“I wonder why the Baruyo, the Bogi, and the Sahua ethnic groups won’t give the Waji people a chance even when they are the geese that lay the golden eggs?” Loyeb had joked when the issue of the three main blocks that characterized the sovereignty came up during one of their chats at the dawn of their meetings.
“You Baruyo guys from western Riagena are a strong voice. Why not rally to give them the chance they need?” Lina rebuffed him.
“Good question,” Loyeb said. “Is it as easy as that? You know the political equation in Riagena. It almost always favors the majority to the dtriment of the minority. The Wajis from southern Riagena are a minority.”
Netu’s eyes flared in disbelief. “And simply because we are a minority, you guys think it’s your right to usurp our resources to our detriment? The Sahuas don’t give a damn if our region is developed or not as long as they hold on to the reins of political power. The Bogis from eastern Riagena are a sell-out any day when it comes to power sharing. They don’t see beyond their selfish interests. That’s the dilemma of the Wajis – a conspiracy between the Baruyo, the Bogi and the Sahua to enslave us perpetually.”
Lina’s shrewd glance went in the direction of Netu. “You palter with words, Netu. How come the three of us work to together if your insinuation is true? You’re a Waji man, Loyeb is a Baruyo, and I’m a Bogi. So tell me, why are we united in spite of our cultural differences?”
Netu dismissed her with a wave of the hand. “A stroke of luck, perhaps.”
“I disagree,” replied Loyeb. “We are united because we share a common bond, the Brotherhood. That’s the ideal lacking in the political situation in Riagena.”
They had all laughed at Loyeb’s remark for it made a lot of sense considering the reality of the situation in Riagena.
Loyeb Abe had been expecting them since there had not been a prior visit in the week. Loyeb Abe’s determination to keep their secret meeting going through an oath of hospitality and a sense of humanity did not waver. On her part, Lina had not seen any deviation so far from their set goals, in spite of her cynical disposition, typical of the Bogis. A warning in her head kept a tiny shred of fear in her heart for things appeared too good to be real. Anyhow, led on by the thrill of adventure, she believed in Loyeb’s harmlessness.
The drapes of night over day had been fully drawn by the speed of time as they left Abe's home an hour afterwards. Stars had begun to dazzle the night sky and the moon took its place amid the sparkling starlight.
Lina encouraged Netu to pass the night in her place but he did not feel too excited about it. She had to soft-pedal in order not to incur his wrath. He argued rather in strong terms that he wanted to be home in time to attend to some pressing needs. He had been full of excuses lately, she reasoned. She had nothing to hinge her suspicion on. Netu could not be denied his freedom as a man with a mind of his own. He had the right to do just what pleased him, so she had to let him go even though she knew he ought to be around, cuddling and whispering in her ears.
At Bishi bus stop, Netu Deo gave Lina Phillip Uwa a peck on the cheek and bade her goodnight. She took a bus to Vidya Valley. When that bus left, Netu jumped into another one to Pen Station on his way to OldHill, his mind racing home to Anne Ofino.
# # #
Anne heard Netu walk into the apartment at a quarter past ten. She had been reading a novel, a story of love and hate, in his bedroom with deep concentration. Immersed in its captivating plot, she did not hear the doorbell ring. She became aware of Netu’s presence only when John opened the door for him and an exchange of pleasantries ensued between them. Anne out of excitement dropped the novel on the bedside table, hooked the breech of the trousers she had on and the slit of her shirt, and hurried to the living room to meet Netu.
Netu heard the click of his bedroom door and stared curiously, interrupting his pleasantries with John and Lata. He noticed Vivian fast asleep on the rug. Anne smiled at him from the mid-point of the door, an arm on her hip, and the other, hanging loose. She wore his flannel trousers and shirt. Whenever she visited, she had the habit of wearing his clothes, though slightly bigger than her frame. She had a way of tapping into his spiritual energies through his clothes. The way she posed against the edge of the bedroom door, she looked like a temptress out for a kill.
