Glorious Sunset (20 page)

“I had hoped it would be an easy transition but it may be one of those difficult ones.”

“Difficult ones?” Violet looked at him through bangs that were as lank as she felt. “What's that mean?”

He shrugged. “Most people do not take care with the wish and when it manifests it does so at its own desire. It may take fat or it may take muscle. Once, a very thin man wanted to lose ten pounds. I told him, ‘you are insane, ten pounds will put you in the morgue!' but he did not listen. The wish took what little fat he had and made up for the rest with use of some internal organs.”

“What?”

Taka waived off her concern. “It is all right, he did not really need the spleen and the appendix would have come out ten years down the line. This wish did save him from a certain future surgery but he could not have known that.”

Violet looked at him as she heaved, blowing her bangs up as he nonchalantly sipped his wine. She was right from the start. She was being punished. The genie? A demon for sure. A male succubus; that's right, an incubus. An incubus was sitting across from her swigging Merlot.

“You never said—”

“I told you to be careful.”

“Had I known—”

“You did not give me time to explain.”

“I can't walk down an aisle like this! I can't enjoy life like this. All I wanted was to be a friggin' size eight!” She moved over slowly and plopped herself onto the sofa, feeling like a sack of potatoes.

Taka walked over to sit next to her. He placed his arm around her shoulder. She hesitated and then squirmed into him, liking the feel of his strength beside her. Everything in her life was changing but she felt she had somehow lost control. And, who knew, she might even lose a spleen. She didn't know what a spleen did but she still wanted to keep hers!

She pressed her face into his shoulder willing herself not to cry and failing miserably.

“Do not cry and streak such a pretty face, woman.”

“I just want to be skinny and rich, is that so wrong? I can't believe Brenda is marrying Gary. It's not like I want the jerk; it's the principle. How could he do that?”

“Gary is a fool and cannot see that you are a woman of quality. It is not his fault; it is like a man who cannot tell a chunk of glass from a diamond. It is an inability inherent to the condition of being an idiot.”

“You couldn't see that I was a woman of quality. When did you lose your inherent idiot inability?”

“Once again, the comparison is moot; it is like comparing a magnificent baobab to a dry-rotted root: no matter how much water you pour on the rotted root it will never grow life.”

“Uhmm, what?”

“The magnificent baobab tree in Africa and the dry-rotted root that is dead? The water being the information that makes the tree grow, like learning more about you has made my understanding grow because I am intelligent and majestic like the baobab. But despite pouring information on the stupid dry-rotted root that is Gary the root will never smarten and grow. You see my point? What has happened to the world that people cannot understand a simple parable? Why, my father
never
answered a question without a story with the inclusion of at least two animals, trickery, and a talking tree.”

Violet's quiet laughter was sucked up by the material of his shirt which effectively dried her tears. She looked up into his frowning face and stroked the line between his eyes. “Don't worry, Taka, I understand you. You're saying you were an idiot when you met me and I set you straight. See, no need to get all frustrated.”

His face softened and Violet liked the way his chocolate brown eyes melted as well.

“You understand me like no other,” he said. “You comfort me, calm me. I am at peace when you are in my arms.”

“Is that three-day rule set in stone?” she asked him, softly.

“I'm afraid so.”

“I wish you could stay longer. I don't have many friends. It's nice having you around. You're easy to talk to.”

“Your impression of me has changed as well?”

“It has. A little.” Violet smiled up at him and in that instant was a continuation of where they'd left off before. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked into his deep, brown eyes. A feeling, sharp and fleeting, followed swiftly by an overwhelming desire.

Taka looked into the face of this woman. As many times as he'd kissed Zahara, he'd never seen this particular expression. He'd never felt this particular emotion. The woman in his arms moved in different ways, her facial expressions were different, her eyes even held a different look, completely different from Zahara. And yet as he looked at her moist lips, he wanted to kiss her again, like he'd never wanted to kiss anyone. He came closer to her until he could feel the soft breath from her nose and, then, a loud grumble and a frozen expression on her face ruined the moment.

