SUNDAY, January 6th 2013.

Saturday, September 27th

 

Five       

THE NEXT MORNING, RITA woke up with a start unaware of what had woken her, and turned on her side yawning. I must have slept in an awkward position, she thought. Her neck felt stiff and ached terribly. She massaged it and felt the pearl necklace she had worn the previous day. Putting it off, she reached for the window, opened it, drawing the curtains aside as the early morning light flooded in. The sun had not yet risen.

She looked at the clock. It was twenty-six to six. She stood up and slipped into a pair of new slippers as the ache in her arms and legs clamoured for attention.

A stroll will do the trick. She thought, stretching lazily. She proceeded into the bathroom and returned minutes later looking wet and fresh. Slowly she slipped into a red T-shirt and a pair of joggers and stepped out of the room.

As she entered the living room, a gentle meow reminded her of the cats. She looked around her. The cats were lying on the floor rug.

The rug’s probably covered with cat hairs already. she thought with irritation.

She hated cats with passion. They reminded her of the possibility of having a ghost in the house. She didn’t know how to drive them out, so she opened the entrance and shifted aside, pulling her phone out of her pocket. The house needed to be put in good shape.

She noticed that he cats did not move, so she entered the kitchen as she dialled seyi’s number and waited.

She heard the ring at the other end and knew that her call had gone through. It rang for a few seconds, then seyi picked the call.

For a minute they exchanged pleasantries, then she told her how badly the house needed to be cleaned. With a soft click, she broke the connection after seyi promised to turn up that morning.

She walked back to the living room, her eyes searching for the cats. She could hear a car revving outside. She walked out to the veranda, totally forgetting the cats. The air was crisp and clear and the sky was blue. A light breeze was blowing. She tiled her head, trying to make out the figure in the car.

Presently, a man came out of it and banged the door. He was a tall, light complexioned, luxuriantly bearded man, probably in his late thirties. He walked briskly towards his house, running his eyes around the compound. He was probably the host of the previous night’s party.

He was looking extremely familiar. Something in the way he walked made her feel she’d seen him before. The height and the… what else?... yes… he must have been the one urinating on her flower beds yester night! Thoughtless fool…had his toilet system broken down?!

She sighed and walked to the spot to examine the flowers. She watched as a butterfly flitted from flower to flower, creating a trail of circles in her gaze. She loved how the flowers mingled together forming a blaze of colour.

Her mum had built the house with an eye to converting it into a little garden, planting flowers around the house to serve as a fence. The driveway was equally marked with flowers.

The scent of the flowers always filled the air, such that even while at the second floor, one could perceive it.

Absent mindedly, she plucked one and tucked in her hair just above her left ear. She found her self walking to the back of the house. The patio was as dirty as the house, even worse, but it still looked as beautiful as ever