COLD SUMMER

CS 2: MEETING

Meeting (2)

He groaned as he opened his eyes and stood up. He realized that he was on the bare ground and he wondered how he got there. He last remembered entering a cab but when did he hop out his ride. He checked himself and saw that his properties were intact, just him on the ground. He turned and saw an umbrella at a distance. He should be at the cliff or was he just abandoned at the unknown?. He decided to take a look for himself, he walked towards the umbrella he saw.

She rested her back on the chair, wore her shades and decided to have a good and peaceful afternoon rest. She had heard the sound of wheels but she cared less about what brought it to the hill. She wasn’t bothered, she doesn’t care. But, life had other plans.

The thump of footsteps was heard and it was getting closer and closer but she didn’t move nor open her eyes, 'don’t bother me’ were the words running through her head. After a moment, it stopped and even though she was curious, she didn’t open her eyes, she laid there, enjoying the soft breeze.

He looked at the person, it was a lady but, how did she get there?, He didn’t see any vehicle in sight. He licked his lips and stared ahead. Sure and right, they were almost close to the cliff and it’s straight death down to hell, he noted. If he jumps, he’s gonna smash his head on a rock and wreck his body, it should be less painful, he thought to himself.

Another thought, why would a lady choose to camp beside a cliff and there’s no beach around. So, why would she dress like she’s on a beach?. He should ask to know which stone she had knocked her head on but he has no time to waste. He could see death with it’s scythe at the other end smiling at him, he smiled back.

“we will be united soon” he thought and walked to the cliff. He closed his eyes and said the lord’s prayer. As he was about to jump..

“Don’t jump yet”

He turned “excuse me” he said

She sat up and removed her shades

“I said, don’t jump yet” she said

“And why would you say that?”

“Im too young to be a murder suspect”

“I wanna jump”

“I know, you wanna die, I’m not stopping you but do it after I leave this place. Infact, I can help you by calling the cops and then, you can jump. Your body will be fresh enough for a lab experiment”

“Hmm” he said to himself

But, he wondered, why would she tell him that. People should stop others from dying not help them to die “I can’t stop you from killing yourself” she said as she rested back and wore her shades “it’s a good day to die”

“Do you wanna die also?”

She was silent for a while before answering him

“yes, many times I want to but I know that I’m going to hell. Even if I’m gonna end up killing myself, I need to f**k a man, suck a d**k and do all styles of s*x then have a baby”

He was taken aback by what she said

“I was expecting to make money”

She chuckled and stood up, she walked up to him and removed her shades

“money?, Make money, I have enough money. what I’m doing here is taking a break. All I want is to camp here, walk around in different bikinis or probably naked”

“Can you just stop being blunt?”

She pursed her lips and smiled “carry on with your deady plan, I need to sleep” she went into her tent, leaving him there

“Ive sent my driver to bring Teresa” Rico said and laurel nodded

“im glad you back home lil sister” he said

“well, I have to do what’s best for myself and my daughter” she said and he left the room, leaving her alone.

Laurel went to the window and looked out. The sight before her was beautiful and magnificent. This was her life, this is her life, this is where she belongs and not with Alex. She needed to be tendered to, loved deeply and taken care off in a posh way. She was born into wealth, why should she decide to hang with drain in the name of love, it doesn’t even exist.

She left her room and headed to the sitting room

“rico” she called out and he came to her

“do you need something?”

“I want to see father and please, get the divorce papers ready”

“why the rush of things?”

She gave him a deadly glance “rush, rush things you say. I have lived like this for 8 good years of my life and you think I found it funny and comforting”

“No need to lash out on me” Rico said “I’ll do it” he added and left

“For how long will you do this, my love. For the past 8years, you’ve not heard from Alex and you didn’t bother to check on him. Are you still mad at him?”

“Alice, why are you bothering me?” He asked her

“talking about my son is bothering you. I have stood with this for 8 good years. I didn’t call him, I didn’t bother to check him. Now, he's lost a child and I couldn’t even go to him”

“Go to him Alice, go to your son. I’m not stopping you”

“What is wrong with you Gary?” she shouted at him “what has he done to you?, Just because he’s different, because he chose not to be like your other children who follow every rule you lay down and because he said that he has no interest in your company, you disinherited him and sent him out. You froze all his accounts and made him homeless. Your own f*****g SON” she barked at him “I am done with this, all this s**t. My Alex is in serious pain and I will not sit here and wipe your feet. f**k you Gary, I’m done with this shitty marriage to you, you can make me homeless too” she walked out of the room

Lo stared at the picture of Rebecca

“she’s so beautiful” he said to himself

He had always liked her and still likes her. He hoped to make her his wife, mother to his daughter and children to come but Rebecca has never seen all that affection, she’s too blind to see it.

