“Sorry…Ss Sorry”
I look terribly horrified as I try to clean the spilled coffee from the stranger’s white shirt. Shoot why didn’t I look carefully before running into him. Oh God what have I done? How would he even react, its too early for troubles, I thought to myself. Lost in my thought, I feel his hands on my shoulder and I can tell for sure that his eye balls are fixed on my face. Why is he trying to start a conversation with me? Isn’t he supposed to be shouting at me or something?
“Are you alright miss?”
His voice hits me and I can't tell there is just something about him, his aura. He is definitely middle aged as I look up at him with almost tears in my eyes hoping that he would see how sorry I am.
“Me..me?... are you asking me?”
I try to gather my thoughts I stutter more. I’ve never been known for confidence but this time I feel totally guilty for not been able to collect my thoughts. I try to steady my eyes on the stain covered in his shirt which has now formed a beautiful map design and I am sure that if this were made by a professional artist it would pass for a show in the museum. He speaks again this time shaking me a little harder on my shoulder.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah sure” I nod. Speaking just two words at a times seems easier than expected.
“Well I can tell that you a little disturbed” He raises his eye brows to further search my empty face. Before I find the courage to speak again, he speaks further.
“.....Maybe we should sit somewhere and have a cup of coffee or two so you have time to recollect your thoughts and maybe share some with me?” He holds my arm urging me forward. My feet moves before my mind and I find myself sitting in front of this beautiful man that has his kind eyes fixed to my face. Here I feel solace, I feel protected and once again I am brought out of my deep thoughts by his deep voice.
“You look stressed, pale”
He speaks without taking his eyes off me. I feel like he could see through me. The walls I’ve spent my entire childhood and teenage hood building has come crumbling before my eyes under these strange eyes staring into my face. I feel hot tears drop on my cheek and onto my lips and I taste the saltiness of it. Before I know it I start crying from a slow sob into a loud uncontrollable cry and all I want to do right now is cry and scream out the heaviness on my chest and for once I am glad that Chevron Coffee is as busy as the local market and no one is paying attention to me except him of course.
“....shhhh” He says offering me a white napkin. I take it without a word. He walks from his seat and hugs me and I am grateful he did because it feels like the longest hug I have gotten in my life time.
“......You want to talk about it?” He sits back down and adjust his shirt without taking his eyes off me. “...Sometimes sharing our problem with strangers we probably wont meet again helps a lot to ease the pain you know” I look up at him and smile my signature fake smile as the words leaves his mouth and he smiles back at me revealing his beautiful white teeth. I steady myself on my seat before speaking.
“I am sorry for your shirt and being this shitty” I smile again this time real and he breaks into a smile again.
“That’s not a nice way to describe yourself you know” He says and relaxes on his seat.
“Well I look a mess right now, crying in Chevron and in front of a stranger, it feels like everyone is watching” I say.
“I guarantee you that no one is watching, even if they are they don’t care who is crying or laughing. Yes you look a mess but nothing close to shitty I can promise you” he replies. “I bet” “Thank you”
“For what?” he looks at me with questions in his eyes.
“For the hug, it means a lot” i mean it. I am not even sure I've ever gotten an innocent hug in my life before now and definitely not from my own mother.
“we all deserve hugs sometimes you know, even the strongest of us do deserve hugs. Well so are you going to tell me what is troubling that pretty mind of yours or you are just going to cry while I watch you?” he raises his hand as if calling a server. A guy in white shirt and black trouser walks towards us. Wow he must be a special customer or related to the owner or something because in all my years of getting coffee from Chevron it has been all about standing on long queue’s and praying it gets to your turn. Can I blame them, this is evidently the only affordable and yet quality Coffee shop out here in this part of East London so almost everyone I can bet gets their Coffee from here. As if answering my thoughts, he replies with a soft smile.
“Some of us know are good friends with the owner you know” I smile back. The Server guy now stands in front of our table.
“Hello Mr. Jude” he says to the guy in front me. “Well Hello Samuel” I can tell from the friendly chat they seem to be having I can tell that they know each other or are even best of buddies. I am distracted by the stain on his shirt once again, some part of me is grateful I did and another is wishing it never happened. If I didn’t bump into him there wouldn’t have been any of this chat and I would have been sulking for the rest of the day as usual. But I am glad I have a distraction right now and ill choose this distraction anytime. I am deep into my thoughts that I could barely make out what their chat was about but I’m sure they were catching up on old times and the only thing I get to hear to wake me from my slumber is-- “Mam what would you have?”
“Err.. I’ll have whatever he is having” Shit!! I don’t even know what he is having but what else is sold other than coffee and burger. Well whatever he is having wont be that bad or poisonous I'll have it and if I don’t like it well I'll just have to pretend i like it. When the Server leaves after making sure the orders are right Jude laughs.
“Well why are you laughing” I say to the stranger in front of me.
