Dark Light

AARON ANSAH-AGYEMAN

DARK LIGHT

A ChrisEffe Bliss

[avatar]

The Author

EPISODE 39

[passster password=”flair”]

Steve raised his hands and brushed them over his hair and smiled charmingly at the stunned Effe.

“Miss Kedem,” he said softly. “Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Effe continued to look at him for a while, and then she shook her head with a confused smile on her beautiful face.

“Oh, just remembered something nasty that occurred in the past,” she said sheepishly and extended her hand. “Sorry for that, Mr. Mann. Pleased to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Miss Kedem,” he said and took her hand. “But please, do call me Roger. I mean to stick around for a while and do business with you.”

“And I’m happy to hear that, Roger,” Effe said with another charming smile. “My friends call me Effe, so I guess you can call me that too.”

He still held her hand and stared at her.

Lord, how could this be possible?

No one, absolutely no one, ever survived the shishank venom!

Steve had been told that even those who took tiny amounts that disfigured them never recovered from it. So how had this happened? Was it because she had been with that mysterious man George mentioned, that Bawa guy?

And who was that guy who had freaked out Wailer so badly? Maybe it was time for Steve to find out.

As Effe gently extricated her hand from Steve’s, and asked him to follow her to the inner office to sit down and discuss his proposals, Steve was still in a daze! This lady had not only recovered, but she had grown more graceful, more beautiful, and more adorable.

He could not believe she had been his, all of her, for five years, and he had never really seen her as he was seeing her now. Was she the same woman who had dotted on him almost reverentially? The same woman who had craved his kisses and desired so much that he made love to her?

Oh, Lord!

He loved her. He loved her so much.

And nothing was going to stand in his way in winning her back. Not Wailer, and not Elaine!

In the past, he had been liberal and broadminded enough to accept the fact that Elaine slept with other men as a form of business, a way to an end, an impersonal way to make money. But, after being with Effe, he had seen a different calibre of woman. Although the sex with Elaine had always been great and mind-blowing, it seemed he had cherished his trysts with Effe more without even realizing it.

He knew that Effe was the type of woman who would never use sex to make money. Her loyalties were to one man, and that was the fabric of her principles. It was unfortunate that he had realized all that after he lost her.

But he was going to make it up to her.

Yes, they had cleaned her out, but here she was again, as strong as ever, putting it all back together again! That was how strong she was!

Well, Steve was back now. He had some monies saved that could comfortably see them through life, and he was going to do his best to win her over again, and this time, it would be forever!

He was his charming self, but he remembered not to overdo it. And he knew now he had to be careful not to do anything that Steve used to do because the first seeds had been planted in Effe’s mind, and any further likeness to the Steve she remembered would make her push him out of her life in a jiffy.

He came around the next day to make some purchases, and spent a few minutes with Effe, and by the end of the fourth day, she agreed to go to lunch with him, albeit a bit reluctantly.

It was the happiest day in Steve’s life since losing Effe. They rode the elevator down, and he opened the door of his car for her. Driving with her, with soft music and chatting softly, his joy was complete.

She was charming, and laughed often, but he could still feel a tension around her, a sad cloak that embraced her and often cast a dark shadow over her features. He did not understand fully why she had those sudden flashes of sadness, and he assumed that it was probably because she remembered the past, and how badly she had been treated.

Oh, Effe!

I’m so sorry! I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you, I promise!

I’ll wipe away all your sadness, and devote my life to making you happy, and wait for as long as it will take to be able to make sweet love to you, with you, and only you for the rest of my life!

***

Chris Bawa cut an incredible sight as he walked along the beautiful path towards the amazing wrought iron gates at the far end. He was dressed in black jeans, black polo-necked T-shirt, black sneakers with white soles, and a black peaked cap.

Dezzy trotted silently behind him as if sensing the dark mood of his master.

Chris Bawa’s face was filled with pain as he neared the beautiful ornate gates that led to the family burial grounds.

His mother was buried there, and so were the ashes of Baaba and Ohenewaa.

He had not been through those gates in six years. The day the coffins had been lowered in there, he had turned and fled from the cemetery. Whatever had been buried had been mostly ashes, but still, he knew they were there, and he had let them down.

But, today marked the tenth birthday of Ohenewaa if she had been alive!

