A SHROUD OF DARKNESS #4

Chapter 4

My mother, Mrs Linda Sole loved Eben. She never questioned the late nights he came over to our house and had to spend the night. She never questioned what our arguments were about…and on days where I would struggle to get out of his grip, she thought it was just a couple’s game. To me, as well as everyone else, Eben was the perfect gentleman. He hardly got angry, and almost never raised his voice. He was one to give gifts, always bearing something for the family whenever he came visiting…which was almost everyday.

On the day he came to pick me up for my birthday however, Mother pulled me aside and told me about a strange dream she had. In her dream, she saw me crawling on the ground, somewhere in a bush, with blood all around me and reaching out my hand to a man standing over me, crying for help. The man only turned around and walked away. She described him as tall and a bit muscular, she could not describe his face however because she awoke suddenly with her heart pounding loudly inside her chest.

“Nana Ama, I’m worried about you eh? Do you have to go out today? Your Father will be coming home, we’ll have a family dinner to celebrate your day Sweetheart” she said.

I laughed and hugged her tightly, “oh don’t worry Mother, I’ll be fine. It’s Eben I’m going to be with, we’re just having dinner I presume”

“Yes I know it’s Eben, I just have this unease about you going out today”

“I’ll be fine Mother” I assured her, “Don’t force out some more gray hairs by over-thinking about this. It’s just a dream”.

And with that I left her to go prepare for my date night. Eben had promised me an exciting night, and I wasn’t going to allow some dream my Mother had to kill it.

As we drove off into the night I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly this mischievous fiance of mine had planned. I watched as we drove past all the dinner date spots we loved and my curiosity grew more and more. Eben finally pulled up to a building which had all the markings of a night club.

I did not want to believe it so I asked him, as calmly as possible, “Eben? What nice food could they possibly be selling in here? I hope this is not some chop bar” I said amidst giggles.

“Oh this is not a chop bar my dear, it’s a night club!” he said smiling from ear to ear, “And it’s one of the jamming places in town. I thought I would expose you to a different experience this year. You will love it” he said as he stretched out his hand to hold mine.

Without thinking twice, I swiftly moved my hand out of his reach slightly slapping his hand in the process. In bewilderment, I lashed out “What the hell are you talking about Eben?! You mean you brought me to a bar? A night club? For my birthday? Seriously?”

He was startled by my response.

Slowly his eyebrows drew in, clenched his jaw a few times and his lips thinned out; in his deepest voice yet he said “How dare you disgrace me in public like this? All I have done is to bring you out to celebrate your birthday and you speak to me in such an insulting manner?!”

Fear gripped me, and my hands and lips began to tremble. I had never seen Eben like that, he hardly ever got angry. In a stammering voice I said, “I’m…I’m sss…sorry Eben, I…I really just don’t like club houses and I thou…thought you knew that” whiles taking a few steps away from him.

In a flash his face had cleared up into a beautiful smile, “It’s okay my darling, I’ll take you home. I’m sorry okay?”.

I nodded and sat in the passenger’s seat of his car whiles he held the door open for me. On the way home neither of us said a word to the other, it was a silent journey filled with occasional glances and smiles. To make it up to me, we stopped at a pizza place, Ryan’s pizza which is the best in the city…mmm I can still smell the mouthwatering aroma from the beef pizza with extra cheese we ordered. We ate silently and finally drove back to my home. Eben got down from the car to walk me to the door; I thanked him as we exchanged a quick embrace and I entered my house.

While I was still trying to understand what exactly had happened to Eben that night I heard a knock on the door…