Previously on You’re Still You… *As told by Waita On the drive home, I am braced for a fight. I haven’t spoken to Nora all weekend, or at least that’s what she’ll say. I haven’t fawned over her in front of our friends. I haven’t painted the picture of perfect love and devotion. She can […]
Previously on You’re Still You… It’s one of those crisp days where everything is as it should be. The sky is a brilliant blue interspersed with cotton-white wisps of clouds. We’re at the turn of the season, so the plant life is robust with different shades of green and yellowed tips. There are dragonflies and […]
We’re both laughing now because we’re buzzed but also because we’re on the precipice of something momentous. A knowledge has passed between us that in the cosmic thread that connects us both, a new bond is forming. Whatever I say will influence whatever life decision he’s struggling with. However it goes, we’ll both remember this night. The laughter is just to quell the jitters.
What we both know to be true, but which remains unsaid, is that I don’t get invited to family road trips because I’m single. The wives don’t like me. They don’t like how I stand with their men sipping old-fashioneds while they grill, with no kids to run around after. They envy my freedom. And they hate that I’m privy to all of their husbands’ inside jokes because I tag along to all the stuff they don’t get invited to.
Inside they’re playing Amapiano which is pouring out through the balcony. I can see right through to where she’s sitting from here. When she gets up to go and rinse her glass in the kitchen I watch her. Alright. I ogle her. She’s wearing one of those hugging sweater dresses. I have half a mind to go circle her waist from the back and pull her flush against me. She doesn’t look like she’d flow with it though. Besides, those are mad fisi vibes bana. I’m trying to get her attention, not get dismissed.
Now I have him talking about something he’s proud of. I place my hand on his shoulder and rest my chin on it. Close enough that his beard tingles from interacting with my energy field. Close enough that he smells martinis, mints and lust on my breath. Close enough that he struggles with the thought of tasting me.
The call comes in on a Thursday night. The Indian Ocean is roaring in the background. Some of his words are carried off by the wind but you get the gist of what he’s saying. He’s walking on the beach. He wants you next to him. Be spontaneous. Be adventurous. Take the train. You’ll book […]
Previously on Eucalyptus Man… Russo sends a link to a playlist the next day. I have a few hours to kill while my guests explore the gorge at Hell’s Gate. I recline the seat in the cruiser and hit play. The playlist starts with a cover of I Won’t Back Down by Tom Petty. There’s […]
Previously on Eucalyptus Man … It’s evening in Naivasha and the night creatures are stirring awake. I’ve spent the day talking about pelicans and marabou storks on Crescent island. The sun has been on my back all afternoon. My heels are hot from being on my feet all day, but I love it. I love […]
Previously on Eucalyptus Man… What can I tell you about Mundia and me? Our marriage – the beginning, the end, and the murkiness in between – is something I mull over from time to time. Ruminating is a great source of anxiety for me, but I’m the sort of person who can’t move on from […]
Previously on Eucalyptus Man… I can’t say for sure when the seeds of discontent sprouted. I just remember starting to feel my world growing smaller, a kind of darkness closing in, sealing me into place. Sometimes thinking about it made me sad. Then realizing that I was sad made me even sadder because I am […]
“What are you thinking?” “Nothing.” “You look like you were thinking about something.” “I’m not.” “Really? So your mind is just blank right now?” “Yeah.” I sigh. “Okay. I’m going to shower.” My little tentacles, glowing and delightfully warm, just beginning to unfurl and reach out, growing, seeking him out like a vine blossoming […]
Her laughter floats through the room like a genie from a bottle and tickles the back of my neck. As always, my body reacts even before my mind registers her, the way animals smell a tsunami coming when it’s still working up its wrath at the bottom of the ocean. And because her energy pulses […]
Previously on Biker’s Island… I have taken to standing with my back to the wall now because every time I have my back to a room I feel his presence behind me. I see the back of his head in my mind’s eye and a bolt cuts across my stomach. There’s a cold sweep of […]
*** The series finale for Biker’s Island is still sizzling on the grill. I’m taking my time with it because I know you guys like it juicy and well done and if I serve it medium rare someone will ask to speak to my manager. All the same, it’s Thursday and while we’re on the […]
Previously on Biker’s Island … The day Alan stumbled through my door reeking of liquor, I didn’t have the foresight to stop what was coming. I was groggy from the remnants of morphine I had received that morning before I was discharged from the hospital. The stitches on my leg felt tight and sore. To […]
Previously on Biker’s Island… Two months into our relationship, Lenny and I had our first fight. We had had tensions before, little zaps of static from the current running between us, misunderstandings that could be brushed away with a feather duster. Child’s play. The fight on that Saturday in February was a fight for […]
The business of creating things you love most times is a neatly-wrapped gift of freedom, self-direction, and unparalleled fulfillment. But it can also be a ball of fear in your throat, the hot air of disappointment around your neck, a clamp putting pressure at your temples. Sometimes you encounter losses and curveballs in the craft […]
Previously on Biker’s Island… At his bedroom window, I stepped behind the heavy, opaque drapes; the kind they have in hotel resorts that you can draw in the middle of the afternoon and catnap undisturbed. I tilted the louver window slightly open, enough to infuse fresh air into the room without letting in too much […]
Previously on Biker’s Island … There was a moment when I thought he would lean in and kiss me. I had given in to a pleasurable adrenaline rush that was crackling inside of me and I wished to prolong it. Instead, he asked, “Now you see why I carry my piece?” I hadn’t realized […]
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