“Pa” he turned to see his daughter and smiled

“Berry”

She walked up to him

“Are you staring at Aunt Rebecca’s picture again” berry asked

“nope”

“your nose twitches when you lie”

“I guess I’m Pinocchio now”

She chuckled and sat on his leg

“Pa, I want you to get married, I don’t like how you alone”

“As far as I’m taking good care of you, you shouldn’t worry about me”

“But I am pa, you’re far better than my step father and my mother is not even helping. I don’t wanna go there, I want to stay here with you, everyday”

He sighed “you’re with me aren’t you but over there, you get to bond with your siblings”

“I don’t like them, they’re spoilt. The 2 of them are spoilt, father”

“But they love you, I’ve seen that. Your mother does, your step pa does”

She pursed her lips

“not helping pa, not changing my mind”

Lo groaned as he watched her smirk, one mistake that has been his blessing since day 1. He was just 19years when her mother had her. It was like all hell would break loose when her mother (Greta) told him she was having a baby. None of them had planned it, none of them knew each other except for the eye contacts in school.

it was just one of the mistakes of going to a club. He had no choice but to take responsibility, Greta’s family weren’t supportive but his family were and they stood by them. At the end, Greta chose to leave her 3month old baby in his hands and head out to South Africa with her family. He and his parents had to take care of her. It was very tough when his mother died but for Berry, he and his father did their very best and now, he’s proud of her to hell and back.

He went back to the cliff and stood there for a while. He was about to jump again when he changed his mind, went Into the tent and sat. She was eating and watching a movie on her tablet when he entered

“You judged me, didn’t you?” he said “just like the cab driver, you also think I’m sick” he said but she didn’t spare him a glance

“do you think it’s easy for me to be here, to decide that death is the next option of mine”

Still got no response from her but he continued

“im a married man with no body, I have no body. I lost my son a week ago, he was just 5yrs old, he was buried today. My wife left me today, right after our son’s final rites and she took our daughter with her. My parents, my whole family abandoned me 8yrs ago. I’m a grieving father and none could even pay me a visit. My step sister came and couldn’t even console me, she stood at a distance and watched the proceedings. I’m a poor, broke man with nothing and nobody. I have just 200 dollars in my account and i have a debt of about a million dollars and I don’t even know how to pay it back. Now tell me, don’t I deserve to die?. I don’t even have a place of my own, we live at the home of my friend that passed away 3 years ago, we’ve been living there for 8yrs. He was the only one that stood by me when everyone left. Laurel promised to be by my side till the end of times but she left me, she just had to leave during this period when everything has gone really bad and tough”

She stopped eating but didn’t look at him or stop the film that was playing

“It hurts so much, so so much. I couldn’t shed a single tear because I was trying to be strong but I can’t help it” he said and bursted into tears “he was everything to me”

She stopped the movie and looked at him, that was the first time she would see a man cry and she could hear the pain in his voice. She wondered how much pain he was in for him to decide that death is the next option for him

“im sorry, I’m sorry” he said as he cleaned his face “im so sorry for all what I said” he said as he cleaned his face “I can’t even remember the last time I cried” he said and looked at her but she was just staring at him and he couldn’t read her expression because, it had no emotion with it

“I should take my leave” he said as he tried to stand up “this is awkward” he said to himself

“im sorry about your son” she finally said but she didn’t look at him “I can’t imagine how much pain you must have felt when you saw him”

They were silent for a while and he sat back

“have you ever tried to have a child?” he asked her

“no” she replied

“you’re not barren, are you?”

“I hope not but Ive not tried to have one”

“kids are blessings and they’re our joy. I wasn’t really there during my 1st child but I was there throughout for Wave and I saw everything a woman goes through and then…loosing him after 5 good years of nurturing him” he said

She pursed her lips “my condolences, really”

She could have snapped at him or yell that his life was none of her business but she could see loneliness in his eyes. He was lonely and broken hearted. He needed someone to talk to, to free his mind and feel a little light about his heavy heart

“do you drink coffee?” she asked

“yes I do but I don’t drink it anymore”

“I’ll brew you one” she stood up and left the tent with a small box that was at the corner of the tent.

“im sure she doesn’t want to come” she said as they looked at Berry

“She always come to you, doesn’t she?”

“That’s because you force her to, Logan. Hanani hates me, she hates us all”

“Why would you think she hates you, Greta” Logan asked

“because you’re poisoning her mind against me”

Logan chuckled then laughed

“poisoning her mind!” he chuckled again “please, give me a better job cause that’s not paying me and it’s not enough to be a good father”

“ive apologized more than a thousand times Logan”

“and I never said apology not accepted” he stood up

“take care of her, I don’t want berry complaining or else, I’m sending her to my aunt and trust me, you won’t see her till you die”

He went to Hanani and kissed her forehead

“Dad, I don’t want to go with her”

“Just bear it, Berry. She’s still your mother”

She nodded and Logan left the park

“Laurel” her mother said entering the sitting room

“mother”

“Laurel” her mother said happily and went to hug her “liam has been waiting for this day, for you to come back to your senses”

“im back mother”

“Looks like someone has grown up” her 2nd brother said as he came in with Yna

“Paolo” laurel said and looked at Yna “yna”

“Laurel, it’s good to see you again”

“you don’t look bad yourself. I’ve finally left your brother to his miserable life”

“I don’t have any brother” Yna said

Laurel nodded and watched as Paolo gave his wife a big kiss. What was she expecting, for Yna to be sad for Alex. He’s no longer a Burnham. He just bears the name.

