Man of Many Talents

by Adele Reynders

  Chapter 9

  "I am not used to getting so little sleep," Lana complained as she drove home with Henk the next morning. He was driving and she was leaning back against the seat, listening to music with her eyes closed.

  At home they climbed out, carrying the computer and walked to the front door. They could see vultures circling over the river. "Aah, we can still see the rest of the lion catch!" Henk exclaimed.

  "I thought you said the police was here last night to catch the squatter," Lana whispered when they could see nothing out of the ordinary at her house. She did not know exactly what to expect, but at least there were no broken windows.

  "They are here … somewhere. If the guy does not trespass, they cannot arrest him," Henk answered and unlocked the kitchen door.

  "But he is trespassing. He is squatting in your house without your permission. That is trespassing. And he is spying on me," She exclaimed disconcertedly.

  "For that alone he should get the death penalty," Henk teased her and switched on the kettle. He went about as if nothing was the matter and Lana felt very frustrated at his peaceful disposition.

  "What are we supposed to do now?" she asked him.

  "Now we are going to sit on the patio and watch the lions eat the buffalo carcass, and we are not even going to glance in the direction of that house."

  "I am going to look. I want to sit in such a way that I can peep over your shoulder."

  "You are not going to," he answered and pointed at the laptop. "Bring it with."

  "Okay, but I am bringing my binoculars as well and this time I am not only going to look at the lions."

  "Peeping Tom," he mocked her as he carried the tea mugs to the patio. "I have to admit, I would sacrifice my toothbrush for a look at the house."

  They sat down for a few moments while Lana glanced over his shoulder every now and then. Suddenly she inhaled sharply.

  "What?" he exclaimed and grabbed the binoculars. Lana burst out laughing.

  "I was only pulling your leg. There is absolutely nothing ... anybody."

  "Naughty girl." He relaxed again and stretched his legs out in front of him, holding the binoculars in front of his face. He pretended to look at the lions, but kept on turning his eyes in the direction of the house. Then he replaced the binoculars and grabbed his mug of tea. "I have a plan. The police reservists should be at their posts by now. Seeing that it is not our duty to catch the thug, we can go for a stroll. Finish your tea."

  "That sounds like a brilliant plan! We can walk past the house."

  "No, first we walk away from the house. Then we will turn around and come back."

  She quickly swallowed her tea and put the mug down on the table with a bang.

  "Okay, I am ready. Let's go."

  "Lana, wait, I am still busy drinking."

  "Hurry up!"

  He finished his tea at his own leisure and stood up. He took her hand in his own, and they started walking like two people in love going for a stroll. They walked away from her house, and away from the computer lying on the table on the patio.

  Every now and then they stopped to look at the ‘lions' in the riverbed, and once or twice Lana turned the binoculars slightly farther than what was necessary. Henk grabbed it from her and pulled her closer in an embrace.

  "You are naughty. You are not doing what the police requested from us and you should be punished," he whispered in her ear.

  "How?" she teased him.

  "Like this." He kissed her. It was a kiss to make the world come to a standstill. Her heart started beating nineteen to the dozen, and she felt as if she was experiencing an eclipse in her otherwise bright mind. She could not think of one single reason to stop kissing him. It was only when her arms reached up to cling to him, that she came to the realization that she was starting to lose control.

  "Henk, wait!" She was completely out of breath as she pushed him away. "Since when does one do this kind of thing in public, for everybody to look at?"

  "This is not in public, it is in nature." She could see that he was reluctant to let go of her, as his arms were still holding her as if in a vice grip. "And we do have something to celebrate. It is the six week anniversary of our meeting. We met six weeks ago, or to be precise, six weeks three days and two hours ago."

  "Only six weeks? That is much too soon for such a sticky embrace," she taunted him. It felt as if she had known him for much longer. "Besides that, are you not still waiting for the mother of your children to return to your arms?"

  "Even if she does return, I don't want her anymore. My goodness, Lana, she is married. Surely that is proof enough that she has made her choice and it wasn't me. Don't you think it is high time that I moved on with my life?"

  "I know very well that you should move on, but it is high time that you realize it, as well." She stroked his cheek, wishing he would kiss her as he did before. Suddenly she remembered what they were doing there and stood back. "Let us turn around."

  "Yes, let's do that."

