Kwamé has been here for over two hours, and has barely said anything. That has given me more than enough time to openly stare at him - and he's damn good looking. His face is perfectly chiseled, his brows perfectly arched, and his grey, almond eyes perfectly set in his warm caramel coloured face.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGR39svB7c3
He's made me soup, taken care of me, made sure that I'm alright - but he's procrastinating. A part of me knew he would, knew that he'd be reluctant to tell me. In a way, he's just as indecisive as I am. He just sits there looking at his glass in his hands, not wanting to address the very large elephants in the room.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsdeBQ0mKR0
"You know that you're going to have to talk to me sooner or later," I insist.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd71wxLCxqQ
"How about later?" he suggests as he looks at the beautifully designed green carpet spread out across the living room floor. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4Fg2vjMEz
"Kwamé."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOEu7OH1TFH
"What?" he asks.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbJn8KGjjG
"Talk to me. Please."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVuaM7VnBpH
He looks down and sighs heavily, his grey eyes glued to the floor. "I don't know what to say."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOanKrSBG6
"Let's address the fact that I'm seeing you in human form for the first time," I suggest. At the moment, it is the more intriguing topic. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIThVe5kbC5
"Let's not talk about that. I only did it so that I could take care of you."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCHXUHCiw2
"Kwamé, this is big," I tell him, stating the obvious. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikYQjVFaeH
"I know, and I hope it won't happen again. You need some friends."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3U57LeRY7T
"How did you know that I was sick?" I ask, changing the subject. I don't want to talk about my lack of friends right now. It's never bothered me before, so I don't know why it should now. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq745nGgF7z
"I heard you sniffling and vomiting last night, and this morning, your breathing sounded off."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CQmQmS4xt
"Woah, wait- my breathing?" I ask, about an octave higher that my normal pitch. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQaSZV2YuV
"Yeah, I hear things better than humans."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEp51JSGtaP
"So you heard our conversation last night?"991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ztKzmsCht
"I could hear you talking, but I wasn't listening to the words. I wasn't paying attention. I wanted to give you privacy."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkt93xIkVs
"How kind of you," I say, surprised by his behaviour. Then again, I don't really know him, do I? Where it me, I would probably eavesdrop. No, I would definitely eavesdrop. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyrPS1PNG25
"Well, while I am inquisitive, I do have my limits."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqLNRXkNQy
"Well, that's good to know."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkwFuOwu50
We sit in silence for a few moments, before he clears his throat.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJdf2fN1XA
"So, I have a story for you."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcyjNK54Lu9
Finally.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzofvYmf4AA
I place the now empty soup bowl on the coffee table, and look at him, sitting in the chair opposite me. He mimics my actions with his glass. I wait for him to begin. For a moment, I don't think that he'll tell me. However, something in my eyes must encourage him, because I see it in his eyes the second that he makes his decision.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kvt0mFL84
He laughs without humour, and then exhales deeply.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9pvtfazA2H
"I was born on Saturday, July 7, 1677, to a slave mother and a white, plantation owner father. My father decided to keep me as a member of the household - not quite a son - instead of as a slave. I guess he couldn't stand the idea of having a member of his bloodline working in a field or as a house slave. He treated me with ambivalence; for my whole life, he was, at best, merely tolerant of me. The only person who ever showed me true love was my mother. When I was nineteen, my father died. He had no close relatives, but rather than let his father's plantation go to the government, he left it to his bastard half-breed son. That is all he ever saw me as, anyway." He stops to take a deep breath before continuing his story. "I, however, was overcome with the power rush of actually owning something for once in my life. He wrote it in his will to ensure my freedom, so that no one would try to take advantage of me, force me into slavery. I mistook my father's actions for love, and I forsook those who did love me. My mother, brothers, my sister, and all the other slaves... I didn't abuse them, but I'd be lying if I said that the power didn't get to my head. The problem isn't with what I did, though... It's with what I didn't do. I didn't free them."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw952oLuWnq
"So when you died...?" I ask, trailing off. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxeIOFIYhqF
"I died at age twenty six, a few days before my twenty seventh birthday. Pneumonia."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1HHccL4Zl
"Your mother?" I push, although I can take a pretty good guess as to what happened. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtBMO07Ye4
"I didn't write a will, and I had no heirs, so when I died, she remained a slave, and the plantation went to the government. I could have helped her, helped them, helped all of them... but I was so damn selfish."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXsezk1TwN
Damn. I don't know what I was expecting, but it sure as hell wasn't that.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnPVhTcPxMV
