Angelo was nervous. His hands shook while he made tea, his head pounded not with ache but with thought. They came all at once and in no form or order each one threatening to tear his life apart. Each individual thought stabbing him as a single knife, no wait, needle. Yes, needles can occupy more space than the former.
Needles, not knives
Needles, not knives
He repeated the three words in his head till it was all it could think of. Till the big bad thoughts had disappeared and left his head clear.
Needles, and knives.
Slowly, Angelo regained consciousness of his surroundings. He didn't know how long he'd been in that state, but it was long enough for the tea to have boiled over. The cooker steamed and spurred as it tried to maintain the flame while whatever little tea was left within the sauce pan, evaporated with each passing second.
The pain soon followed. It wore the numbness away layer by layer till finally Angelo began to feel. And he screamed.
Or did he?
He didn't know. Maybe if he had, he'd have moved by now. He'd have turned off the gas and soothed his scalded arm. He'd have cleaned up the mess and saved his breakfast. He wouldn't have stood still and emotionlessly above it all if he had screamed...
"Hey, I heard a scream, are you okay?" came a voice behind him.
The giant walked into his view and yanked Angelo from the cooker who landed on the floor by the refrigerator. In a matter of seconds, the cooker was turned off and the sauce pan removed from it while he watched from the floor.
These were all the things he remembered from that morning. The last memories of the house he grew up in
Angelo woke up in a new car.
He could tell from its smell. It was the first thing he noticed in fact. Nausea washed over him. He sat up and let his vomit pour out through the window which just happened to be open. He retched and reached and retched again for what felt like forever then finally pulled himself back into the car and was lost in the moment. The car sagged downwards as a giant forced itself into the driver's seat and tossed something, a water bottle, on Angelo's lap.
Too weak to care, he opened it and squeezed every last drop into his mouth. He was disappointed even when the litre was emptied. And the thought of Disappointment brought with it million more, one of which was, where the hell was he.
He sat up in the chair and caught a glimpse of the petrol station as the car pulled away. That was when he started panicking.
He pulled at his seatbelt and cursed at himself. He shouted for help and the car came to a screeching halt on the roadside, drawing the attention of several drivers' horns which gladly blared and drowned out Angelo's voice.
When the boy finally stopped, the giant regarded him coldly for a moment. There was something about him that seemed familiar and he wondered why.
"Don't do that again" He said and started up the car again.
"You have questions?" He asked as he joined the road.
Angelo looked out the window and immediately recognized Ongata Rongai, a relatively large town that he rarely found reason to be in. In fact, only twice. Both times he'd been going to climb the N'gong Hills ages ago as a school trip and had passed by the town.
They were stuck in horrendous traffic so Angelo spoke.
"What happened?" He asked cautiously and closed the window.
He'd had enough fresh air.
"What do you remember?" The man asked.
"Yesterday, I think it was, you came to my house, locked yourself in my room."
"My name is Davis Ngabo Toussaint. I am your uncle." the man said his eyes on the road.
"Yesterday, I came to your assistance at the request of our mother." He continued completely ignoring the look of surprise on the boy's face.
"The man who attacked you yesterday?" He said, and spoke again when Angelo nodded, "His name is Ivan Potočnik. He meant to use you as leverage against your mother."
"Why would he want leverage, it's not like she's a spy or something?" Angelo asked with a smile playing at his lips.
It narrowed when Davis didn't speak.
"You're kidding me."
"What?"
"Davis, is my mother a spy?" Angelo asked with the smile having completely evaporated.
"Of sorts."
"Jesus, what the hell else does she not tell me? First about your existence, then she lies about her job what next, is she illuminati?" Angelo said holding his head in his hands.
The question was entirely rhetorical. But he looked searchingly at Davis when the man was silent. His heart pounded so he asked again and when the giant spoke it was not to answer the question.
"In my defense, I also had no idea you existed up until yesterday as well. I've only been back five years, don't ask from where, and still there is much she has not told me."
"You didn't answer the question."
"No, and I'm not going to. You aren't ready yet." Davis said with finalement.
"Well what can you tell me?!" Angelo shouted," If you won't answer me then what's the point of asking? What makes you so different from the man who attacked me?" He choked but held back his tears.
"Angelo..."
