Glorious Sunset Page 5

  “I object to that characterization,” Taka steamed. “You make it seem as if I were rolling around in the dust like a sow. I’ll have you know that brooch is a one-of-a-kind piece made by the master jeweler of mother Africa, an exquisite piece of art.”

  “He’s granting me three wishes, and I’ve already placed my first one. Can you believe it?” She leaned back in her chair, a satisfied look on her face. A waiter was walking by and she snapped her fingers at him. “Hey, you! Mimosa. Yesterday!” She smoothed her hair and looked at the other two as the waiter scowled at her. “I’ve only come here twice a week for the last four years. You’d think they’d know what I want by now.”

  Taka watched the exchange with disgust. A queen did not treat her subjects like that. Zahara had never treated the servants in that fashion.

  Violet felt Brenda’s eyes scrutinizing her.

  “So what you’re saying is,” Brenda said, “you picked up a piece of jewelry and rubbed it and this man popped out. And he is staying at your place with you for three days. And he is granting you three wishes. Is that what you’re saying?”

  The waiter handed Violet the mimosa and she snapped it up immediately without a thank-you. He turned and walked away with an attitude, which she caught. She shouted at him, “And lose that attitude when you come back or you can pull your tip out of my rear end!” She took a sip and smiled at Brenda. “That’s right. Couldn’t you just scratch my eyes out with jealousy? I mean, isn’t this incredible?”

  Brenda was still for a moment and then her face hardened. “Is this your way of getting back at me for putting you on the spot the other day? Because if you really don’t want to be my maid of honor . . .”

  “I couldn’t care less about your wedding. No offense. I’m telling you the truth.”

  “That this man here is a genie?”

  “Right!”

  “So, you’re telling me, he is not your distant cousin?”

  “I don’t have any distant cousins.”

  Brenda’s face hardened further. “I hope you’re getting a good laugh out of insulting me, Violet. I don’t mind a practical joke, but this is going too far. Does Jerome know you are running around with a strange man?”

  Jerome. Funny, Violet hadn’t thought about her boyfriend all morning. But it was great she could always count on Brenda to keep track of the men in her life.

  “Hey, look, I didn’t believe it either, until he filled my place with flowers and disappeared into thin air. I mean, one minute he was standing in my apartment, the next minute he was floating in the air like smoke.”

  “Good Lord, Violet, don’t tell me you and this guy are getting it on. What about Jerome? If he finds out you’re cheating on him . . .”

  “Listen to me, Brenda, Taka and I aren’t sleeping together. He’s a genie, I told you!”

  “I don’t know whether to be pissed or worried. You’ve really been working too hard lately. Cheating on Jerome won’t get him to appreciate you more, you know.”

  Violet wanted to scream with exasperation. “No, I don’t know a whole lot about cheating, Brenda, but since you’re the expert, why don’t you tell me how it works?”

  “When are you going to stop throwing that up in my face?”

  “Throwing it in your face? You’re the one who announced to the whole party that not only did you take my man, but you were marrying him and asking me to stand up for you at the wedding. Now, that takes nerve.”

  “Are you upset about that, Violet? Why didn’t you say something? You are my best friend, but I can’t let you treat Jerome this way. I love him like a brother.”

  Violet mumbled under her breath, “You would love him like a two dollar ho if I left you alone with him for five seconds.”

  Taka’s head had gone back and forth between the two but now he couldn’t stop himself from interjecting. “What kind of madness is this? What games do the two of you play? I thought you were friends but you speak like enemies.”

  “Who asked you?” Violet snapped.

  Brenda leaned toward her. “Violet, if you’re still bothered by what happened I will understand if you decline. But don’t ruin a perfectly good relationship with Jerome because you’re mad at me. Look, just explain to him that Taka was there when he wasn’t and maybe he’ll understand how lonely you’ve been feeling.”

  Violet felt herself growing hot with anger. “Yes, that is exactly the line Gary used on me.”

