Karla’s Story

This is something I have been working on for a while now… since it ended up getting a little too long to be in one post, I’ll put them up in parts. 😀 I hope you like it!

When Karla got to his place, she was hungry. Knowing he wasn’t quite the cook, she had cooked some chicken, and brought it with her. She’d made a pack for him as well.
Her ‘baby’ sister had told her on several occasions to be careful about him – Kobby. She didn’t like him – he seemed too smooth, and there had to be a reason why at his age he hadn’t settled down with someone. He had this annoying pride that made him think that everyone should be attracted to him. It was kind of cute – at least for a short bit. But then again, her sister had never exactly liked many of her friends.
Akwei, her boyfriend was indifferent. He knew her. He trusted her – and that was all that mattered. Right?
As she dished out the food, he came and  hugged her from behind. She knew she shouldn’t be enjoying it – but she was. “This is Akwei’s territory, leave me alone.” She mumbled in a tone that didn’t even convince herself. He only tightened his grip and said, “You smell nice”
Why doesn’t Akwei do these things eh?! She thought to herself
She was in one of her casual dresses. Besides, this wasn’t like a date or anything – she had merely visited a friend with food, and they were watching a movie. Yet his focus was not on the movie – he kept looking at her.
It wasn’t in a way that made her uncomfortable. So it was fine.
She noticed he kept inching closer, and she would stare him out, and they would both just giggle.
The food was a little too much, she realised. She really couldn’t finish it all. She returned to the kitchen to put the rest of hers away.
It wasn’t until she was turning to return to the living room to continue the movie that she noticed he had followed her there, still looking at her with that look. She smiled and walked past him into the living room. Right then, he caught up with her and tried to kiss her. She knew then that she had to stop him – but for a minute, she was enjoying all the ‘feels’. It felt nice to be wanted by someone once in a while.  Not that Akwei didn’t want her, she knew he did, he just didn’t really show it much.

His hands went for her zip, and she yanked them away instinctively. Apparently, by then, it was a little too late – too little blood was left in his bigger brain up there! He was totally oblivious to her cries for him to stop, and she was too weak to actually make him stop. He had her pinned down, took off her dress, and had his way with her.
When he was done and spent, about seven minutes after, he lay there for about two minutes, spasming like an epileptic child. She felt bile rise up to her throat so suddenly, and she could not breathe!
For the first time in 6 years, she felt an asthma attack creep upon her. Of course, she did not carry her inhaler – she hadn’t had to for 6 years! She tried to calm herself down. With shaky hands and legs, she got dressed, rushed into her car, and like a maniac, sped off without looking back!
She couldn’t think straight. She concentrated on her breathing, and on her driving. She had to make it home ASAP.
You know this was your own fault don’t you? You saw the warning signs. You played with the fire – you literally carried it into your bosom!
Tears threatened to pour as she thought of it. Her eyes were on fire!
No, Karla, you will not cry!!  It was your own fault anyway, you saw it coming and did nothing about it! This is just what you were calling for, isn’t it?
 

 
It took a long time for her to sort out her feelings. Guilt, rage, fear, distress – she had never had so much going on in her mind and heart all at once!
For the first time in her life, her father could not read her. He kept looking at her. He knew not to ask her if she was okay – it had been the cause of many a fight. And often, he could read her to know when she wanted to talk. But this was different. She had rushed home breathless on Sunday afternoon, and since then, had been absolutely quiet. She was blank. She did not talk when he talked. She hardly came out of her room. Broken was the only word he could use to describe her sudden change – but he couldn’t figure out why.
She didn’t know if the numbness she felt was due to her hurt, or fear, or guilt. She didn’t know what to do. She hadn’t had an asthma attack in years – he had triggered one. She couldn’t tell Akwei – and she couldn’t even think of a sensible reason why not. She felt guilty – this was her fault! Or was it?
For a fleeting second, she thought to herself, if he was giving me the appropriate attention, maybe I wouldn’t have even considered a friendship with Kobby! But deep down, she knew she really could not blame anyone else.

For 2 weeks, she went on moping. She skipped work on a couple of occasions, with an excuse of a terrible migraine. She avoided Akwei like a plague – and even though he was quite busy, he knew there had to be something up.
By week three, she had worked herself back to normal– at least that’s what everyone saw. Nobody saw what was going on in her heart, and she did a good job of hiding it well. She was after all a child of her mother! She saved her tears for those late nights when she was startled awake by a nightmare. She immersed herself so hard in her work, so she was constantly exhausted – for exhaustion was the easiest way to fall asleep.
Even Akwei was fooled. All he knew was that she no longer worried him about not having enough time for her, and that for him was a good thing – maybe she finally realised that the demands of work are truly high.
One balmy Sunday afternoon, while she was grocery shopping with Akwei, she was checking his list, and picking out the vegetables, while he followed her, replying work emails on his phone. She no longer bothered to ask him not to work when they were together. She was exhausted enough as it was.
She heard a familiar voice that startled her. It was him. Kobby. He had the guts to say hello. She stood there, shaking. She couldn’t tell what it was she was feeling – Rage? Fear? She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t move, and she certainly couldn’t speak. Akwei must have noticed that she was no longer moving. He looked up from his emails and looked from her to Kobby. She seemed flustered. Before he could ask if she was okay, she took to her heels and run out of the supermarket.

When they got to his place, she got to cooking, while he went back to check if he’d gotten any more emails concerning the deal he’d been handed at work. It was one of those things that could easily get him a promotion – not that he was doing it for a promotion. He loved his job.
Well, you can love your jobs on the days when you don’t have your girlfriend spending time with you! He felt bad. But she was always so understanding. He knew she’d understand. She always did. Besides, that promotion would give them that money for the crazy wedding she had in mind.

Kayla cooked the stews absentmindedly. She didn’t go and call Akwei the way she usually would. She wasn’t even upset that he wasn’t helping.
“I only accepted to help you with the cooking, not to cook for you – I’m not your maid, to be slaving away while you work. This is supposed to be us spending time together, what’s the point if you’ll keep working?”
 That had been an interesting day. She’d had so much to tell him, about the kids from the orphanage they had just partnered with. But he had brought his laptop to the kitchen, and typed away non – stop for close to an hour. She lost it and told him off!
Today, she enjoyed the time alone. She was surprised he hadn’t asked anything about the incident at the supermarket. He was probably going to ask later. And what was she going to say? The thought of talking to him about what happened nauseated her. She couldn’t bring herself to do it. Maybe she would write a note.
By the time the food was cooked, Akwei was fast asleep. He must have dozed off while he worked. She didn’t want to talk to him anyway. She called an Uber, set a table for him, and left a note saying she didn’t want to wake him up, since he had work the next day. She knew it was a lie. He would have questions for her – and she wasnt ready to answer them just yet!

To be continued…..