"What makes you any different from the man who held my friend like a ragdoll and threatened to snap her neck? Why Davis, should I trust you? Because you know my name? Well, frankly so did he, and the policeman who I called for help as well. I seem to be a celebrity of sorts. And to top it all off, I somehow ended up in this car, with you, of all people." Angelo finished.
The giant's hands were tightly clutched around the steering wheel and the boy realized he was still in the pair of jeans and black tee shirt he'd been wearing the previous day. But his clothes hardly mattered to him.
"You're right." Davis said finally. "You have absolutely no reason to trust me apart from my having claimed to be your uncle. You couldn't possibly know if I'm working with that damned Slav who preys on those weaker than him." He said.
"But?"
"I don't have anything else to say."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I don't have a 'but.'"
"Then what was the point of..."
"You ask a lot of questions."
"I'm not going to sit and wait for you to tell me everything."
"I don't know whether that is a good thing yet." Davis said one hand on the steering wheel the other digging out a phone, Angelo's phone from his pocket.
He tossed it over and it landed next to the empty water bottle.
"Check your last message from your mother." The giant said as he overtook a lorry that may have as well been standing still.
Angelo's hands trembled with excitement as he picked up his phone. He couldn't help it. There were about thirty messages, twenty nine were from Ashley.
He was about to open her chat and apologize. He should have. But for all he knew, he was putting her in more danger. He opened his mother's message which had only two words.
'Trust Davis.'
But Angelo wasn't that gullible. This would never be able to convince him and yet it was perfectly clear to him that Davis knew this as well. The giant said it himself in fact.
"I know that's not nearly enough reason to trust me.
"It's not like I can ask her to elaborate, what did you do to my sim card?"
"I left it in some random matatu."
"You still haven't told me how I got here you know."
"I am very aware, Angelo."
"Then tell me." Angelo said after Davis kept quiet.
There was more silence and Angelo began to worry.
"I didn't have anything to do with it, I didn't drug you and I promise I would never stoop so low unless absolutely necessary. If it was up to me, we would've left later today."
"Then why wasn't it up to you?"
"Because you were attacked."
"I don't remember..."
"Not physically. You said the man who attacked you in the cinema hypnotized everyone but you?"
"Yes. He didn't...?"
"No he didn't hypnotize you." Davis said far from reassuringly while scratching his greying beard.
"He did something much worse. So tell me everything you remember from this morning. Leave out no details."
"Well I woke up on the couch thanks to you," Angelo started and put emphasis on the word couch gaining a ghost of a smile from Davis.
"I got up and I took a leak in the washroom downstairs."
"Was that necessary," Davis asked with a serious look on his face.
"Of course, what was I meant to do, not empty my bowels?" Angelo asked with the least convincing questioning look he could muster.
Davis shrugged and nodded for him to go on. They were still stuck in Ongata Rongai. Angelo suddenly remembered why the town was one he would never forget, the endless morning traffic which would only end at ten o'clock, which was still an hour away.
"I was hungry, so went to the kitchen to make myself some tea." He continued unconsciously rubbing his right hand which suddenly stung.
"Then I got this overwhelming feeling of helplessness. Like I was losing control of everything, Like- like I was going mad. I was barely standing up and the tea boiled over and it burned my hand.
"I think I may have screamed," Angelo finished.
He was out breath. How was he out of breath? How was he out of breath? How was he out of breath? How was he...? How...?
No
OUT OF BREATH.
It's happening again
Angelo grabbed his burned arm and let the pain consume him.
It was like knives and needles.
***
Angelo woke up to the sound of an 80's song, or 90's maybe even the decade previous to the former. It really didn't matter, it was an old song either way. And he was growing very tired of it.
He sat up in his chair and reached for the volume rocker only to be thwarted by Davis who literally swatted his hand away then turned up the volume.
"Jesus Davis, what are you? Ninety?" He protested.
"Very funny and I'm fifty for your information..."
"Well congratulations."
"I'm going to ignore that. How couldn't you possibly like smooth jazz? I'm sure Marie plays this music all the time."
"That's exactly why I don't like it."
"So you don't like it because it's played too much?"
"That's part of the reason." Angelo said having already seen through Davis' game.
"So you would like it if it were played less often."
"I said that that was part of the reason. The rest of it is because I simply don't like it."
"Now that is a lie, I mean who couldn't possibly like George Duke?" Davis asked.
