The Snake

It was now ten minutes past midnight and Stanley had not picked up my call. I had been calling him since four o'clock in the afternoon and he had not picked any of my calls. I was geting worried because that was unlike him. 

Stanley and I had been dating for two years now. We met in a local gym where we had hit it off after a series of no replies from me and we never looked back since. He was a tall, dark, well built guy, with the body of a wrestler. His voice was soft but deep in a soothing way and he had a charming smile. All the ladies in the gym always wanted a piece of him except for this short light skinned lady, me. This challenged him and he tried really hard to know what my deal was.

 After several attempts of getting me on a date I said yes just to get him of my back. I was to go on a single date with him but my plan bounced. shock was on me. This was the key to several dates and nights of passion. 

On this day, things were not going on right. Every Friday was date night and we would watch movies at my place since we had not moved in together. I had left seven missed calls on his mobile phone and he had not called back. I started to worry. Some of his friends whom I had contacted assured me that he was fine and they were in contact earlier in the day. So what was the problem?

As I sat on my couch worrying, I drifted to sleep. The lights were still on and the TV was still running at a low volume when I got woken up by my phone vibrating on my chest. I looked at my watch and it was four oclock in the morning. Why was Bradley calling ?

Bradley and Stanley had presumably been friends for ten years now and they claimed to be so close but I never believed them because Bradley was still hitting on me even though he knew about us. This was a red sign and I would later come to understand this. 

Bradley sounded excited on the other side of the call. And He was in a noisy place. He was still at a night club but found the urge to wake me up.

"What is so pressing that you have to wake me up in the middle of the night? I can hear you are still partying the night out." I blurted. He was calm in his reply I assumed he did not read my tone. 

"I hear you have been looking for Stanley since yesterday. Am shocked that you never called me." Despite them being close, I intentionally didn't call him because I was sure he would definitely tell a lie about his wearabouts even if it did not require him to do so. All the same, I had established that Stan was fine so I didnt feel the urge. "Anyway I know where stan is I can even take you there now. And yes he has been avoiding your calls."

This stung me more than a malaria jab and my heart probably missed two or three beats. What did he mean? Was Stan cheating on me? I didnt know how to react to this information. I kept quiet for a few seconds and was sturtled by the voice of Brad calling me over the phone. "You just freshen up am sending a cab your way in fifteen minutes." I didnt know what got over me but in ten minutes I was ready. My phone rang. It was the cab driver and I left. 

Nairobi is very cold in the wee hours of the morning. The wind was blowing hard and the cab windows had become all misty. I rubbed off a section of the misty windows and I stared into the dark as the Cab drove towards town.

Brad was waiting at the entrance of Braid Lounge. Music was still blasting out of the club. It was a few minutes to 6am but the club was still full. He came over and paid the cab driver and walked towards me and gave me a hug. His breath smelt minty  with a mixture of alcohol. I guess he was trying to sober up but clearly he was a little tipsy. 

Before we got into the club he told me not to cause a scene. He didn't want to piss off his friend. I agreed and we got in. He took me to a table overlooking the exit and told me to wait. I ordered a bottle of water. As I opened my bottle of water, I saw Stan staggering out of the club with a woman in his arms. They both looked tipsy. I was so furiated I clenched my fist so hard crushing my bottle of water and spilling it on me. That was the least of my problems. Why did this man disrespect me this much?

I got up to go and confront him but Brad popped in front of me." You promised me you wouldn't make a scene." "Its Ok, at least lemme see where they are going!" 

I walked out of the club tears rolling down my eyes. I still did not believe what I had seen. As I stepped out, I saw Stan's car pass buy, in the passenger's seat was the lady seated smiling with one leg on the dashboard. I had lost my Stan.