The weather was a bit cooler than it had been yesterday. Sineas and Clarissa decided to change a table. They relocated to a table a few paces beside The Thinker.
‘Are you coming to Justin’s…what did the principal call it again? The Justin’s “Get home safe” gathering?’ she asked him whilst unpacking her lunch bag.‘Is it mandatory?’ he asked opening his lunchbox.‘Of course it isn’t but…’ she shrugged, ‘I’m sure the whole world will be there.’‘I don’t know...I...’She laughed. ‘Don’t worry, Sin. Everyone knows Justin was probably your least favourite person, especially after that crazy lunch on Tuesday.’He took a bite from his sandwich. ‘I’m not going to this gathering but…that doesn’t mean I don’t consider Justin’s safety. Yeah, the guy is boring but in the end, he’s still a human being.’‘Boring?’ she laughed as she peeled a banana. ‘You call what he did to you, boring?‘ She smiled, slightly. ‘I admire your poise, Sin. Seriously, I do.’ They ate for a while i‘Did she tell you what type of food she likes?’ Aunt Janice asked Sineas as they helped each other set the table. She had not yet changed out of her running tracksuit.‘No,’ he answered her. The time was now 6:45 P.M. His heart was beating frantically. He could feel himself sweating. He had never invited anyone over to his house. A few hours ago, when he did, he thought the moment would never come, but each tick of the clock brought him even closer to his greatest anticipation yet, or was it his greatest doom? He would find out in less than fifteen minutes.‘Come on, Sineas,’ said Aunt Janice, ‘you must have seen what she eats for lunch?’‘I’m quite sure apples and bananas aren’t the ideal meal for supper, Aunt Janice,’ he answered while placing the forks on the table. There were no fancy utensils or china to wow anyone with so the Murphys made do with the stainless steel and chipped glass plates.
‘Sorry about…what happened back there,’ Sineas said to Clarissa when he opened his bedroom door. She followed closely behind him as he stepped into the darkness. Her eyes surveyed the nothingness. She clutched her books tighter to her chest. She could only make out the bed and the wide open window which let in gusts of cold wind at five second intervals. ‘Lights?’ she asked him as he dusted the bed with his hands.He paused. ‘Oh, yeah, of course…the lights.’ He sat on the foot of the bed. ‘This room doesn’t have any.’‘Why?’ she asked curiously, standing in the middle of the room.‘It’s a long story,’ he replied.‘Then…’ her eyes surveyed the darkness again, ‘How do we work on the assignment without the light?’‘I’ve got a flashlight?’ he suggested. He looked intently at her black figure from the bed.
Clarissa was deaf as she descended the stairs with astonishing speed. She was muttering something probably to herself and kept glancing over her shoulder.Sineas was in hot pursuit.‘Th…Thank you…Thank you for supper, Miss, Mrs. Murphy,’ she stuttered facing Aunt Janice who looked awestruck whilst standing behind the couch in the living room. Clarissa concluded with a quivering nod then made for the door. She banged it in Sineas’ face.He could hear her soft footsteps as they descended the steps. He heard them reach the pavement then patted their way into oblivion. Sineas was left staring hopelessly at the door. He began rubbing his fingers nervously. He heard slow and steady footsteps approach from behind him.Aunt Janice looked serious. Her fingers were twitching continually beside her. ‘What did you do?’ she whispered at him.He bowed his head low. ‘Nothing,’ he whispered back.‘That sur
Sineas woke up ten minutes earlier than his alarm. He hurriedly took a shower, put on a black t-shirt, blue jeans and his white Nikes. He rushed downstairs and went straight for the kitchen. Aunt Janice had beaten him to it.‘Your breakfast and lunch is ready, son,’ she told him as she stood by the sink wearing her running tracksuit. She had obviously woken up and taken a shower before him. Her hands were clasped neatly underneath her chin, a grin flashed across her face. ‘Sliced bread with avocado spread and left over Coca-Cola for lunch,’ she added. ‘And I threw in an extra slice just in case it wasn’t enough.’He smiled awkwardly and dismounted his bag, one band at a time. ‘Thank you, Aunt Janice.’ He snatched the lunchbox from the table and headed for the door.‘And breakfast?’ her grin asked him before he had made it past the kitchen exit. ‘Rotto Pop cereal,’ she added.He looked over his shoulder. His favourite cereal had been poured into a bowl and a tumbler of mi
‘Yes, Sineas..!’ She looked like she could cry at any moment. ‘It felt like…like desolation…misery, hopelessness. Pain. I, myself can't even describe it.’Sineas was now through with his lunch as well. He twiddled his thumbs under the table for about a minute. He slid across the bench and stopped by her side. He realised he was too close. He thought about it, but he did not move away, worried that the action would make the scene even more awkward.‘Claire…I’m sorry,’ he said after a moment of silence.She sighed deeply. Her expression quickly abated. ‘No, Sineas, I’m sorry. I think these days I’m becoming a little too paranoid. A few minutes into your room and I felt something seep into me…into my soul (if there is such a thing). It was just the cold, and my mind quickly started jumping to conclusions. Sineas, I’m really sorry.’He shrugged understandingly. ‘
