The Beat of Safiri Bay (8 page)

“Don’t move,” his perfect English accent comes from behind me. He walks to me very slowly, picks up my phone, wipes the screen with his soft shirt and hands it back to me, I think our fingers touch but it is so lightly I can’t be sure. His eyes are set on the grey beast and he slowly takes my hand and carefully pulls me with him to behind a tree in the forest. As soon as we are out of its view, he drops my hand and says, “Run.” We sprint along the tar, around the corner and down the road for about a kilometre. He slows down when he is sure that we are well away from the grey beast and stops. I stop next to him out of breath and shaky from this encounter. I don’t know how my body can deal with so much heart racing action in such a short time. I am not entirely over last night yet and the little sleep I had makes me wonder whether this outing was such a good idea.

“We need to call the authorities,” he says and I hand him my phone. I walk to a fallen branch on the side of the road and sit down on it with my head resting on my knees. “It’s named Safiri Emergencies,” I say about the number he will need and put my head back down onto my knees. He makes the call and I hear him explain the whereabouts of the hippo. As soon as he hangs up, he comes to sit next to me.

“That was quite something,” he says. I lift my head and look at him. He looks even hotter than yesterday, must be my tired mind. “Well, if anyone told me what I would see on my morning run, I would have rather stayed in bed,”

“And miss out on all the fun?” he laughs. “Are you okay? You look a bit washed out.” Oh great, he looks hot as hell and apparently I look like yesterdays dishcloth.

“I’m okay thanks. Just a bit tired.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you are after last night,” my gut pulls into one tight ball. “Why would you say that?” I am sure Matt won’t spill the beans but I am still curious as to what he knows.

“Well playing guitar for four hours straight can’t be easy.”

Off course, he is referring to the music practise of last night. I take a breath again. I trust Matt, he would never hurt me.

“Yes, it does take a lot of energy,” I say about the guitar and the kissing lesson I had for him.

“So are you ready for tonight?” he enquires

“I might need some more sleep, but I’ll take a nap early afternoon.”

We get up then and start walking back towards the beach. I have lost my appetite for running. We walk silently for a few minutes and a beach patrol car comes rushing past us on its way to the hippo. He stops then and I realise we are the entrance to the little fisher’s path. “Like to take a peek?” he asks and I follow him into the thickly overgrown dune forest. “I have something to show you,” he says and I wonder what it is he is up to. “Well now you have my attention,” I say. I have always had mixed emotions about surprises. Most of the time they make me uneasy but sometimes I don’t mind them.

We walk up the dune and discuss the misty view of the main beach this morning. I am so confused when I’m with him. It is so different than with Matt. Alex keeps his distance and never pushes for more whereas Matt just ignores most of my hang-ups and I end up giving in to his no nonsense way. Right now, I know I prefer Alex. He stops on the way up the path and turns to look at me. “It’s in here,” he says and points toward somewhere in the bush. He pushes away the plants and start walking into the forest.  He stops then and looks back at me, “Not coming?” he asks,

“In a minute I say and swallow down the fear of the many unknown creatures waiting to prey on me.” A mosquito lands on my arm and I smack it. I quickly trace his steps and am grateful that we do not have to walk too far into the bush. He stands still with his back to me. “Alex, I cannot think of one single thing that would make me want to walk into this...” He moves away then and there, in front of my eyes, is a huge nest with the tiniest little birds cuddling together closely. There are three of them, three little pink bodies with huge heads and funny big eyes. “What are they?” I ask and I am sure he hears the amazement in my voice. “They are little owls,” he says and smiles at me. I stare at the little helpless owls and then we hear a “toot” coming from not so far away. We spot one of the adult owls taking on a rather protective stance and we back away from the nest slowly. “It’s a marsh owl,” he whispers. “These little guys hatched last night,”

“They are perfect,” I whisper back at him and we smile at each other as if we share the biggest secret in the world. We turn then and he leads the way out of the forest onto the little path.