“Sorry, gotta go.” Violet moved up and off the sofa as fast as she could in her debilitated state. When she returned a while later, she padded back over to the sofa, looking a thousand years old. Her shirt bagged over her frame.

“Are you small enough yet?” he asked.

“Who gives a crap? I'm miserable.”

“But now you can fit into the orange dress?”

“You can save your ‘I told you so.' I don't want to hear it.”

“Hmmm, what a peculiar and accurate term. I told you so. I like it.”

But he didn't use it when he certainly could have and maybe even should have while all night long she sprinted to the bathroom and back. Each time she returned she huddled into a fetal position on the sofa; each time he wordlessly hooked a finger in a belt loop of her jeans, dragged her over to him and proceeded to hold her while she quaked, shivered, and convulsed to her new, improved size.

“It was a stupid, impulsive wish,” Violet gasped, finally. “I don't hate myself enough to make myself sick. I think I'm going to use my last wish to reverse it.”

“I will try to remove the wish, if you want me to.”

“Can you?” she croaked, feeling the first glimmer of good spirit in the last two hours.

“Actually, only our Father can, but I will ask. You will lose the second wish, regardless.”

“That's okay, I'll take my chances. Thank you, Taka.”

“You're welcome.”

“I'm exhausted. I'd go to bed if I could make the walk back.”

Taka stood and scooped her up, sucking in his breath. “Ridiculous! You weigh but a feather! This is what you wanted?” He shook his head, muttering about the silliness of the situation as he carried her into her bedroom and laid her down, pulling the blankets around her. He brushed back the hair from her face and stroked her skin gently.

“Ah, Violet. If only you knew the beauty you hold already. If only you knew your worth.”

Violet shivered and shuddered, her teeth clacking together. “We can't all be royalty, Taka. But if you can make me the way I was I will listen to you say ‘I told you so' day and night. Will you be comfy out there on the couch? The bed is big enough for two.” She hadn't asked him yesterday, but she didn't care yesterday. She saw indecision rage on his face.

“I will be fine on the sofa.”

Yes, that was probably best.

She was closing her eyes when she noticed the message light on her answering machine blinking. “One last favor? Will you hit that button on the answering machine and that one to turn the ringer back on? I haven't listened to my messages all day.”

He hit both the ringer and the answering machine button and watched warily as a voice spoke from it. The first message was Skeeter. The next two were from media folk who'd caught wind of her coup. The fourth was from Skeeter.

“Okay, okay. I'll give you one thousand one hunnert for the piece, okay? Call me back, Violet!” he asked.

Taka raised his brows. Violet swirled a finger in the vicinity of her temple. Skeeter might as well be crazy if he thought she'd ever give up the brooch now. The next voice was a familiar one.

“Violet, it's Brenda. I thought you were my friend and you went behind my back and stole the Bickman account, after all we've been through together. You stabbed me in the back and I will never forgive you, Violet Jackson. I'll get you back. In fact, I already have. So there.”

Violet could barely move but her lips curled in malicious glee. Taka caught the movement and shook his head.

“It wasn't anything she hasn't done to me a thousand times over, Taka. We've been over this.”

“And she will do it again and again. Sometimes it is better to lose and move on. Defeat is a hard pill to swallow but it is a part of life. Sometimes we must accept what we cannot change.”

Violet summoned up enough indignation to lift her head off the pillow and fire back, “Like you accepted it? Look at you, living in a rock, literally. Don't lecture me about not accepting the bad things in life. You gave up on life.” Her head fell back, satisfied.

Taka felt the sting of being properly shut up, but he had to be clear. “You're right. I did not accept my fate. Instead, I have lived an existence far worse. I have lived to see others happy. I have lived to wonder what might have been had I not given up. Even now I work to put my life together when the world has forgotten me and my people ever existed. In all these centuries, perhaps the hardest pill to swallow is that of humility. I am not a god to determine my fate and neither are you to yours.”

Violet stung under his admonishing, wounded and angry by his rebuke. He didn't know anything about her life, her struggles, or her fate. He didn't know how difficult it had been to let him into her confidence only to have him throw her problems back into her face.

