Kadian

The Great Son

Kadian had been off on her own kneeling by a flower bed, one that was deep into the woods. Going to the nearby flower bed that Alaba had pointed to seemed humiliating, so she ventured into the forest before she settled on the one she was currently residing at.  

It was almost a privilege to be able to admire such lovely flowers.  Pink, yellow, white, orange- all kinds of vibrant colors stained the silky petals.  Kadian hadn't seen such beautiful plants up close since her visit to a butterfly garden in the fourth grade.  She had already picked out a little bouquet of blue flowers for Sister, and was observing the rest.

Despite all of the serenity surrounding her, Kadian found it increasingly difficult to wind down from her earlier, unexpected encounter with Alaba.  Women like Alaba always thought they deserved the world and were above all, simply because they were beautiful. "If I got to be that pretty, I wouldn't be like that," Kadian told herself softly.

She leaned over to smell a pink flower, when a voice barked "What are you doing here?"

Kadian spun around, and looked up to see the young man she saw from the bus on her first day. The one who had given her a strange look after she smiled at him. She had forgotten all about him- or, tried to forget about him, at least. Truthfully, he had been in the back of her mind ever since that day, (she just couldn't grasp why since he had been so rude) but she hadn't seen him around up until that point.

She observed his chiseled face, and deep, cocoa colored skin. His long, kinky black hair had been tied back into a low puff. It was hard to ignore his muscular build, which was on full display because he only wore what resembled a loin cloth to Kadian.

"Well, not exactly a loin cloth-he's not that exposed," she thought. "It like a man skirt. A man covering. Or maybe a-"

"Speak!" his harsh tone broke her frivolous train of thought. Kadian realized with horror that she had been staring.

"I'm..just looking at the flowers, that's all."

"More than looking, what is that in your hand? You picked those." He pointed to her mini bouquet. "What makes you think you can just come to someone else's home and ruin their land?"

Kadian stood up and dusted herself off. "It wasn't even like that. A little girl asked me to get these for her. She's actually from here, so I figured it was alright."

"Was it Sister?" he inquired, surprising Kadian. It seemed that everyone knew of the girl, and loved her. Her popularity had the potential to get Kadian out of trouble.

"Yes, it was Sister!" Kadian said excitedly. A little too excitedly. She mentally kicked herself.

His face softened for a second upon hearing her name-then hardened again. "That is still no excuse. Would you hike up Shango if she asked you to?"

Kadian frowned. "What does that have to do with what I did? I said sorry, that should be the end of it."

"You never said sorry."

Kadian paused, and mentally replayed the conversation-she hadn't apologized.

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry. I didn't know that doing something as simple as picking flowers was a sin. Are you satisfied? "

"Almost." He began to walk off. "Follow me, you don't need to be here! "

Kadian gritted her teeth, but didn't object. She wondered how old he was, and if she would be able to get to know him despite their rough start. She wasn't back at home after all- Africa was a new continent, with new people, and new opportunities. Kadian chided herself for the thought, but still couldn't help but wonder about his age. He looked eighteen, but she couldn't be certain.

Before she could ask, she heard him mutter under his breath- "These American girls..."

"What about us American girls?" Kadian asked defensively.

"You are all obnoxious. And are you not of college age in America? You should be more mature than that."

"More mature than what? Picking flowers a sign of immaturity? I don't think you know how dumb that sounds, you don't even know me."

His head whipped around, stunned. "Dumb?" he thought. "Dumb?!"

How dare she speak to him like that! Did she not know who he was? She was the dumb one! He decided to let it slide, for he had been having a good day prior to the encounter.

"I do not know you," he finally answered, looking straight ahead. "But I do know that a young woman your age should not be frolicking through flowers."

"People of all ages can do that."

He laughed. "So the twenty-year olds of America just go about wandering through forests and picking flowers? Pathetic."

"I don't keep tabs on twenty-year olds."

He frowned. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

The young man almost tripped upon hearing her response. "You look as though you're a grown woman!"

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment. That is beyond disturbing." He shuddered and looked Kadian up and down as they began walking again. They were almost back to the village.

"Fifteen..." he looked her up and down. "You probably don't look it because of your clothes."

A few would wear pant suits, but most Azurayan women wore loose, long dresses or skirts. Because of this, an outfit as simple as Kadian's t shirt and blue jeans seemed somewhat form fitting.

Kadian scoffed. "My clothes cover me up, so you must be referring to something else." Kadian prayed that he wouldn't laugh when she said this. She wasn't exactly curveless- she had the right shapes, but they just weren't very..full. She was comfortable with her figure, but most of the boys back home would consider her to be lacking.

He didn't laugh, but quickly looked away and shook his head. They had reached the village.

"This-" he motioned to the village- "is where you belong. Personally I do not think you belong here either, but your school begs to differ. Now you will stay in the village, and out of our woods from this point on. You may be a tourist, but you're not one of us!"

Before Kadian could object, she saw his eyes light up as he looked past her shoulder.

"Now there's a real Azurayan woman, and one who can dress!" He exclaimed.

"Oh, hi my love!" A familiar voice squealed.

Alaba rushed their way, kissed the young man tenderly on the lips, and hugged him tightly.

"I'm pleased to see you." He talked to Alaba in a completely different tone than the one he used with Kadian.

"Nice to see you too love, what were you doing back there?" Her focus shifted to Kadian.

The young man looked over at the girl, and scoffed.

"That girl?" he asked. "Nothing. Simply leading her away from our forest. You know how intrusive these Americans get."

At this they both laughed, but Alaba was still not happy with the situation. Her husband, all alone with that girl...what were they doing?

"This one definitely needs all the help she can get!" Alaba remarked.

"You two have met?"

"Mm hm, earlier. Sister likes her. You know it's bad when a child is your only friend!"

They howled with laughter as Kadian stormed off. The teasing, the the fact that he had a girlfriend, and the fact that it was Alaba was just too much to handle at the moment. The last bit of their conversation danced into her ear as she walked off.

"By the way Mohassen, your father has been searching for you all day."