The Last Dance (A Flash Fiction)

Clara tapped on the play button in her IPhone 6 music interface and the soft melodious mambo came on, filling the entire air with Romance. She tried to stand on her toe with her left leg and kick the right leg to the back, intending to spread her hands afterwards like a ballet would often do but then, she wasn't a ballet and she couldn't possibly stand on her toes. She had been at it for 2 days now but to her, it felt like ages.
She knew how to dance and rock her body whichever way she wanted to but she also wanted to learn a new way to dance. It meant nothing to her but she thought it meant a lot to Jason. Her newly found prince charming. Two days of breaking her toe nail and nearly cracking her leg bones in an effort to learn a new way to please him.

She hadn't been long in her new neighborhood when she met him. She had accompanied her elder brother to buy bread for breakfast at a nearby store. It was quite easy. Go to the store, make your order over the counter, grab your loaf of bread, pay and go home. It was going to be just like that if Patrick hadn't seen a pretty girl he fell in love with at first sight, like he always did each time he saw a pretty girl and it was all the time. Her company was to make him bring the bread home quicker but it hardly helped.

He had left her standing there and walked over to the girl. Things moved so fast, he told her he was going to walk just a few distance with the new girl and come back for her. He didn't keep the promise and she had to go looking for him. She was new to the neighborhood and everything was new to her, she didn't have a difficult time getting lost. She just did it before it even occurred to her that she might get lost. She had no phone on her and communication wasn't anyway near. She did a bit of roaming and when she got tired, she stood at a point and had gasped out a 'damn you Patrick'. She had gotten a reply almost immediately. Only that the voice wasn't that of her 20 year old brother. It sounded younger and she had thought it was better. She had turned to the voice and she couldn't quite forget the tingle that ran down her spine the moment her face accosted that of Jason Okafor. Jason too never really forgot the way his heart had trippled its beat the moment he set eyes on her. The shock expression on her beautiful innocent face, the way her eyes blinked rapidly and how her lashes flapped like the wings of a beautiful bird. Her breast standing firm and shooting their tops out of the neck of her pink blouse. Her rich black low cut hair and her light skin all got to him in a way he could never explain. Her pink little mouth struck him sick with wanting to kiss her right there. He had to shake himself out of his day dream and repeat his question..

"I asked if you were lost," he had repeated, snapping her out of her awestruck moment. She took in his shinning chocolate complexion, his bushy eyebrows and smiling eyes with one look and fell in love with them. She heard the question but had never believed how difficult it could be to give out a simple answer.
"No, I mean yes I am lost," she had stammered difficultly and he iced her nervousness with a smile that froze her pounding heart.
"Its okay, what's your number?" he had asked and she had hushed herself from spilling out her mobile number to him. She had to be sure he was asking for it, she had fallen helplessly but nevertheless, she wouldn't want to appear so.
"What?" she had asked and he threw her a new style of smile that was even more effective than the first.
"I meant, what's your house number?"
"Oh, 39," she replied with a blush.

He had walked her to their new house that day. He left her at their gate, taking with him, her name and mobile number, her heart too and leaving her with his name and a promise to come and pick her in the evening, to show her the rest of the neighborhood.

She had ran into the house, her heart leaping to the promise of what might be her first love story. She only remembered she was out with Patrick when he met him in their sitting room, smiling mischievously at her while her parents eyed her with anger in their various eyes. She was roasted for being the bad one and Patrick the dutiful one. She didn't complain or try to. She was just to excited to do that. She was 18 and felt something heavy and interesting was coming her way.

The evening of that eventful day was the next big thing in her life after her secondary school graduation party. He had held her hand and walked her all through the neighborhood and showed her the places she should know ordinarily. And when he introduced her to his friends as his love at first sight without her permission, she was way over herself with excitement which she tried so hard to conceal but her pretty eyes had to just show it.
None of them tried to deny that she was beautiful. She looked like a Sunday creation and it was very easy to fall for her. All she had to was blink twice and you are on your knees, begging for mercy. A smile from her would freeze any heart.
They had asked if she could dance and Jason shook his head. Saying they hadn't tried. The rest of the evening was the best of all the evenings in her life and when he had kissed her on the lips for a goodnight, her whole body woke with a kind of desire she had never felt before.

Now, she would have to learn every single dance step the world had ever known and she would unleash them on him. She stood before her mirror, twerking to the next hip hop song that had come up on her phone. Her figure was sexy and it wasn't so hard to make a dance out of it or to make her curved out backside shake. Her waist was elastic in a sort and moving it wasn't so hard for her. She could dance and she was going to show it to Jason.

