“What the hell was that?” I demanded. My head was still spinning, trying to take into consideration everything that I had seen this evening. We had since reached our apartment, which was actually quite nice, and had the most mirrors I had seen in one dwelling place.
There were mirrors everywhere. There were three large mirrors in the living room, and an assortment on the west wall, with different sizes and designs. The windows too were mirrored, basically, almost everywhere I looked, I could see my reflection.
“There’s something amiss in this town,” Chilufya said, as he carefully set his own mirror down on the mantelpiece.
“Do you just randomly carry a hand mirror around Chilu?” I asked, almost getting distraught.
“Only when I’m in Kitwe,” he responded enigmatically. He sighed and eased himself into the seatee.
I tried to say something but he waved me off, before closing his eyes. His brow furrowed, as if he was deeply concerned about something. I stood up to get to the room, I was sharing with Ketty. From the hallway, I could hear her arguing with Jerome.
“I just need to stay with you tonight, I’d feel more calm!” I could hear her whining.
“Ketty, you’ll stay with Mwangala, what’s the problem?” Jerome said, irritably.
“But I feel safe with you!” Ketty wailed pitifully. Jerome kept quiet for a long while. And then he suddenly burst out laughing.
“Ketty, don’t be silly,” he said, still chuckling.
Ketty didn’t respond, instead I heard her whimper pathetically, and eventually I heard a door close. It seemed like everyone was getting ready to call it a night, so I walked around the house, checking that everything was well. I stood in the kitchen, and gazed out the window pensively. The landscape was dotted with small bright lights, that I now knew were lanterns. A strong wind blew across the landscape, making the small potted plants on the window sill sway. I tutted my tongue and turned away with a sigh. We had two weeks in this city, and I had no idea what the next fourteen days would bring me. Shaking my head, I went to my room, where I found Ketty sleeping peacefully.
***
I was startled out of sleep by the sound of glass breaking. In a haste, I ran out of Ketty and myself’s room, leaving her tangled in a heap of sheets.
“what happened?” I asked, running into the hallway. I had to stop right in my tracks, to avoid cutting my bare feet on the shards of glass in the hallway. One of the mirrors had fallen from its frame, and standing in the midst of the debris, was Chilufya.
“Chilu, what happened?” I asked, incredulously.
“Evil forces are amongst us, Mwangala. Evil, evil forces,” he said cryptically.
The Loving Kind 