“Why did you do that?” I am a little thrown off guard but ready to defend myself for whatever there is to come.
“Do what?” I ask trying to act like I don’t know what is meant.
“Act like you were listening, when we both know you weren’t listening” I have to keep up with pretending I really have to I cant look all shitty to him for the rest of time I’m spending here to recollect myself. Yup that is what I am doing because if Savior finds out I haven’t been home in the last 3 hours I’m so sure he would burst into this place and punish me again.
“I could tell you weren’t listening you were lost in that thought of yours and it wont do you any good to keep it all to yourself. I want to hear what’s troubling you maybe I can help”
“You don’t even know me, how can you help me?” I reply. I am so not used to people been nice to me. This is strange or maybe it is because I have not had personal discussions with strangers. the strangers I get to stay close to only want my body and that is business. So no questions ask and no personal discussions.
“....Listen you are a very smart girl and I am sure you know that you don’t even have to know someone's name or state before you show kindness” he smiles to me again.
“Storm” I tell him my name because he deserves to know my name although I know we would not meet again. He looks at me wondering what the hell is storm. I have never given close attention to the meaning of my name or even how how it sounds but from his facial expression, I can tell it isn't a regular name.
“My name is Storm” I bring him out of his misery. The Server places two Coffee and 2 extra sugar each in front of us and we both nod not wanting to break the conversation I guess. He is still shocked and I am not surprised because the name even sounds weird right now to me the bearer but it somehow shows what I represent. He drinks his Coffee in one gulp, while I sip mine slowly after pouring the extra sugar in the hot cup in front of me.
“Storm, why Storm though? I’m sorry I mean no disrespect or whatsoever but Storm isn’t a regular name and hell doesn't have a regular meaning and I’m sure you wont mind telling me why Storm or why you haven’t changed it”. Of course I mind. No one has ever bothered to ask me the meaning of my name not even Savior that selfish bastard that thinks about himself and his gains alone or those smelly men that are more concerned about using and devouring me to satisfy their selfish sexual urges. But for what it is worth, I am grateful someone cares enough to know why a person would answer Storm and for once I would state the mystery behind this heavy name of mind.
“Well, I come from a very shaky background, I barely knew my dad and I grew up with my mum and it wasn’t all Rosy and I grew up answering Storm” his eyes is fixed on me when I finish. I tried to give the shortest summary of my life to this stranger hoping he wouldn’t ask for more details because I am afraid I'll have to tell him everything and that would be risking my life, my mothers life, my daughters life and everything that I’ve struggled to build and I am glad when he announces he is leaving after what I am sure is 10 minutes of awkward stares.
“My name is Jude Henshaw and here is my card” he slips his card into my hand. “My daughter is here” He says to me looking towards a beautiful blonde now very close to us. I am so sure this girl is my agemate and even if I am older it wouldn't be more than five years. “Make sure you call me, I am very interested in your story. I want to be your friend and I hope you don’t throw my card away” he smiles again and says “Goodbye Storm” I nod and watch as he leaves Chevron with his daughter holding his hand. And I can only wish I knew my father, although my mother says she doesn’t even know who impregnated her. I sight Savior just outside the shop obviously trying dialing my number and pacing around. Shoot how hard can this running about be. I walk as fast as my leg could carry outside Chevron because the last thing I want is for people to look at me with pity because Oh lord if Savior gets in here I am so sure ill get my hair pulled or lightly a slap and if someone should call the cops on him that would be the biggest joke because he would be freed the next minute and I’ll take the punishment for it and if I am lucky alone. I am visibly shaking as I stand in front of him.
He looks at me with those angry eyes before speaking “My puppy what did you wonder off to?”
“I…” before I could recover from my stutter he spanks me hard on my butt. “Shut up you whore” raising his voice “You want to run away from me? From daddy” I look him in the eyes like I’ve never done before
“Savior I wasn’t running away from you, would I when you have my daughter and you can even get me back whenever you want”. He smiles victoriously “You are right puppy, I always knew you were very clever, so clever than your stupid crippled mother”
“You don’t say that” I snap. So clever of me to try to shut him up from calling my mother names and I am thanked with a slap on the Cheek by Saviors boy Kelvin. The same Kelvin that would have his way with me when Savior pleases. I always hated this one among all of them.
“Shhhh” Savior places his hands on my covered breast. “...I told you not to be wearing all this things that covers my properties. Now this is stressful” he drags my shirt until it tears. He smiles and Kelvin joins him. “Now this is better baby, better and now I can” he slides his hand into my already exposed nipple. “..... touch this whenever I want, feels good huh” no matter how I hate Savior my body would always betray me .“he slides his hand into my pant and feels my wetness, he smiles again. “I thought so too, now get into the fucking car before I fuck your brains out in the open, you'll like that wont you?” they both laugh again while I enter the already open black limousine like an obedient puppy that I am.