“Right, you don’t” laurel goes to peck her then she hugged Paolo tight

“you should stay with me” he said “Rico is really slow”

“I heard that nitwit” Rico said coming in and Paolo went behind Yna

“I am not slow, you ball head, I have prepared everything for them and I know they’ll be really comfortable”

“somehow mother, Rico seems to have grown” Paolo said returning to where he was

“don’t tease your older brother Paolo cause I can’t be separating you two again. You’re now fathers”

Rico gave Paolo the look and Paolo gave him the f**k you sign

“im so happy that all my children are here. Especially my daughter who went off with a loser but now, she’s back”

“Mother!”

“come kids, I’ll cook today’s dinner and I can’t wait for my grandchildren to arrive, they should bond well with Teresa”

“right” Rico said “we’ll head to the garden”

“im cooking and you boys are helping”

“what!” they exclaimed

“You were saying?”

“nothing mother” they said as they followed their mother to the kitchen, leaving their wives and sister in the sitting room

“I wanna hear all about your life with Alex” Rico’s wife said

“Sure” to Yna “ join us Yna”

“no thank you, I’ll just head to the room for a quick nap” she left

“lets go” Laurel said to the woman and they left for the garden

“Here you go” she said stretching a cup of hot coffee to him before sitting “Milk and sugar?”

“Yes please”

She passed the box to him after filling her own and they were both silent as they wrapped themselves with their own thoughts.

“I sound stupid, spilling myself and crying in front of a total stranger, how dumb of me”

He bit his lips before sipping his coffee again.

“What am I going to do to redeem myself?. I should probably drink this and end it at the cliff but if I do that, I might put her at risk. I should wait until she leaves before doing that” he thought to himself

He didn’t know what to do about his current situation. She’s camping here and he needs to jump off. Doing that will only make her a prime suspect and his death will be counted as murder but if he doesn’t, he has debts waiting for him, he will be living alone, he has lost his Janitor’s job.

He’s educated, well brought up but he couldn’t find a job. He is certain his father made sure of that, that man is ready to lead him to destruction and now, he has succeeded, he’s going to die and burn in hell till eternity.

He sighed as he saw that his coffee had hit rock bottom. He should probably leave and find a place to spend the night.

She’s sitting in front of a man who’s on a suicide mission, who’s lost everything important to him and he just cried out his heart to her, a total stranger. She’s rich, yes, but her life isn’t perfect. Her head and world spin around her everyday and she’s sick of it. She hasn’t married, talk more of having a child at age 26. Some of her past doings hunts her mind and her heart beats at every of her fear. She came out here believing that she might find solace here before throwing herself off the cliff if life tires her. Here she is with a man who has the same intentions.

She could feel her sweaty palm and rubbed it on her thighs. How disgusting of her, she’s still in her bikini right in front of a married man, a father of two. Even though his wife had left him, it’s still disrespectful of her, they’re not divorced yet, still disrespectful in every scenerio. She quickly stood up to find something to wear.

She stood up quickly and rushed to her box. He wondered why she rushed to her box in such a manner. Is it because it’s almost night time or because of him?. She had been like that for hours, why feel shy now?. He placed the cup down and looked away as she was about to change.

“sorry about that?” she said as she came to sit and he nodded

“no problem. I shouldn’t be here anyways”

“Where are you heading to if you leave here?”

“Home first, to sleep and then wake up tomorrow and wonder what’s next in my life”

“do you love your wife?”

“I do, very much and I care so much about our daughter” he sighed “Teresa was closer to her mother than me. She’s been exhibiting some traits of Laurel and sometimes I wonder what she’ll grow up to become”

“you shouldn’t die Mr..”

“Just call me Alex”

“Life is really tough, even for those with everything in the world, they have issues too. I might not understand what you’re going through but I’ll advise you not to kill yourself”

“you know, you have the aura of a strong, independent woman and I really appreciate this kindness”

“it doesn’t come by everyday”

“I didn’t catch your name Miss”

She chuckled “you don’t want to know my name. Just rest for the night and leave tomorrow morning”

“you sure”

“Ill be outside…I have another tent and my car is down the hill. Sleep peacefully” she grabbed her phone and left the tent, leaving him alone

He wondered and puzzled why she was nice to him. Is it because he poured out his heart to her or because he loosed a child?. She didn’t seem like the nicest person when he first met her. Like she said, he should rest cause he could feel the headache that is about to hit and it won’t be a funny one.

He laid down on the bed and tried to sleep but it wasn’t forth coming. What was he going to do tomorrow?, How will his tomorrow be like?. He shouldn’t trouble himself with all the thoughts right now but he couldn’t help but think about the problems he’s going back to face before he ends up killing himself. He sighed and licked his lips before closing his eyes. At least, his heart had lightened before it gets strucked by the axe of murder and the jabbing thorns of eternal flame.