“How could you do such a thing? I thought you loved her?” asked Sharon.
“I do, very much.”
“Then explain to us what happened,” she demanded.
I was beginning to get agitated. I needed consolation not interrogation. I could have met the police if I wanted to be asked twenty-one questions.
“I really don’t know. It all happened so fast. I was in my room and the next thing I knew, Julie barged into my room in her panties and kissed me. Just then, Lisa walked in. I never wanted to hurt her, let alone kiss Julie.”
Sharon and Catherine were the only ones who knew about Julie’s escapades, except of course Lisa, who had read Julie's mind a couple of times. She ought to know what Julie was up to.
Catherine reached for my hand and placed it on her lap. “Don’t worry, we’ll speak to her. At least, for now try to give her some space,” she said, rubbing my left hand in between her soft palms. That was exactly what I needed: a way to get my love back, and not the unnecessary questions.
I told them about the gifts we received and the prank call, just to brighten their mood, and maybe mine. Afterwards, they both tried to call Lisa, but her phone was switched off. She must have guessed I would run to them.
“We’ll go over to see her personally, so don’t worry. Everything will be back to normal in no time,” Sharon assured me.
I couldn’t bear to have them around me in my current state; I felt vulnerable and extremely sad. I left their house, hoping Lisa would listen to them when they begged her on my behalf. Although, I'd warned them that the aim was to gain Lisa’s forgiveness, and that they shouldn’t in turn make her angry with them. I would be incredibly morose if they joined me in my situation.
As I reached the front door of my house, I turned back and looked at my new car. I sighed, taking a glimpse of the yellow car beside it. “This is meant for you,” I quietly said.
Stacey ambushed me as I entered the living room. “What happened?” she asked. Her question got me upset, because I’d presumed Julie would have filled her in, but after reading her mind, I noted she was unaware of the incident. I really wasn’t in the mood to answer any more questions, but I had to tell her the truth about her malevolent friend who I now disliked.
“Lisa broke up with me,” I said.
Surprisingly, she looked pitiful. I hadn’t expected her to feel like that. I could tell she wasn’t pretending. Her mind was an open book.
“Why would she do such a thing on a day like this?” she asked.
“Your friend barged into my room wearing her panties, and then kissed me. Before I could push her away, Lisa walked in.”
Stacey took a deep breath as she take in the story I’d just told her. I guess she never imagined her friend could stoop so low to the point of forcing herself on me. “How could Julie do such a thing?" She sighed. "No worries. Lisa will come back to you if she truly loves you.”
Stacey had made a very important point clear to me, which I hadn’t given much thought to. If Lisa did actually love me as she claimed, she would forgive and forget, but not only that, take me back because I couldn’t see myself living without her.
Everybody gave me the same solution: wait for her to cool off. But what if she did and found someone else? There was a possibility she had mastered her abilities and could control her emotions toward the male species now. Remember, she'd kissed Ryan without any complications.
Shortly after talking with Stacey, I went to my room. I needed to be alone, and so I asked her not to allow anyone enter the house except Lisa, because it was my birthday and some of my acquaintances may want to stop by to give their birthday wishes.
I sat on the bed staring at the blank flat screen as my heart raced faster than ever, like it was about to leave my chest. My body temperature was drastically reducing as though I resided in deep freeze. I turned to look at my gifts, and I saw the Playstation3 Julie had bought for me. I picked up the box. Looking at it, I blinked my eyes and it began to freeze. I let it slip from my hand and it fell on the ground, shattering into ice flakes. It didn’t change anything. Lisa wasn’t going back and the pain wouldn’t leave. Things were only going to get worse.
I went to my table to make use of my laptop, hoping she would be online on Facebook, so we could at least chat. She had removed herself from my friends list by deleting her profile. I was devastated, and afraid of what her next action might be. I spent the night crying and hurting myself in an attempt to punish myself for the wrong I’d done.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Emptiness
As time passed, the situation grew worse. Lisa didn’t listen to anything Catherine or Sharon had told her, or so they said. After a few more attempts, I pleaded with them to forget about me and carry on with their lives. I was afraid Lisa would end up disliking them if they kept pestering her about me. I tried visiting her but they confiscated my gate pass, so I couldn’t enter the compound. Every second spent seemed like years wasted in emptiness; my life had no purpose without her.
I had stopped everyone from visiting, especially the she-devil: Julie. Stacey already lived with me, so I couldn’t ask her to move out. I remained helpless and hopeless in my room, never to step foot outside the door unless Lisa agreed to take me back. My head had joined my heart in its throbbing and my body was causing that air conditioning feeling again in my room. I had tried plenty of times to communicate with her telepathically, but all my efforts failed. She blocked me out of her subconscious and I had no clue on how she could do that, maybe she had mastered her powers as she claimed.
Back in Africa, I had a habit of drawing pictures whenever I was depressed, but since I arrived in Sloutenville, I hadn’t drawn a single picture. I reached for my drawing sets, hoping that the incredible nature of art would fill this void. I wasn’t a hardcore artist that had a blog or studio, I only drew pictures from my head onto paper.
