I was l my shirt, it took me a bit of looking around before I could see it in the corner of the room, but not without seeing Blessing looking at me amusedly. I quickly dashed across the soft lush carpets and hurriedly wore it to hide myself.

"What is the time please?" I asked Blessing. I was unhappy that it was dark without me being home.

"It is just 4:35PM but everywhere is dark because the first rain of the year is falling. It is very heavy and you seemed too tired, so we did not want to wake you up. Anyway Mother called your parents and they said that if the rain does not subside till evening you could spend the night over here."

"Oh!" I exclaimed, surprised. My parents had never really let me sleepover at anybody's home. "So I believe I will be staying in the guest room right?"

"Yes sweetie, but it does not mean we won't join you. It will be fine as long as Mum does not know and we are determined to hide it as much as possible."

"Do you really have to be that naughty? I don't want any problems."

"Ugh Dave, don't you believe in taking risks? Mum will simply ask us to stop disturbing you if she catches us, and we are not carnal minded, so nothing will happen."

Just then Gift came into the room, and she walked as surefootedly as someone with perfect eyesight. She looked so beautiful that she had transformed into a model for me, and the pale blue color of her eyes gave her an out of this world look. I was falling deeper in love with her each day, in love with her small flaws, with her blindness, and everything about her. She had just plaited her hair and the long braids reached her legs. She came close to us and spun around so that the braids came close to my face. The scent made my nostrils dance and her hearty laugh made me happy.

"Dave just woke up and you are already disturbing him. You didn't even let me give him the good news." she said, one hand on her curvy hip and I was amused. She looked like those hot and young but stern schoolteachers with that pose.

"How do you know that I was awake?" I could not hide how star struck I was, so I questioned her with a smile.

"Being blind gives me the advantage of having sharper senses than everyone else, so I could hear your voices all the way back." she replied, sounding so intelligent. I wished that with all her sharp senses she would also be able to sense how crazy I was over her, and a tinge of sadness swept over my heart.

I went downstairs to welcome their mother, who had returned and seemed tired. I called my parents, who told me they were fine with me sleeping over. They prayed for me, and then I went to help the twins with their chores. Watching Gift doing things like sweeping and fetching water had amazed me, and brought me to a total realization of the fact that she might have been blind, but not definitely helpless.

Their mother withdrew to her room and locked the door, wishing us all goodnight, and the twins led me to their guest room. They did not let me sleep, and we discussed a lot. We squatted on the floor in a circle, and when Gift felt sleepy, she leaned closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder before she finally slept. I kissed her goodnight and when Blessing felt sleepy too, I carried Gift in my arms and laid her on their bed, wishing Blessing goodnight-or good morning, because it was 4AM before I slept in the guestroom.

The next morning, we did another round of house chores before I went back home promising to come to them again, but something happened that made me go back sooner than I had to.

They called me two days later, telling me that Gift's school was set to open the following week after the cholera outbreak, and if I would like to see her for the last time before going. I decided, that I would, and I also decided to tell Gift how I felt for her. I rehearsed every word that I would say so much that it was always on my mind, and I kept on imagining it so much the fantasy played every second in my head.