Soulmates

Soulmates pt 2

Germaine squinted as the rays of the morning sun beamed through a crack in his bedroom wall onto his face. He stretched, yawned and climbed out of bed onto the cold, dusty concrete floor. Outside his room were chatters by the other occupants of the house who were already up and busy. "Good Morning" He muttered to them and they replied the same in response. He wondered why they were up so early and checked the time on a clock in the living room. It was almost 7:15. He gasped and ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth hastily. While one hand was brushing, the other was pulling on a pair of jeans he snatched from his bedroom floor. He had to hurry or he would miss her. 

He spat the blue and white toothpaste in the sink and turned on the pipe but no water came out. He wait a few seconds, gently tapping on the knob but to no avail, there was no water. Germaine grunted in frustration and stormed out the bathroom to the refrigerator. There he pulled out an Aqua Mist bottle of water and used that to rinse his mouth and toothbrush. Somebody had forgotten to pay the water bill again. Nevertheless, he was too eager to get out of the house than to worry about that. He pulled on the black long sleeved jersey he found in his Chest of drawers, put on his slippers and bolted for the door. The house smelled of ripe plantain and porridge as his family was preparing breakfast. He didn't have time to shower, or eat because he had to see her before she leaves. 

"Germaine! Where you going this early without bathing?" His aunt called out to him from the kitchen. "Ah coming back mommy" He shouted back opening the door. Although his aunt was not his biological mother she raised him and he adapted the practice of calling her "mommy" after growing up among her children. His actual mother lived in the USA and supported him financially until he was old enough to join her. He stepped out of his yard and started down the road. "Yo G" A gruff voice called out to him from behind. He ignored it and continued down the road. The scorching morning sun coupled with his long sleeve black jersey caused him to pant like a thirsty dog and he immediately regretted not bringing along the remainder of water in the bottle. However, none of that phased him because seeing her face fresh in the morning would make his entire day. 

"Ow!" He shrieked in pain as he felt a rock his the back of his head. "You aint hear I calling you" the rustiest voice said. Germaine stopped and turned around swiftly. He saw it was one of his friends with whom he made plans with for the morning. "Buday!" He was annoyed with his friend. "Ah coming back give me a minute na man" His friend looked desponded and retreated back into his yard. Germaine checked the time on his Nokia C113 and it was 7:20. He would have to run if he wanted to make it. He sprinted down the road with his rubber slippers crying out in distress at each stride because they were not made for running. "Pop!" went his slippers as they burst when he stomped his toe on a piece of gravel from the road. Not only was his left big toe bleeding, he now had to continue the rest of the journey with only one side slippers. He abandoned the ruined slippers in the grass nearby and trotted down the blistering asphalt road He was close. 

Limping and in beads of perspiration he could see the street a few feet ahead of him. There she stood with her Queen's College uniform and head bowed leaning onto the tiny shack behind her. Suddenly, he couldn't feel the sun or the road anymore. 

"Good morning" He said to her beaming with a grin. 

"Did you bathe?" Rosie responded apathetically. His heart sank because he know he didn't and she smelled like fresh fruit juice and cocoa butter. 

"No I didn't have time to" His smile faded slowly. 

"You got boo boo in your eyes you know" She folded her arms and stood at a distance from him. He turned his back to her and cleaned the sleep crust out of his eyes. He felt a flush of embarrassment and his face turned as red as a ripe tomato. She was upset with him because he was supposed to meet her half hour ago. Rosie wanted to spend enough time with him before school because she enjoyed his company.  She didn't know how to express it so she resorted to be nonchalant and rude. 

He turned back to her and attempted to kiss her. She dodged him and once again he felt humiliated. 

"What's the problem? we kissed before" He was growing impatient with her mood today. 

"Yea but not in public with my uniform on. You know my family would freak if someone saw" She wanted to grab him and shove her tongue in his mouth but affection wasn't her thing. 

"Beep! Beep!" A white school bus appeared down the street and and startled them. "I guess you gotta go huh" Germaine felt defeated. 

"Sorry I don't have the privileged of being your girl and so. You know how my family is." She tried her best to sound apologetic although she felt like he didn't make the effort to spend time with her that day. He was late, didn't even bother to shower, was dripping with sweat and was wearing one side rubber slippers. For a second she almost doubted her feelings and attraction to him. But, he still managed to lift her sports with his presence somehow. There was always an unbridled magnetism between them when they were around each other. 

Germaine watched Rosie climb onto the big white bus and watched it drive away. He wanted to be all she desired but he felt like he was lacking somehow. He loved her but she didn't know it yet. And she wasn't allowed to be his girl officially because of her family. He ambled back home to get ready to face his day. He must do what it takes fow them to be together, He planned to talk to her family the next week so they can finally stop living in fear of repuccusions and enjoy each other. 

But that proved to be a grave mistake in later days. 

TO BE CONTINUED....