"So, you see, I'm a monster," he tells me with a painful smile on his face. I can see the hurt and anger deep in his eyes. Anger directed inwards, at himself. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmRy0Ks3kL
"No, you're not," I reassure him. "Formerly an asshole, maybe. But from what I've seen, you're not a monster."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFu5YVKus1
"So why have I been damned to this for eternity?" Despise the obvious feelings that can be read on his face, his voice is monotonous, devoid of any emotion. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCNRGmmSPx
He has a good point.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXg1kevYOa
"Maybe, it is you," I tell him. "Maybe, it's a result of the way that you saw yourself when you were dying. How did you feel? What did you feel?" I ask him.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAsgTLFzBD
He looks into my eyes, and then looks down, biting his lip, before letting out a huge sigh.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNT9g7fjfdP
"Regret. Regret and self-loathing. I hated myself for not loving my family while I was alive. I called for a lawyer to get my will in place, but when he arrived, I was too far gone."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZyrYEe2VD
Can you ever... move on?" I ask him.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjZihEJsYE
He chuckles softly.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfcQVCWdQwV
"No. I'm stuck like this forever."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI72FXqTyYg
"If you can be human, why is it so bad?"991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYtNoeokBz
"Because we always want to go back to being an animal. There's always that urge to be what you're meant to be- a murderous bull."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNsSr3XDtb
"Murderous?"991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ49EI4XFvMN
"Yes. It makes you angry. Makes you want to kill, feed off of the fear of others, feel some kind of power and control when you've been powerless for so long." While he's talking, he stared into my eyes with great determination - trying to convince me that he is a monster.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLE5vIJ9Wwr
"Have you ever done that?"991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2e7YZDxyEf
"Once. He was my enemy."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXc45rwmRy
"Oh."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7hqd7ta9E
I can tell that there's more to the story, but he leaves it at that, probably in an attempt to scare me.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNkDCXElf1
"I like you, Kwamé," I tell him. "And you don't scare me."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZTOjXge2b
"I should."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgh0ziUkKac
"But you don't." Truthfully, I see no reason to fear him. He thinks he's worse than he really is. Consumed by guilt, he's become this person filled with self hatred and self loathing, convinced that he's an evil entity.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡirv0iSRQ6f
I don't believe that that is true. He needs to give himself another chance.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6TXGOB7Sc2
But if I am to tell him that... then I also need to be forgiving. I need to give my mother another chance.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccLsFiBGnQ
"Tell you what - how about we both learn forgiveness? You try to forgive yourself, and I try to forgive my mother. Starting now."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxvkmd9P43
"You'll give her another chance?" he asks hopefully. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7u8daP5V2
"If you do the same for yourself. I'll meet with her soon."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SZuBAbvZf
Looking rather torn, he looks into my eyes as if searching deep into my soul for an alternative. When he finds none, he lets out a deep sigh.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3e2Y6lUWDW
"Fine. But I'm only doing this for your mother."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnFa6KedNI
I show my gratitude with a large smile stretching from ear to ear. As I look at him sitting there, unsure as ever, I know that I won't regret this decision. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpxIUxV1zt
***991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nOfaYLDtk
School has become one of the most boring, mundane things that I have ever experienced. Perhaps it's due to the supernatural that has filled my life in every other aspect. Still, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate in lab sessions, which is never a good thing. Today, though... today, I have a plan. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZy4TBVDxs
After sneaking past a sleeping Kwamé laying on my couch - I didn't even know that he slept - I planned on going to do some research. The main library hosts an extensive collection of books, some of which must be on Jamaican folklore. I came up with this plan the last time I spoke to Kwamé, actually. I decided that I would try to find out as much as possible on the topic. However, as we all know, things don't always turn out the way we want. Or that's what I'm hearing now, since I've never had this problem before. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbRHx9AHtO
"No ID, no entrance," the guard outside of the library says to me. The fact that I'm sick only makes me more irritable. I don't know if she can tell I that I'm seething, but she leans back in her seat, moving away from me. Of course, I would have to leave my ID at home today of all days. Of course.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYXan6j1xHQ
"Look, I'll give you my ID number," I try to bargain, sniffling a few times. "620114-"991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNAJ95Y1Q5O
"No," she insists, "I need the actual ID."991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6n9bBQDjZ
So of course, my brilliant plan falls through.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6jNHV5fVI
