For a while, Imani could only clutch the front of the T-shirt stretched across Roman’s torso. She didn’t trust her hands with full reign over what she knew to be a superb chest. She had roamed it freely in her dreams each night when she closed her eyes. Having him there now was like one of her dreams, but so much better. Not to mention, dangerous due to their potency. She didn’t care. Her tongue stroked his. In her dreams, she’d performed the act with expert skill. She hoped he thought the same now.
He did. Her tongue nudging his felt doubtful, uncertain at first. Then, she seemed to melt and that nudging took on something languid, lusty. The sounds leaving her throat were like purrs and she crooned his name in the midst of them.
Suddenly, Roman wrenched Imani back, keeping her at arm’s length as though she were a threat to him. She was. She shredded his self control and left his mind at the mercy of fierce hormones roaring demands. They demanded him to take, to possess, to keep.
“Roman?”
He shook his head, urging her silence while he inhaled deeply to steady himself. He shut his eyes to help with the task. Her snug blouse outlined a very impressive bustline that heaved from the exertion of their kiss. The mesmerizing rise and fall simply multiplied his wants. All he wanted was to look at her. Well... it wasn’t all he wanted. What he wanted was out of the question.
“How are you here, Imani?” His fingers flexed around her elbow, his grip firm but not crushing. It was as if he were attempting to steady himself. As if she were a lifeline he desperately needed.
“Papa let me stay when they all went back home,” she explained quietly. “I was supposed to spend spring and summer here with my cousins, but my mother changed her mind.”
Roman frowned, looked in the direction of the kitchen. “Candace? She’s-”
“No,” Imani smiled. “No, Candace is my friend. My aunt and cousins live just down the street.”
He nodded, settling the facts in his mind. A muscle flexed in his jaw and he seemed hesitant. “When are you leaving?” He asked.
Her voice was even softer then. “Five weeks.”
Again, Roman nodded. Five weeks. Five weeks to be with her. Five weeks to prepare himself to be without her forever.
~~~
With Imani’s coaching, Candace prepared an authentic African meal for her guests. She served them at the large oval table she usually shared only with her mother. On the afternoon’s menu, Mozambique prawns, authentically South African sweet potato fritters and for the main course, Dovi which was a savory peanut stew out of Zimbabwe. If her guests thought it out of place having a hearty stew in June, they said nothing. Everyone was far too busy filling their plates and stomachs.
Candace watched Imani closest, as if searching for some non-verbalized hint that her friend disapproved of the meal’s outcome. In the end, it was Pitch who gave confirmation of success.
“What’s this meat in the stew?” He asked, while dipping out his third bowl from the pot in the center of the table.
“This version of Dovi is a vegetarian, Pitch,” Imani explained. “You enjoyed it without realizing it lacks meat-compliment enough,” she said to the cook.
Candace looked to her boyfriend with adoring eyes.
Roman dipped out another generous bowl, his second helping. “It’s really good, Candace,” he said.
“Imani’s the whiz. Taught me all I know,” Candace beamed.
“So you like to cook, Imani?” Pitch asked.
She nodded. “I love it. Growing up, I spent hours in the kitchens watching my father’s cooks.”
Pitch studied Imani curiously while he dined. He was eating at a more civilized pace instead of wolfing down his meal. “What’s Africa like? It seems pretty wild from what I’ve seen. In a good way,” he tacked on when Roman daggered a look in his direction.
Imani smiled. “You’re right. I’m afraid that it’s not all good just now. We’ve been embroiled in a war for our independence from Portugal since nineteen sixty four. But the...good wildness is more... exquisite and less...depraved than you’ve probably read about or seen on TV.” Serenity held her expression as she stared off past the table.
“There’s an energy to it and everything is larger than life. It makes you feel small. Small but not weak, more... humble, reverent, respectful,” she shook her head as if to withdraw from a daze.
“I’d love for you all to see it one day. Explaining such a place is difficult.”
“Would you ever leave it?” Roman asked. “Ever live anywhere else?”
“Well...I did my schooling in London.”
“Would you ever move to America?”
Imani blinked. She clearly had no ready answer.
“Hey y’all, I’ve got Malva Pudding for dessert,” Candace pushed back from the table. “I only need to cut it and put it on the saucers. I’ll be back by the time you guys are settled in the living room. Imani? Will you take the magazines off the coffee table? Vic? Vic?” She waited for him to look up from the half finished bowl of stew. “Help me please?”
Pitch responded with a dumbfounded look, that cleared when Candace slid a covert look toward Roman and Imani.
Understanding hit and Pitch hastily took up his bowl and followed Candace from the dining room.
Roman didn’t seem in the mood for dessert or more stew for that matter. He remained at the table, knocking his spoon to the bowl with short, monotonous taps.
Imani thought it best not to ask if he was alright again. “I better move those magazines,” she rushed from the table and hurriedly collected the few copies of Jet and Home and Garden from the squat pine table. She was putting them on a free corner of the bookshelf against the wall, when his hands spanned her waist.
Roman turned Imani to face him. He patted the small of her back and his bottomless stare shifted to the sofa when she looked at him. Understanding, Imani sat.
“I want to see you everyday while you’re here,” he said.
Imani smiled and gave an immediate nod. “Whenever you want to Roman,” her brow crinkled when he seemed to grin spitefully while shaking his head. “What is it?”
“Don’t be so agreeable.”
Again, she nodded. “Right,” she noted as though suddenly recalling something important she had momentarily forgotten. “When would you like to see me?” She asked.
