Novels by Laura Ananaba

SIXTEEN‘’ Don’t move,’’ he says.Hearing that voice makes me automatically move and turn around. ‘’What the fuck!’’He lowers his eyes and puts his knife back in his boots. I also return mine to my belt holder and veil it with my shirt then pick my food from the ground.‘’ Dwayne, why are you following me?’’Now, he readjusts his stance. ‘’This is not the way back to the house.’’‘’ What?’’ I ask, blinking rapidly. ‘’ I am not allowed to have a personal business?’’Dwayne scoffs. "I really don't understand the game you are playing, Imani. If that's even your name, but whatever you do, do not touch Zuri."I roll my eyes with my head. " You have said that be

FIFTEENToday, Zuri sold two lanterns. I was not there when she sold them but I can spot that something has been removed. She sold one from the "Memory" and another from the non VIP group." Where did you go?" Zuri throws to me as she writes.I shrug and look around. She pauses her writing as if that was the attention she thought I needed. When she stared that way, it made her look like her brother though she is a darker shade."Do you think you can manage this place?" She asks, already closing the ledger before her. " I need to do something.""Yes I can."I'm wearing my Spartan sandals and it slides easily against concrete so I slide over to the counter.Zuri arranges her bag while I take her seat. She hands me some money. "You can buy something to eat."I nod."Don't mess it up," s

FOURTEENI slowly turn and let out a laugh when I fully face him. "How long have you been there?"He begins to move in. " Long enough to see a different part of you."Suddenly lacking words, I walk to the chips and pick it from the floor then I return to the window and begin to chew carelessly with my eyes in his direction.Dwayne keeps his palms on the back of the long Sofa, facing the television - facing me."Where is your family?" he asks.I say nothing."Were you married, Imani?"That question makes me smile and then I exhale. Some of the weight dissolves and spreads again inside me returning to their crooks."Well, did you have a child?"I do not understand the pamphlet his questions are coming from. The absurdity is pushing me to laugh out loud. He seems to be randomly t

THIRTEENThere is a thing they do every weekend. I do not why no one told me that earlier. But I am sitting at my usual spot beside the stool in the parlor when Zuri skips in."They are here!" She says like we talked about "they" coming.I get up and stand beside the television and wait. She fumbles with the chain that links the door to the wall then moves the bolt.Once the door opens, there are shouts and plenty of heads. I walk away to my room. I stand close to the window and look down. There is nothing much to see but a laundry line.The door bursts open and I know it is Zuri. She stands there for a while then begins to walk closer to the window. I turn around."I hope you understand what happened last night was for you," she says.I raise an eyebrow and frown. " What was for me?"She sig

TWELVEZuri leads the way. She seems to know the bouncers at the door. Just a wink at them and we are in. I have been to a club before and this place, if it is a club. It is a different kind of club; it seems like a sex club.At a corner by the bar was a girl performing fellatio on a man on her knees while the man held her hair in one hand, and held a cigarette in the other hand.From Zuri's gait I can see the excitement bubbling in her to be here. She stops at the bar and looks around. I also pose and look around. There is a booth at the far end. Two girls played with themselves to entertain the men seated there who had ladies sitting astride and rocking their bodies back and forth on them. All were still clothed but I could tell they were actually skin to skin.Zuri turns and hands me a glass of lucid drink. I sniff it as I continue walking behind her. I have been seeing faces here and

ELEVENI am in my new room when Zuri's door opens. She walks down to my room, slightly opens the door and throws in her head. "Hey."I wave in return and she goes out. Her footsteps move to the sitting room. I know she is about to watch that silly military movie where car burning looks like the fire is a ball beside the car.Soon I hear the sounds coming from it - very noisy gun shots, bomb explosions and shouts which are too exaggerated and unnecessary.I lie down and pull a pillow over my head. Before my eyes is a wallpaper of a popular musician. He is posed around a car without shirt and three women wearing just bras and panties. I don't know who started it but it was hard now to see a musician posed without nude women.In Kent's room, he too had a wallpaper of a rapper covering every corner of his room. I have never understood the reasoning behind these wallpapers used to dec

