Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Back to the House



Early the next morning, Fred and I went back to where our house was. By this time, there was no crowd forming around and the fire was obviously contained. The barrier was still in place to prevent people from accessing the building. Fred talked to one of the guards and we were allowed to go back to our house and see what damage had taken place.

As we took the stairs, my heartbeat increased significantly. For a second I thought the heart was going to come out of the chest! The door was still unlocked just as we had left it. The room was pitch black. The fire had raged half of the sitting area. My favorite couch was burnt beyond recognition. The glass table in the middle of the room was partially burnt also. Electronics and some wall hangings were also not spared. We walked to the bedroom and to our surprise, everything was perfect. The fire had not affected the rest of the house. I went to the closet, picked one of my blouses and sniffed it. Although it smelled of smoke, I could feel my perfume still. I held it tight towards the right side of my face before Fred held my hands and hugged me. We held each other for about five minutes before letting go.

“I am happy the house was not all consumed by the fire. We have to look for somewhere else to live now.” He said moving towards the bed. “The fire has left the house in a bad state nevertheless.”

I nodded in agreement.

“I am hoping we found a house as soon as possible. Living with Mike and Ann is straining them as they have a kid.”

“They haven’t complained, have they?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“It’s good then we get a house before they do. I couldn’t sleep the whole night. The baby kept on crying.” I said.

“He did?” Fred asked looking surprised.

“You didn’t hear? He cried for almost an hour or so.”

He shook his head.

“Guess Ann was right. You guys never hear a thing when you are asleep.” I said.

Fred leaned on me and laughed a little.

“Let’s go down and see what we can do about it.” He said.

Together we descended down the stairs.

Fred was called again by one of the guards. I took this moment and called my mum. I told her about the unfortunate events and what we were looking forward to do. She was so shocked and kept on asking if I was okay. Despite my efforts to assure her everything was alright, she insisted on coming to see us.

“I just talked to dad. He has offered us one of his apartments so that we can stay over there.” Fred said as he walked back.

I didn’t know what to say. It was so thoughtful of him but I was also a bit worried on accepting his offer. His apartments were located on the other side of town. It was far from where we lived and would take more than an hour to arrive to work. It was going to be a big adjustment.

“What do you think?” I asked Fred who was scratching his head as if he was thinking about something.

“I’ m not really sure. His offer seems to help us at the moment.”

“I guess.” I said slowly. “Can we talk more about this at the coffee shop. I’m hungry.”

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Home Away From Home



Fred suddenly touched my face and wiped my left cheek. I was crying without even knowing it! The pain of losing your things in a fire was too much for me. Even though the house was not all destroyed by the fire, I knew we had lost valuable items. Starting again was going to be tough for us.

I felt a hand grab my shoulders. I turned around and saw that it was Mike. He hugged me whispering slowly that everything will be okay. I thanked him before he walked with Fred to the barrier that had been put on to prevent us from getting near the building. I could see them trying to talk to one of the officers on site but he kept on shaking his head. I knew we had a lost whatever they were trying to have. They turned back shaking their heads too. Fred had already inserted his hands in his trouser pockets.

Mike came and suggested we spend a night at his place since we had no other option. The building was now a no go zone as investigations were already taking place. Thankfully, no one was injured in the fire. We walked slowly to his place and found Ann sitting in front of the television trying to sooth the baby to sleep. She jumped up when she saw us asking a lot of questions about what happened. I didn’t know what to say other than hugging her and crying over her shoulder. I cried for a while before sitting down with her. By this time, Fred had already found a comfortable part of the house and started watching the telly with Mike! Men really amaze me!

Ann and I left them alone and went to help her prepare for us somewhere to sleep in the extra bedroom in her house after the baby had gone to sleep. Ann and Mike were living in a two bedroom house which was fortunate for us as we didn’t have to sleep on the couch. We changed the sheets and she gave me some t-shirts for us to sleep in. I took a bath and went to bed. Fred joined me later in the night.