“Tomorrow you will be gone and I will be left here alone to deal with my life in the best way I see fit,” she said, finally closing her eyes as sweat popped on her forehead. “I don't have a kingdom of people to fight for or a lost love to mourn over. I just have me and a friend who hates me and a fiancé who's lusting after that same friend and a business that will survive only if I am cutthroat enough to do what I need to do to make it survive. So if I have to step on Brenda to get what I want I am going to do it. And if I have to marry a man like Jerome to cement my position in society I will do that, too. There's no such thing as the type of world you lived in, Taka. It is history, and so are you. So please, keep your advice to yourself and let me live my life.”

Violet woke the next morning to the smell of coffee. She came into the kitchen walking upright and looking well rested. She smiled at Taka as she approached.

“You removed it, thank you.”

Taka looked at her in her jeans and a tee shirt. She was back to her normal weight and she looked beautiful to him. “Our Father removed it. But you cannot have another. You have only one wish left.”

“When I woke up this morning, I was in bed. I distinctly remember falling asleep on the bathroom floor after the thousandth trip. Or passing out.”

“You are light. It was no trouble.”

“I was light, for a brief period of time.”

“You are still light, in the right hands.”

“Thank you for getting it reversed, after how rude I was last night. I appreciate it.”

“Your coffee will be cold.”

“Hey, is that the paper?”

“I told you yesterday, you will be having no more problems with your neighbor.”

“Wow, you are multitalented. If I had known you were so useful in the beginning I wouldn't have given you such a hard time.”

“It was nothing.”

“I'm trying to thank you. I don't do it often; will you let me?”

“You don't have to thank me, woman. I would lower myself to my knees without your request if it would convince my Father to restore the beauty that you hold. I would scavenge a thousand papers in the morning if it would bring you happiness. There is no limit to what I would do for you, Violet.”

Violet was silent for a moment, not knowing what to say. “My, you certainly have a flair for drama.”

“Hearing a man tell you of your beauty or value should not be drama. Not if you have a man who is supposed to love you.”

She was caught up for a moment watching him as he cut strawberries into pieces to shovel them into parfait dishes. His large hands doing such delicate work only made him more masculine.

Taka found her gaze on him disconcerting. She was once again herself, once again beautiful, but he could not forget the evening before. He could not forget her words or the feel of her in his arms. He could not shake the feeling that her cynicism, her pessimism, was all his fault. And while she was spouting words that hurt his soul, he could hear the vulnerability beneath the harshness.

He could also still feel desire he hadn't known for generations. As she watched him his hands trembled slightly. He longed for her to come to him and perhaps place a hand on his, a kiss on his lips, her arms around him so that he might hold her body to him eagerly. He knew his wishes would show through his eyes so he did not look at her. At least, not until she said:

“I have my third wish.”

“There is no need for you to wish now. Why not wait until the end of the day?” he said, anxiously. Suddenly he had no desire to leave her side. He felt a profound panic at the thought that Violet could, in one wish, banish him from her life as completely and quickly as she could utter the words.

“But I know it now. And I wouldn't have if it weren't for you and what you said last night. I realized that I really want to be in a relationship where I can truly count on my partner. I mean, it's not unreasonable, right?

“No, it is not,” he said, cautiously.

“You had that kind of relationship, didn't you? I mean, it does exist?”

“It does.”

“So there's nothing to say Jerome and I can't have it.”

Taka felt an overwhelming fear. “Be careful, Violet.”

“I mean, everyone wants love, right? Everyone deserves it.”

“We have hours; please be careful.”

“I've decided.” Violet smiled and spread her arms wide. “I want the love of a good man!” And the burden was lifted at the admission. She wasn't made of stone. Of course she'd rather have love than simply an arrangement. She'd like to have a man who doted on her and adored her. Strangely, her conversations with Taka had made her see that. Taka sighed in relief but she was too busy hugging herself with her arms to notice. “Phew! What a weight off my shoulders. I never would have thought of myself as a romantic, but I have to say, you have been a positive influence on me.”

Taka looked up to the ceiling, waiting to be zapped off the face of the earth.

