Chp 46

He paves the way through the wet ferns. We jog up behind him. D'ziko holds a fence to the ground so that we can jump over it. I right myself over his shoulder as I jump to the other side. The hand that touched his shoulder is in flames as I pick my way through the rocks down the path.
"I hear once ya own one, its yers until its last days," Mondo says, once she falls into step with m."Ya can't sell it to anybody else."
Ya can't exactly donate it to a shelter nor lose it in the woods. No matter where ya leave it, when ya get home, it'll be waiting.
"Ja," Luleka says. "Their loyalty is commendable." And spooky.
"Ya want one?" D'ziko guesses. I'm not sure.
"I wouldn't get it," I say, my voice echoing in the still of the night. "I'm nowhere near twenty-one."
The Sword Universe shop is in view now. It is so dark inside. I freeze. The ringing is growing behind my ears.
D'ziko comes to a stop in front of me. "What's wrong?"
No reason to lie. "I don't feel so good."
He blows into his hands to fight off the cold and then takes mine in his and rubs them together. "Don't worry we won't get caught."
I trust him. But..."How are we going to get in anyway?"
"I have my ways." He winks and chuckles. The vaporised breath swirls around me.
"The front or back door is a no no." Luleka swallows. "The automatic register will show we've been here."
"I know that." D'ziko smiles. It shows even behind the mask. Even in the darkness. "Have some faith."
I begin pacing. My stomach twists.
"How could I explain being here when I already have my sword?"
In fact how do I justify breaking in. I'm the Goddess. I'm a role model. I can't be tried for petty crimes like these.
D'ziko surveys our surroundings. "I can imagine that would be a difficult position to be in" -- he turns back to me -- "Oh, wait. I'll get in through the window."
My eyes widen. "Isn't it dangerous?" I point to the window. "Look how far that one is."
He just smiles.
Mondo, Luleka and I turn back down the street, checking to see if we're still alone. We are. "So, do ya need a hand?" I ask as I turn around.
But D'ziko is already inside. He has a rope coming out the window.
Well that was quick.
I hesitate. Is he crazy? If I fall... Gods forbid I fall. I wouldn't die but I'd break some bones and Mama doesn't even have her gift back. I can't stand pain. I wouldn't survive something like that.
"Surely ya don't expect me to climb in through that, do ya?"
I hear a smile in his voice. "Just wait for Sir Ayize then."
His eyes are so bright. He trails them from my toes to my head, slow and gentle. The night is silent as his eyes linger on mine. I feel like my whole body is engulfed in flames. Not the flames associated with fire but these flames make me feel so alive, like I'm in the clouds or a bubble. I feel silly and light and pretty. I want to fly.
"Ya sure ya'll be able to pull me up?"
He leans over the windowsill and frowns. "Ugh, Imani, C'mon."
My eyes close and I shoot a quick one to the Gods. Keep me safe, y'all.
My eyes open, and my heart is in my throat. "I'm serious, D'ziko."
"And I'm offended."
I take the rope and pull twice on it. Testing its strength.
"I won't let anything hurt ya," he says. "Trust me."
I do.
"Fine. Pull me up."
I'm inside before I can look back down. Heights tend to make me dizzy. I rise and detach myself from the sill. Mondo comes in after me and then Lukeka. And then we help D'ziko haul the robe back out the window. Just in case we need a swift escape.
D'ziko dusts off his hands. "So where do we start?"
My eyes scan the walls. There are millions of swords in here. There's just no way we'll get through all of them in a few hours.
"From the back and make our way to the front." I poke his stomach and smile up at him. "Much easier to know where I've been."
"Good." He takes my hand and leads me to the back. There's a sort of electric nostalgia as we find our way through the apartment store. This is where D'ziko and I first met.
Mondo looks at me and winks. I bet she knows my train of thought. Maybe she planted the idea in my head. Luleka looks like a child lost at a toy store. She's staring up at the swords, I doubt she even remembers we're in the shop with her.
Will D'ziko and I come here for our first official date? Will he propose here? For the romantic basis of it. But I shake my head violently. There's absolutely nothing romantic about this place. It just gives me the chills and not the good ones.
He stops. "What is it?"
"I'm just thinking about something Kaseke told me earlier." The lie is much better than the truth. Maybe I'm thinking way too ahead. Date? Proposal? I don't even wanna get married.
We reach our destination and I paw through the swords. Pick this one, nothing happens. Pick that one, it's the same story. When I pick one with a pink hilt, honestly my favourite, I'm convinced I've found mine.
"So...?" D'ziko asks excitedly. "You feel anything?"
I move the sword, begging it to be mine. It's not.
D'ziko tries to pry it from from hands, I throw him off.
He sighs.
"It'll come," I say. "I know this one is mine."
He shakes his head. And gestures for me to give him the sword.
Reluctantly, I do.
I move on to the next. It's black all over. I hate it immediately. I'm so glad it's not mine.
I'm starting to think that I'll never find my sword when I pick up a red one. It's in the silencer section and I can't say I'm disappointed when I find it's my sword. Well... but I was kinda expecting it.
The electric shock goes through me. The magical sparks fly through my veins until they settle at my very core. There's a sense of peace, of fulfillment, in my body now.
"So what is it?" Mondo pokes my stomach, giddy.
I frown. "What's what?"
"Yer gift, silly." D'ziko is grinning, foot tapping rapidly on the floor. "What is it?"
"I'm supposed to know that already?"
D'ziko blinks. And then again. "Yes," he says, the tapping stop, the brightness in his eyes dulls. "Ya heard nothing?"
I pause and look down at the sword in my hands. Its glow is steady. "I should've heard something?"
Mondo, Luleka and D'ziko share worried glances.
"Uh... don't worry about it. It'll come." D'ziko takes my hand and leads me back toward the window. "Let's go before dawn creeps up on us. It's a long walk."
My eyes lift back to his. He doesn't look as disappointed as I feel. What does this mean? Do I simply don't have a gift? Are the Gods punishing me for forging the Bakantwa sword?
It isn't until D'ziko sweeps me up by my waist, and carries me to the back window that I realise I've stopped moving. Stopped breathing. Stopped thinking. He sets me down at the sill and takes my sword before handing me the rope.
Mondo and Luleka are already outside.
I hold the rope loosely and drop to the road. I land quickly on my feet and D'ziko grabs the rope with one hand and closes the window with another. He wants to leave everything the same way we found it.
He glances at my sword around his waist, then at my face and grabs my hand.
I look at them.
He squeezes my hand and tilts my chin with the other. His eyes quickly find mine. "It'll come."
I blink up at him.
He lets out a distressed sound. "Hey...don't cry. I promise. It'll come."
A sob bursts out of me.
He yanks me to him. He's gripping me so tightly that I feel his fingers press through the thick layer of my jacket. His other hand traces the length of my neck.