Ember's Eve

Recollection

Recollection

Last year...

February 5, 2019

Freetown, Sierra Leone

The black Toyota Camry pulled over next to the gutter. Hot wavy air danced around its metal frame. Its bumpers and mud flaps brandished their new brown paints. Kenneth sat in the front passenger seat. He examined the neighborhood through the windscreen. Tall wooden poles supported power cables that had laced shoe pairs hanging from them. Children chased after discarded rolling tires which they had initially set into motion. Their destination, the bungalow, was within shouting distance. The structure had lost most of its white paint and managed a flapping rusted zinc as its roof. A deranged black man sat in front of the bungalow staring into thin air. Kenneth turned to Jacob who'd just put off the ignition.

"Are you sure this is the place?"

"Obviously" Jacob put on his dad cap, "shoes hanging from cables, a deranged man..."

"Okay I get it," Kenneth adjusted the pistol beneath his black leather jacket and fitted his snapback "This is gonna suck."

Kenneth opened the door to the heatwave; he'd forgotten all about it while the car's air conditioning pampered him but this was a fine reunion. A strong smell traveled through his nostrils arousing nausea. Kenneth looked down at the gutter. Amid the algae and sewage colony, flies hovered cheerfully over something solid and brown. Jacob had stopped too close to the gutter so Kenneth figured he would have to walk the tightrope. He held his breath as he got out of the car, shut the door, and shimmied his way into the road. Jacob adjusted his backpack as he joined Kenneth.

"You... asshole" Kenneth gasped "You were so close to the gutter, I literally saw shit."

"My bad" Jacob smiled

"How much time do we have?"

"Fifty minutes tops" Jacob stared at his watch.

"Three o'clock, we're being watched." Kenneth pushed his shades with his index as he spotted two men observing them from the window of a building. They arrived at the bungalow where they caught the attention of the deranged man. As Kenneth got a better view of the man's features, he wished he'd kept his distance. The man wore a beanie which had more holes than wool, dirty sweat trickled down the black wrinkles of his forehead and the sclera of his eyes were a dead shade of brown. He clenched both of his hands probably to stop the shaking. The man pursed his chapped lips and moved them from side to side like it was some sort of mouth exercise. His left eye twitched as he spoke, "pardon brothers, we are closed."

"We're here for delivery" Jacob pointed at his backpack.

"What is the password?" asked the deranged

Kenneth and Jacob stared at each other. Jacob elevated both his shoulders and Kenneth squeezed his eyebrows. "mhm" Kenneth cleared his throat "Takiboshi." The man smiled at Kenneth and nodded. His lips broke and refreshed old sores in the process. Kenneth reciprocated by forcing a smile back at him. The man swiftly raised his left hand, enclosed his index and thumb but avoided contact between the two as he placed them on his lips and blew as hard as he could. The whistle echoed through the immediate surroundings. "Shit!" Kenneth pulled his pistol and jabbed the man on the head. The deranged fell back to the sandy floor. Kenneth espied something black drop out of his now relaxed right hand.

Jacob covered his face "I knew you were gonna screw that up for sure,"

"At least I tried something," Kenneth leaned over to pick the black object "What is this?"