“I wouldn't mind being in love. And to not have to lie to my partner. And to truly want to spend time with him. And I tell you, Jerome is a good guy. He just needs motivation, that's all.”

Taka felt a moment of surprise followed by a flash of anger. “Jerome? Him, again? Humph. Motivation means nothing to a slug.”

“You're not starting again, are you? I thought we reached an understanding.”

“I understand that pathetic bag of waste will only drag you down into the swamp with him.”

“Thank you for caring, but not all mortal men can be as wonderful as you. And before we start arguing again, I'm going to go change, okay?” Violet left the room and Taka immediately set his knife down and spoke to the ceiling.

“Father, I have asked little of you during my imprisonment and I realize I have no right to ask. After today my fate will be determined. But I ask for Violet. She does not know what she asks for. The only fate worse than condemnation for me is to be condemned knowing that she has bound herself to a man who does not love her. Please, Father, protect her.”

The air crackled around him and Ani arrived, sitting at the kitchen table and taking a ripe strawberry to bite into. “You speak to our Father with respect and you address the woman as ‘Violet,' easily, without hesitation. I think this is the first time I truly believe you accept her as she is.”

“How can I not? As strongly as Zahara was Zahara through and through, Violet is Violet. A different woman, yet . . .”

“The same.”

“The same. I respect her. I even understand her.”

“You should. She is the epitome of you at the height of your own power. You see with the eyes of a man who rules a country. In these times, a person's life is a country. A person's kingdom is their own environment. A person's enemy is within themselves. And just as during your own reign you focused on things other than what was most important, so does she. She is so busy arranging her life, she fails to see what is important. Love.”

“I had a kingdom to run. I did not know how to do it and love at the same time. But I did love. I do love, deeply.”

“I know that, Taka. If it makes you feel better, she is just as clueless. She chooses Jerome: a man she can mold into what she believes she needs. Her wish was for the love of a good man, but she said nothing about loving him back. She doesn't even dare love him. She can't. She's hopelessly in love with you.”

Taka looked at Ani quickly. Could it be?

“Don't get excited, love isn't always enough and she's relegated you to the status of a cartoon character; don't ask. The bottom line is she is not as blindly naïve as she seems. She's using every trick in her arsenal to block herself from the pain of truly living. The only difference between the two of you? She doesn't have a rock to hide in.”

“It's a precious gem.”

“Our Father decided he'd had enough of the rock rehabilitation after you. Imagine that.”

Taka sat down in a chair, his face speaking an indescribable knowledge. “I made it impossible for both of us, didn't I?”

“The harder we tried, the harder you fought. And all along all I wanted to teach you was that no one is entitled to happiness; it must be earned. Even in grief there is beauty. And death isn't the enemy, only a natural progression. He had much more in store for you, son. You would have loved again.”

“Maybe. But after all this, I cannot say I am sorry for holding on to her.”

Ani reached out to take Taka's shoulder in a gentle grip. “You wouldn't be the Taka I know and love if you did. Don't ever apologize for love and don't ever regret life's lessons. You have been a hard one to teach, but I feel rays of knowledge are now reaching you. Like water seeping into the roots of a magnificent baobab.”

Taka smiled. “Yes, I am hard to teach. But my stubbornness is of my Father.”

“I will give Him the steadfast dedication. But the stubbornness, never.” Ani smiled. “What happens now is out of your hands. You have the rest of the day to be with her but I warn you, don't make your parting difficult for her. She has to live with her decisions and learn her own lessons. She's made her wish and it still doesn't automatically eliminate you. That's something. You have until the end of the day to determine if it is you she chooses or Jerome.”

“He's a vile creature. I cannot believe I am competing against that.”

“Watch your mouth, Taka; he's one of our Father's children, as well.”

“He must have been having a bad day when He made that one,” he groused, earning a cautionary frown. “Just one last question. Why now? Why did He choose this time to bring me to her?”

“Because the last of the people of Jaha have come home. You see, you and Zahara were not the only souls troubled by the brutality of your passing. Some came back one or two times. One came back almost as many times as Zahara before finally forgiving himself. It's the spirit of the man you knew as Kamil.”