His baby, his love, his precious princess!

Today, no matter what, he would enter those gates and put a garland of lilies on her grave. White lilies which she had loved so much. There had been a whole section of the garden filled with Madonna Lilies just for Ohenewaa.

But when Chris’ savage reactions began, Brand Bawa had ordered every little sprout of lily to be uprooted. But that was alright with Chris. Today, he would go to town and get a bouquet of white lilies just for her grave, just for her today.

And then, suddenly, he came to an abrupt stop!

Just in front of him Ohenewaa had appeared, standing just beyond the huge gates of the cemetery and pushing her hands through the bars.

She was on fire!

Daddy, please help me! It is so hot in here, so painful…Daddy, come, please help me!

Chris made a pained sound and stopped. His huge frame shook badly as he stared at her. He wanted to move forward and help her, but he was suddenly struck immobile as if from sleep paralysis, and he could not move a limb!

Ohenewaa! Princess, I miss you so!

I miss you too, Daddy! Please come! Please make the fire stop, please, please…

Oh, baby, I can’t! You know I would if I could, Ohenewaa!

Daddy, help me! It is too painful! I can’t bear it, Daddy!

Ohenewaa! Oh, baby, I’m so sorry, so sorry!

And Chris Bawa dropped to his knees and stared at her with frantic horror as she burned, and now the skin was peeling off her face, her eyes popping out, her skull emerging!

“Ohenewaa!” Chris screamed and bent his head suddenly, unable to watch any longer.

Dezzy whimpered and nuzzled his master’s back as he felt the sadness oozing out of the human he loved so much!

He felt a hand on his shoulder as his father came to stand beside him.

“Still, after six years, you torture yourself, Chrissy,” the older man said softly with tears in his eyes. “You can’t go on doing this to yourself, my son! Ohenewaa would not love to see her father reduced to such a pathetic soul, my son!”

“I killed her,” Chris whispered painfully. “I killed them, Pappy!”

“You did nothing of the sort, boy!” Brand Bawa said earnestly, and then he came forward to stand in front of his son. “Stop torturing yourself, boy. Baaba wished only happiness for you, and Ohenewaa loved you to death! Do you think they would like to see you like this? That you stopped moving forward and remained for eternity wallowing in self-pity and sickness? Move on, my boy! Try and move on, because that’s what would make them happy! It was an accident, boy, and not your fault!”

Chris looked at his father with a tortured face and trembling lips.

“It was my fault!” he screamed tightly and burst into tears as he got to his feet. “Stop telling me it wasn’t my fault! I was drunk, I was high, I felt betrayed by Baaba and I handled it badly! She kept begging me to forgive her, kept telling me she fell in love with me and that was when she stopped administering the damn venom! She was begging me and asking me to forgive her, and I could not listen! I did not focus on her sacrifice to leave that sordid life behind and stay with me and Ohenewaa! All I could focus on was the pain, the betrayal, Pappy!”

“So, you did, goddamn it, so what?” Brand Bawa screamed in turn. “You’re human, boy! Any man would feel hurt that the woman he loved came into his life as a lie, to kill him and take his money! Sure, you made a mistake by getting drunk and high! You made a mistake by over-speeding in a frigging rainstorm up a devil road and it ended in tragedy! You must move on because you didn’t intentionally drive into that fucking tree, boy! Don’t do it for me, or for yourself, but do it for them! You abuse their memories by living in this personal hell you’ve enshrouded yourself with! Live, Chris, goddamn it! Live!”

Brand was holding two garlands of flowers, and he extended one towards his son.

“Go on, boy, take it!” he said calmly. “Today is Ohenewaa’s birthday, and we’re going in there to put those flowers on her grave!”

Chris looked at the flowers and put a hand across his mouth. His body shook uncontrollably as his tears fell.

“She loved Madonna Lilies, Pappy,” he said in a trembling voice.

“There are no white lilies here any longer, my boy,” Brand said gently as tears spilled down his own cheeks. “So, we make do with these. Come on, Chrissy, my boy. Let’s do this.”

Chris sighed tremulously.

“I’m going to get her lilies, Pappy,” he said and took a shuddering breath. “It’s been six years, and I’m going to give her what she wants. I’m going to town to buy her some lilies, Pappy.”

