Finally & Forever (16 page)

“I can’t believe my mom knew but I didn’t. Does my dad know?”

“No, I don’t think he does. Your mom said she wasn’t going to tell him or tell you since it was my place to tell people. I thought that was really sensitive of her, to hold a confidence for me like that.”

Eli turned to Katie. “Is there anything else I should know?”

“No.” She tried to lighten the mood. “That’s the only surprise I have for you today. Check in again tomorrow.”

Eli’s expression made it clear he wasn’t joking about this disorienting piece of information. They met up with his mom, and he kept his eyes ahead, walking faster than the two of them toward the area where the crowd had gathered.

“Eli,” Katie called out.

He kept walking and didn’t turn back.

“Is everything okay?” Cheryl asked.

Cheryl gave Katie a comforting pat on the shoulder as they joined the crowd of villagers. “Give him some time. It takes a while to sink in.” Katie knew that once again she would have to wait for the right time to have a larger discussion with Eli that would clear the air and settle the tension that was building between them. She really hated waiting.

Everyone was gathered around a cement platform that had a raised rim circling the outside. In the center was a tall, sturdy pump. Katie had seen a number of pictures of wells like this one that had been put into use in other parts of Africa. But this was the first one she had seen in person.

The villagers drew in closer, waiting, talking in quieted tones, eager for the something special that was about to happen. She noticed that the two-man BBC film crew standing across from them didn’t have their camera in place yet, so she guessed it was going to be a little while before the ceremony began.

One of the guys from the film crew came striding over to the side where Cheryl and Jim stood about ten feet from Katie and Eli. He shook hands with Jim and Cheryl, and then Jim pointed at Eli, who raised his hand in a casual wave.

The impromptu ceremony began with a declaration in English from the head of the well diggers that the project was completed and they were ready for a trial run. Katie pulled out her phone camera as the chief stepped forward and pronounced a blessing on the well. Many of the women of the village stood by with buckets in their hands, waiting with wide-eyed expectation as the chief selected one of the children to come and stand with him. Together the elderly chief and the young boy put their hands on the pump handle and lifted it up and then pressed it down.

Another little boy stepped forward and held a small aluminum cup under the opening. With a quick zoom, Katie’s camera captured the look on his face, showing the intensity of his deep thirst and his eager anticipation. A cup of cold water in Jesus’ name. Hope that the promised end to their thirst would soon be fulfilled.

The villagers began to chant, “
Maji
,
maji
,” which Katie quickly learned meant “water.”

The answer came in a sputter that sent the boy with the cup closer to the spout. He lifted up the vessel to catch the first few drops that came out like a sneeze. Then suddenly a fountain of life-giving water gushed from the spout and doused the boy, filling his cup to overflowing.

He laughed and lifted his hands as he opened his mouth. The water poured over his head and face and soaked his body. The cup was tossed aside as all the other children rushed forward and danced in the glorious abundance of clean water.

Some of the women raised their faces and their voices toward the heavens. Others inserted their buckets, taking their fill. The water continued to flow. Cheers, laughter, and sounds of amazement echoed around the circle of joyful spectators.

Katie held up her phone, trying to capture the moment. She could hardly see because of the tears that flowed from her eyes. Dozens of hands were reaching out to touch the miracle. She could hear Eli laughing his best, soul-deep laugh.

One by one the ecstatic villagers filled their buckets and their cups and drank their fill. The thin little girl who had coaxed Katie into playing with them earlier came up to Katie holding the aluminum drinking cup that brimmed with water. She smiled broadly and waited for Katie to take the cup and drink from it. Katie sipped the cool, clean water and handed the cup to Eli. He downed all that remained and handed the cup back to the little girl, who happily returned to fill it again.

Katie smiled at Eli. He didn’t smile back.

Coming closer, Eli’s expression reamined serious. “You and I have a lot of things we need to talk about.”

“I know.”

“This sudden news about your inheritance is disturbing.”

“Disturbing?”

“Yes, disturbing.”

Katie didn’t know what to do with that. Eli looked genuinely ticked off. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him this upset. It was a crazy contrast to the exuberance of everyone around them at that moment.

“I guess it’s almost as disturbing as my finding out that you plan on spending the rest of your life in a mud hut,” she responded.

“I never said that.”

“Oh, really?”

“No. Where did you come up with that?”

“I came up with that conclusion from reading between the lines of all your comments and your parents’ comments.”

“Well, you’re not accurate in what you’re saying, Katie.”