  “And get rid of this man; he’ll only cause you problems.”

  “Oh no, he isn’t going anywhere. And you’re not going to say a word to Jerome. As far as he’s concerned, Taka is my cousin. I’m really disappointed I couldn’t share this with you, Brenda. I was hoping you’d be happy for my good luck. I guess it’s too much to believe you’d be happy for my good news.”

  “I guess so.”

  Taka had grown an appetite after being out of his stone for several hours but in the short time between sitting and now, it was almost gone.

  “I have no patience for this,” he declared. “If I do not leave right now my brain will surely explode into a thousand pieces. I will be outside when the two of you are finished with your feminine games.”

  “Oh, no, he didn’t,” Brenda started. The two women watched as he got up and left the restaurant, cutting an impressive image despite his annoying demeanor.

  Brenda leaned to Violet. “Okay, what gives? Who is that man? And don’t give me that cousin crap.”

  “I told you. He’s a genie. He showed up in my apartment this morning.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yes, that’s right. I wouldn’t have believed it either but I saw him appear and disappear right in front of my eyes.”

  “Amazing.”

  “You don’t believe me. You always were close-minded. It doesn’t matter though because he is granting me three wishes and you bet your butt I’m taking advantage of them.”

  Brenda picked up her cup of coffee and sipped it stiffly. “I had no idea,” she said.

  “No idea what?”

  “That you were still so bitter over the fact that Gary and I are a couple. This little effort to snatch the limelight is not going to work.”

  “This is not a ploy, Brenda.”

  “Whatever. Look, if you don’t want to be straight with me, that’s fine. I just hope you have a better story for Jerome.”

  “Keep your mouth shut to Jerome or I’ll filet you like sushi.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll play along with your game. I just hope for your sake it doesn’t all blow up in your face. So where did you really find him?”

  Outside, Taka took a deep breath. He looked around and marveled as he always did how life had gone on without him. The world was so different from the one he had grown up in. Technology and conveniences had changed. He’d grown as well, in fits and starts, learning of the new worlds only in the brief moments he was released. He had long since stopped being surprised by the new things. But now, more than ever, they left him feeling sad.

  He felt energy pop in his ears; awareness opened the air around him, and his attention sharpened. Could it be? His friend suddenly sitting on the bench next to him told him it was so.

  Aniweto. Despite the centuries passed Ani still looked the same he had the day of the massacre. The same he had when Taka was twelve, five, and at his earliest memory. Taka had never cared that he was the only one who could see Ani. Before long, the legend of young Prince Taka, blessed of all the Jaha kings for his ability to speak to the Almighty through the angels, was weaving its way through the countryside. Ani, always humble, had told Taka countless times he was merely a messenger. Taka had not cared what he called himself; all he knew was that Ani held him in his arms as a babe, held his hand as a child with a man’s burden, held his dreams as a man when he’d married the love of his life. Ani had been good to him then. Things were different now.

  “It appears the unlikely has finally happened,” his friend said with his gentle voice.

&nbs
p; “So you speak to me now, do you?” Taka groused, still hurt at 400 years of abandonment from his only friend. “You are no longer stewing in angry silence, then, Ani?”

  “Watch yourself, son. I love you, always, but you did a great wrong to our Father. You disappointed me. You behaved not like the man I know you to be, but like the child so certain he is favored that he has fear of nothing and respect for no one. I raised you better, as did your parents. We are waiting, still, for your repentance.”

  Taka laughed. “Repentance? For what? For daring to stand up to Him?”

  “You have no legs to stand to Him, Taka. Have you not learned that yet or does your pride still fool you into thinking you are on equal ground as those on high? Even the Almighty, Himself?”

  It was a trap and he knew it! The Almighty was surely waiting for him to compare himself in order to zap him into Hades with a bolt of lightning. He might end up there but it wouldn’t be due to Ani’s word games.