  "Now I may look at the house." She stopped and lifted the binoculars in the direction of the lions and then she turned it towards her house. "Oh gosh!"

  "Is that a false alarm again?" he asked apprehensively.

  "No Henk, this is serious. The cheese has been taken." She passed the binoculars to him, and he turned it towards her house, to the patio where they had left the notebook.

  "The computer."

  "Yes, the cheese."

  "Lana, it was bait." Instead of running to see what could be done, he folded over in laughter. "The bait is gone. It was probably the forensic guys who remembered they still had something to research on the computer."

  "No! Look there." She pointed down the road, to where the men from last night were coming towards them with a stranger between them.

  "Here he is, Mr. Maritz. Your squatter. Would you like to make a case of trespassing? And Mrs. Steenekamp, was it your computer he took from the table while your attention was concentrated on a place elevated from this earth?"

  "Oh goodness," Henk groaned, wiped his hair and held his hands over his face. "We were actually in the public eye. I forgot about this lot."

  "Don't worry about it. The beginning of true love is always something beautiful to look at," the police officer mocked him. Then he asked in a serious tone of voice: Mrs. Steenekamp, does this computer belong to you?"

  "Yes, that computer belonged to my ex-husband and it has been in my possession for a while," she answered, still feeling embarrassed. It had felt as if the two of them were alone in the universe, never mind alone on earth. Earth was too small for all the feelings awoken inside of her, to feel so cherished in another person's arms. However, she pulled herself together and looked at the thief. "Why did you steal my computer?"

  "I can explain." The young man's face showed the pain from being held so tightly by the police officer. "I work for the Reserve Bank. Money has been laundered," He groaned through tight lips." I have to take the computer with me."

  "No, I am sorry, but you will have to fall in at the end of the queue. There are quite a few men who have gone to a lot of effort to see what is on there." Lana enjoyed bursting his bubble.

 

  "That was the end of life as we had known it up to now," Lana gestured dramatically while she attempted to light the fire in her new braai. Henk was sitting on the patio wall. He wasn't supposed to lift a finger to help, because she had invited him to the braai and he was the guest.

  "H'm, really. How come?" He stared at the fillet on the plate nearby and Lana could see that he was wondering if the marinade had made it soft enough for him to try to eat it in its raw state. He looked up at the clouds hanging over the earth, threatening to shower them with a welcome thunderstorm. Her new braai area was not under the thatched roof, but just outside in the open. She bent over the fire and tried to blow the only red coal to life.

  "The main character in the story is … dead. The police have all the evidence to return the victims' money with interes
t. In addition, you are thinking of renovating that house over there. That means that you will be my new neighbour." Lana tried to keep a light conversation going before she attempted blowing into the fire again, but suddenly the smoke turned towards her and it blew in her eyes. She jumped up. "Oops!"

  "Yip." Henk was shifting about and the frown between his beautiful green eyes increased by the second, but he had difficulty hiding his smile. "Please let me help you."

  "No! I am in control. Rather tell me what you are planning to do to improve your house. Up to where do your plot go? I hope you are not going to build a mansion like the one you have behind the centre. Whatever you do, try not obstructing my beautiful view."

  "I cannot do that, even if I wanted to, which I don't want."

  "That is a strange way of saying it, even if I wanted to, which I don't want," she echoed him and started blowing into the fire again. This time she was more careful.

  "There are two plots between yours and mine, and then there is a piece of parkland in between as well. Have you never looked at the map?" He stood up. "Come on, Lana, admit it. You are not able to get the fire going. Let me help you. Or would you rather cook that piece of meat on the stove for us?"

  "If I don't manage, you won't either. Then the wood must be wet."

  "The wood is not wet," he answered firmly. "Sit down on that chair and watch an expert making fire."

  Before long he had a cozy fire going.

  "Are you waiting for the standing ovation?" she grumbled.

  "No, I know that making a fire is more a man-thing. I could make a fire since I was this tall." He held his hand about twenty centimeters from the ground.

  "That is impossible. When I was that big, I hadn't even been born yet."

  "Well, what can I say? I am a genius!" He answered smugly. "I just hope we can braai the meat before the rain soaks everything."

  "Henk, what part of tonight's program don't you understand? I invited you, and I am braaiing the meat," Lana exclaimed.

