'Dick?' You here?' I heard Noki's familiar voice call out to me later that day, or was it night? I couldn't really understand what time it was as it was all dark in the box.
'Noki? Yes, I'm here,' came out my muffled voice. 'Where are we?'
'It's the woman's cousin's wedding,' came the reply. 'Lara's her name.'
I had known a Laura before and a Lorna, but never a Lara. It sounded exotic.
I loved weddings as weird as it might sound. As much as I didn't want to get hitched, the more I liked seeing others take the plunge. And weddings were the perfect opportunities for girls to dress to the nines. I met two of my former girlfriends at weddings. I believe that girls get emotional during weddings, both sad that they are not the ones getting married and maybe relieved too. It put them in a vulnerable state and it was easier to pluck them.
And now I was at a wedding, but I couldn't even participate. It was so frustrating.
That night, I felt myself being pulled out of the box with utmost care and I was immediately hit with the smell of gereniums. It was a heady and intoxicating scent. The woman was wearing the same nightie as on the first day and I felt eager for what was to come.
She cupped me in both her arms and nestled me close to her breasts. Through the flimsy fabric of her nightdress, I could see the pearly tips of her pale rosy brown nipples and above the neckline, her cleavage was visible. The creamy tops of her plump breasts moved with each of her movement.
She rubbed a manicured finger down my length and I found myself getting excited. Now she would pick me and guide her to her warm center. But this didn't happen. Instead she cuddled me close to her heart and soon her regular breathing informed me that she had fallen asleep. What? What happened?
I moved my gaze upwards and by the light of the nightlamp which was still on, a lone tear glistened on her cheek, capturing my attention. A weird feeling took over me and I felt a sort of throbbing within me at that sight. I couldn't place a word on how I was feeling.
Had she been crying?
'She's sad,' came the reply from somewhere beside me. Noki was somewhere on the bed but I couldn't see him.
'What happened?'
'That old goat mocked her for still being single when her younger cousin is getting married.'
'Goat?'
'Her old aunt Maisie. She was going about how at her age she already had 3 kids and how the woman must be barren, and all sorts of hateful adjectives. I hate that prick.'
I had never met the old woman but already I could feel a distaste for her. Why was I feeling so much sympathy for this woman when I didn't even know her?
In the morning when I came to my senses, I was swaddled again in the same towel, but I was out of the box and I was grateful for that. While being partially hidden from sight, I could still look around.
It was a brightly lit room with a queen-sized bed. The posters of boys bands on the side of the wall indicated that this room probably belonged to a young girl. The pink bedsheets and pillowcase was an eyesore along with the neon pink boa wrapped around the lamp.
Both Noki and the woman were absent from the room and I imagined that she must be attending one of the many functions related to weddings.
There was a sudden discrete knock at the door and then nothing for a few seconds. There was another knock, but this time a tad louder. About one minute later, the door started swinging open and a head peered in.
Wait, I knew that face! Where had I seen him?
The man entered the room after casting a few looks outside. He closed the door after him and immediately started rummaging in the woman's bag. By the way he was behaving, I could guess that he had nothing to do there.
He even lifted the mattress to look underneath it. Where had I seen him?
I then saw him coming in my direction and he opened the towel. A brief knowing smile flickered on his face before he covered me again with the towel. I heard him go through the furniture on the other side of the room for a few more minutes before he left just as furtively as he had come in.
What had he been looking for?