  “My friend, if my pride is inflated it is because you made it so. I didn’t get to be this way myself. Now, all of a sudden I am too proud? What do you expect? I was but a child when you came to me and spoke to me. You were aware of what the village would think when they discovered I had your ear. They would feel I was blessed. You treated me thus and it is no fault of mine. It is only natural I be a proud man. I am a king and a warrior and the best in all the land. The best our Father ever put on this earth. You did that. You made me who I am.”

  Ani smiled slightly and Taka knew his argument was a good one. But his friend didn’t fall into the trap, either.

  “Our Father put only one ‘best’ on this earth and that was His blessed Son. Maybe a distant second best. And while I take credit in the gifts you have learned from me, the inflated pride is yours alone. Its misuse does you a disservice.”

  Taka frowned. “Alas, it seems disservices abound for me. The agreement is no good. That woman is not my Zahara.”

  “Violet does, indeed, possess the spirit that was once contained in the woman you knew as Zahara.”

  “She is not the same.”

  “You were told she would have no memory.”

  “That woman is a greedy, shallow, whining shell of my wife. She is a bottom-feeder. She is petty and simple. She is not my wife!”

  “Are you preparing another tantrum, Taka? Did not spend quite enough time in your stone, you need a few more centuries to figure out how to speak without sounding like a horse’s backside?”

  “What, precisely, have you come to me for, Ani?” Taka twisted in his seat to glare at the man who, as always, seemed unmoved by his emotion. “Are you here to gloat? Are you here to laugh at the foolish king? Well, I have not heard your voice in centuries; maybe I do not wish to hear it now. How about that? Maybe you tire me with your lectures and sermons and recriminations. Maybe you should tell Him that. What more punishment can He mete out? He’s already done His worst.”

  “Oh, not quite. He can leave you here for centuries more. Or He can throw you into limbo or hang you in oblivion. Or He can let the evil one spend the rest of eternity pulling you apart limb by limb, putting you back together only to do it over again. You do not want to experience that. Unpleasant, very unpleasant.”

  “I don’t care. When will you realize I mean what I said? I am weary, Ani, but my weariness is nothing compared to my love for Zahara. If I cannot have my wife an eternity of torture would be blessing enough.”

  Ani blew out a breath of exasperation, as if Taka were the one being obtuse. “You infuriate me with this single-mindedness. I suppose I should be impressed by your allegiance to your idea of love but as with everything, you go too far and misconstrue.”

  “My idea of love is the only idea worth speaking of; for if a man is not willing to do whatever he needs to be with his love than he is not truly in love, nor is he truly a man. Which brings me back to the subject at hand: I do not know that woman. She has the face of my heart’s blood, but she is not the same.”

  Ani was quiet a moment, putting his thoughts into words. “Zahara had a beautiful face but it was not her face you fell in love with, was it?”

  “What are you saying, Ani?”

  “I am saying He gave her Zahara’s face only so you could find her. Her spirit, that is the true gift. She has the same spirit; you just have to reach it. Reach her.”

  “Hmm, and if I don’t want to muddle through the muck to get to it, what, then? I will burn for eternity?”

  “Well, yes, there is that. But there would also be another tragedy. You would miss getting to know this kind and gentle person called Violet.”

  “Kind? Gentle? Are you speaking of the woman in that restaurant?”

  “And you would miss your one chance to say good-bye to the wife you claim to love. You would sacrifice all these years of confinement for fear of a little work. Don’t do it again, Taka. Don’t give up when you have a possible future looming before you.”

  Taka looked at the doorway of the restaurant. 400 years and that was what waited for him. 400 years and this woman was all he had to show for it.

  His shoulders sagged in defeat. “Is this life ever to be fair to me, Ani? Will I ever smile with joy again? Will Zahara ever look at me and remember the love I held for her? Will I ever be able to love my wife on earth again?”