Brand nodded once and patted his son on the shoulder.

“Alright, Chrissy,” he said softly. “Get me a bunch too. I’m gonna wait for you. when you come back, we’ll go in together.”

He hugged his son briefly and watched as Chris walked away with his dog. Brand Bawa put a hand to his lips and then looked into the sky with sad eyes.

“Dear Lord, you know my wife was a God-fearing woman!” he prayed softly. “Aye, I’ve done some bad things in my life, but I’m slowly finding my way back to You. I’m a sinner, no doubt about that, and so not for my sake, but for the sake of his mother, your servant, please, I beg of You, Lord! Heal my son. Please, heal her son of infirmities in his brain and his blood, I beg of You! Amen, amen!”

***

Effe was enjoying her afternoon, in a way, and enjoying the distraction that Roger Mann offered. He made her laugh, and because of that her mind did not dwell so much on the raging pain within her left by Eden’s absence.

She knew Rupert was doing his best. He had even journeyed back to the cabin to dust for fingerprints, but Chris’ prints showed no matched on their databases. Each day that passed without hearing anything positive was slowly killing Effe.

Her nights were terrible.

She engrossed herself with work and always arrived home tired so that she could be able to sleep. But, no matter how tired she was, or how late she was, she always woke up at dawn thinking of him, missing him, needing him, feeling him!

Sometimes she closed her eyes and raised her hands to trace his face in the air, his real face etched so deeply in her subconscious mind! How could she love a man so totally, so completely without seeing his face?

Eden!

No other name, just Eden!

So apt!

The most beautiful thing God ever created for human beings, the first delight, the alpha paradise!

Now her life, her breath!

She missed him so, and slowly she was falling sick again because of the hole of his absence. She would have given it all away just to be back at the cabin with him. Chatting, laughing, swimming, touching…making love!

The only love she had been able to make, that wonderful feeling he had induced in her pliant body, eliciting her screams and moans and total surrender!

Eden!

Why was he hurting her so? Did he have a wife, a family? Was that why? If he did, why couldn’t he simply tell her the truth and let her live with her pain? Who was he? Where was he, this man she loved so much?

Eden, my Eden, where are you? You’re killing me every day, Eden!

They had a wonderful lunch at a Ghanaian restaurant. It had been a long time since she ate from a real earthenware bowl with her fingers. She enjoyed the ground pepper and garden-eggs, that local abom stew that tasted like bliss with the boiled plantain.

She had seen Roger Mann looking at her, and once again she had been filled with a strong case of the déjà vu because it had struck her suddenly that the angle of his head as he looked at her, was like Steve’s!

That was the one thing that was confusing her about Roger Mann.

Maybe, her mind was playing tricks with her, equating his appearance in her life with how she had met Steve. The way he had held out his arms in the office the last time with his fingers always crooked as claws, the way he leaned back sometimes and laughed, the way he crossed his legs, the way he periodically rubbed a hand over his forehead, the lilt in his laughter sometimes, were all incredibly reminiscent of character traits in Steve.

And yet, he looked entirely different from Steve!

And Effe was finding it more and more unnerving!

After lunch he took her to the huge public garden and they sat on the edge of the lake feeding the swans, ducks, and doves.

When they stood up to leave, Steve noticed a beautiful flower store across the park and insisted on getting her a rose.

At first Effe refused, telling him she had to get back to the office to finish her designs, but then she was drawn by the beautiful flowers that reminded her so much of the cabin, of Eden – her Eden – and so she followed him to the flower shop.

There were a lot of people in the shop, mostly couples and single men seeking to pick up the perfect flower. Effe giggled suddenly, wondering how it was now becoming a norm for Africans to express love and friendship with beautiful flowers. She had not thought it would catch up with them. And she laughed when she remembered Eyram, who always asked what she was supposed to do with flowers, whether to roast them or keep them under her pillow!

And, in the midst of smiling, giggling, and laughing as Roger showed her different arrays of flowers and what they stood for, and how they were used, she suddenly heard a voice across the shop, a little bit far away…

“My white lilies, please.”

A deep voice, a very pleasant deep voice, a beautiful male voice that was ingrained in her subconscious mind for eternity!

Effe gasped and her legs became unsteady! She felt so weak as she almost blacked out, and she reached out blindly to support herself on a flower stall.