Taka felt the name down to his toes. Not just a warrior, Kamil was also his best mortal friend. His eyes watered with the knowledge of how his friend must have suffered, as much as he had. “So he has perished now?”

“My, your word choice is all wrong! Your friend died in 1600 AD. His spirit was restless, searching for answers, almost as stubborn as you. But he found those answers in this last life. He found peace and when the body that held his warrior's spirit died this time, his soul finally passed into our Father's Kingdom to be embraced by the rest of the Jahanian people. They all wait, you see. They wait for their king and queen to return. One way or the other your spirits have ended their journey; this is the final incarnation for you both. Do you see, my son?”

Yes, finally he saw. What had his Ani said yesterday? The Almighty wanted Taka to bring Violet back to him and now he understood that if Taka could not make things right no one else could. Violet's spirit had been back many times and this was her last chance. When all was said and done, if they didn't make their way back to each other, Taka would surely get to the underworld first to cool off a prickly seat with his behind in order to offer it to her when she followed: a final gift for his beloved wife. No, he couldn't allow that to happen.

“Today is an important day for you, Taka, and I find I'm in a strange position.”

Taka was alarmed as his friend's eyes grew wet. “Aniweto, what is it, my friend?”

A gentle smile from a gentle soul. “Before you were born our Father told me about a young man who would grow up to be a strong and valiant king. But, as with everything wonderful He has ever created on this earth, evil was going to try to destroy this young, proud man by taking everything he loved. So our Father sent me to help prepare the man. He gave me substance so I could be seen, heard, and felt by my ward.

“That is how it came about that when you were born I whispered into your tiny ear and told you it was safe to open your eyes. When you began to eat I took your food in my hand and showed you how to chew. When you faltered on new legs I held my arms to you so you wouldn't be afraid to walk. When your father died in battle I held you as you cried. When you married Zahara I stood beside you, overjoyed with the love that woman planted in your heart and soul. I was as close to a real father as I ever had the fortune to be. And, inevitably, when that horrible day came when everyone you loved was beset upon by evil I anticipated the overwhelming grief. I even anticipated the anger. But it was my job to make sure you knew you were not alone. I failed you. You felt as if our Father had abandoned you and nothing could have been further from the truth. We were with you every step but still you felt hopeless. I asked our Father's forgiveness long ago. I ask yours, now.”

Taka's jaw tensed as he fought the tears that threatened to fall. “I . . . I have nothing to forgive, Ani. You were my friend. I've always known you were there for me. I treated you like I treated Zahara. Because I knew I had your love I knew I could cause you pain. I was hurting and I wanted you to hurt. I wanted Him to hurt. In my arrogance and narcissism I thought I was favored by our Father and blessings were due me. It never occurred to me that I might have been blessed for any other reason. Ani, it is I who ask you for forgiveness. You have been more than a friend to me. And no matter what happens tomorrow, I thank you. And I love you, my dear friend.”

Tears fell down Ani's cheeks but he smiled nonetheless. “And I love you. No matter how the story of Taka Olufemi ends, know that I will love you for eternity. Go in peace, my son.”

Ani disappeared and for a moment Taka was still. No one had to tell him he had just said good-bye to his friend forever. He felt the loss already, as if a warm blanket that had always lain across his shoulders was slowly peeled away. Ani couldn't help him anymore. His guardian's job was done and Taka had to make his own way from here on and the enormity of his task set in.

How could he do it? How could he save them both? More importantly, how could he save Violet? He would gladly go to the inferno if it would spare her the trip. But he'd used every tactic he knew. He had nothing left.

The sudden knock on the front door drew his eyes but he remained frozen. He had little time left and no plan. And suddenly something as simple as a knock on the door frightened him.

Violet ran back in from the bedroom, tossed him an intimate look of annoyance—he should have answered the door—and then opened it herself. Jerome stepped inside and Taka's heart shriveled.

“Hi, baby!” Violet said, tossing her arms around his neck. But something wasn't right. Taka noticed the stiffness of the man's body and the box by his feet that Violet was too taken with enthusiasm to spy. Finally Violet pulled away to look into the face of the man.