After I completed my first piece of work, I felt a bit relieved – just a bit. Looking down at the paper in front of me, I froze in shock as my eyes bulged wide open. There wasn’t much difference between a real picture and what I drew. Somehow, my powers made me a perfectionist or should I say – a freak. It was like as if I’d printed the picture from a computer. There was one problem though: I couldn’t share any of my abilities with the world, because people would be frightened and wouldn’t believe a human being could do such.
I began drawing and painting pictures of Lisa. She was the only one in my subconscious, who didn’t want to leave easily. Out of the pictures I drew, the one with her in the red dress and ruby necklace was the finest. It looked like the painting of Rose
DeWitt Bukater
on the Titanic, but with more colors and clothing. I couldn’t have remembered what she’d worn if I hadn’t received my abilities. I’d always had a photographic memory since I arrived at Sloutenville. I guess that was how I aced my finals, or maybe not. Who knows?
***
The bright light of a sunny day filled my room. I was seated at my desk, drawing pictures of Lisa. I glanced at my unmade bed and shook my head. The pillows were scattered on the floor, the bed lamp was disconnected from the socket and sat on the floor. I knew the room was in a mess, but I couldn’t be bothered to tidy it. Yeah, it was that bad.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. It drew me to realize how lonely I’d become, but then I liked it that way. I sat still on my chair, pretending not to have heard the sound.
The knocking grew louder, and a voice called, “Stephen, please open the door.” It took me a while to recognize the person’s voice. It was Susan. I stared at the door for a long minute, and then reluctantly shuffled towards it. I never wanted anyone to see me in such a mess: my hair was unkempt. It seemed like I'd been behind bars – literally. I opened the door and returned to my drawing, refusing to greet her. Susan's eyes were wide open; she knew immediately that I wasn’t the Stephen she’d known. Lisa had taken away everything from me.
“Take a good look at yourself,” she began the lecture. “You allow a common girl to reduce you to this level. I’m really disappointed, Stephen,” she said in an angry tone.
I remained silent, drawing the picture of the girl she criticized. If I had opened my mouth, she wouldn’t like what would have come out. I understood that she was concerned, but I wasn’t a kid anymore. I could take care of my own problems.
“Stacey said you haven’t left your room for almost a week now. Do you want to kill yourself? You won’t eat; you won’t have a bath.” She paused. “Young man, look at me when I’m talking to you.”
Slowly, I raised my head so she could see my teary eyes, pallid skin and scattered hair. Still I remained silent. I planned on doing so until I saw Lisa walking through the same door. Whatever Susan's plans were before coming over to comfort me, she wasn’t going to make me step out of my room, let alone forget about Lisa and move on.
“Honey, please do something about your situation. If you really don’t want her to take you back, sitting here won’t achieve that. You’ve got to fight for her,” Susan said as she moved over to the table where I’d constructed my masterpiece. “Oh wow, this is incredible,” she said, picking up the pictures I'd drawn and painted. She glanced at each of them for a while, forgetting her main aim for coming over. “Well, go fight for her then. I don’t want to see you in this state. I promised your mother I’d take care of you, so please do help me keep my promise and remember, if you need anything, let me know. I don’t want to see you in this mess the next time I come over. ” After those last words, she left the room.
I moved to the bed and reflected on what she’d just advised me; there was much sense in what she said. I needed to fight for Lisa, not sit and wait for her to come back to me. With that in mind, I began writing a short poem to her, hoping it would portray my love for her. I attached it with the picture I drew of her in the red dress, and placed them in an envelope. The letter read:
Hurting you was like driving a fiery stake through my cold heart.
It’s so shocking because I was termed to be wise,
Now I’m stuck in this room, regretting,
As the world flashes before my very eyes
You are the reason I find life worth living
Without you, my life’s incomplete.
Your skin beams brighter than the sun when it’s shining.
Your eyes, they glistened brighter with every single heartbeat.
No one can keep us apart, because my heart lies wherever you are.
They say time heals all wounds; however, eternity can’t fix my broken heart scar.
Only you can, and if not, I’m left alone..
I’ve never had someone who knows me like you do.
Finally, you’ve brought me down on one knee.
I love you, I miss you, and I need you.
You are the fire burning inside of me,
Stephen.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Her Death
I was reluctant to deliver the envelope that contained the picture and poem to Lisa, but eventually decided to drop it off at her house. I chose to go on a Wednesday, when I knew her parents wouldn’t be around. Ben had a golf session with his close friend and Ellen spent most of her time in her new boutique.
On the fateful day, I was forced to take a shower and have a shave in order to look presentable for my new blue Range Rover, which I hadn't touched, and of course Lisa, who I hadn't seen. I donned my lucky blue shirt folding the sleeves over twice, and tighten the watch Lisa had bought me, whilst wearing white pants to match the watch, and blue shoes to match the shirt. I wanted to look good for Lisa.
Stacey was astounded to see me after several weeks of absence. Even though we lived under the same roof, I hadn’t been bothered to show my face. She stood up from the sofa and ran to give me a hug. Although I was still gloomy, I cheerfully accepted it. I needed it.
“I’m glad you're back,” she said, grinning.
I chuckled at her figure of speech. “But I hardly left the house!
“Yeah, but … So, where are you going to?” she asked, pointing a finger to the envelope in my hand.
I hadn’t told her about the drawing, and I didn’t plan on doing so just yet. “I just want to get some fresh air. I'll be back shortly,” I said.