Instead of having a library of books available to me, all I have is the internet. Which is still pretty good. Sitting on the library steps in my oversized sweater, I pull out my iPad and type in Rolling Calf in the search engine... only to find nothing, because unsurprisingly, the WiFi is being a bitch and a half. I grind my teeth so hard, it feels as if they could crush diamonds. Exhaling steadily, I agree with myself that I will continue my search once I get home.991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2frOZ7vARC
This seamed like a better idea in my head, because once I reach home, and into my room with Kwamé in the shower outside (not the en suite one) the only things that pop up are things that I already know. Some of it I suspect to be utter rubbish, for example, throwing things on the ground for a rolling calf to count, and then running away. I can hardly imagine Kwamé stopping to count rice grains while his "victim" escapes, or getting confused at an intersection*. In terms of the river mumma, I knew this already, except for one small detail:991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXPFkqfHF3
During the times of slavery, sacrifices would be made to the river mumma during a drought, or when someone wanted to cross the river. The fish in that area would not be eaten, because they were thought to be her children. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNo291jCypW
Paraphrasing a bit, but that's basically what it says. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8RzcDE3Wev
I was aware of the part where the fish were her children, but the rest sounds like utter bullcrap. Then again, isn't anything possible at this point in time? 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAUVbG0hy6f
Duppies: been there, done that. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxhcCd2cfmJ
However, there's one thing there that I don't hear about every day, even though I know about it: Ol' Higue. Ol' Higue... I remember read a poem about her for my CSEC* Literature exam. The creature is an old witch who sheds her skin and takes the form of what some say to be an owl, and what others say to be a ball of light - personally, I think that owl is more plausible, but who the hell knows anymore - and preys on people in their sleep, especially babies. Kind of like a vampire. If salt is placed on her skin she will not be able to put it back on, which will make her vulnerable. If you throw rice on the ground - why are we so obsessed with rice? - she will have to count it. This was thought to be an explanation to grieving mothers for SIDS, but knowing what I know now, it's probably true. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3kcLYF9WS
But none of this helps me, since I already know most of it. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfK6wpxudu
Sighing, I go to my bookshelf and pull out my "World of Poetry" book to look for clues. I sit and skim through the poems, some of which I was assigned. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN6JSeGbJtb
"Ol' Higue... 'Le loupgarou'..." I stop dead when I spot a poem that I've never read before. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxivY0hP5K
My Mother's Sea Chanty. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQSFzZlthSg
It's a poem about a woman who's mother is a mermaid... in the sea. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGC8zTe9zI
With a huff of frustration, I slam the book closed. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtKCGJoQX2
Deciding to take a different approach, I research Obeah spells, abandoning my quest to explain Kwamé for the time being. It is rather odd to be researching something that scares the crap out of you, just for the sake of understanding yourself. In a way, it kind of means that you're scared of yourself. Depressing, really. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjyRnlUqvbW
I come across an anti bad luck charm, something that I might need soon if I continue on this trajectory. It looks too simple, though, reminding me of a Harry Potter spell, like "Expecto Patronum". Still, I screenshot it, and continue my search. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKaq5OzKF8
It is then that I find something that is rather frightening. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZW1xUuyorC
I come across a website that offers obeah spells, and says that payment is not needed until results are seen. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFG7ZyoywKF
Now although I have always believed in obeah, I also know that many people who claim to perform "obeah" are scammers, preying on uneducated families with children who have mental illnesses or seizure disorders. It is a common misconception among many Jamaicans that seizures are caused by demon possession. But this... this is as real as it can possibly get. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Ci8nTf86E
Quickly, I exit the website, as if something is going to jump out the screen at me. I'm frightened, I can't deny it. If I did, my pulse rate and breathing would definitely give me away. But other than fear, there's something else... 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLm2nvlp7IG
Excitement. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyNgQVuHr9
Oh dear God, Nya. You're in for a rough ride, aren't you?991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsaPLnru8a
And for once, I completely agree with my inner voice, no indecisiveness, just acceptance. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9azJcWyZlP
***991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEXLNMoTF6W
A/N991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4nQOlRwoz
991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAk7J0RcPoB
I actually found a website that said that 😅991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gaxrsS51a
Also, the thing about an intersection: supposedly, if you go to an intersection, the rolling calf will get confused. They are also afraid of being beaten by a whip (some say specifically a tarred whip in the left hand). They supposedly carry a chain and / or a bell, so you can hear them approaching, but I didn't want Kwamé to have that. 991Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1k96R3WTz
*CSEC: Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate.
ns216.73.217.114da2
and then Add to home screen.