"Oh my, you are so beautiful," He murmured as she let him hug her. She knew from the way she had admired herself in her mirror and the sleek pink gown that hugged her body, she just knew that she was beautiful in it but she was worried she wouldn't be beautiful enough for him and when he made that comment, she was thrilled. She buried herself deep into his arms and closed her eyes. Her body spelt the word 'PEACE' out and she was in love. He led her through the richly furnished sitting room to the stairs. He laid back on the handrails and brought her closer, sealing her trembling mouth shut with his lips. She wound her arms round his neck and he slid his down to her well defined hips and they kissed like they just discovered it, both their eyes shut and struggling for each other's lips. When they ran out of breath, he lifted her off the ground and took her upstairs to his room. He gently laid her on the cosy mattress and ran to his fridge.

"I don't want anything, just come here," she ordered. He obeyed and shut the fridge. He fell into her waiting arms and they smooched on the soft mattress, the air filled with sweet flavors from the air refresher he had just bought added a spice to their Romance. She would forever reminisce of that moment every time she heard that scent.
"Let's dance," she had asked him amidst the kisses and he stopped. He looked her in the eyes with a smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Really, you want to dance?" he asked and she nodded. She didn't wait for him to speak again, she stood from the bed, feverish with excitement and ran to the sound system in the room. She flicked it on and the room was drowned in sweet melodies, one that got to her brain. She pulled him from the bed and fell into his arms. The held each other and swayed slowly to the rhythm of the song. For the over three minutes the song played, they both shut their eyes and danced slowly to it, loving every drop of it. And then the track ended and she stopped.

"Is that all?" he asked and she shook her head. She was going to show him more. She changed the song to a loud hip hop and backed him. She rubbed her backside against his crotch and made it jiggle independently without even making much movement. His body tensed and he felt the sensation envelope him, he closed his eyes and bit his lips lightly. The bass speakers throbbed and her buttocks flowed to its rhythm, hitting him hard in the crotch and raising more sensations. She turned to face him and dropped her hand on his shoulder, pulling him closer to her. They stood chest to chest as he felt her firm nipples burning against his chest. She danced to a stoop and stood with equal agility, brushing him hard with her rock hard breasts. He grabbed her by the bum and caught her lips with his. He kissed her out of breath and took her to bed, she let him.
"I am a virgin," she declared amidst the excitement and saw the fire in his eyes die slowly. He stopped his advances and knelt on the bed, staring down at her. He never thought of it, she had rocked him so perfectly well, something that not all virgins could do.
"Really?" he had managed to ask. She nodded slightly and held his hand.
"Not that I don't want you to do it, I'm just scared of the pain," she confessed with an innocent look he had never seen before. It made him weak and his desire for her only peaked. He collapsed beside her and together they stared up at the ceiling, following the rotation of the ceiling fan with their eyes.
"I love you," she murmured and snuggled closer to him. He held her and kissed her forehead.
"I love you too," he whispered into her ear. She grabbed him with excitement and kissed him deeply.

"Let's do it," she said, locking his eyes with hers. He bit his lips and pulled her down to his chest.
"Are you sure?" he had asked and she nodded. He had helped her undress, running his fingers through her smooth skin, etching into her body, a tingling sensation that made her close her eyes. He stripped down to his inner wear and lay on her naked body, kissing her lips and rubbing his skin against hers. He went into her slowly while she savored the pain and the pleasure. She tried to shut out the pain but it seemed impossible as the pain grew for every inch deep he went in.
"Wait," she moaned and opened her eyes. He stopped and propped himself up with his elbow.
"Let me climb you, that way I can move at my own pace and it will help me control the pain."
He obliged her and they switched position. She mounted him and moved slowly but steady. They both shut their eyes as she damned the pain and rode him faster, oblivious of the blood that tickled out of her wet vulva.

He kissed her over and over again as she shyed away from his passionate gazes.
"Do you hate me?" he had asked and she shot her beautiful eyes at him.
"Why would I hate you?"
"Because of this," he said, referring to their act of intimacy.
"I love you more now," she whispered and got showered with bouts of kisses from him.

He walked her home, his hand gripping hers as they strolled. The sun was running down west at 5:30 pm. He would rub her hand gently each time and she would let out a soft laughter. She was in love and fulfilled.
They met his friends where they always meet. They had watched them approaching, hand in hand and in love. Her face was bright like the mid morning sun and they had all liked the way she looked.

