Say Hello to the Broken-Hearted (4 page)

“I am listening.”
Was his only response.

“John let me explain to you what happened.
Like I said before, my father died when I was twelve, and it almost killed me. Every night I would cry in my sleep. There were days I would rush out of class to the bathroom, and for hours I would scream silently. It was devastating! And as a result I started to fail throughout school, and in my final semester while I was preparing for my exams, it got even worst and I couldn’t bear the pressure anymore. So I just quit. It made perfect sense too you know. As my mother at the time couldn’t have afforded to pay for the exam fees and I had absolutely no one else to turn to. It was like waiting for a miracle to happen after prayers and faith have failed immensely. Then I tried to attain a remedial job which was futile, and if I wasn’t having it hard enough already that just toppled whatever sanity I had left.”

John heard the subtle tone and saw the tears falling from her eyes.
Eager to offer a warm soft blanket to shelter her from the snow, but somehow the words wouldn’t come out.

“…John I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t living,
and I wasn’t even surviving. I was on the brink of suicide and that’s when Joseph Gibson rescued me. He had been everything to me since then. He had been a friend, a confidant and most of all a father to me. I owe it all to him for teaching me how to appreciate life once again. You know one day he said to me.

“Karla, no matter how hard it gets, just remember
, when in the depths of your sorrows and unhappiness, to look to the skies and smile and let that simple gesture remind you of the abundance of happiness that sits at the end of the tunnel.”

John was caught up in a notion of indifference and unprecedented confusion. He wasn’t a gullible person neither was he judgmental but he genuinely felt her pain. Who in the world wouldn’t? She was only a little girl and already she had the hardest bitch of a slap that this world often times
throw in our faces. However, it had dawn on him, how the hell did he find himself in between such a rock and a hard place? But there is no turning back, at least his heart won’t allow it. He had said hello and right now goodbye would be so wrong.

“So what are you saying Karla? I am a man! Yes I am a man
, and God knows I am scared to death of another broken heart! I need some sort of security here, that’s all I am asking.”

“John I can’t just get up and leave Joe like tha
t. He hasn’t hurt me and he has treated me no less than a queen since we have been together. To be honest, the guy loves me.” She asserted, “He needs me as much as I need him right now, maybe even more. What I am saying is, lets for now, take this one day at a time. As the odds are against us and our backs are against the wall. But as heaven as my witness, I so want to know what is behind the door of the temple calling my mind and soul so passionately.

“
Ahh Karla, I don’t want to push you away either, but this is a lot to process. Let me sleep on it, and I’ll let you know when I see you in the morning…ok?”

“Okay….” She made between clinched teeth,” So you are coming here tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I think I am going to come and see you. Matters like these needs to be said face to face either way, if you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I understand.”

“So I’ll see you tomorrow Karla”

“Bye….” She replied.

“And Karla….”

“Yes?”

“I like you a lot.”

“Hmmm…” she replied and smiled, “Goodnight John.”

Chapter 5

“Hello!”
John uttered and beckoned to Karla Steelburg as he approached the bench on the patio where she sat in isolation. She carried a look of indifference on her face, or maybe it was the songs that played on her I-pad preoccupied her thoughts.

“Hello!” s
he replied and turned her attention to his eyes. It had gotten easier to hold his stare, but her heart would still palpitate and her pussy would throb nonetheless.

“I brought you something.” He childishly played.

“Really now! What might that be?” she asked with anxious anticipation.

He laughed,
“Its only chocolate, not a wedding band. He teased and handed her the Hershey delight. To his pleasant surprise she was more appreciative than he expected.

“Thank you so much!” S
he emphasized, “A guy has never brought me chocolate before.”

“Well that’s what cousins are for.”

She smiled and blushed at his witty but charming play upon words.

“If the day was darker and we were hidden by a garden, I would kiss you.” She affirmed.

“Go ahead, I don’t care.” He teased, even though he was well aware of the chaos it would cause, especially if her older brother caught them red-handed.

Karla
Steelburg drifted into the front seat of the audience, attentively captivated by the opera queen. She understood none of the lyrics that came from her mouth, but the sweet scintillating sound conjured scenes of her childhood days with her and Karl Steelburg. Tears assimilated in her eyes and watered her cheeks.

She could no longer avoid the devilish temptation to incarcerate his arms and sentence his lips to
a penalty of life imprisonment at maximum security.

“I got to go put the chocol
ate in my drawer before someone sees it and gets the right impression.” She stated and walked off to her room.

She came back with a pleasant smile on her face and with a more composed disposition.

“So does the chocolate means you have made your decision?”

“The decision wasn’t mine to make Karla.” He smiled and asserted, “You replied with
hello and that was it.” He tried with due diligence to explain his dilemma. “These feelings that I am starting to have, and the fact that I am thinking about you so very often, are beyond me. I can’t control them, even if I wanted to. It’s like, its destiny or some kind of fate which dictates that we should be together. It doesn’t matter if it’s not the norm or if it is immoral or even if it is condemned by every mug in this world.” They caught each other’s eyes. “It’s already written in paradise and that’s all what matters.”

