He kept eye contact but removed the gun from my hand, holstering it and returning that hand to my shoulder. He watched me intently and a deluge of emotions washed over his face. His eyebrows pinched together as if he was trying to fight something. Finally, his face relaxed then both his palms rounded my back and up my shoulders, fisting both my braids.
“They’re falling out,” I finally spoke.
“They always do at the end of the day,” he added, never breaking his stare, inches from my face.
My eyes closed when he pulled the bands holding both braids and they slipped off into his hands. His fingers deftly freed both plaits painfully slowly all the way to the top of my head. Finally, I felt his fingers sift through the length to the ends.
“It’s the favorite part of my day.”
My eyes opened lazily. “What do you mean?” I whispered.
“When you undo them and run your hands throughout the waves. That’s my favorite part of the day.”
I inhaled slowly through my nose to keep from falling over at that revelation.
“I thought you hated me,” I confessed.
He opened his mouth to answer, but we were startled from our proximity when the hand radio in the truck starting blaring incessantly.
“Dingane! Dingane!” we heard over and over.
“Shit,” he said, squeezing his eyes closed. “I forgot to tell them we’d be shooting off the gun.”
He ran toward the truck, leaving me there astounded by what just transpired between us.
The ride back to Masego was unbearably quiet, both content, it seemed, to revel in our own thoughts. My own were inundated with sifting through what had just happened. My eyes kept flitting between us and I found myself wishing we could finish what had barely gotten started.
“Karina’s pissed,” he said, startling me.
“Why?” I asked.
“I should have told her we’d be shooting off the gun. We scared her half to death.”
Guilt overwhelmed me. “I’ll have to apologize to her.”
“Why should you apologize?”
“Because I shot off the gun.”
“No, I’ll do all the apologizing. It was my fault.”
“I don’t think...” I began but was cut short by the sight of Karina standing just outside the fence, two fists settled stiffly against her hips. “Uh-oh.”
Dingane sighed loudly.
“I know, I know,” he said, exiting the truck and slamming the door. I followed suit.
“You two!” she said, storming over. I almost laughed out loud but stopped myself when I saw the expression on her face. Fear and sadness bathed it completely, sobering me. She grasped at her chest before reaching him and embraced Dingane with the fiercest hug imaginable. She waved me over and wrapped her arm around my neck. Both Dingane and I laid our hands on her back and stared at one another. We both felt so guilty.
“I’m sorry,” we said in unison then broke into laughter.
“We’re so sorry,” I told Karina.
She distanced herself a little and wiped at her eyes.
“I was preparing myself for the worst.” She audibly sighed. “I think Charles lost five years off his life. The whole family’s in an uproar.”
Guilt washed over us again. There was nothing to say.