Junkyard Blues

Chapter Sixty-eight

279 C Chapter Sixty-eight uch a day was not supposed to be bright. It was supposed to be a day with heavy ceilings of dark clouds and huge sketches of lightening tearing through the sky like a picture of the apocalypse. But it was a bright day, a rare occasion in Bamenda at that time of the year. September was always a time of the year cursed with dark rainy clouds and rainy days, the rain trying to do its last show before leaving the stage for the dry winds and the sun. But that day was a bright one, a rare bright one with a bright cloudless sky and the people below it opening their hearts to that rare warmth and brightness. And there was no one among that multitude that had a heart more open to that warmth and brightness like Jude. His heart was already sparkling when he woke up that morning with a huge smile still on his face. It was around four in the evening that day when Mabel decided to leave the room. She told him she was going to pay a friend a visit though he did not hear any of that. He was sitting on the bed, his face still lit by that new warmth inside his heart. “I’m going out,” she said again looking at him with that look (a look he had not been able to notice) she had had all day, that look of confusion and wonder. “Okay,” Jude said in a jovial voice. She stood for a while looking at him, a lot of questions he could not answer clouding her face. He smiled up at her. “You’ve been in here all day,” she said, “Why don’t you go out? You can check on your friend, Niba.” She could sense something, but she could not know exactly what that something was. “No, I’m okay here.” “Are you sure?” “Yes, I’m sure,” he smiled at her again and said, “Do I look like I’m not sure?” She turned to leave the room but stopped and turned back to him and said, “You know I love you.” S 280 Jude nodded, “I know.” She smiled her own sad smile, took his hand and squeezed it and then left the room. He waited for about thirty minutes, just sitting there on the bed, and then he got up. There was work to be done and he knew exactly how to do it. He found the envelope where he had kept it that morning under the mattress. Carefully, he opened the envelope and spilled its content on the floor. The money on the floor would’ve been a sight two days ago, but he did not even see it or even the international passport sticking out of that pile of money. He found the kerosene container where it was supposed to be, near the kerosene stove Mabel had been using all her miserable life. There was still some kerosene in the container and he poured a good quantity on the pile on the floor. He found the match box, selected a match stick and lit it up. It caught with a silent whoop. It was beautiful! He stood and watched as it burnt to ash, a fascinated smile on his face. When it was all ash, his fake payment, he swept it from the floor. It was time to do the second act of the day. He made the call and actually laughed when the man said something that was supposed to sound funny. ...