“Oh, I’m not? Well, what a surprise. All I can go on is what I’m hearing here and there, because you haven’t told me what you’re really thinking.”

“We need to talk about all that.”

“When?” Katie lifted her chin defiantly. “When are we going to talk about it?”

“Now,” he said firmly.

“Fine. Start talking.”

Katie hated the feeling that she and Eli were about to have their first all-out fight, and she hated that it was in the wake of such a great celebration.

They stood two feet away from each other, Katie with her hands on her hips, and Eli with his arms folded across his chest.

Just then the guy from the film crew stepped up behind Eli. Katie glared at him, hoping he would take the hint and leave.

Instead of leaving, his eyes grew wide. With a gasp, he spoke her name.

“Katie?”

Her arms went limp at their sides.

The world around her seemed to turn into watercolors and dissolve. “Michael?”

In one grand sweep, Katie’s old high school boyfriend pushed past Eli, pulled Katie close, and fervently kissed her on the lips.

K
atie couldn’t move. She couldn’t speak or even blink. Michael’s hair was shaved so that he was nearly bald. His skin was tanned, and his shoulders were broader than they had been in high school. But that narrow nose, those thick eyebrows, and those dark, brooding eyes couldn’t be duplicated. Neither could that kiss. It was Michael, all right.

And he was going to mess things up for her something awful. She just knew it.

“Katie, darlin’, what are you doin’ here on the other side of the world?”

Before Katie could form an answer, Eli stepped in, wedging his shoulder between Michael and Katie. He turned and gave Katie a look she had never seen on his scruffy face. Fury burned in his eyes.

“Eli, this is Michael,” she said quickly. “Michael, do you know Eli? His dad is Jim Lorenzo.”

Neither of them spoke. They both stood with their shoulders back, sizing each other up.

Michael’s expression suddenly changed, and a contrite look came over him. “Are the two of you married? Is that it?”

“No.” Eli and Katie responded in unison.

Michael’s eyebrows went up. “Engaged?”

Again the mutual “No” was given in perfect harmony.

“Ah, good. I thought for a moment there I’d be needin’ to offer an apology.”

“You do need to apologize, Michael,” Katie said firmly.

“Do I now? The way I see it, I’m still waiting on an apology from you for the way you broke up with me.”

“I … I …”

“See?” He pointed at Katie with a twinkle in his eye that was so familiar. It was his charm that caused her to fall for him in high school. He seemed to have perfected his skills in the half decade since she last saw him.

“You know you owe me an apology. Katie, go ahead. Ladies first,” he said brazenly.

Without looking at Eli, Katie said, “You’re right, Michael. I didn’t handle things well back in high school. I’m sorry for the way I broke up with you. I really am. I apologize.”

“Apology accepted.”

It was silent for a moment.

“Your turn.” Katie narrowed her eyes and studied Michael’s smug expression. “Go ahead, say it. Say that you know you shouldn’t have kissed me like that.”

“You’re right.” Michael’s grin expanded. “What I should have done was kiss you like this.” With that, he tried to reach for Katie again.

Before she could pull back, Eli blocked Michael’s path. The two men scuffled for a few seconds like a couple of impalas locking horns.

“Unbelievable!” Katie threw up her hands in frustration and walked away, letting out a furious huff. Her little maids in waiting skittered to her side, wet and grinning and eager to be the ones to hold her hands and lead her off to play another game with them.

Jim, along with the other videographer, had made their way over to Eli and Michael to see what the fracas was about. Katie glanced at them over her shoulder and then kept on going, feeling as if the fire in her belly was about to ignite and she would self-combust.

“Katie.” Cheryl trotted up. “Is everything okay?”

“No, everything is not okay. Nothing is okay. I can’t believe what’s happening. This is over the top. Why is he here? I can hardly breathe.”

“Come on.” Cheryl took Katie by the hand and led her and her little followers to one of the mud huts. Cheryl called out something, and a reply came from inside. “We can go in here,” she said.

Katie ducked and entered a cool, dark space where a grass mat covered part of the dirt floor. An elderly woman sat at the corner of the mat, holding a cup of water. Her nearly toothless smile was the first thing Katie focused on as her eyes adjusted to the shadows. The woman motioned for them to come in, to sit, to rest.

In a rounded corner of the hut, Katie noticed a modern saucepan balanced on a propane camping stove and a ceramic bowl with two bananas.