The beach comes into sight and I walk past him to admire the awesome view. I don’t think I will ever get used to this. And at this time of the morning, its beauty is almost unreal. Alex moves to my side and I move up slightly to make enough space for him.

In a split second I spot it there on the leaves, I give a heart-stopping yell and before I know what I am doing, I jump into Alex’s arms. I cling to the front of his shirt; press my face into it and I feel the tears coming. Alex stands still just holding on to me while I cry uncontrollably. “Lane, what is it?” he asks eventually. He must be so confused. “Spider,” is al I get out. He must have seen it then because he picks me up and carries me down the dune to the beach. He puts me down on my feet gently and I look up at him not letting go of his shirt. He wipes my tears with his thumb and I realise what I have done. My fear of spiders is just so great that it overpowers everything else for that moment. “I’m sorry,” I say through my tears, “I can’t really control the way I react when I see a spider. It is without a doubt one of my biggest fears.” He hugs me tighter. “Lane, there is nothing to be sorry about, I wouldn’t take your fear as a warming up sign towards me. My shirt is at your disposal for as long as you need it.”

He has such a way with words; it makes me feel worse because that is exactly what I am doing, using him. When it suits me, I am able to let him hold me and for the first time in a very long time, I absolutely hate my condition.

I have lived with it for so long and everyone has always acted as if it’s nothing and has gone out of their way to accommodate my special needs that I never really had a reason to try to change. But this man has something I need and I will have to make some sacrifices if I want to find out what it is that appeals to me so much. “Thank you,” I say and mean those two words more than he can imagine.

I let go of his shirt and wipe my nose with the back of my hand like a child, how unladylike I think. We sit down on the dry sand and look over the water. It is a beautiful day, one for the books. “Alex,” I say his name and I love the feel of it on my lips. I think it is time to come clean with him, to tell him how I feel and what I have decided to do. “Lane, I am not exactly what you think I might be,” I frown at him then and let go of the thought of opening my heart and mouth to him. “I do not think anything of you because I don’t know you,” I say honestly.

“What did you want to say before?” he ignores my comment.

“Nothing important,”

“Okay. Let’s sit a while so you can get your breath back.” I sit next to him and a little crab pops his head out of his hole. He hurries sideways over the sand and ducks into another hole. The salty air at the sea is something I have missed so much while at school. My school was three hundred and something kilometres inland and the air there is dry and cold. We sit and talk a bit about the local diving companies and how swimming with the aid of canned air doesn’t appeal to either of us. “Okay now?” he asks concerned.

“Much better’” I smile.

We get up and make our way back over the dune, it will be easier to get back along the road, the sand always takes more out of my legs and I don’t feel like making them work hard anymore. He walks in front of me and I skip the two steps that separate us, I need to stay close in case of any other unwanted leggy creatures. We reach the tar road. This is where we have to go our separate ways, but he doesn’t and he walks with me down the beach road. Just then, I see my dad’s Jeep coming down the road toward us, “Oh no,” I say and he looks at me, totally confused, “my dad,” I say and he straightens his back a little at that.

The Jeep stops on the side of the road and my dad gets out. We walk over to him and he places a quick kiss on my head “morning Rosie,” he says and I smile up at him. My dad eyes Alex suspiciously and I feel obliged to make the introductions. “Dad this is Alex, Matthew’s cousin, Alex, my dad Peter Rose.” My dad takes his hand “How do you do Alex?” he says,

“Good morning sir,” Alex greets my father. I feel the need to explain my walk with a man I have never mentioned to my father before, “Alex and I were just taking a break from our run. He is training with us at the gym,” My dad nods and then he speaks to me,

“What time do you need to be there tonight?”

“The party starts at six and we will do sound check at five,” I say.

“Alright, I will be ready to take you at a quarter to five,” he says and nods his head at Alex, “Keep your phone on Lane,” he says as he climbs back into the Jeep. I frown at that. My dad has never been over protective, his reaction towards Alex makes me smile inwardly. He is worried about me, that’s so sweet of him. I tap the side of my tunebelt “Always on dad,” I say to him. He lifts his eyebrow and slowly pulls away.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Alex says to me and I give him the ‘you think so?’ look.

