August Affliction

Chapter 3: Hearts and Dices

By Benson Langat

With the creep of a cemetery in the wee hours or wind howls in a grave yard at night, the mansion stood tall amidst the grove and bold tall wall which guarded it. It was secluded from the rest of the city sub urbans and the nearest neighbors were the thicket's occupants. The walls encircled every end of the compound, encompassing every life within the Hanif surroundings. A single gate was the only known way in and out, and it rose at one strategic center of the wall, tearing into it in its awesome hard and strong taupe steel. Well-guarded with 24 hrs. security and surveillance, it felt like this was the very core of paranoia.

The mansion bore the silence of the dead of night. The only noises were those of servants rushing to attend to their boss, one who roared only once before the heavy stench of lead decorated the air or the sound of chocked life slipping off of a stubborn servant, reminded them of what was to be done where and at what time precisely.

Ida in her beautiful skirts looking the usual breathtaking, unusually jumpy but in her own calm way, with a simple smile crossing her lips walked on along the vestibule of their mansion. Her footsteps met the rounded eyes of her best friend, which gradually rose with every step Ida took. Before her were the crossed hands done so as a sign of respect and fear. The quick steps soon drew lesser and slower until she halted before David Hanif, the first love of her life, father and boss.

Rose, standing there beside him, wore a look of betrayal on her face but against all wills struggled to scrape off emotions that could give her away and look just simple although contrary to her personality.

"And where might you have been, Adelaida?"

With a cigar tucked in between his rather moist lips as his head rested on the sofa that both his backs were on, David roared. He looked straight in his daughter's eyes, something he liked doing to discourage her from telling toxic lies, the extent of her lethal poisons. His eyes, bloodshot and as cold as the barrel of the .45 that hung on his shoulder holster, stared at her as if lifeless, awaiting a good enough response.

'She must have reeled me off!' Ida thought as her eyes slowly sway from her father's dread to her friend's rather incomprehensible look. 'But Rose's loyalty is something I can always bet my life on. She said nothing, definitely.'

She moved a final step forward as if that would tear down her old man's wrath, to whichever extent it was being cooked in that old but wisdom filled processing machine of a mind. "I was handling some personal business, dad."

David got up heavily and the first thing that his hands could grab before his breath was even out of the nostrils was his daughter's collar. With a firm grip, he pulled her to his chest like she was some feather and looked down on her like a father about to swallow in one gulp, his one pound baby girl. "This," he signaled to everything surrounding them as he released her from the grip with an exhale which surprisingly shook not for a second, her guts; a sign of utter understanding, "This is your 'personal business,' Adelaida."

"Understood." It almost sounded like she snapped, but just as understanding as his cub, he sunk back into his seat and took a long puff at the cigar that was half burnt off between his fingers. A swing at the beer bottle rested on the small stool just inches away from his knees came before a prolonged smile preceding dead silence.

"Your task was handled," he finally tore into the peace that was starting to envelope and gestured to Rose in a suggestive manner of release. The two friends finally held hands like they had been dying to in eternity and made their way into one of the rooms in the humongous castle of a home.