The Jungle

Chapter 17: The Gods are Watching

When Caroline awoke the next morning, Bahati was already awake. He stared at the ceiling with empty, contemplative eyes that pondered things she knew nothing about. When he heard her stirring, the native turned his head to look at her, a shaft of golden sunlight falling through the curtains and setting his golden hair on fire. “Good morning, Caroline,” he said slowly. He kissed her forehead and stared at her with a tortured look in his eyes.

“Morning,” she said, her voice raspy with sleep. Her eyes drank in the soundness and youthfulness of him. He was strong and lean and intelligent, and she did not know how she had never fully appreciated it until now.

“I think we need to discuss what happened last night,” he said slowly, taking her hand beneath the covers. Caroline propped herself up on her elbow and nodded. “Is everything okay?”

Bahati rubbed his face with his hands and turned away. “I’m not sure I should have done that.”

Caroline rolled her eyes. So he still felt guilty, then. No matter what they had decided last night, he would always be guilty because of what he had allowed himself to do. They came from two different cultures and she recognized that, but she sometimes forgot just how different they really were. His people were ultra conservative and hers were very free with their actions. They allowed emotion to rule their lives and didn’t like to consider the feelings of others. “Do you regret it?” she asked softly, placing her palm on his shoulder and pulling herself up to roll him back to face her.

The sad and troubled look in his eyes told her the answer before he even said it. “No,” he replied. “I have made a great sin, but I do not regret it. That fact is an even greater sin. I keep searching my mind for some seed of regret, but I find none. I am happy with all my actions so far. What is wrong with me, Caroline?”

She laughed. “Nothing. You’re finally becoming free. Is this the first time in your life you’ve done something strictly for yourself and not for anyone else?”

He nodded. “I believe so. But I have still sinned against the gods. They will destroy me.”

Caroline laughed. “Answer me this, Bahati. Do the gods have the well-being of every single person in their heart?”

He nodded.

“Then they won’t punish you. Last night was good for you, and me as well for that matter. They love you, Bahati, just as I do. Why would they punish you for doing something healthy?”

He put his arms around her and drew her into his chest. “They are gods of a straight path. They are unwavering and unbending. We must always follow the rules they have set before us or we will be punished. I left our colony during the Thunder Season, and therefore broke the greatest law of my people, the law that defines our society. For that, the gods destroyed my entire way of life. Now I have broken one of the gods’ greatest laws by spending last night with you. I can never face the island again. The gods will kill me if I go back there. I will be an outcast for the rest of my life, and nothing will be the same again. I will be forced to live here in this world forevermore. Now tell me why that fact does not frighten me as much as it should.”

Caroline was speechless. “This is all my fault. I pushed you to do this with me out of selfishness without knowing what I was doing. I’m sorry, Bahati.”

“No,” he said, grasping her hand. “It is not your fault at all. I do not regret my actions. There is no harm that has been done by you. But we cannot do this again until after my island is free.”

“We cannot,” Caroline agreed. She kissed Bahati once again and slid out of bed. “I’m going to shower."

When she left, Bahati removed himself from the bed and slid on the pair of jeans he had been wearing the previous day. He decided that since he wasn’t trying to hide from anyone here, he didn’t need shoes or a shirt. They were hindrances he couldn’t afford. Once done, he carefully made the bed back to the way it had been when he first entered the room with Caroline last night. Most Kupata had neat tendencies and didn’t like clutter, and Bahati was no exception.