Risen from the dark

Thank you for coming into my life

They laughed and Zayyad saw the glitters in her eyes, the whiteness of her snow white teeth, and cleft on her cheeks. She had this air of serenity around her, and an attractive force that held him spellbound.

“ My cousin actually recognised him.” Zayyad said, “ but he talked himself out. The guy has a very gig mouth.”

“ The biggest.” Nadia concurred. “ A smooth skimmer.”

“ He looked into my eyes, with no shame, and all the confidence in the world and said he knew me in USA. I believed him.” Zayyad said, “ with a fictitious story of childhood days .”

“ I don’t get it.” Awwal,Zayyad’s friend said, “ are you still talking about the food guy?”

“Yes. He was standing with Naairah and   I said his face looked familiar, and the next thing he said was we had been childhood friends abroad.”

“ Damn!” Awwal exclaimed. “ This guy is a rogue.”

Naairah said nothing, just kept a smile on her face. Zayyad did not like the way Adnan was standing with her that day. And he was so perturbed to see him with her after that day. So he began to find out who he was.

Adnan had met a lot of girls in Center City and Zayyad's cousin had been one of his mummies. They saw him distributing bread and she confronted him. Zayyad was there and Adnan never gave them a chance. He kept blabbering until he left there but they already knew who he was.Zayyad was so happy to find this out. Now he was happily telling Naairah and Nadia about it while they made fun of him. Zayyad was glad Naairah laughed along and it was obvious she did not take him serious.

“ I wonder why some guys can’t stay on their level. Adhering to division of class is imperative. Let the wretched be with the wretched, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie should hang together and let the crème la crème blend. The world would be a better place then.” Zayyad said.

“ Word, nigger.” Awwal concurred . “ I guess he is a guy from the ghetto.”

“ Yeah, I just know his problem is food.” Nadia said.

“ What?” Awwal exclaimed .

“ Yes. “ She said. “ I hope he would not eye something more. I just don’t feel comfortable around him.”

“ You have to be careful.” Awwal said directing his words to Naairah.

“ My boo has a large heart.” Zayyad said. “  But thank God she knows now.”

Naairah smiled.

“ Thank you, guys.” She said. “ I get your points.”

“ Talk of the devil and the devil appears.” Nadia said. “ Here comes the champ.”

Adnan alighted a bike, paid the bike-man who left. He looked around, wondering where she was.

They were under a tent across the campus.

“ I guess he is looking for a lunch ticket.” Zayyad said. “ I think I should just give him five hundred so he could leave the poor girls alone.”

Adnan saw them. He smiled and bounced confidently towards them.

“ Assalamu alaikum.” Adnan greeted.

“ Ameen wa alaikum salam.” They replied. He shook hands with Zayyad and Awwal.

“ We meet again.” Ahmed said with a smirk. “ My friend.”

“ Yeah.”

“ So what are you doing here? To give more lies? Or looking for lunch ticket.” He said and drew out some notes of money.”

“ I did not come to you actually.” Adnan said.

“ Zayyad .” Nadia said, feeling it was not right to embarrass him in such a childish manner.

“ Nadia I hate liars and cheats!” Zayyad  said.

“ I am sorry.” Adnan said. “ But you have to hate so many people. I remember a former governor who imported sixteen cars for a Ministry and recorded thirty-six and inflated the prices. It was all in the news. And he feeds, clothes, educate, house his family with such monies and the kids come out feeling on top of the world.

Some even feel so sanctimonious and claim to hate cheats and liars. Who is more of a liar than he who lies under oath, steals what belongs to the public. Not all of them are like that. But we know those who have been exposed.

So, return your dirty money into your pocket. Me and your father have a meeting. A forum for liars and cheats.”

“ How dare you talk to me like that!” Zayyad retorted, his eyes going red.

“ Enough of this!” Naairah said . “ Please this has to stop! Zayyad , I understand what you are trying to do but we all have our weaknesses and faults. We are good at overlooking ours and only  sighting the other person’s.

Adnan may have made some mistakes in his life just like many others. What matters most is realizing it, and making a change. We should correct with good intention not with the intention of embarrassing someone. Why did you not call him aside to admonish him? And sometimes in the act of trying to embarrass somebody, you also embarrass yourself. If you had not brought this up, he would not have mentioned your father’s.

Thank you for advising me against relating with him. Nadia is my best friend and she does everything to protect me. Whatever she says or does is for my good and done with good intentions. But I want you guys to know that Adnan touched my life the way no one has done.

I don’t think there is anything anyone would say that would separate me from him. I know him better than all of you. He is not what you think he is. And  I think it is high time I cleared the air….we are in love.”

“What!” Nadia exclaimed.

“ Why did you do that?” Adnan asked after a long ride in silence. She pulled up the car outside his estate.

