A Court Of Fowls: Episode Seven
...she greeted me with that glorious smile. She looked terrific. Her hair was tied back in plats knotted tightly together. She wore, for the first time I think, a glossy lipstick which emphasised perfectly the fullness of her mouth...
Cigarette salesman Stewart Munro realises he has fallen in love with the beautiful Amina.
To read earlier episodes of Michael Conrad Wood's gripping new novel please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/a_court_of_fowls/
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My flight back to Nairobi was uncomfortably early. Amina picked
me up from the Ambassador Hotel. As I emerged from the foyer she
greeted me with that glorious smile. She looked terrific. Her hair was
tied back in plaits knotted tightly together. She wore, for the first
time I think, a glossy lipstick which emphasised perfectly the fullness
of her mouth. Her guntiino was typically full length, again wrapped
tightly around that tempting lower half, while her blouse this time
was open enough to offer a glimpse of cleavage. I dared to think
that this might have been for my benefit.
We drove for much of the way in silence, each lost in our own
thoughts but just occasionally snatching a look at one another. I was
in love for the first time, that much I was sure of. How odd to be so
completely smitten. There was no denying the strength of it nor the
feeling of exhilaration, warmth and desire coursing through my
veins.
Mogadishu International Airport was quiet, as perhaps it always
was, and always will be. Amina parked under the shade of a frangipani
tree. Spontaneously I picked from a sticky branch one of its
highly scented yellow and white flowers and fixed it in her hair. As I
did so, tears began to form in her big brown eyes. At last some courage
entered my soul. I put my arm around her and drew her close
enough to smell her perfume. Then I bent forward to kiss, not her
cheeks in the French style as perhaps she expected, but her lips. To
my delight she responded, if only for a few seconds.
As we broke away I had to say it. I had everything to lose if I
didn’t.
‘I love you Amina. I can’t explain the effect you’ve had on me or
why I feel like this after so short an acquaintance. But there’s no
doubting that I really do love you.’
‘Dear Stewart. I have been so happy in your company. It hurts me
to think that you are leaving so soon. We are so far apart; a world
apart.’
‘Not a world, Amina. A few hours flying. We’ll work something
out. No more of this crying stuff, eh.’
She wiped away her tears and forced a little smile.
‘Promise you’ll come back.’
‘You’re very special. Of course I promise.’
I kissed her again and then she pushed me gently through the
Departures doorway. From that moment onwards I wanted my philandering
days to be at an end. She had become all that mattered to
me. From inside the building I turned and watched her climb back
into the old red Mini and drive quickly away, the dust swirling in a little
eddy behind her.
***
To be continued next Monday.