John continued,
“I want you so bad, it’s driving me crazy! I don’t even know what the word ‘cousin’ means anymore. As we are not cousins!” He laughed.

“Yeah!
At some instances I convince myself that we are not related too,” she placed her cheeks in hand and said, “But it’s real and so are these feelings that I am having for you.”

Within the five
minutes of silence that proceeded, the space between them on the bench had somehow gotten smaller to the point where their fingers and feet touched without notice.

“By the way John, how is your dad doing?” Karla Asked.

“Who Peter? He is doing fine. I spoke to him last night actually.” John replied.

“What do you think he would say if he found out you are practically dating his cousin, Karl
Steelburg’s daughter?”

“I honestly don’t know. He is usually respectful of the choices I make
, but this is totally different and almost unheard of.” He affirmed. “See it’s forgivable when two cousins date not knowing they were related but this is like we are embracing the abominable sin.”

“I know but it certainly doesn’t
feel that way.” She replied.

“You know I have been thinking, we live in a Christia
n society and the bible speaks about the condemnation of two cousins being together.” With raised eyebrows he reiterated, “If word gets out of this, they are going to stone us! Literally!”

“Yeah, I know, we are going t
o burn in hell!” She nodded.

“Listen! Let no man but God judge us. They know not what is in
their hearts to even dictate to ours!” He held her eyes steady and searched her soul to find common ground as he uttered stern but soft words of forever reassurance. “I will be by your side until the end of time and even on judgment day we will walk hand in hand to the most high thrown, and if it is his will for us to part, I will miss you without remorse.”

“I will go wherever you go.” She replied and bit her bottom lip.

“…There is one little problem though Cuz.” John alluded.

“Yeah, just give me a little time…I will sort this out with Joseph.”

“Ok…I believe you will.”

Maybe they were overwhelmed and preoccupied by the unprecedented developments they found themselves in the midst of
, but they didn’t hear the sounds of Kevin’s and Andrew’s chattering until they were less than twelve feet behind them. Alarmed they were that the two might get suspicious of them sitting so close together on a bench that could adequately seat two additional people. It was already too late and any sudden shift at that moment would not only have given rise to reasonable suspicion, but would be enough to persuade a twelve panel jury that there sets a hidden conspiracy within the family.

“No, wait!” Kevin asserted
and without hesitance squeezed his butt in between them. “What is really going on here?”

Andre
w sat on the grass in a bid to rest his tiring feet after walking over six miles to and from the farm. He was less oriented and had displayed a gesture that said he was not interested to know if his younger sister and John were having an affair. However, that could easily be misread, as he usually carried serious yet unconventional dispositions.

“What do you see going on here other than two cousins chatting carelessly?” Karla argued with him in a feisty tone and risen eyebrows, “Is there something wrong with that?”

He didn’t pursue the argument. He kept his contempt and stared at John in his silent discomposure which was enough to ascertain his perspicacity.

“Andre
w, As much as I would like to stay, I can’t. I have some very pertinent business to attend to back at the house.” Kevin ushered a quick closure to the plot and stood to leave.

“I understand, such is life.
Thanks for the help with the cattle.”

“Sure anytime.”

“Well…I think it’s about time I leave as well.” John interjected. “See you guys later.”

“Ok,
goodbye John.” Karla replied. Andrew said nothing. That gave enough reason to believe that he too suspected that they were having an affair.

Chapter 6

The
twilight printed an exotic ambiance as the rays of the sunset protruded in between the spaces of the leaves, and refracted off the pink and white carnation that bedded the garden.

As
they walked by the garden path something very rare caught their eyes from the rose patio. They went closer to make certain as it must be that both their eyes were deceiving them. He dug through the thorns of the red floribunda roses and to their pleasant surprise it was a grandiflora with dark blue petals. The beauty they discovered dazed their eyes and warmed their hearts. It was indeed rare and special. Never had it been known that blue roses grew naturally. So they took a photo and swore secrecy to never tell anyone of this precious discovery and promised that from time to time they would visit the rose which now served as a real testament and symbol of what they have together.

It was already the twenty seventh day of June and the summer had declared with its infinite army, war on the land. Making sure to torture every civilian it came across and burn all the villages and fields.
Even the nights that reigned showed no mercy and left in the still air a discerning un-becoming deadly heat.

On few days the rain would come without warning, but when
she did, she brought hope and reassurance that the world was beautiful. Her tears of joy flowed from the hills down into the garden, and touched the feet of the blue rose that slowly sprung and anxiously awaited the queen’s instruction to blossom and daze the world with its beauty and beyond usual love.

“Hey Karla!”
John gave out as she answered the phone.

“Hey! Is something wrong?” S
he asked.

“No, not at all.
I just came off the phone with one of my college friends. Actually, he told me that a few of the guys were having a get-together at the beach. So I am thinking about it. It’s so hot these days. A day at the beach is well needed.”