"Hello guys," he had greeted and shook their hands one after the other. They each threw her a hello and a flirty look. She blushed and grabbed his hand more.
"Did you guys dance?" one of his friends asked and he nodded. She smiled shyly.
"Was she good?"
"She was brilliant and sweet and she was the best too," he announced and everyone threw her a look. They had each wanted her.
They left them and walked on to her house. They stood some meters away from the entrance and faced each other.
"I love you a million folds," he confessed and she giggled. He saw the innocence in her eyes and loved her more. She was a sweet beautiful girl. He completed the confession with a kiss which was interrupted by Patrick.
"You two have tried, you can now go home while I escort her inside," he said and grabbed her hand. He bade her goodnight and flew her a kiss, one that she returned with her lips and her eyes. Away from the prying eyes of her elder brother.

She woke very late the next day all excited with the thrill of a new love, one totally different from the ones she had been involved in during her secondary school days. She went through her phone and found his message waiting unread.

"Good morning beautiful, how was your night? I miss you here already."
She smiled and texted him back.
"My night was warm with the thought of you. I miss you more."

She dragged herself up from the bed and into her bathroom, cleaned up and came out. She had just changed to her blue gown when her brother badged into her room without a knock.
"Dad wants to see you right now," he announced in a way that made her blood rush. She assumed she was in trouble and paused on reprimanding Patrick for walking into her room like that.
"Do you know why?" she asked with her heart in her mouth.
"Not really but I think he saw you with your pretty boy yesterday."
He saw the fear hover over her pretty face and shook his head.
"You had better hurry up and see him, I don't understand his mood this morning."

She said a little prayer in her mind and walked down the stairs to the parlor where her father stood, obviously waiting for her.
"Dad?" she called slowly, he turned to her with a little frown on his face.
"Good morning sir," she greeted and he nodded.
"How are you dear?"
"I am fine sir," she replied and relaxed. She was glad he added a dear to that.
"Where is Patrick? Thought I told him to come and get me something?" he asked, looking up the stairs. It then dawned on her that she had fallen to another of her brother's many tricks. She moved back and made to run up the stairs.
"I will call him," she said.
"Don't worry, maybe you can even do it better than him," he called her back and she stopped, a trifle disappointed.
"It's just some drugs, I think I saw a chemist shop down the road yesterday. It's not that far."

She ran up the stair with the money for the drugs and ran into her brother's room. She met him brushing his Jean trouser.
"For your mind you are smart abi?" she asked and he grinned in reply.
"I don't have the time to be looking for any chemist shop. I'v got a date."
"With who? That girl?" she asked.
"Which girl?" he asked with a frown.
"How many girls do the two of us know here? The one you left me for the other day. The cute girl one."
"Oh, not her. This new girl, she's cuter than that one and she's invited me for a dance," he said with a wide grin.
"It's like all they do here is dance," she murmured.
"Have you danced with your pretty boy?" he asked and pulled his black body hug polo from the wardrobe.
"Yea, yesterday. I wonder what's so special about it," she murmured. Patrick let out a scoff.
"Did he dance good?" he asked.
"Maybe but I rocked him hard. You should have seen me," she said excitedly. Patrick sat on the bed and broke into a laugh.
"What's funny?" she asked.
"Nothing really, I thought you were a virgin?"
"What has that got to do with dancing?" she asked, looking at his naughty brother. He stood up from the bed and pulled his bedside drawer.
"You are too naive for my liking," he said and picked a condom from the drawer. "You shouldn't be like that when you have someone like me around. You are very beautiful and shouldn't let this guys play with you."
"Patrick what type of dance do you do with a condom?" she asked, staring at the shinning sachet in his hands and not wanting to discuss her affairs with her randy brother.

"See why I said you were naive. A dance in this neighborhood is not the regular dance you know in our former neighborhood," he explained. It was then that she understood the whole dance thing. She then understood why he had asked her that question, "Really, you want to dance." she came to understand why he was more in a hurry to get her to bed than he was to switch on the stereo.

She ran out of the room and into the street, blind with rage. She had been played, that was how she saw it all. Her flip-flops clapped on the asphalt as she made her way over to his house. She was mad as it was.

She met him halfway to their house. He was with two of his friends. Maybe he was telling them about the dance, she thought. Just maybe.
"Sweetheart," he called on seeing her. She ignored him and gave him a light shove on the chest, ignoring those around him.

