Chris feels a rush of love, the same strong blast of love he had felt the very first time he took his son into his arms when he was born. He wraps his arms around Junior's little body, and a while later the boy's rhythmic breathing tells him he is asleep.
Chris gently turns sideways and puts his son on the blanket. He sits back against the coconut tree and watches his handsome son sleeping. He was almost dozing himself when he suddenly feels a movement behind him and he turns sharply.
Barbara Brooks is standing behind him.
She is wearing a blue dress that stops mid-thigh. Her hair is braided and curled around her head and held on top of her head. She is wearing dark shades. He notices that there are tiny marks and scars still on her face and arms from where the glass had cut her, and she still has a bandage around her left wrist. She drops slowly to her knees beside Chris, whose face has suddenly become cold.
Barbara removes her sunglasses. She tries to speak, but her lips shake, and her body trembles. She raises her hand to touch him, but he shies away from her violently.
"Chris! I know you hate me! Please, please don't! I'm so sorry!" Barbara, agonized, says.
"Just leave, Barbara," Chris says without batting an eye.
Tears suddenly come to her eyes. She looks at him in abject misery, and her shoulders crumple.
"You don't understand, Chris! I've never been with any man ever...except my father!"
Chris flinches as if she has physically hit him.
"What?" he uttered, almost in a whisper.
"Yes, Chris! My mother died when I was seven, and from the time I was ten he began touching me. It killed my soul, and destroyed me for life. He raped me when I was fifteen, and it continued till I was twenty, when I couldn't stand it anymore. I joined the prisons academy, and when I was twenty-two I beat the hell out of him! He couldn't touch me again. He married a German and went to stay in Germany. He visits twice a year, but I hate him, and I rarely meet him. I hate him, and I hated all men...except you, Chris!"
Chris is stunned. The fury he has experienced the moment he saw her slowly leaves his body, and on his face is a look of sudden pity. Somehow, he is beginning to understand her, and to understand some of the things she does.
"I tried to date other guys, you know, to be a normal girl, but I couldn't. I was repulsed whenever a guy touched me," she continues miserably. "Later I realized I could never be a normal girl. A rich woman introduced me to lesbianism. I tried to make it work, but it disgusted me, and eventually I also beat her up and left. My life was in shambles. I was forever unhappy until I was posted to the James Fort Prison, and met you, Chris."
She sits beside Chris, and when she puts her head on his shoulder, he is too full of pity to stop her. He pulls out his big handkerchief and gives it to her. She cleans her face and sighs shudderingly.
"Everywhere I go I see men looking at me, undressing me with their eyes, devouring me with their lecherous and sadistic desires! Drooling over my body, wanting to get between my thighs...just like my fucking stupid daddy! But not you, Chris. The first time you saw me you barely noticed me. You've been gentle, and nice, and your eyes are so frank, never holding a lustful look. You're the only man I don't feel dirty around, Chris. The only man who looks at me with respect, and innocent admiration. I've never offered myself to any man. I watched videos and learnt how to twerk for a man and seduce him, just to make you want me. I had everything planned out, to finally where you would make me a real woman. But you rejected me, and suddenly I detested you like I detest my father. That's why I lied so badly, but in the morning I couldn't go on with it, Chris! I'm so sorry, please forgive me!"
She leans against him, crying softly, trembling, her soul crushed.
"It's okay, Barbara. I didn't know that part of your life. I hated you for telling a lie. But I don't anymore," he says gently.
She raises huge, dejected eyes to his, and then she gently winds an arm around his neck and raises her face. Chris pulls his head back, and she shakes her head numbly, her eyes hurt.
"I repulse you now, don't I?" she asks unsteadily. "Because I told you my story, you now find me repulsive?"
Chris sighs, and then he looks across the crashing waves for a moment. He feels her stiffening, and then she tries to pull away from him. He holds her hard, and then he speaks softly.
"Barbara, before I met Effe Kedem, I would've taken you out of here and made love to you. I was that kind of guy. When I met her, she was the only woman for me. I loved her then, and now that I'm out of prison I find out my feelings for her are still strong. She's now going to marry a man who was more like a brother to me. But they're not married yet, and so there's a chance I could get back with Effe. I meant what I said when we shared that moment of passion, Barbara. I can't make love to you simply because you have had a terrible and traumatic experience. I can be your friend, but I'm definitely not going to take advantage of you!"
"Chris, I'm not asking you to marry me!" she says quaveringly. "I'm not asking you to fall in love with me. All I'm saying is that I want to be normal again. I want to live. I need to live! I want you to make me a woman, so that I can go out there and have a normal life! I just need a little tenderness, with a man I'm not afraid of! You're the only man I'm not scared of Chris! Please, I beg of you, just be a little kind to me. That's all I'm asking!"
"I'll be your friend, Barbara, and nothing more. For as long as Effe is not married, there can be nothing intimate between us. I hope you understand that."
Her eyes search is face, huge and moist, filled with misery, hope and passionate pleading. Her arm tightens around his neck, and she suddenly moves into him. Her breasts brush against his arm. She nibbles at his chin, kisses the side of his lips, and then she puts her lips inches from his. Her lips brush against his, and a severe shudder runs through her.
"Oh, Chris!" she whispers with desire.
Her lips open against his, wet, lush, salty because of her tears, sweet as she kisses him with almost violent fervor.
"Daddy. Stop that, please!" Junior's horrified voice cuts through their heightened passion, and they come apart almost violently. Junior is awake, and he is staring at them angrily. Chris leans back, and his look is apologetic.
"Sorry, Champ. Meet Barbara Brooks. A friend of mine."
"Hello, my son," she says uncertainly, her eyes dancing with a mixture of shame and mischief. "You look just like – "
"Just like my father, yes, I know!" Junior cuts in angrily, and Chris chuckles. His son's temper is quite new to him, and reminds him so much of his own quick temper.
"Hey, Champ. I said I'm sorry. Relax. Here, let's go and blow some bubbles!"
Chris stands up and holds out his hand to Junior, and then pulls the boy to his feet. Junior looks down at Barbara.
"Miss Brooks, I want my Daddy and my Mommy to be together again, so please stop the licking of faces with him, okay?" he says, quite sternly.
Barbara laughs shrilly and nods, and then she salutes.
"ass uh, massa, I no go licky licky man Bawa face agun!" Barbara said, mimicking a drunk with an accent.
Junior bursts into sudden laughter, and Barbara joins in. Chris looks at them, and then he passes a hand across his face with sudden relief.