Cheryl and the woman spoke as Katie adjusted herself cross-legged on the mat. Only two of the young girls had followed Katie into the hut. Clearly the indicators of a woman in angst looked the same in every culture. Empathetically, the little girls stayed close to Katie as she took deep breaths and tried to calm down.

“You are welcome here,” Cheryl translated. “You may speak, rest, or eat—whatever you like.”

“Thank you.” Katie turned to the woman. “Asante sana.”

“Is there anything I can do for you, Katie?” Cheryl asked.

“No. It’s not as if there’s anything that can be done. It’s crazy that he’s here, though. I mean, what are the odds of Michael being here now?”

“How do you know Michael?”

“He was my boyfriend from high school. He’s brash and arrogant. I broke up with him because he wasn’t a Christian, and he was pulling me away from my close friends and the Lord. It wasn’t a good relationship.”

“You dated him even though he wasn’t a Christian?”

Katie gritted her teeth. She wished she hadn’t revealed that detail to Cheryl. It had taken her long enough to convince Eli’s parents that she was in Kenya to serve and that she was a fine and upright choice
of a girlfriend and even a possible future wife for their son. Giving Cheryl another reason to doubt Katie’s stability or maturity as a Christian wasn’t what she wanted to do.

Although, at this moment, Katie didn’t know what she wanted.

Cheryl’s calm voice washed over the moment. “It’s okay, Katie. My first boyfriend wasn’t a Christian either. If I hadn’t met Jim when I did, I don’t know what sort of life I would have ended up with. God knows what he’s doing. He is the sustainer.”

Cheryl repeated her last line in Swahili, and the older woman, along with Katie’s two little attendants, echoed the blessing. “Mpaji ni Mungu.”

“Mpaji ni Mungu,” Katie replied under her breath.

“Are you okay staying here?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Cheryl gave her arm a squeeze. “It’s all for a reason. You know that.”

“What possible reason?”

“I have no idea.”

Cheryl left with a smile, and Katie felt her shoulders relax. Part of her wanted to shake off the little girls the way she would shake off ants that had decided to use her arm as a bridge. But these girls couldn’t be shooed away. They didn’t know what catastrophic things were happening inside her at the moment. Or maybe instinctively they did. Maybe they knew something emotional and intense was happening with Katie, and they were doing what women of all ages and all cultures do in such a time — they were offering their support and comfort.

Her hostess motioned for Katie to lie down on the mat and rest. The woman had no trouble shooing the little girls away. Trying her best to get comfortable, Katie curled up on the mat and used the open palm of her hand as a makeshift pillow. She fell asleep almost immediately and woke to the sound of hushed giggling.

It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the hut’s dim light and to remember where she was. Two new little girls were sitting cross-legged,
with their hands over their mouths, watching Katie from only a foot away. The older woman was gone.

“Was I snoring?” Katie asked.

The girls giggled again and reached over to touch her hair. Katie pulled herself into an upright position and smiled at the girls. She reached over and touched their hair. They giggled again and talked to her, pointing at her head.

“Yes, I know. It looks like my head is on fire, doesn’t it?”

The girls didn’t indicate that they understood anything she said. They playfully reached over and touched her hair and then pulled back their fingers just in case they were going to get in trouble for their boldness. One of the girls left, and the other clambered onto Katie’s lap. She touched Katie’s face with her finger and then touched her bare arm. She touched it again and again.

“Are you counting my freckles? Let me know your final count. I’ve always wondered how many there are.”

The little girl, Katie realized, was the same, thin child who had attached herself to Katie when they had arrived. She looked fresher now, undoubtedly having had a prance under the water spigot and partaking of all she could drink. Just that fast, her general appearance seemed enlivened. Clean water was going to transform this village.

“Let’s go outside,” Katie suggested. “I want to take a picture of you.”

The girl followed Katie’s lead. They stepped into the afternoon brightness, and Katie spotted Eli sitting in the shade of one of the huts, listening to two elderly men. His face was positioned toward the hut where Katie had been napping, and as she emerged, he seemed to watch her every move. She felt that he was watching out for her. Checking in on her. Making sure she was all right.

Four more little girls pranced over to Katie and staked their territory up and down her arms. They led her over to a shady spot away from where Eli was and persuaded her to sit down. She obliged and crossed her legs, making herself comfortable, expecting that they would show her how to play some sort of game.

Instead, several of the girls went to work, chattering away and meshing their narrow fingers into her hair, pulling it straight up.