CHAPTER SIXTEENMy phone pings inside my bag. It's from Julie, her usual dancing sticker. I reply with one of my best stickers, sticking out a tongue, then I push back the phone into my bag as I look around the restaurant. There's a queue of people waiting to buy coffee. I was in that queue five minutes ago, drained my first cup of coffee and now I'm tempted to step into line for a second one. I need it to stay pumped with all the meetings I have lined up today, both physical and online meetings. I have always thought of hiring an assistant, but I have never gone through with it. Without knowing it, Philip had actually filled in for that role in the past and now that he's no more. Not like he's dead, just never going to work with me anymore— I now appreciate the things he did, but no regrets. I don't know if Julie would like to take up the offer. I don't trust strangers to handle my personal business effectively. The agent I'm here to meet is not yet here, and a cloud of doubt is beg

CHAPTER FIFTEEN–DavidThe last I remember, the cushions here were cream or something close, but now it's in a popping burgundy color while the drapes are still cream color. Helen has never had a favorite color, she dabbles in anything that excites her for that moment. If she plans to stay here for long, I know she will have the cushions refolded occasionally.The flower that was on a cabinet at the side of the room is now absent. With a little relief I smile, adjusting the collar of my shirt. My eyes jump to the stairs as Helen hops down. Her evening dress is gone, now replaced by an ankle length floral satin gown that very well pronounces the slender curve of her hips and the swell of her bust which gazes out from the tip of her dress. Her hair is still packed the same way, but a few strands has left the hold and they fall over her face while some peep out from the back and the sides of her ear."What do you think we should have for dinner?" she asks, swishing past me to the kitchen

FOURTEEN Helen The chauffeur David hired came a little late. He is a young white man with a chubby body and full beards covering the sides of his face. David handed him the keys to his black sedan without probing him about his lateness then he opened the car door for me to step in. He is in a black shawl lapel tux without a bowtie, leaving his first two buttons open. He seemed to be aiming at casually handsome and he looked like he achieved it. I didn't know how much I loved to see beards on a man till David started growing out his beard which he also shaved to a low even carving around his face. I am wearing the brown strapless gown we had dismissed at first, with my chest nut brown hair which is packed into a pony tail with a few loose curls falling over my face. I look 'brownish'. The gown has a few ropes at the back, but my back is almost as good as bare so whenever David's hands lightly stays there, I feel all exposed to him. He has always been the one with more control, this t

THIRTEENDavidUneasily I pace from one end of the room to another with the phone in my ear. I have just gone to our former house to pack up most of my files and there are litters of it all over the table, the cushions and to the ground."You keep asking me this question expecting me to suddenly realize who wants me dead. I don't know anyone that would want me dead," I say matter-of-factly, without leaving the irritation out of my voice.Parker, the private investigator working on my case, his silence from the other end of the phone annoys me further than his lack of results since I hired him. "Next time you call me, please have something," I say."Your wife," he says, his voice sounding disembodied. "You run a joint account with her, yes?"I fold one arm and nod already getting defensive before he drives home his point. "Well, doesn't she have something to gain from putting you away?""What will she gain from that?" I ask, rolling my eyes."Wealth ofcourse," he says. "So she can be w

CHAPTER TWELVE Helen The sprinklers on the lawn are on. I stay away from the window because I know who and what I would see if I look out. Julie sits on a stool in my kitchen staring at the garden in the back yard. I walk into the kitchen and pour some juice into her glass. She takes a sip of the drink and munches her pancake. "It tastes so good," she says, nodding with her mouth stuffed. With a smile, I take my plate of pancakes and the rest of the juice and walk to a table in the living room, urging her to follow me. She sits opposite me at the table with bar stools. With the way I called her, she must have felt something was wrong with me. Truly, something had been. Everything had been wrong till David came over last night. As I take a bite of my pancake, I wonder if I should tell Julie about last night— about Philip, about David. She might not grasp what was going on within me. Her eyes float to the window and then back to me. She points at the window. "So that's my brother wor

CHAPTER ELEVENHelenPhilip does not want to hear me out. He is the judge and jury all in one. This is what we have become. From agents to friends, to fuck buddies, to fuck buddies demanding attention and commitment from one another. This is not working. I stop talking because all the while we have both been talking trying to top our voices. I told him I have nothing to do with David but he rather remains strong in his own convictions."It's crazy, Helen," he says, pushing the flower in his hands into my hands with a gift bag. "I was expecting so much from you when you are a woman who cheated on your husband with me.""Philip, what was that?" I ask, throwing the contents in my hand in his face. He dusts himself with his eyes on me and I stare back fuming and shaking with anger. Who was this man on my doorstep, what did I have with such a person, how did I get here?"You heard me, Helen. Your mother is a slut after all," Philp says with a smirk. I lunge forward, swinging my hand at him