“who
“you lucky.”
“lucky, my ass. i am ready to get the hell out of here. i only have two more jobs until i have completed my field requirements. i am going to be upset if it takes me a year to find this assignment.”
song end & we go to chairs. i feel touch soft on me shoulder, & i turn to it.
“hi, george,” i say name george for ear malkai.
“hi, walila, would you like to dance?”
i take hand george after give look & wink to malkai. on floor dance we find space empty. i fit self in arms george, he whisper in me ear,
“i like what i see.”
“and, what see you?” i smile, i like game.
“i see a beautiful woman.”
george feel me body get straight & he get confused.
“what’s wrong?” he asks.
“i am sorry, i not want to give you wrong think, but i not plan on making intimate to you.”
me hunterself say words with me. she know them by heart. we must practice them times many before. elders teach us it. they think to protect us. they not want us give assignment wrong think—assignment feel anger when discover we not them belonging. i have plan many to make intimate to george, but i not tell him. i not have to, george make me job easy.
“esta bien, esta bien. i can respect that. i just like the vibe i get from you. i would really like to be your friend.”
we go to bar. he buy pina colada to me & rum to him. me think it good time to get background.
WaLiLa closed her eyes for what seemed to George to be a split second. When she opened them they had changed. They were warm & glowing & their brownness seemed infinite. Staring into them, George felt the weight of life & gravity lifting off his body. His torso raised from its usual cool, suave slouch into a straight-spined, erect position. His chest cavity expanded as his heart opened valves, corridors, & veins to WaLiLa. He thought WaLiLa to be a kindred spirit, someone with a deep understanding of his inner self. He didn’t think it was the eyes. Those large probing eyes, wet with seeking, silently waiting at attention for any bit of information to come their way.
“I’m really making good friends with Patrice…” he began. & when he spoke, he almost had to check to see if the sound waves reverberating against his ear drums were actually his, for the talking took no effort. He didn’t have to send his messenger neurons scampering to his brain with the command to speak. His mouth flew open on its own. The words that passed his lips came directly from his heart. They did not pass the rigorous obstacle course through which he passed all his lines when meeting a new woman. The eyes were freeing him. In front of them, he disrobed his protective layers & spoke plainly.
“…I’ve had hundreds of women, hundreds…” WaLiLa appeared to be simply smiling & nodding her head. While her fingers were busy fiddling with her drink, WaLiLa had actually connected herself to the elders. Her eyes worked to ease George into a lulled state of consciousness. One that would allow him to open himself without fear or misgivings. George felt like he was having a spiritual experience. & he was right, he was. Standing there was not simply another soul working the room for love & sexual fulfillment. Standing there was a channel. Through WaLiLa his thoughts, his very being, was flung out into the cosmos. He was transcending his plane, transcending even WaLiLa’s plane, & communing with the elders—his ancestors—& it felt good.
“I must tell you a secret. I’m married. My wife’s in Canada. I’m under a lot of stress because I want to divorce her. I was way too young when we married…” Actually, WaLiLa was a bit more than a channel, she was a filter. She took George’s words & distilled them to their core meaning, their essence. With that essence, the elders would know exactly how to proceed. Everything George said to WaLiLa, to the cosmos through WaLiLa, could be simplified into one phrase—
“But you must not tell my friends.” With this information it would be easy for WaLiLa to get in. It would be easy for her to give the healing touch.
“george,” patrice say. “i’m bored, let’s go.”
george nod at patrice. me he turn to, “oh, walila, we’re going to ambi’s, you want to come?”
“no, money i not have.”
“that’s not a problem, i’ll pay.”
me hunterself jump up & down,
“no, thank you,” i say.
“well,” george say, he look me body up & down with he eyes. “maybe next time.”
i smile, nod me head, & turn away. few seconds later i feel he hands on me waist & he lips close with me ear, “may i call you sometime, i’ll get your number from patrice.”
“yes.” inside me hunterself scream loud loud,
i stand there & watch them walk far. me hunterself dance mix wild of jig & salsa to celebration for me win. malkai shake me out me trance. his arms circle wild like wings huge. his anger make him not hold them.
“walilaheramina, what is wrong with you?!? why did you not go with them? why are you dragging this out?”
“you no ask why i drag this out. i ask why you in me assignment.”
“lila, you know i am always listening, & you know the elders are tuned in too. what will they think?”
“i no care what they think. they no have to lose life if they get wrong assignment. i only here weeks two, i want know he believe.”
“it is ‘two weeks,’ not ‘weeks two’ an—…”
“why you make joke of me talk every time.”
“walila, i am not making fun of your talking, i am just trying to correct you. if you took the time to learn how to speak properly, I would not have to bother you so much.”
“i hate words. they too many, too many—how is word to not have choice?”
“limited?”
“si, oui, yes, limited. i not can explain me in words. words make me eyes want to cry. i want to talk like i talk.”
“it is too dangerous walila, too many people are looking.”
“but you know true what i say, yes? when i have assignment in australia with people black, they no have word for ‘time.’ when i have assignment in canada, they no have word for ‘saudade.’ here, they no have word for ‘chillin.’ words no good. words too small.”
malkai look me with no care. more hard me try.
“i want talk feeling. i want talk things inside. love fill body. joy come toe bottom to head top. & hurt, hurt sting to finger end, & it jump in belly. words not story give. words fill only mouth. words not enough. i not want hear you say i talk bad.”
“o.k. walila, all i am saying is when you are lucky enough to find your assignment in the first month, you need to take advantage of it. if you keep prolonging jobs, you will be in the field forever.”
“you keep tell me to take time & learn language good. time same you want me hurry & finish job. it not so easy. i not want die.”
“die? you are so morbid. why are you always talking about dying. it is easy, you just follow the elders. they give you an assignment, you get the nectar, & you move on to your next assignment.”
“oh yeah? that not happen to ralinwa in london. if it so easy, tell me why ralinwa not in field now.”
“ralinwa was not thinking. her assignment had green blood. she should have known, if the assignment has green blood it usually means the nectar is bad.”