My white lilies, please!

His voice!

Right here!

Eden!

“Effe, what’s wrong?” Steve asked with alarm when he saw her wobbling and saw the sudden sweat on her face!

Effe pushed him aside blindly and turned.

“Eden!” she shouted as her lips trembled and tears came to her eyes. “Eden! Where are you? Eden!”

Across the shop, Chris Bawa heard her voice, her dear, wonderful voice!

Effe…Angelface!

He pivoted sharply and saw her at the far end with a darkly handsome lithe man who was reaching out to hold her.

His heart slammed into his ribcage with such fury that he almost blacked out!

There she was, so beautiful, so ethereal, the girl he had seen every night in his sleep, the girl he missed constantly every second, the girl he craved above all, and yet could not be with because he was dying! The girl he wanted to set free to live her life without the pain of his sick mind, his messed-up life, his impending death!

With great pain in his heart, he took his bag of lilies without waiting for change and began to move rapidly out of the shop as the man with Effe held her from behind.

“Effe, what is it?” Steve said anxiously, and he held her arm and turned her around. “What’s wrong, Effe? What’s going on?”

“Let me go!” she said, almost wildly, and pulled her arm free, and fell heavily as she lost her balance.

“Effe, for Christ’s sake!” Steve said with confusion. “Take it easy! What’s wrong you?”

Effe was on her feet again and moving wildly through the store, scanning the faces of the men desperately.

“Eden, please!” she cried with tears in her eyes. “I heard you! Show yourself! Please, don’t do this to me, Eden! I beg you!”

She saw a tall, fair man to her right.

“Are you Eden?” she asked desperately as tears fell down her face.

He shook his head sadly with a smile.

“I wish I were,” he said in surprisingly little voice for a man his size.

Steve tried to hold her again.

“Roger, don’t!” Effe shouted desperately and pushed his hands away. “Eden! Where are you, Eden?”

She saw a dark man standing to her left, and she closed her eyes suddenly and put her hands on his face.

“Hey, lady,” the man said with alarm, and Effe moved away from her.

“Eden!” she shouted, looking at the men, desperately touching their faces, asking if they were Eden, but they shook their heads.

The store was spinning as she moved desperately, recklessly, her tears falling!

And, behind her, Steve paused with sudden horror as he watched her!

She was closing her eyes, feeling men’s faces…Eden!

It could only mean one thing: that Bawa bastard! The one George had said had been with Effe!

Effe had not seen the man’s face, for sure! But he had heard his voice!

The man could be here!

No, no, no, no!

If the man’s voice could affect Effe this way, then it was very frightening! He had to stop her at all costs!

Steve moved desperately towards Effe!

She was now at the counter and wiped tears from her eyes as she looked at the puzzled assistants behind the counter.

“A man…the one who mentioned lilies!” she cried desperately. “A few minutes ago! Please, I beg you, where’s he?”

“The man who bought a whole bag of lilies?” one of the assistants asked. “Tall, beautiful, handsome, handsome, handsome man in all-black dressing?”

“Where’s he?” Effe screamed into the girls face desperately.

“He went out, madam,” the girl said, pointing to the entrance.

Effe turned blindly and moved towards the entrance.

Steve wrapped his arms around her from behind!

Dark Light, A ChrisEffe Bliss, Dark Light, A ChrisEffe Bliss. A ChrisEffe Bliss, Dark Light, A ChrisEffe Bliss, Dark Light . Dark Light, A ChrisEffe Bliss, Dark Light, A ChrisEffe Bliss. A ChrisEffe Bliss, Dark Light, A ChrisEffe Bliss, Dark Light. Dark Light, A ChrisEffe Bliss, Dark Light, A ChrisEffe Bliss. A ChrisEffe Bliss, Dark Light, A ChrisEffe Bliss.

Premium Story: A ChrisEffe Bliss :: DARK LIGHT :: EPISODE 38

[stextbox id=”info” caption=”JOIN US ON DISCUSSION“]

Do you want to join other fans to discuss the story you read here?

Learn lessons and chat with others on our WhatsApp Discussion Page.

Click here to join KLEVER WHATSAPP STORY DISCUSSION GROUP

[/stextbox] [insert-comment-form] [/passster] [insert-comment-form]