The ride to Cradon was a quiet one and the only thing that accompanied us was the reverberation of the engine of the lorry and the wheezing of breeze as we spend along. I
At first, I was grateful for the silence, it was better than being interrogated till the silence graduated to tension and I felt uneasy. It was like he noticed my discomfort and played some country music I knew nothing of.
With the windows down and my head out of the window, I was enjoying the evening breeze and I felt dizzy till my subconscious reminded me that I was in the presence of a stranger. I sat up straighter and looked at the road ahead till after about fifteen minutes later when the vehicle took a turn to the left side of the road and passed through a narrow path with rows of corn by the sides of the road.
My heart started thumping till the road led to a large area of land with a small looking house at the centre of the land. The lorry soon came to an halt almost at the front of the house and the driver turned off the ignition of the lorry. It was quiet for two seconds and I sat upright like a proper lady that I knew I wasn't, well I sat that way due to the apprehension crawling up my spine while he announced that the building at our front was his.
"James Jordan. That's my name" he said before opening the door. I came out and walked with cautious steps towards the house. He fumbled for a while in search of his keys in the pocket of his trousers and when he opened the door, it made a creaky sound. The sound made me remember an horror movie I once spied my aunt watching happily but I entered anyway. Not like I have another choice!
I had not lived a plush lifestyle but the house I was coming from was a million times fancier than the house I was currently in. I could not even sit out of courtesy and out of concern that the only couch might collapse under my weight. There was a television located close to the wall that looked like the first ever invention of its kind and I could bet on my mother's grave that it had not been used in a while. There was a beautiful flowery looking vase that held fresh flowers close to the television that sat on a wooden table with a navy blue cloth atop it for the purpose of decoration I suppose. The floor was cemented and had cracks here and there and looked like it had been patched and re patched so many times. There were dirty curtains covering the burglary and I stopped my examination when Mr James said that he would be right back.
He disappeared into a room by the left and came out with a cereal pack, a plate, some milk, bottle water and spoon. As if on cue, my stomach growled and he smiled. His smile was soft and didn't frighten me in the least and lovely wrinkles appeared at the corner of his eyes as he smiled.
I collected it, thanked him, sat on the couch and began to eat. I ate voraciously and enjoyed it. I did not know where the old man was so I set the plate aside and studied my injuries. During the ride here, I caught the old man glancing at the blood that mildly stained my blouse and the dent that showed due to the tying of the cut. I loosened it and hissed as I felt air touch it. I twisted my hand and had a clearer view of the cut that had purple like colorations around it, due to the pressure I applied. I touched it and jerked when I pressed too hard on it, kicking the plate in process. I remembered the lovely meal I had just had and honestly, it tasted divine and I think I was discovering that this could be my favourite meal. Funny!
I decided to go after Mr James since I had not seen him since he handed me the meal. I tied back the cut and opened the curtain that covered the door he disappeared from and saw a kind of corridor. I walked through it till I came to the last room where I heard some shuffling sounds. I knocked on the door but did not get a response nor did the shuffling stop. I knocked for about thirty more seconds and there was still no response. I became a little scared that probably I was so concentrated on my food that I did not hear some persons come and whisk the old man away or the old man had tripped on something, hit his head and fainted. I was close to hyperventilating and pushed the door open and instead of the old man, I saw two cats that were scampering playfully on a piece of cloth lying helplessly and raggedly on the floor. They looked up at me and I was so drawn to their beautiful glossy-glassy like eyes.
The cat with white fur and black stained ears had green eyes and the brown cat with white stripes had blue eyes like the sky on a clear day. Their ears perked up in alert from the intruder that was me. We stared at each other for four seconds and in the fifth second, they came rushing at me while I jerked the door with so much force that I felt the house would collapse. I had not enough time to gather my wits or close the door, leading to the hot chase of the now ferociously looking cats, hot on my tail. I wondered how many times I had run today.
I ran out of the door I came through, into the vast land but the cats didn't give up. We ran in circles for a while till the three of us heard a whistling sound that attracted the cats more than it did for me because the next second the cats changed course and darted to the source of the whistle that was thankfully Mr James.
They ran to him and wagged their tails willing him to rub their furs so they could purr in content. He obliged them and they had their backs to the ground and wanted him to continue but they were soon disappointed because he rose up and strode towards me with the cats eyeing me suspiciously.
He broke into a fit of laughter and I was sure it was because of how I looked. I was barefooted and the dust that had gathered around me, because of the run, almost reached my knees like I was wearing a pair of brown stockings and my hair hung loosely from the band that had it secured earlier in the morning.
I joined in the laugh and in that moment, I felt a sense of freedom and comfort and at that time, I felt at peace.