“My dad is one of the only two people who understand me completely,” I say as we start walking again.

“Who is the other lucky person?” he asks curiously.

“Matthew,” I say nonchalant and wonder why he would ask, didn’t he know this?  I try to think of an incident where I have been with him and Matt in the same room and it occurs to me that the morning of Matt’s drinking binge was the only time. Off course he we didn’t share much that morning so it is no wonder he didn’t know. 

He clears his throat and looks straight ahead of him as we walk.

“Matthew? He is one of the two only people you trust completely?” he asks and I look at him, confused by his coolness. “Matthew is like a brother to me,” I volunteer. “He has been a tremendous help to me and I love him very much.”

“I envy him,” he says and I realise that I should maybe have kept quiet about caring deeply for Matt. I don’t know what to do or say to make it better and drop my head to look at the road in front of me. “Lane, I envy Matthew now, but soon he will be the envious one, I am sure of that.” I am relieved and curious; Matt will be the envious one hey? But I am also very confused because I don’t know if I am expressing myself correctly in front of him. I have never had to worry about hurting people’s feelings. I am polite to everyone and it is easy because I do not spend a lot of time with anyone. I didn’t think liking a guy could be this exhausting. Hmm, that sounds just so weird to me. We reach the beach and he stops. “I’ll see you tonight,” he bows his head as if I am royalty and I smile at him because I can’t wait to see him again. “I’ll be the red faced girl with the guitar in case you don’t recognise me.”

“I cannot wait to hear you play.”

“I’ll see you,” I turn around then and start a slow jog uphill towards the estate. I think I am falling for him.

It is almost three o’clock and I have spent the day wandering around the house like a sleepwalker. My dad is late for lunch. I wonder suddenly if he would be able to make tonight’s party. Oh crap! I forgot to phone Jay to say happy birthday. I dial his number and have a quick chat with him. He is so excited about tonight he actually made me nervous, wonder what he is up to. I press D on my phone and it dials my dad’s number. Just then, I hear the Jeep pull into the yard. I walk to the kitchen to greet my dad and he smiles as he enters through the back door, “honey, I’m home,” he loves shouting that just as Fred of the Flintstone’s does when he gets home. That cartoon is my dad’s favourite.

"Wow dad, you are in a good mood," I comment on his arrival. "Sure Rosie, I am done at the office for today, my girl is playing at a party tonight and I wouldn't miss it for the world.” I am really starting to get to know my dad much better. He has been treating me more like an adult this year and I appreciate that. "Is your equipment ready?" He asks and looks through the kitchen window toward David's house.   "Almost," I say and smile at him.

"Well, I am going to put away my case and make a phone call, maybe you could use that time to double check it? I'd like to have a quick bite to eat and would love for you to join me."

"Sure dad," My dad has such an authority about him, but inside he is just a cuddly teddy bear. He leaves then and I look out the same window to see what he was looking at. David has returned and he is off loading the girl's luggage. No doubt they will be at the party tonight. I wonder how Christina will feel about missing an opportunity to hang onto my dad in public view. I do not miss her in the house and my dad is in the best mood I've seen him in for weeks. Maybe he doesn't miss her either.

In my closet, I look at my guitar collection. I already know which one I will use. The Martin is the best choice for tonight. It has a very deep sound that carries and it sounds great even when plugged in. It is by far the easiest to play and when planning to play for more than two hours you need something that is soft on the fingers. My left hand fingertips have calluses on them and I have always been shy about the hard little bumps. But now I am proud of them, it is a sign of my devotion to my biggest love. I pick up the Martin, tune it carefully and wipe it down with a soft cloth, it is ready. I pack it away carefully, add three plectrums to the small crate I take with me when I perform and choose the long chord for tonight. I stack all my stuff by the door of my room. Dad is already in the kitchen checking up on the light meal Thandi is preparing. "All set?"