Dada 9

A little while later, Mo came out of the water. I turned around to watch him walk towards us. He was covered in a film of salt and was holding his hair back. He lay down, gently pressing against me while pretending to look away. The heat from our two bodies and the sun behind the clouds made me feel drowsy. Mo gave me a shake and told me that Shabela had gone back to the house because it was time for lunch. I got up right away because I was hungry and Mo whispered that I hadn’t kissed him since that morning. That was true, but we had to be careful.

‘Come into the water,’ he said.

We ran and splashed through the shallow little waves. We swam for a while and then he pressed his body against mine. I felt his legs wrapped around mine and I wanted him as I wanted him last night beneath the window under the tap tap tap of the rain.

When we came out of the water, Shabela was already calling us. I said I was very hungry, and right away he told me his wife said that she liked me.

‘I have a surprise for you’  she said.       

The meal was good. I wolfed down my fish. Then we had some beef and fried potatoes. We all ate in silence. Shabela drank a lot of Juice and kept filling up my glass. By the time we were having coffee, my head felt heavy and I`d smoked a lot of cigarettes and what I hadn’t smoked I’d rolled.

 Shabel, Iskra and I talked about how we might spend the month of August together at the beach, sharing the expenses.

 Suddenly Mo said “Do you know what time it is?” It`s only one thirty: we were all surprised, but Shabela said that we`d eaten too early for dinner, but that was natural because the time to eat is when you’re hungry. I don’t know why that made me laugh; I think I may have had a bit too much weed. Then Shabela asked me if I wanted to go for a walk on the beach with him.

“My wife always takes a nap after lunch. But I don`t like to, I need a walk. I keep telling her it`s healthier. But in the end, it`s up to her”.