Netu had no description for her beauty. Her supple black skin and wondrous eyes captivated him beyond measure, but her smile often made his heart huff. Anne giggled like a happy child and, in turn, he curtsied, with a smile.
"How are you, my baby?" Anne asked as he approached her.
His mind played funny tricks on him. My God, what a lovely creature!
"Fine. And you?"
"I missed you," Anne Ofino teased.
"Really?"
"Uh hu!"
Netu slid his left arm around her slim waist and pressed her body to his. She smiled, gazing at his face with dreamy eyes. "Where have you been?" she muttered.
"Trying real hard to survive the times, you know," said Netu, smiling. Anne mistook his smile for a move to kiss her, but somehow he held back. She did not mind. He had just returned home and there would be plentiful time to play romance.
Netu led Anne back to the bedroom and shut the door. She helped him unbutton his shirt and fetched his pajamas from the wardrobe. She then stood next to him and with cheer released the hem of the pajamas top caught inside the back of the pants as he slid into it.
"You must be worn out and hungry after a long day. I've got something for you," she indulged him.
"Okay, let's see what magic you've got left!" He would raise a suspicion only if he told her he had eaten. He pulled an armchair and sat down, watching Anne strut towards the kitchen. The noise of the sitting room television saturated his ears, infringing on his thoughts.
Anne's devotion to Netu puzzled him as much as his confusion about what to believe - Anne's love for him or Lina's theory on Anne and her fury in the narrated dream? He believed Anne, for she had in a unique way drilled the steel of his heart and played her way with finesse into its core. He believed in Lina because of her eagerness to disprove his invincibility. Lina had often warned him of his vulnerability. The Anne of Lina’s dream was an example of why Netu ought to be wary of his female friends.
If he must reverse the force of Anne's hand in the tender depths of his being, he would have to elicit the truth from her with tact. A blunt affront would not do the trick. He would learn to pry into her deepest secrets and let her spill all of it on her own accord as the only way to vindicate himself of his suspicions. He smiled on hearing Anne returning to the bedroom. It is time to play chess, he thought.
"I can see you smiling already,” Anne remarked, entering with a tray. “I’m certain what I have here will please you."
"I'm pleased all right."
“About what, if I may ask, my dear?” Lina lowered the dinner tray, with bottled chilled water and two glasses, on the bedroom center table. She drew a chair to herself and threw Netu a bemused gaze.
"Ah, pleased about everything: you, me, everything."
Anne smiled. "If so, I'm happy for us."
Anne poured some water into the glasses and lifted the cover of the china, revealing a splash of fried rice, spaghetti, omelet, and slices of cheese.
"I'm eating with you," she said.
"It's Okay by me, dear. I'm glad you volunteered. Can't finish this mound all by myself, anyway."
"I'm also starving," said Anne. "I had to wait for you. Else, my mind wouldn't let me be. Now, I can eat in peace."
"Let’s get on with it, then," Netu goaded.
“Delicious!" he beamed with the first spoonful. "The best meal I've had for a while now!"
Anne watched him with admiration. "C'mon, eat,” Netu cajoled her. “Simply delicious." His exuberance made her giggle. She had tasted the food several times before serving it, but she was flattered to
hear Netu rave so much about it. She obliged him and ate alongside, with a mild wind wafting into the bedroom.
"Been here long?" asked Netu as he took a bite of the cheese.
She grinned. "Not long enough to be worried."
He reached out for a glass of water and took a gulp. "I was sure you'd be here," said Netu, placing back the glass.
Anne was taken aback. "You were?"
"Sure."
"Nice to know."
He laughed like an animated doll. "You sprung up and covered my mind the whole day like a damn shroud–"
"Shroud?” she interjected, with a grimace. “Well, I guess, that would be a good shroud."
"Yes, it's your edge. You won there!"
"Oh, I did?”
Netu stood up full of mirth at the end of the late dinner, slapping his belly as hint that he had overfed himself. Then he leaned over and gave Anne a soft kiss on her brow and scurried to bed. On sighting the novel Anne had been reading before his return, he picked it up.