  But as was all too common, when he looked to Ani for answers his friend was gone.

  Chapter 6

  Violet was glad when Brenda finally left but smiled sardonically when the server brought the bill. Apparently her friend had helped herself to a bottle of the most expensive champagne before Violet and Taka even got there. And despite the fact it was the rich girl’s turn to pick up the tab, Brenda had conveniently forgotten that, as well.

  Violet frowned at the amount but pulled out her credit card anyway. When she finally left with a bag in her hand, she spotted her genie across the street on a bench looking bereft. Must be hard for him, she thought. She’d pranced him out like a show horse when he’d already admitted it had been awhile since he’d been out of his stone. Hah! That sounded crazy, even to her.

  She wondered if she’d made a mistake telling Brenda the truth, but excitement had gotten the better of her. It was so rare for good luck to come her way. And good luck by way of a large, grouchy man, well, who could have seen that coming?

  “Thought you might be hungry,” she said, handing him the bag.

  He looked up at her, surprise on his features. He reached inside to pull out the container, looking at it speculatively. “You brought me food?”

  “It’s no big deal, okay, just food. I don’t want you dropping dead of hunger before you can get me my wishes. And it’s just . . . I’m sorry we got so abusive. Normally there’s no one around to see Brenda and me go at each other. People usually don’t understand our love-hate relationship.” She sat down next to him and smiled. “She’s so jealous she could spit.”

  “Is that right? She is jealous of you and me together?”

  “She’s jealous that I have a genie. You thought she was jealous of me with you?” Violet wrinkled her nose at the silly notion.

  “It is not an illogical assumption. I am a handsome man, you are a beautiful woman; we obviously make a striking pair. And in the short time I have known her she seems an incredibly insecure and shallow sort. Much like yourself.”

  Violet’s face scrunched in confusion at that last statement but she went on to set him straight about Brenda. “She’s engaged to be married.”

  “And that is supposed to mean something? You believe she cannot be jealous of you and me together simply because she is betrothed?”

  “Boy, I thought I had conceit cornered, but you take the cake. No, Brenda is happily engaged to Gary, my ex. She’s not interested in you or what we look like together.”

  “Ex what?”

  “My ex-boyfriend. The man I used to be with. She stole him from me. Now they’re getting married. Ain’t that a crock?”

  “I don’t understand, sh
e stole . . .”

  “She stole him.”

  “Stole him from . . .”

  “Me.”

  “Stole him from you?” Taka grew confused. “Why would any man want her over you? I admit, your personality leaves much to be desired but it is comparable to hers at least. Physically you are much more attractive. A curvaceous body, beautiful skin, hair shining with health, the smile of an angel; there is no contest. All things considered you would be a much better mate. It’s preposterous that a man should leave you for her.”

  Violet ignored the insult and accepted the compliment with a flurry of pleasure. She had to take them where she could get them.

  “That’s my feeling exactly. God only knows what I was thinking with Gary. But amazingly, they seem to be happy together. Go figure.”

  Taka was silent for a moment, then: “How does one handle such a betrayal in these times?”

  Violet shrugged. “You just have to go on, you know? You have to move forward. I was mad as spit for a while, but Brenda and I are joined at the hip. And it’s not like I wanted him. I was holding out for a man worthy of me”.

  “Spoken like the words of a queen.”

  “Ooh, I like that. Spoken like a queen. Maybe I’ll use that in advertisements. Hey, you better eat that before it gets cold. Their Eggs Benedict is incredible.”

  “I do not have money to pay for this.”

  “Did I ask you for money? Hey, it’s the least I can do for the man granting me three wishes. Heck, I just bought Brenda a bottle of champagne for giving me indigestion.”

  He softened with gratitude, opening the container to flip one half onto the other and ate the meal as a sandwich, nodding in appreciation. Violet seemed to remember the cup in her hand and handed that over as well. “Doesn’t work without the coffee.”