UNTAMED

Part Thirty One

{Even prisoners enjoy peace, free from shouts and harsh commands.}

        He was going to kill her but she did not know when. She had seen what he did to those people that were about taking her to Chief. They were all afraid of him. He had killed one of them. She thought he was going to kill her immediately but he had not. He had taken her inside and made her pack her clothes, then he had put something painful on her arm. She had slept off and woken up in a strange room. She had been so afraid waiting for when he would kill her that she did not bother looking at the room. He had told her to change her clothes and she had somehow found the bathroom. She just used the shower without knowing what she was doing. She had been waiting to see when he would come to kill her. He had come back with food and drugs making her afraid. He was not going to just kill her, he would touch her first. That was why he had brought the drugs. She had forced herself to eat the beans and fried plantain and taken the drugs. She had been sitting by the wardrobe waiting for when he would come and touch her. She thought of the repulsion she normally felt and wondered if it would be worst with the beast. She heard the door being opened and knew it was time. She would not survive it. Her body shook as he came closer. He picked her up and pulled her towards the bed. The bed was very high and she had almost fallen when she had tried to come down. He placed her on the bed and joined her. Her teeth started jamming together producing a sound. He pulled her to him making her back to rest on his chest and stomach. He pulled her closer and used one hand to hold her from her waist to her stomach, the other hand was across her head holding her hands. Chief normally told her to pull off her clothes but he did not. She shook with fear waiting for what he would do next.
“Halima” he whispered in her ears making her shiver.
“Listen to me very carefully because I won’t repeat myself. I am going to give you a chance to survive this night. If you can pull off the hand holding your stomach, I promise not to touch you. I always keep to my words Halima. Now do it” he said.
She did not know if he would keep to his promise but she had a chance to escape his touch and she was going to give it a try. Immediately he released the hand holding her hands, she used all her strength to pull it away but it was as if she was not evening pulling anything. She tried and tried but he held her tighter. She started crying. Suddenly, he flipped her to another side and her back was now touching the bed. He pulled her hands up above her head. He was almost on top of her, he was so big that she could not see anything apart from him.
“It’s like you want me to touch you” he said, his voice so deep.
She shook her head and increased her cry.
“Then why did you not pull my hand out?” he asked.
“You are too strong. I tried but you are too strong” she stammered.
“Exactly my point. I can do anything to you and you won’t be able to fight me” he said moving one hand to her stomach.
He spun her again and she found herself back in the same position he had earlier placed her but he pulled her closer, so close that she was almost covered by him. Her body shook with dread.
“If I want to touch you I should have done it by now. I have no plan of touching you Halima. Do you know why” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Think. You should know” he said.
“Because I’m still skinny” she stuttered.
“You are very intelligent Halima. I like chubby and you are not even close to being chubby. So you can sleep this night because today is not the day I will touch you” he said.
She heard him but she was still afraid. What if he changed his mind?
“Halima you are still afraid. I’m still holding you because you are not yet asleep. I promise to leave once you fall asleep but you can stay awake if you want me to hold and touch you” he said.
She shook her head and closed her eyes. She waited for that annoying feeling that made her skin feel like it was going to peel off from her body but it did not come. Beast was not lying, he was not going to touch her. She tried to relax her body.
“Exactly Halima, you are relaxing. You can sleep now. I will keep to my promise. Just sleep” he said.
He was right. He was very strong and could do anything to her but she was safe this night. He might touch her the next day and she needed her strength to survive. Her body suddenly relaxed and it felt like a weight was lifted off her. Soon her eyes felt heavy. She did not fight the sleep that overwhelmed her.
              Everywhere was so bright even when her eyes were still closed. She forced her eyes to open, to see what was causing the brightness.
It was morning and there were large windows in the room with their curtains pulled out. It made the room bright. The room was beautiful, it was very large and the floor was different from the floors she knew. She had really slept off. She remembered Beast and turned but did not see him. He had kept to his promise. The plates were not even by the wardrobe. She climbed down from the big bed and tried to explore the room. She stood by the mirror to look at herself. She was really skinny. Her hair was looking rough and it would be very difficult to comb because she had not combed it since Beast captured her. She moved to the window close to the mirror. It was very long, large and very clear. She was immediately awed by what she first saw. There were so many fruit trees. She brought her eyes closer and gasped. It was Beast with another man. Beast was packing sand into a small black bag that had a plant inside. The other man was picking ripe tomatoes from some plants. She smiled as she remembered the name of the plant. She sighted some chickens in a small cage. She looked back at the man and Beast. There were two baskets in his hand. One had eggs and the other tomatoes and pepper. She wished she could be allowed to pick eggs and touch the tomatoes and pepper. The man started leaving. It was now just Beast. Beast stood up and turned towards the window. He raised his head and their yes met sending dread to her body. She quickly moved inside. He had seen her. She ran towards the other window and saw flowers, water and some things she could not understand. She could also see a big house. She saw a girl riding something that looked like a bicycle. She kept riding but the bicycle did not leave its position. She was very fair and had packed her hair. The other man came towards her. She saw the man and came down, then threw herself on him. The man spun her round making her laugh. She looked so happy. She gasped when the girl put her mouth on the man’s mouth. What were they doing? She saw Beast coming towards them. He had a small basket full of tomatoes. He was talking to them but they were not answering. He picked a large tomato and threw it towards the man. The man caught it with his hand, then dropped it on the floor but still held the girl with his other hand. Beast put his hands on his waist, he was looking frustrated. The girl pulled herself down and smiled at Beast making her gasped.  She was not afraid of Beast. What was going on? The man said something to Beast, the girl punched him in his chest and started walking towards the big house but the man pulled her back, raised her up and placed her on his shoulder. She started struggling to get free but the man raced towards a blue water, then he jumped inside with the girl. Beast shook his head as he watched them. He could not save the girl from the man. Suddenly, Beast turned and looked straight at her. She was frozen on the spot. She could only move when she saw he was coming towards her. She ran inside and sat close to the wardrobe waiting for her punishment for looking at him. Not too long, she heard the door being opened.