Anne cleared the dishes, minutes after which she joined him in bed. She snuggled close and wound her arms around Netu, who sensed her quickened breath and fluttering emotion. He dropped the paperback by the bed lamp and turned around to face her. He lowered his head and his seeking mouth found her parted lips, moist and tender. She let out a moan as he returned the tickling probe of her tongue around his.
At the onset, they were engaged in a tender, tongue-coiling play, and then, the intensity increased, and Anne’s moaning drowned their rasping heart beats. She clung on to Netu, ecstatic, stroking his nape. With his left hand, he caressed the contour of her spine under the flannel shirt, while tinkling her earlobe with the right. Their kiss lingered with a hint of passion that neither desired a break.
Anne sensed the explosion of her heart with feelings deeper than the depths of her imagination - blissful stars shining within her, making the ugly tint of life bright and beautiful. She puffed at last and released her hold, her eyes glazing with the fire of desire.
Netu peered into her eyes, a furnace of emotion, as she laid back, content. He recognized the inviting spark he had always seen in those tiny balls whenever she wanted him. Her glistening lips were still quivering from the fierce contact with his.
"You taste so sweet," Anne whispered, propping herself on an elbow, to stare at Netu.
Netu responded with a light kiss on the tip of her nose, sought her eager lips, and bathed her face with a splash of kisses. When his hand strayed onto her teats, naked under the shirt, she emitted a shrill, ticklish cry. As he squeezed Anne’s taut, clammy breasts, she reached out for his broad chest, moaning and stroking its ridge. Unzipping Netu’s pajama’s bottom, she pulled him down fully onto her body, unable to care if his weight might crush her. A strong bulge around his groin pressed against her loin, increasing her exhilaration. Netu rolled over and cradled her weight on his trunk. Astride of Netu, Anne felt like an expert rider on a race horse crossing plain upon plain, rocking from side to side. With a lavish kiss, she squirmed to the pressure of the manhood roiling under her.
Anne wanted Netu beyond measure, as if her whole world depended on the union; but she knew he would not go beyond this point. He would permit her to indulge regarding other things, but never to cross the thin line she had always longed for. Though she knew Netu as a knuckle-headed romantic at heart, he could at times become inhibitive for reasons he had explained to her. Anne never doubted Netu’s love for her, but she hoped he would someday cross the Rubicon, where she would feel him completely. For, in his amiable ways, Netu remolded her world's many imperfections.
While Anne probed his body, Netu interrogated himself on whether to pry into her secrets or not. He did not intend to hurt her, but the need to know the truth about her role in his life became uppermost in his mind. His immunity lay in whatever he could unearth concerning her. So he would do it and handle her with soft gloves, should she get hurt in the process. She would come to understand that he meant no harm.
Anne rained another round of kisses on Netu, enflaming his feelings with her expext smooching. Netu knew the time for his prying, what he called a chess game, had finally come.
He cupped her firm bust in his hands with tenderness and smiled. "Anne," he whispered. "These financial hills and valleys we always journey through, what do you suppose we could do to eliminate them entirely? I'm getting kind of weary about them."
Anne snapped out of her ecstasy, sensing his dark feeling - a rhetorical hint to his inner uneasiness. “I don't know," she said, adjusting the fine braids of her hair. "I don't know anything anymore. It's all so confusing when you talk about it with such a grim visage, you really mash me into jelly – without guts or hope."
She paused for breath, and added, "I often get inspired by the thought that an improvement is evident in our lives, but the next minute, I see us plunge downhill. I really don't know why life treats us this way."
Netu reached for her right cheek and she inclined her head on his arm. "I don't feel like giving up this fight so soon,” Netu said. “But things are pretty messy these days. Up and down, up, down, and up. It’s like going round in circles without end, unless, of course, we find a way out. But what way is that?"
