The leafy almond tree hovered over the little brick house almost sealing the window that was the object of my late night excursions. For many moons now, I’d tapped on that obscured window at odd hours of the night. It was my only path to Ebony, my heart’s ultimate desire. Whenever the urge to hear her voice came over me, I didn’t resist; I’d wake up and run across the town to do my heart’s bidding.
For reasons which I later came to know were rooted in Ebony’s reciprocity of my own feelings, she was never annoyed by what I thought was my unbecoming behavior. Sometimes I wished she would be. But she did not. Not even once.
On one eerie night, the irresistible urge struck again. I stepped outside into the impenetrable darkness determined to go knock on Ebony’s window. Just yards away from her house, my legs slowed, unable to take me any further. Like a statue I stood still, immobilized. Then my mind transformed into a movie, playing through long-held memories, memories I’d thought were buried forever.
Just then I heard the window squeak a little. I closed my eyes tighter than I’d ever closed them. My heart beat fast within me; my anxiety building almost to a crescendo.
“I don’t want to mess up,” I said softly.
“Really, Tristan?”
“Yes, really.”
“But have you forgotten why you are out here in the first place?”
As my soliloquy ebb, I saw a silhouette advance toward me. I realized, to my delight, it was Ebony. I looked deep into her eyes as I inched closer to her. I held her against my hardened frame and ran my fingers through her hair, which was braided in neat cornrows.
“I love you so much,” I said almost in a breathless whisper.
She didn’t say anything. Instead, she smiled a deep, ebullient smile, grabbed my hand tight and began to lead me through the front door of her house toward her bedroom. I felt myself being pulled in, falling happily into a bliss of love. A burst of calmness filled my eyes and affection swarmed my soul.
When the deed was done, I raised my brows in exaggerated surprise.
“I can’t believe you did that!” I exclaimed.
“Even through the worst of times,” I told her, “you have never abandoned me.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes. And I never want to be with anybody else, ever…”
“Be cautious, Mister. Never belongs only to the old man above.”
“I speak in his image, with his blessings, Ebony.”
“But this hurts.”
“What do we do now? Stay? Run?”
Whatever we’d decide, one thing was for sure: Ebony was all I desired.
Momoh Sekou Dudu is the author of the memoir ‘Harrowing December: Recounting a Journey of Sorrows & Triumphs’ (2014), the collection of essays, ‘Musings of a Patriot’ (2014), and the book of poems ‘When the Mind Soars’ (2016). His maiden novel, ‘Forgotten Legacy’ is due out sometime in the fall of 2017. Copyright (c) Momoh Sekou Dudu, 2017. All Rights Reserved.
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