Dial - Season 1 - Episode 97

4 years ago

Dial - Season 1 - Episode 97

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Akushika.
Local beauty. The boy who had broken her virginity had married someone else, hurting her badly. She had been a good Christian, and had waited three years after that, vowing to give herself only to Mr. Right…cliché!
She had been rumoured to be an unassailable target.

I had come in, with my good looks and money, swept her off her feet…and she had ended up as number thirty-six on my Dial List.
She had called, she had cried, she had threatened, she had begged…but I hadn’t minded her.

Why had I really chosen her as part of my list of women who could forgive me willingly?
Simple. She was a good Christian; good Christians forgave quickly.

And so I called her, for the very first time since I slept with her. I was prepared to be met by bitterness the moment she heard my voice, but surprisingly she was very calm.
“Yao Biko,” she said. “I guess this is a different number.”

“My real number, Aku,” I said softly. “You can reach me anytime on this number.”
“What do you want now, Yao?” she asked, throwing me off for a moment.

So I began to speak to her, employing my most persuasive charms. Eventually she agreed to meet me, but not at her home. We finally agreed to meet at the Green Park, which was a Social Centre. I had managed to convince her to see me briefly and help me out of a predicament that could lead to my death.

And she had decided to meet me, and give me just ten minutes of her time.
I arrived a few minutes earlier, and sauntered lethargically into the garden part of the park. There were a few people around, mostly couples and families, seated on the park benches or buying food at one of the food joints.

I had not eaten that day, and it was almost in the afternoon, but I wasn’t hungry. I waited for her morosely, and soon she appeared at the entrance of the park. She was wearing a pair of white jeans and a loose-fitting green shirt. A nice hairband was holding her braided hair back. Tall, curvy and statuesque, a real beauty to behold.

I had forgotten my turban in the apartment of those wicked sisters and their friend, and so I stood up in my grey cornrow hair and waved to her. I had not put on the sunshades too, hoping that my appearance would shock her into forgiving me quickly.

She looked at me, scowled and turned her face away, scanning the benches again for any sign of me. I felt a sudden wave of self-pity; I had changed so much that she could not even recognize me from afar.

Dazed, I walked toward her, waving again, and this time she took a longer look at me, and suddenly her beautiful lips opened in a horrified ‘O’.

“Yao, is that you?” she asked with absolute horror. “What happened to you? Or is it some sort of makeup?”

I breathed shallowly. Her horror at the sight of my appearance really cut into me, and for a wild moment I felt the pinpricks of tears in my eyes, but I took a deep, shuddering breath and smiled sadly at her.

“That’s why I needed to see you, Aku, dear,” I said gently. “Have you eaten? Can I get you something to eat, or drink?”
She shook her head, still staring at me with horror.

“No, no, I’m fine, Yao,” she said quaveringly. “Tell me, what’s happening to you?”

And so we sat on one of the park benches, and I narrated my ordeal to her. Once again I told her a watered side of the story, telling her she was the only one who had been chosen to forgive me, otherwise I would age, and die an old man whilst still only twenty-six years old.