“ Did what?”

“ What you did. You told them we were in love and you know it is not true. "He said. “ Did you see the look on that guys face?”

She heaved a sigh.

“ I don’t know why I  did it but I was sick of everything.”

“ I thought he was your boyfriend.”

“ I don’t know what he is to me.” she said. “ I just needed some space and I felt that would do it.”

“ By lying to them? Even Nadia believed you.”

“ Why are you so bothered about that?”

“ Because you took it so far.”

“ Did you not do the same?”

“ You knew I was just joking.”

“ Same with me.”

“ And you made it looked so real.”

“ Does it hurt?” She said, remembering some of his words and actions.

“ Happy birthday Miss Sunshine,” he had said, “ It is a day when an exquisite cynosure, in elation with proliferated measure, and pleasure becomes to me a pleasure.” She had acted as if she was oblivious to the words.

He also said, “ Listen, Miss sunshine. Find time to come out in the night, when the  weather is pacific and the sky is Naairah. Take your time to look up, you see  a star shinning so bright and distinct from the rest. That was the first place our hearts met.

They sat on the star to rest, and they were unaware of each  because the rhythm were the same. Same wavelength, amplitude and trough. Then they saw each other and fused.

When you look closely again, you will realise that you are a light, and I lost mine, and you led me into brightness. I was lonely on the star and you gave me company, and we formed a new world: Our world.

There was no water but you gave me out of your cell water and I became stronger. I asked who you were, and a voice whispered to me that you have come to be my soul’s companion. You came when I was stranded in the sky, in a vacuum, and lost all link with my crew.

A panacea from heaven. A blueprint from above to be materialized on earth.

Look in the sky Miss Sunshine, what you hear is the song of love sang from above in dedication to us,

and what you feel is the wind of love, that smoothens  the soul. No astronaut has gone to the sun where your heart came from miss sunshine, so no one can change  this heart of yours that is fused with mine except when he goes into the sun.

My heart is bright because it reflects yours. What happens when you take the sunshine away? I will be  left in a murky world. Freezing with no sunshine to warm me up. Do that miss sunshine and tell me what you see.

Each question carries 200 marks. Happy birthday. Keep the gift I brought for you. It might just be a reminder of me if I am no more.”

She still remembered everything he said about the future home at the restaurant. She never responded but somehow it all registered in her heart.

“ You took it too far. Be careful with your words.” She confessed.

“ I know. I am sorry but  did you know that you are the only one I have?”

She felt a bang in her heart.

“ You can't be serious. We do nothing other than argue and quarrel.”

“ I know but I am a lone man, wondering in the world where I find no love. I never even find a listening ear. I see people with sisters, brothers, parents and wonder what it feels like to have them. I saw the world like a battleground, a jungle where only the fittest and strongest survive.

I felt nothing personal towards anyone just like no one felt it towards me. I was just a secluded and dejected bloke, with no reveries but pains in rains. Ostracised, and made like an arriviste in the society. I spent my life with no one to caution me, or reproach me.

The first time I saw you in the restaurant, my professionalism told me that you were a target but I never recognized the part that said you were a solace.

My negatively preconceived mind-set would not let me see light that shone from your eyes but  a force kept me bonded. And I found myself thinking about you. I tried to force you out of my mind. I did not know why I felt attracted.

I still don’t know how I told you the secret of my life and even without warning you not to tell anyone, I feel not even Nadia knows about it. I meant most of the things I said but it was all a lead to building a castle in air.

You are a noble girl with a high classed background. I am a street boy with no background. I never tried to take you serious in my heart because I did not want a shattered heart. I have never loved and have been very safe.

But I see you as the only person I could talk to and the way you listened was the best thing that ever happened to me. It was the closest thing to having a family. But I know it won’t last long. I may soon disappear into thin air,  or die because life is so uncertain. Even at this point, you made me felt what I never felt and  made me leave a life which was destructive.

I realized that my actions were not just to collect food but some of these girls felt something and hoped for something more which I was not ready to give but gave them a false impression just to have what I wanted. Thank you very much, Miss Sunshine.”

She was silent for a while, confused.

“ What do you mean by saying you may leave soon?”

“ I just feel it. It is complicated.”

“ Has it crossed your mind that you will be hurting me if you left?” she confessed. “ You dare not leave! Just know that I am here for you, and will be there for you, if you want me to be.”

What did she say? Naairah?

“ I know you will find it hard to believe….but you mean a lot to me. I don’t know how you did it.”She added.

He was still speechless.

“ Remember my background.”He said softly.

“ Don’t you ever mention that again. I don’t care!”

“  Thank you for coming into my life.” He said.

“ And promise me that you will not leave.”

He looked at her, then smiled.

“ I promise.”