Whenever circumstance softened his dogged resolve and made him argue with fate, she felt and shared his pains. Sometimes, she inspired his weary spirit with her vision of how things ought to be and how fate reshapes these aspects for their common good. In spite of it, she had started to sense her own waning resilience as the downhill plunge had become a daily occurrence in their lives, a great omen.
The interspersing moments of financial liberty had been brief, and this financial hill had disturbed her rather brilliant love flight in no small measure daily. Still, she was determined not to let the bleakness of time downplay the rippling sensations in her heart. She would be there for him and together, they would be strong enough to overcome the hurdles he had begun to scale on his own.
"Darling, take no notice of the pressures. They never last forever," said Anne, trying to soft-soap Netu's riled thoughts. She winked. "Remember, Netu, in the vast streams of life, only the tough survive. I know you're tough, tougher than most people I've known. We will overcome if you keep up your toughness of heart and zeal."
She stunned Netu with her philosophical persuasions. He could not help but admire Anne's power of reasoning at times of crisis. When he imagined she had caved in, she would spring up in defiance from an angle he least expected.
"I admire your resourcefulness, your courage and how you stare at the dark points of life without any sense of fear," responded Netu. “But must we go on the tenuous threads of hope and courage forever?"
"There's always a change, surely,” Anne remonstrated. “Things have a way of reshaping themselves; and things have not been the same nowadays. We've seen worse times together. Have you forgotten how it used to be a few months back when hope was something we never had? Now, see where we are. You think there's no difference with the past?"
"There's a big difference, of course."
"So hush up. Let’s talk only about us - the good moments only, like now," Anne entreated, pulling him closer.
"All right, we'll talk about us. I'll like to begin from a safe point," Netu whispered in her ear as he cradled her for a warm, full kiss. "Anne," he went on after her passionate response, "what do you suppose I could do to gain promotion if I were part of your world spiritually?"
She stiffened, as if a vague serpent had looped itself around her thought. "An odd question, isn't it?" she managed to utter, and then added with boldness, "Promotion to where?"
"You sound dry and look surprised as if you've never for once thought of climbing up the hierarchy. Of course, promotion to higher rungs of power."
"It depends on your ambition."
Netu snorted. "Ambition? Would I be talking of promotion if I weren’t amb
itious? And would such an ambition include my trampling on others to achieve it? What I mean is, put yourself in my shoes: what exactly do you have to do to get high up on the ladder of leadership in your world?"
Anne's brow arched upwards, suspiciously. "My world? Is this part of our talk?"
"Somehow, yes, you're on track."
"Are you trying to taunt me?"
"I'm not saying anything you don't know already. I'm just curious, nothing more," said Netu calmly, acknowledging her slight temper.
Anne rolled free of Netu's hold. She recognized the dark hands of spite unsettle a shimmering pond within her. She could feel the new force commanding her whole being to fight the sudden intrusion, Netu. This was the fellow who, seconds before, had been in strange control of her heart, now looming as a dangerous enemy.
"You really think I want to hurt you, don't you?"
Netu chuckled. He had been burning on the inside to banish his fears. Having done his heart's desire, he felt the action did not justify the means. "Far from it,” he replied, stretching his arms toward Anne. “You probably didn’t get my drift,” he explained. "I don't mean....My mind was fixed on–"
"Whatever your mind was fixed on, leave me alone," Anne snapped, jerking herself free of his grip.
Netu knew he had provoked her beyond doubt. Her tone was heavy with venom.
"Be realistic Anne, why would you think I thought you wanted to hurt me? Is there any sense in what you're saying?”
"Please, Netu, just let me be, will you? You've made up your mind already. You think I want to hurt you..." she trailed off.
Netu felt guilty for triggering the sudden sullenness he saw taking over Anne’s hypnotic sensuality. "I'm sorry, Anne,” he said in a subdued tone. “I shouldn't have asked you such a dumb question. I didn't intend it to come out like that. In fact, I never saw it as an evil pronouncement on your sweet person. Please, for our sake, just take it as another rash moment of mine. Please."
Titan Race Page 7