He found her lying on her back, legs parted and bent on the knees. Her mouth was slightly ajar, her eyes half closed and her hands rested on her belly. She was a ravishing beauty this woman. She wasn’t slender – far from it. She leaned more on the plump side, with full lips, rising swollen breasts placed firmly on her chest and thighs that would make any man weep with lust. Contrary to what beauty standards dictate, she did not have a flat tummy. It had a small curve and her waist to hips ratio was mind blowing. He could see the silver glistening through her parted legs and felt his member rise unceremoniously from where he stood. The tiny rays of sunlight that stole their way through the closed curtains reflected on her flawless, brown naked skin, making her appear like the goddess she truly was. A sex goddess.
Her name was Anna and she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid his eyes on.
“Come in,” she said in that husky voice of hers that sounded like heaven to his ears. She still hadn’t opened her eyes. He wanted to ask her how she knew he was in the room but as usual his voice failed him. They had been together for six months and every single time they met it was like the first time. His voice always failed him. He’d never really gotten used to the idea that in those few hours they spent together she was his, probably never would. There was always the tiniest feeling of terror tagging at the pit of his stomach whenever she lay next to him, their naked bodies touching. The terror excited him and made him loathe himself at the same time. For he always felt that one day he would visit and she would refuse to open the door, telling him she never wanted to lay her eyes on him again. When? He asked himself every day. When was she going to get tired of him? Six months. It was the longest time she’d ever been with someone, she had confided to him one day as they lay on their backs staring at the ceiling and seeing nothing because it was night time and the house was dark. By someone he knew she meant men she slept with; men other than her husband. Men she used as tools of pleasure. For she was a married woman.
Anna was married to a general. An army general. Everyone in the village was scared of him although no one knew why exactly for he was the kindest of souls. Rumors flew around that he was a heartless man; that, that is how he had flown up the ranks at such a young age. Everyone talked of his fearlessness in such awe. Still, General Francis was that very well built man with a terrorizing face but a kind smile. He always had that smile on him. He was known countrywide and whenever he came home people stepped aside respectfully to let him pass and wave at his retreating car.
Unbelievable that His beautiful, sex goddess wife was the village whore.
Mark sat on the side of the bed, his trembling hand trailing her face softly. He still couldn’t trust his voice and he willed his eyes to stay glued to her face because if he allowed them to wonder to the rest of her body he knew he would lose himself. Already, his member was becoming painfully stiff. It always amazed him how as a man it didn’t matter how many naked female bodies he’d seen. He knew he would never get used to seeing them. His body reacted differently every time he saw a naked woman. Every single time. Even if it was seeing his wife Scarlet of ten years. That rush never wore off. A naked female body. God’s master piece. A master piece amongst some of the most beautifully amazing pieces of art. The female body took the crown.
“Don’t your workmates ever ask where you disappear to during these odd working hours?” she asked sweetly and his impressive third leg almost did a summersault.
“I am the headmaster, remember?” he tried to sound calm, but the shrill that came out disgusted him.
“Ohh, I forget. Of course you are the headmaster.” She said and chuckled quietly. He played along, as was expected of him.
“what’s so funny?” he asked, although he knew what was. He’d heard the joke a thousand times before. Because it amused her so much, then it made him happy too. Whatever it took to see those gorgeous teeth.
“Oh well, there was this boy in my high school – I went to a mixed high school by the way – who had an abnormally huge head. He always made people laugh for he was the class clown. I was the only one who saw through his sad self. Anyways, they nicknamed the boy HEADmaster,” she said with a faraway look and he couldn’t help wondering if she had slept with “headmaster” too. He pushed the thought to the furthest corner of his mind. Now was not the time.
“So, headmaster let’s assume I’m your student. I have been a bad student, sir and I want you to punish me. Let’s see how good your head game is, headmaster.”
* * * *
Frank opened the door to his huge house, scarlet (mark’s wife) in tow. Behind her were her two lovely daughters of 2 years. They looked nothing like their mother. Their mother was a simple, ordinary looking woman. But behind the simplicity lay a calculating, strong woman. A woman of extraordinary character, full of wisdom and who had made mark into what he was. She could make any man king, this one. She was tough as nails, withstanding Mark’s numerous affairs and scandals with his students. She had looked away for so long that her neck now had a permanent posture, literally.
She did not know why she was here. She had been going through her routine house chores when she suddenly saw a government Mercedes parked at the gate. Everyone knew the general. When he asked her to follow him, there was no way she could say no. she picked up her girls and here they were now.
Frank went to his bedroom. He had known about the affair for a while now. All along he had avoided asking any questions; about past or present affairs. He knew about them but he chose to keep quiet; engulfing himself instead in his already more than busy work schedule. He loved his work; he was ruthlessly efficient in it. His work performance was at 85% and the president loved him. The nation loved him. His village adored its son.
When mark started having an affair with his wife, he started studying scarlet, learning about her and the more he learnt the more he became endeared. He didn’t realize it at the time, but he had fallen in love with her.