“Wait, what are you guys doing? You’re not checking for lice, are you? There wasn’t an infestation of fleas in the hut where I just took a nap, was there? Why am I asking you? You can’t understand a word I’m saying.”

Then she realized they were braiding her hair. All of them, at once, as if busily readying her for the big party that night. Katie sat back and let them try their best to get her straight, silky hair to cooperate. She felt like a culturally adjusted Cinderella, surrounded by eager little chattering mice that were going to help their “Cinderelly.”

One of the girls ran off and came back with some sort of thin, grassy-like twine. Apparently they discovered that Katie’s hair was so sleek it unbraided itself as soon as they let go of it. Katie could only guess how ridiculous she was going to look with four hundred tiny braids all over her head, and each braid fastened with a bit of shrubbery.

“You girls are doing me a favor, you know,” Katie said, cracking herself up since none of them understood her. “Instead of having two guys fighting for my attention tonight, I’m pretty sure your beautifying efforts will send both of them running as far away from me as they can get. And you know what? At this point, I think that might be a good thing.”

One of the girls patted Katie’s cheek as if to indicate that Katie was supposed to hush and not move around so much or she would mess up their safari-salon techniques.

Katie sat patiently as the girls attended to their task. It was relaxing in an unexpected way. She had never done much with her hair, and she definitely hadn’t had anything done by her mother with her hair when she was a child. It struck her that ever since she had arrived in Kenya, a variety of nurturing expressions had been made to her by several women. She wondered if the experience of having that kind of love shown to her in tangible, physical ways had contributed to the
way her spirit had settled itself, and she felt more quieted and calmer than she ever had.

Katie realized it wasn’t just Africa and Kenya’s beauty that had settled her spirit in such tender ways. It was the women. She had always wanted more caring, older women in her life. She wanted an attentive mother and a doting aunt like the one Christy had. She wished she had women to mentor her like Julia had done last year as the resident director. Having Cheryl in Katie’s life as a steady rock of a woman was a beautiful thing. Katie felt blessed.

That was until she looked up and saw Michael coming toward her.

“Now that’s a different look on you altogether,” he said, checking out her many braids.

“Keep moving, mister. Nothing to see here. These are not the droids you’re looking for.”

Michael laughed. “Oh, Katie Girl, you’ve still got it, haven’t ya? I have never met a woman before or since with the same wit.” He bent down to be in her line of sight. “Are ya doin’ better? I heard you weren’t feeling well.”

“I’m fine.”

“In that case, you look like a cartoon character.”

“Thank you.”

“Just keepin’ it real. Isn’t that what you used to tell me?”

“Well, then I must say that you look like someone who is about to walk away and leave my peeps and me to our special girl time.”

“Okay, I get it. I can take a hint.”

“Really? Sure fooled me.”

“Listen, Katie, you don’t have to be so rough on me. I got the update. You’re with the missionary kid. I get it. I was too expressive with my greeting, and I apologize. Where I come from that was a perfectly acceptable greeting between two old friends such as you and me. I thought you’d be onto that. My mistake.”

Katie wanted to say something pithy, but obviously Michael was trying to offer his version of an apology. She backed down and didn’t reply.

He took her silence as an invitation to sit across from her. “I’m not surprised that you’re here.”

“You’re not?”

“No. You talked about coming to Africa when you were in high school.”

“I did?” Katie didn’t remember that. She did remember what Michael talked about in high school. “You used to talk about becoming a film director.”

“That I did. You remembered.”

Katie thought he looked a little too pleased that she recalled that detail. “So it looks like we both got our wish.”

“I’m working my way to where I really want to be. Doing a documentary in Africa isn’t my idea of being a film director, but it’s work, and it’s a start.”

“And it’s with the BBC. That’s impressive.”

“Actually, it’s not. I’m here with the BDC, the British Documentary Company. It’s a nonprofit. My cousin had a connection and got me in. Like I said, it’s a start. What about for you? What are you doin’ here, really?”

“I told you, I’m with the Lorenzos. I’m helping out.”

“Helping out with what?”

“Whatever needs to be done at the conference center where we live.”

Michael looked surprised. “That’s not you, Katie. You’re not an assistant to anyone. You’re a leader. Why aren’t you doing something for the mission that uses your great skills?”

Katie let out an awkward sounding snort of disagreement. One of Katie’s hairstylists checked her face to make sure Katie wasn’t reacting to her hair being tugged in all different directions. When it appeared that Katie was okay, the stylist went back to work.