Angelo only then realized just how dark it was in the car. There was barely enough light to see each other as was. It certainly wasn't because it was night because there were no stars or lights by the roadside. And Davis wasn't driving but they were definitely moving.
"Where are we?" The boy asked calmly.
"Inside a car."
"Very funny. Where are we Davis?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Wow you somehow changed to a completely different person in..."Angelo looked at a non-existent watch on his wrist, "Two seconds that must be a world record."
"Trust me I am doing us both a favor."
"And I'm just supposed to trust you?"
"Yes." Davis said and picked up an old flip up Motorola as it buzzed.
He read the message and flipped it shut then shoved it back in his jeans.
"As it turns out, I may actually have to tell you where we are."
"Why what's changed?"
"Well, for starters, we are the closest thing to safe that we have been for a while." He said and turned off the music.
"What's happening?"
" Do you want to know where we are or not?" Davis asked with a serious look on his face.
Angelo didn't answer. Davis started the car.
"We are in a little town called Namanga, do you know it?"
"It's a border town between Kenya and Tanzania. Why are we here?"
"I'm going to smuggle you out of here in the helicopter that is set to land here in the next five minutes. We're going to steal it and get to Kilimanjaro airport."
"What do you mean?"
" I mean a helicopter is five minutes away from here with Ivan Potočnik at the controls."
"He's coming for me."
"He's coming for me. He has a score to settle combined with border patrol on his side. Frankly we, have no chance going against him head on. If it had been somebody else who'd come for you he would've sent some random lackey."
"So is this a good thing?" Angelo asked shivering.
"Not, remotely, him having telekinetic and telepathic abilities and all." Davis said passively.
"Excuse me?"
"Yes you had me correctly. Ivan is a creep who can read and control minds. You want proof, how do you think you passed out today?"
"I don't know..."
"Ivan was controlling your train of thought, making you feel completely helpless, like you had absolutely no control. But as soon as you were out of range, the effects stopped. All I managed to grab was your phone and slippers which are behind you by the way. I suggest you put them on."
Angelo snickered and put on the slippers,
"What, you expect me to believe that he has powers of some sort, you are crazy."
"Oh it's true, you'll believe me soon enough."
Before Angelo could speak any more, the sound of a fast approaching helicopter filled the air. Ivan Potočnik, Angelo realized, liked to make an entrance.
Angelo couldn't tell how far away it had landed but it was pretty close to whatever Angelo and Davis were inside.
"Davis, What exactly are we inside?" Angelo asked once the noise had noticeably dispersed.
"A container."
"Isn't it illegal for trailers to use this route from Tanzania to Kenya and vice versa?"
"Yes. That's why we're stealing Ivan's chopper." Davis said and turned to face the boy, "Do you know how to drive?" he asked and undid his seatbelt and forced himself into the back seat without waiting for a reply.
"I hope so," Angelo said moving to the driver's seat.
He had found reason to trust Davis in a way of searching for escape from Ivan.
"Let's hope that's good enough." Davis said as he grunted as he searched for a comfortable position.
Angelo adjusted the seat to a bearable position.
"Put these on" Davis said handing Angelo a pair of thick goggles.
Angelo grabbed them and put them on with shaky hands.
He couldn't see anything with them.
"If you can't see anything with them then that's a good thing. Don't ask why we have too little time left before that door opens and Potočnik walks in here to kill me.
"I put the car in reverse, so when I say go, I want you to slam on the accelerator until I tell you to stop. Do you understand me?"
"Angelo." Came a voice that completely tore away what little composure the boy had left. It was Ashley, but she was speaking from inside his head.
"Angelo, please come out, Ivan will hurt me if you don't" the voice said.
Angelo felt a tear roll down his cheek.
"Angelo please, I don't want him to hurt me." Ashley's voice whimpered.
He hadn't cried in ages, but he was doing it now.
"Angelo, get ready, the door's opening!" Davis shouted.
Maybe it was because of the decision he was about to make.
"Angelo, don't you love me?" Ashley's voice said more loudly.
But the decision had already been made, and he wasn't going to change his mind anytime soon.
The door creaked open, there was a gunshot or two and then the brightest flash of light Angelo had ever seen, so much so that the goggles did naught to contain the brightness. They were practically useless in the two seconds that the light burned.
It was quickly followed by loud groans and shouts. A veil was seemingly lifted from Angelo's mind and a final loudest voice permeated the chaos.
"Angelo, go, now!"