He saw the terror in their eyes when he stepped into the room. He wasn’t scared of his wife or fazed by her beauty, something that irked Anna to no ends. He was a widely travelled man who had seen extremely beautiful women. Such a man knew and understood that physical beauty wasn’t the only thing that made a woman. If anything it didn’t matter to him at all. He could see mark shrinking under his very eyes and Francis smiled a hidden smile.
“Hallo lovebirds,” he said quietly with a slight smile. He was enjoying this.
“General,” mark stammered as he stared at Francis’s towering figure in full army regalia, his legs apart and arms folded on his chest. He started saying his final prayers, knowing without a doubt that his death was minutes away. He had wiggled through major storms in his lifetime and he realized now that there was no way he was going to get through this.
“Please don’t kill me, I have a wife and two little girls,” he whimpered miserably like a small puppy. It was a pitiful cry.
“Darling, it’s not what –” Anna begun but the look he gave her stopped her dead in her tracks. It was the glare of death. He looked at them for a while, enjoying their naked humiliation and letting them sweat under his gaze, uncertain of what would happen to them.
“Your wife and kids are outside this room. I want both of you to wrap yourselves in these towels and follow me,” he finally said.
“My what?” mark asked incredulously. He could already feel his knees giving way. Not scarlet. Please don’t let it be scarlet.
Francis who had been calm all along raised his hand in anger. He wanted to hit the son of a bitch so hard the piece of scum would go into a comma but he restrained himself. He handed them the towels and once they were done they all went to the living room. Francis took the rear.
Scarlet saw her husband and Anna naked with nothing but towels on and froze. What the actual hell? She almost asked aloud. She stood up, her mouth wide open.
“Mark! What is not happening here?” she asked disbelievingly although in her head she already knew what was happening. “I thought you said you were done with this!” she said gesturing with her hands widely. “This” referring to his philandering ways. Mark hung his head in shame and said nothing.
Francis urged them all to sit down, taking the kids outside to play in the huge compound. Then he went back to his bedroom.
When he came back he sat down slowly, taking his time. On his right hand was a huge mean looking rifle and on his left was a small thing that looked like a recorder. He pompously placed them on the table. Mark jumped in fear and Anna’s eyes grew wide.
“This is how this will play out,” he begun in a drool. “All of You know me. I am not a violent man. I am here in the name of peace. If we all do as I say, no one will get hurt. No one needs to.” He began fiddling with the rifle, pausing for dramatic effect. Again, Mark shuddered. This was it. This was his infamous last day on earth.
“Mwalimu, you have an amazing woman here with you. An amazing woman that you never really appreciate. Scarlet. She loves you. She has helped you rise from rags to riches. She has seen it all, humiliations, contempt, the occasional violence and yet she stayed put. Is that not so scarlet?”
Scarlet nodded, wondering how he knew all that.
“Do you love your wife, mark?” Francis asked suddenly and Mark looked on like a frightened boy.
“Answer me!” Francis thundered and mark flinched as if in pain. He nodded vigorously, tiny beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
“Say the words,” Francis said through clenched teeth.
“Yes general, I love my wife,” he avoided scarlet’s glare.
“yet, you skip classes every day, jump the fence to get into my house, risk the general’s wrath by lying with his wife in his bed –my bed– and get between my wife’s thighs (he threw her a dirty look, saying the word wife with so much venom it shocked them all). You risk all that to be with this woman. This woman who thinks about nothing but herself. This woman who never loved anyone. This woman who does not care for what is going on in her husband’s life. You risk all that for this woman, how can you say you love scarlet? So I’ll make work easier for all of us. You want Anna, you get Anna. From now on, she will be your wife. When you leave today, take her with you. You don’t have to get bruises jumping fences anymore. She is officially yours. Maybe, just maybe, she can satisfy the never ending hunger in your loins. From now on, scarlet will be my wife. Those beautiful angels of yours that you never have time for will officially be my daughters. When I leave here tomorrow, she’ll come with me. Wewe mwalimu huyu bibi yako humpendi. Humtaki. Mbona waishi naye. Muache. Muache nimchukue.”
“Surely, this is a joke?” Anna asked with a tremor in her voice. She had zero feelings for Mark. Plus, how would she live without all the glamour that came with being the general’s wife?
“General, maybe we can talk this out,” Mark blurted out, the panic in his chest rising. He was sure he was going to get a heart attack in the next few minutes.
Francis took the gun and corked it, staring at them all in turn. The message was loud and clear.
Scarlet looked around, breathing in for the first time, taking in all the fine things in the house. It was a beautiful house. She saw the government Mercedes parked outside together with the range rover and the xtrail that Anna used to drive herself around. She saw the huge compound with her daughters running around, laughing happily. Everyone knew the general was an extremely rich man. She took it all in. Finally she looked at the general in the face, observing him properly for the first time. She saw the kind eyes. The handsome face. Not handsome in a normal way. The general had a ruggedly ruthless handsome face. A face that screamed testosterone. She saw the anxious look on his face that he was trying to hide. Was he scared she would turn him and his crazy offer down? She lowered her face and smiled.
Finally, here was a king worth making.