Miss bale lowered her head. She began to march slowly towards their desk, her hands still behind her back. It looked like she was on her way to a closed casket funeral. She had stopped with the notes. The only sound in the class was her stilettos clapping on the floor. The echoes they made were like a warning of an approaching catastrophe. An unavoidable destruction.She stopped right in front of their desk. Sineas could feel her gaze upon him. He did not look up, however. All he could feel in that moment was the smell of her perfume. It would have been nauseating on anyone else, he thought, but on her, it was like a heavenly scent. But still, that did not stop him from feeling uneasy.She cleared her throat in authority. She placed her hands on the desk and lowered her head to his eye level. ‘Funny enough to share with us?’ she said.He looked aside, eager to avoid her knife-like gaze. She was close enough to kiss him. Or close enough to chew him up
‘Is someone out there?! I’ve…I seem to…I think I’ve been locked in,’ she was panting. She was trying to get hold of her breath. ‘Mr. Thompson! Mr. Thompson! The door!’ Her breathing was so heavy it echoed through the room. She leaned her back against the door. The room was pitch-black. She squinted hard to try and catch a glimpse of anything. Anything at all. The windows emitted very little light. Just a foggy glimmer. Her eyes could only make out the outlines of objects in the room. They continued to scour; past the windows, past the desk edges, the indistinct chair legs. Her eyes finally rested on a peculiar object in the far right corner of the room. She focused her eyes a little harder, the best she could. It looked like a shadow sitting on a desk. Her fear told her it was facing her direction. She tried the door again. ‘Mr….Mr. Thompson! The door..!’ Fear was choking the air out of her lungs, aided
Aunt Janice opened the door for Clarissa. ‘Clarissa! How good of you to make it!’ she greeted her rather spectacularly. She opened the door even wider for her and she stepped in. Aunt Janice was wearing a black sweater and blue jeans, a mini afro on her head. Clarissa on the other hand was wearing her white turtleneck sweater, jeans and pumps. Her hair, as always, had been pinned into a rabbit’s tail at the back of her head. Her hands were loosely clasped just in front of her waist. ‘Good morning, Miss Murphy, and please, call me Claire.’‘In that case, you can call me Janice.’She gave her a half nod, grinning broadly.‘You can take a seat in the kitchen. Sineas is still in the shower.’‘Thank you, Miss…Janice.’ Janice’s half stern look had corrected her just in time.A few minutes later, Janice had placed a bowl of peanut butter porridge in front of Clarissa.She th
For a Sunday morning, the weather felt very unforgiving. The thick grey clouds had completely concealed the sun and there was an icy wind in the atmosphere. The kind of wind that leaves your face feeling like an ice cube at each gush it takes at you. This was completely different to Justin’s funeral. Justin’s funeral had many willing participants but this time, people looked like they would rather be somewhere else. Anywhere else. Doreen, Trevor and even the teachers were there. Just two days ago, Inspector Charles had announced on the news the death of the notorious Axe Killer. The inspector had not looked as excited as Clarissa had expected. It almost sounded like he had been pronouncing the worst news ever. She had not even wanted to watch the news. As soon as the inspector had begun talking of finally getting rid of the “plague of the nation”, she immediately left the room. She even felt that her parents understood her pain. They had apologized to h
She tried to switch on her phone. It only flickered for a few seconds then turned off again. The shadow was now making its way towards her, dragging a long object on the floor.‘Come on!’ she yelled into her phone, attempting to turn it on again. It flickered twice then switched off again.The shadow was now in reach. It pushed away the desk between it and Clarissa.She slammed her phone four times in the palm of her hand, tears streaming down her face. She tried it again.The shadow swung the object onto its shoulder.Clarissa’s phone finally switched on. She quickly turned on the flashlight and shone it upwards in the direction of the shadow.Standing right above her, soaked from head to toe, was Sineas, a long axe resting on his shoulder. He did not say anything. He just stared back at her, his eyes holding no expression whatsoever.She wiped the tears and water from her face. She boldly decided to stand up. ‘Sin?&r
Clarissa was running up the street, screaming and yelling at the top of her voice with the cold, heavy rains beating down her body. She had first tried Mrs. Lancaster, their neighbour’s gate but the loudness of the rain obliterated every other sound. Gasping for breath, she looked down the street. Her house was now just a glimpse. She could not see anyone but she was positive she was being followed. She continued up the street, kicking every gate and yelling for help. A wild and delusional thought leapt into her head. She could climb up one of the gates and call for help from the inside. Fear quickly ridiculed this idea. She probably would be dead before she made it to the top of the wall. Another thought leapt in. School! But of course. It would be hard for anyone to find her in such a giant building. Fatigue lowered her pace. She could not increase her speed past a jog. School was now only about ten minutes away. As she jogged, she kept turning her head behind her. The