"What was that dance you and your silly friends were always blabbing about, huh?" she yelled and he thought she looked even more appealing as she was angry.
"Baby, what are you talking about?" he asked, confused and shocked with the way she had pushed him.
"Do not baby me you slimy bastard. So that was the dance and it was all you had cared about right?" she asked, getting madder by the second.
"Sweetheart, if only you could calm down and make me understand," he pleaded, trying to hold her hands. She slipped them away and landed him a slap on the cheek. He flinched and the boys around bit their lips.
"I don't want to ever see you again!" she yelled and walked out on him while he watched helplessly.

"She slapped you and you let her go like that?" one of the guys said.
"Shut up," he blasted him and walked out on them.

He spent the rest of the day blowing up her phone and having her cut it each time. She spent her own rest of the day, crying and getting angry at everything, her own naivety inclusive. She was mad at the way she had smiled when he praised her in front of his friends for being a good dancer. If only she had known what they meant by dancing. Most of all, she was sad that she was going to let him go. She loved him despite what he had done.

Patrick barged into her room like he always did, without knocking. She hid her face from him. She didn't want him to know that she had been crying.
"Your pretty boy is asking for you downstairs," he announced and turned to leave.
"I don't want to see him," she muttered and sniffed. He observed the tear in her voice and turned to her.
"What is wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing, tell him to go, I don't want to see him."
He crept into her bed and pulled her to himself against her protests.
"Did he do something to upset you?" he asked. She shook her head and her anger transfered to him. How could he not have noticed her countenance when he started the dance thing in the morning?
"Was it that dance?" he asked all of a sudden and she kept mute, burying her head in his chest.

"Oh, poor you, you thought the dance was just dance? And now you think he used you?" he asked and she found herself nodding against her will. Patrick was her only brother and her only confidant too.
"I think he loves you, everybody loves you and I doubt if he would have wanted to use you against your wish," he said and it made her feel better to assume that he actually loved her and not the dance. Then Patrick capped it with his usual jerky trait.

"Go and meet him there. Dad will soon be back and meet him there. Then you will cry the real cry."
He pulled her up and wiped her face. He let her walk out to him alone. Since she was already dancing, then she is old enough to handle her own problems, he thought.

She met him outside their gate. She felt an urge to run into his arms and stay there for the rest of the evening.
"Just go, leave me alone," she found herself saying.
"I am sorry Clara. I care about you and not that stupid dance of a thing," he confessed.
"Stop calling it a dance because it's not. You deceived me and bragged to your friends about it. I hate you so much."
He stared at her lacking the words to express himself. He loved her and wouldn't have slept with her if she hadn't wanted it but he was ready to take the blames.

"Just go and don't come looking for me again," she said with a tone of finality and walked into the house ignoring his calls.

The next fears days were spent by them trying to heal their hearts. She wanted to get back at him someway, to make him feel the hurt she felt. They never got to see each other again for a while until she had walked out one afternoon to get tomatoes for her mother. He was with his friend and one other girl. The girl was with his friend obviously. Her heart missed a beat when he saw his handsome face approaching from the other end. Jason's heart had skipped also when he saw her. She looked more beautiful than ever. He was going to smile at her if they got closer but she had deliberately avoided his eyes and locked it on his friend.

"Clara," Evans called her and she smiled at him. With the corner of her eyes, she watched the shadow pass over Jason's eyes. It thrilled her a bit.
"How are you Evans? Are you going to dance?" she had asked, shocking Jason and bringing up an uneasy smile from Evans. She only smiled back and trotted away.

She got a call from Jason an hour later. He begged over and over again. She was so beautiful that he didn't want to let go. She dropped the call on him, a thing that killed him. He lay on his bed mourning his loss and being angry at her for being so mean. He heard a knock on his door and barked a come in. The door opened slowly and he watched her come in, thrilled and his heart hammering at the same time. He jumped from his bed and sat up.

"Clara?" he called. She walked up to him on the bed and sat beside him.
"I am really sorry for everything," he started and she hushed him.
"Can we dance again?" she asked.
"Yes, I have a new music in my phone and I know a dance," he said excitedly.
"Shut up, I was talking about the other dance. I want it," she said and kissed him. He felt feverish with passion and held onto her.
"I love you so much," he muttered.
"I love you too."
He pulled off his top and held her. She stopped him.
"But on one condition," she said.
"What condition?"
"It will be the last one."
He nodded with a cute smile that made her heart throb.
"Let's have our last dance, one that will keep us together forever."