I don’t think I had slept for long before I was awoken by the sounds of the baby crying. He really cried for sometime despite the efforts of Ann trying to make him stop. I couldn’t go back to sleep I walked to the sitting area and tried to help her with the baby. After doing rounds for almost an hour, the baby went back to sleep. I was exhausted! I couldn’t imagine Ann had to do this every night.
“He sure is a loud mouth.” I said after we took the baby to his cot.

“Yes. He is loud.” Ann replied adjusting the sheets on the cot.

“And Mike? How does he handle the baby at night?”

“Oh that one. He never seems to notice the noise. He sleeps throughout the episode.”

“Huh?” I asked a bit shocked.

“True. He has never woken up because of baby cries, unless you wake him up first!”

“Jeez!” I exclaimed.


Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Fire



We had just settled in for dinner with Fred when we heard a loud scream. It was coming from nearby. Shocked, we looked at each other then headed to the window. I could see a crowd forming near the entrance of the flats where we live in. I rushed out of the door to get a good view.

Fred followed me and together looked towards the ground. The group of people who were crowding there kept on shouting at us but we couldn’t hear. So I followed their hand gestures and noticed they were pointing to the third floor of our building. I looked down and saw a huge black cloud of smoke coming out from one of the windows. My heart skipped a beat.

“Oh my God!” I shouted.

“What?” Fred asked obviously he had not gotten a clue of what was going on.

“The building is on fire. Check the third floor.” I said tagging his shirt.

He checked it. Shocked, he grabbed me and forced me to enter the house.

“Grab whatever you have valuable and let’s get out of here!” he said rushing to our bedroom. I followed him sobbing silently.

I remembered that my wallet, phone and some personal items were still in my handbag. I grabbed it and ran to Fred who was inserting his wallet to his back pocket of the trouser he had.

“What about our clothes, electronic, jewelry…..” I started.

He held me by the shoulders and shook me. “Kate, we have no time for that. Let’s go downstairs and wait for the firemen to come.”

“But…”

“No buts. Please let’s go!”

We ran downstairs by this time the smoke had already almost covered our floor. It was really hard to see the stops but we managed. We joined the crowd that had formed already. I noticed that most of them were my neighbors. I asked around what was happening and I was told that the fire had started in the third floor. No one seemed to know the cause. So we all stood there for what seemed like eternity before the fire truck came. The firemen tried their best to put off the fire but unfortunately, it had engulfed much of the floor. Our house, which was on the fourth floor, was not yet severely damaged but we were advised not to stay in their since it was unsafe.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Sam of the Past



Sam greeted us before sitting down to one of the empty chairs near our table. He moved a bit closer and turned to me.

“How have you guys been doing?”

I was silent. I didn’t know if I should reply or not.
Ann looked at me then quickly said “We have been good. What about you?”

“Oh I have been well.” He replied. “I see the baby is turning out to be a handsome young man.”

“Yes he is.”

“That’s good. I am from seeing a friend then decided to so some shopping before I go home.”

My eyes dropped to his feet. Sure enough, there was a small grocery bag placed on the floor. I couldn’t see what was inside.

“Kate, how are things?” he said looking at me now.

“They are good.” I replied.

For those who don’t understand the story, Sam was my ex-boyfriend just before I got together with Fred. He was a good guy then but he changed and become a bit of a stalker. He was acting good to me infront of people but creepy when I was together with him. He always wanted us to get back together.

Ann pinched me below the table. I turned at her and saw her winking at me. She then pouted her lips pointing them to Sam. I realized she wanted me to look at him. I turned and saw him busy with his phone. He was texting. I returned my gaze to Ann and she whispered on how good he was looking.

I nodded. He was looking good. He was wearing white shorts, white tee and some black loafers. He was also wearing police sun glasses to shield him from the hot sun.  

“Sorry guys for checking on my phone. I had to reply a client of mine.” He said.

“Its okay.” Ann said.

“I have to leave now. It was really nice meeting you.”

And just like that, he was gone. This is the first time in a very long time that he had behaved this well. Most of the time he was so annoying that he had gotten into fights with Fred. Maybe he had changed!

Ann and I finished our drinks, paid and left the store. Our drive back was a bit slow because of the traffic that had built up on the highway because of an accident between a SUV and a truck. It was nasty. Hopefully no one was hurt.