A Shield or a Snare

Msindo introduced me to his friends, and we spent moments laughing, dancing, and having a great time as we continued drinking wine. I was feeling more and more comfortable with him. As the night wore on, Msindo and I found ourselves sitting on a couch, talking and getting to know each other better. I learned that he had a wife and a daughter. The moment it was my turn to talk about my family, I put my fingers onto his lips and stood up, pulling him to the stage. On the stage, he didn't wait for me to lead the dance. He was something else with his hands and legs. He was pacing to the throb of the beat and so flexible as if the music were casting out the soul from his body. I enjoyed it when he carried me on his shoulders. His hands held a tight grip on me, and he nuzzled his fresh-shaven face against my stomach. The gentle scratches of his smooth skin sent shivers down my spine and I couldn't control my feelings. I crushed his neck with my thighs and he failed to stop himself either as his warm tongue licked my stomach. The music was then playing slowly, like jazz.  The feeling of pleasure caught me. He slowly put me on the floor. I felt so dizzy, and leaned onto his posture.

"I think we took too much cocaine," he whispered into my ears. 

I held his shaven cheeks and pinched them a little. I admired him. He was fun and a lot crazier than I was. I forgot that he was a married man as he made me remember my ex, who was much like him - the same charisma. Msindo didn't wait to kiss me, and without thinking too much, I fell into the moment. However, it wasn't long before his wife showed up and gave me a tight slap. I moved backward as she came in between us. The music stopped, and everyone stared at us. The incandescent lights were then on when they started playing jazz music. I came back to my senses. Menzi was back standing on the stage. He didn't say a word as Msindo's wife continued shouting at me and flying continuous slaps and punches onto my face. Msindo intervened and apologized to his girlfriend, but she was deaf and unstoppable; she only wanted to kill me.

"Enough!"

That was Menzi calling for my rescue. Msindo's wife stopped and looked at Menzi. She looked outraged. Menzi walked down the stage and came straight to me. He stood in front of me but didn't utter even a single word. Msindo's partner insisted that I was supposed to be taught a lesson, as how bitches pay. Despite that, Menzi gripped her arm and pulled her to his face. He told her that I was going with him, and any insult to me was an insult to him. It was not going to be tolerable for him. Thereafter, he commanded Msindo to take his wife and go home, not to mention the competition that Msindo was so interested in, which was over. Again, please don't judge Msindo and me, we were both drunk. I also wonder how all that happened while I was with Menzi that night and I ask myself what was Msindo's wife doing at Kaden House that late. Anyway, I messed up that night.

Msindo and his wife left. The Joker continued to entertain people. As for me, I was running behind Menzi as he was heading to his car. I was at a fifty-meter distance behind. When Menzi opened his car, he entered and locked the car doors. He started the engine. At that instant, I lost my mind; I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I knew no one in Drazen Central, and Menzi was leaving me. I screamed, calling his name, but he ignored even my gestures, which cried for his help. The cocaine stopped functioning for a second in my head. He was going to leave me if I wasn't going to overreact. I ran to the front of the car and continued trying to make him stop the car. I even went down to the ground on my knees, and he suddenly stopped. He opened the front door. I fast stood and ran to the car.

When I got inside the car, he harshly pressed the gears. I knew I was the cause. I acted stupid when we were at Kaden House. He focused on the steering. I got even more afraid as he was increasing the speed of the car every tenth of a kilometer. I tried to apologize to him many times, but it was all for nothing. Ultimately, I felt like I was desperate. If he had endeavored to behave like Msindo towards me, I wouldn't have been tempted like what happened at Kaden House, so it was also his fault. He stopped the car next to a heavily fenced perimeter. Inside the perimeter were many buildings. The lights flooded everywhere in the perimeter. He went outside the car after telling me we were at his workplace and commanded me to stay in the car. I was glad to hear him tell me that because, from Kaden House to his workplace, he never said a word to me, even if I tried to show how sorry I was to him. 

I sat tightly inside the car and watched him speaking to some people at the entrance. He then went inside for about thirty minutes. I checked the clock on the dashboard; I realized it was already four in the morning. I then looked for my purse and phone in the car, but I didn't find it. I recalled removing my phone from the charger the moment we got outside the car when we were going into the Kaden House. Instantly, I got confused opening the dashboard tray, and I couldn't believe my eyes on what I saw. There were stacks of hundred-dollar bills, piled on each other. I ended up forgetting about my purse and phone, which I realized I lost at Kaden House. Aside from the money, there was a box of cigarettes and a lighter. I took only the cigarette and the lighter and got outside the car to smoke. The situation drained the drugs and alcohol in my body and made me sober, and many questions were throbbing in my brain veins. I was confused about Menzi's way of living after seeing such a lot of money. When I was still puddling in my thoughts, trying to figure out about Menzi, I saw him coming out from the perimeter. I stood, smoking the cigarette as if I wasn't seeing him until he came next to me. 

"Stay in the car, was that hard for you to understand?" he asked, trying to snatch the cigarettes from my fingers.

"It was clear. I wanted to smoke!" I said, pressing the cigarette with the tip of my fingers.

He wanted to come too closer to me, but I pushed him away. Thereafter, I took the box of cigarettes from the car seat and gave it to him. He lit the cigarette, and we smoked silently for some time.

"I hope you only took the cigarettes, Lisa," he said, knowing that I saw his money.

"... And the lighter! You know what... that got me thinking... who are you, Menzi?" I asked, looking at him.

"This is not a good time to question me, Lisa," he informed me.

"Enough, Menzi! I am no longer in my hometown here. I need to know you, what if something happens to me here. What if you are protecting and behaving well to me, only to lure me into some trap? I kissed Msindo… you saved me from his wife. Why? Tell me, what do you do for a living? What do you want from me?" I inquired to know him, and threw the cigarette away and cried, "Please, I need at least something more tangible to know you, not just your name."

He looked at me and grabbed my shoulders after he also threw his cigarette away. I was an inch closer to him, and he talked to my ears.

"Something tangible... is it what you want, huh?" he asked softly, and suddenly, he commanded, "Open my jacket!"

I opened the jacket, and I froze instantly. Menzi was a gangster. He had a pistol under his belt.

"Now, get in the car. I need to go and sleep!" he ordered, freeing my shoulders from his grip.

I was already miles deep in thoughts and afraid. Moreover, I didn't know where he was taking me to. He frightened me because it was my first time seeing a pistol in reality, and to make things worse, I was traveling with a gangster man at night while I didn't have a phone. I looked at him in fear and got into the car so silently.

"You now look so worried," he said, and he showed kindness by asking how I was feeling. I whispered I was okay, and tried to calm down myself.

"Please relax, you're safe with me," he said, assuring me as he pressed the gears, "Soon we will be home." 

I kept quiet, and I don't know how I fell asleep.