Clarissa lay on top of Sineas, a small red blanket covering their completely naked bodies. They had switched on the TV and turned to a sports channel, but they were not watching it of course. They had lowered the volume. The heavy rains could be heard beating on the roof from outside. Sineas was stroking her back, gently. ‘So…who taught you?’ he asked her.‘Taught me what?’‘Don’t play dumb, Claire. The moves.’She smiled, then said, ‘When you hang around sluts like Sabrina and Doreen, you pick up a thing or two. Not implying that I’m a slut too but when all your friends can talk about is how to catch a man…how to pleasure him; that stuff tends to stick to your subconscious.’‘So you’ve never..?’‘Had sex? No. That’s actually the reason why Justin broke up with me. Sabrina and Doreen hooked up with some of the members in Justin’s crew but Justi
WARNING !!! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS VERY STRONG SEXUAL CONTENT !!!‘I don’t think you needed food for that,’ he said.‘What do you mean?’ She raised her head.‘Your personality made it to my heart first.’She smiled and reached for his hand from across the table. ‘Dessert?’He nodded once. ‘Yes, ma’am.’She got up and walked towards the fridge and moments later, she returned with a small, pink ice-cream lunchbox and two glass dessert cups. It was a mixture of strawberry and vanilla.Sineas licked his lips when she pulled the lid off of the container. ‘And the night just keeps getting better and better,’ he said.She laughed and scooped the ice-cream with a large spoon into the two dessert cups. She placed spoons on top of the ice-cream. She clapped her hands. ‘Shall we, Mr. Murphy?’‘Yes we shall, M
Inspector Charles had just finished having supper when the doorbell rang. He told his wife and daughter to sit tight while he went to investigate who was ringing the doorbell so late in the evening. Shorts, vest and all, Charles opened the door. He looked around but there was no one in sight. He looked down. There was a brown envelope lying at his feet. His heart skipped a beat and his hands trembled as he stooped down to pick it up. The previous envelopes had been written the words: “To Inspector Charles” in both uppercase and lowercase letters but this one was written in all caps and bold letters: “TO INSPECTOR CHARLES”.He wanted to open it there and then. He had ripped it halfway open when he stopped. He looked around again, apprehensively…and vigilantly. There was still no one. No sound, save for the faint barking of a mongrel miles away. A stray, black cat ran silently along the sidewalk, probably chasing a rat. Even though he could see no one, Charles decided not to risk i
‘Oh, she didn’t get “snatched up” by anyone, Viola. They wanted to get her, they thought they did but instead they caught a very shocked and now angry, black kid. An angry, black kid who happens to be her son.’‘Murph, listen ta me; I had no choice!’‘No choice?’ He laughed scornfully. ‘Viola, you’re not a kid. You’re old enough to have choices. And I was beginning to think that we were becoming friends or something.’She pulled her chair in closer towards him, ‘But Murph, we is friends! Its just that the inspector put my aunty in a predicament.’‘What sort of predicament?’‘The inspector found out from several patients that your moms was helping the nurses with some of their treatments and in some occasions, she helped the doctors diagnose them. The inspector threatened ta put the hospital under investigations and would make sure that three-quarters of the nurses and all the doctors there would be suspended. He offered an alternative though. He promised ta make all o
Sineas arrived at school at one o’clock in the afternoon. The students had already begun to pour into the lunch area. He concealed himself behind The Thinker statue, carefully browsing the students one by one. He waited and waited for at least fifteen minutes. Finally, he saw her. She was sitting alone on a table in the middle. He only saw her back but he could tell it was her with her white turtleneck sweater and the rabbit tail on her head. He decided to wait a little longer until most of the students were seated. Then he made his move.He carefully and silently began walking towards her, his hands in his bomber jacket pockets and his eyes focused on the back of her head. He stopped behind her, just a few feet away.She had unloaded onto the table a pickle sandwich, a carrot salad and obviously- an apple from her lunch bag.Sineas just stood behind her, looking down at her. He did not care if anyone was watching him.Clarissa stopped eating. She froze s
‘Do you see her?’ Deputy James asked Inspector Charles.The inspector did not respond. Finally, he handed James the binoculars. He leaned back in the passenger seat and let his deputy have his turn. The deputy took a long, good look. After about two minutes, he placed the binoculars on top of the dashboard just above the steering wheel. He also leaned back in his seat. ‘You think Plan B may have fed us false information?’ James asked the inspector.‘After the consequences we promised her if she didn’t cooperate? I don’t think so, James. I don’t think so at all.’‘And what about the evidence, sir? Didn’t your source promise to leave the evidence at your doorstep this morning?’‘There was nothing. I’m starting to think whoever sent those letters was just trying to divert our attention.’ ‘But, sir…’The inspector silenced him with a raised fi