  "Okay." He stood up and walked to his car. He returned with a brown paper bag full of dried worse, which he placed on the table after picking a nice long piece to chew on. When he saw the angry look in her eyes he stopped chewing. "What does that expression mean? It is only a starter!"

  "I suppose you mean that a man does not go to war without a gun." She stood in front of him. "You are worried that I am not going to feed you. You think that I am a pathetic housewife!"

  "Never!"

  "What is the meaning of this, then?" She pointed at the brown paper bag.

  "I felt like having some dried wors and I brought it for both of us. Are you upset with me?" he asked worriedly.

  "No, I am going to fetch the salad. Just beware if you do not finish all of this meat. You are busy spoiling your appetite and I have gone to a lot of effort to prepare our meal ..."

  Before she could turn around again in the kitchen he was with her and he enfolded her in a tight embrace.

  "You will see, I am a Boerseun. Nothing can spoil my appetite." The next moment his lips were resting on her own. A while later he lifted his head and whispered, "I adore you. I love the food you have prepared for us. I love everything, as long as I can do it with you. Thank you for everything you have done today." Then he kissed her again.

  "Don't stop saying thank you and don't stop kissing me," she whispered, clasping him around his neck. The next moment he uttered a swear word and ran out onto the patio, with Lana in close pursuit.

  "What is going on?" she asked and felt her heart beating faster from fright. Her legs threatened to collapse under her and she realized it was not only from the fright.

  "Hyena! Look, there he is still waiting. We were just in time to stop him from grabbing the fillet from the table. Go away, you scavenger. This food is for gourmets."

  After that close encounter Henk ignored everything; nature, scavengers and a hard-headed woman. He cooked the meat. Lana knew she had lost the battle and gave up. Perhaps there were a few things a man could do better than a woman.

  Just as Henk removed the meat from the braai, the heavens opened and the rain poured down in buckets full.

  "We are going to say thanks for the rain and the good food." At the little dining room table Henk enclosed both her hands in his own. His expression became serious as he said grace.

  They sat down close together and Lana could feel his knee against her own. After a while he pushed his foot in underneath hers. In the meantime he was holding on to her hand. She was enjoying the cozy intimacy between the two of them, and she wished that the evening would never end.

  "Thank you for the wonderful meal, my darling." Henk kissed her on her mouth before she stood up to take the plates away.

  "In the end you cooked it, my angel." She uttered the words, and she meant it. This man had entered into her life like an angel. "Dessert?"

  "It feels as if you are spoiling me and I am overeating," he declared as she placed the plates of lemon meringue on the table, but he started eating immediately.

  "Another piece of lemon meringue or coffee?" she asked. She gave up after the third bite and stood up to take the dishes to the sink.

  "No, thank you. If I eat another bite, I am going to burst. And if I don't get up now, I am going to melt into this chair." Henk stood up, stretched his muscles and looked out the sliding door. "I am glad I decided to sleep here tonight. It is always a sight to see the Crocodile in flood after such a rain storm."

  "Sleep here?" Lana exclaimed in surprise. She nearly dropped the dessert plates. "Do you think … that is a good idea?"

  "An excellent idea. I am expecting a builder tomorrow morning at eight, and then I am here already. I packed a few pieces of clothes."

  "Would you like to have some hot chocolate before we turn in?" Lana did not wait to hear his answer. She switched the kettle on. In the meantime her mind was racing. How would she get the message across to Henk that he couldn't just assume that he could sleep over? The night he fell asleep on the couch was an exception.

  She made the hot chocolate and sat down opposite him.

  "Thanks. He looked around. "Don't you have a TV?"

  "Yes, in that cupboard. Is there anything specific you would like to watch?"

  "Usually only the weather report. I am always interested to see what percentage chance we have of rain, and to see if it happens." When he finished his hot chocolate Lana realized that for the first time since she had known him, she was feeling uncomfortable. She did not like the idea of the man taking her for granted.

  "Well, it seems as if it will be raining all night." Henk stood up as she put her mug down. "Shall we turn in? Tomorrow we have to get up early."

  "H'm, Henk …" she started to say.

  "Looks like the rain has stopped for a while." He gave her a peck on the lips and walked to the door. "See you tomorrow. I suppose my car will be okay next to the Nissan in their cage."

  He switched on a pocket flashlight and started running to the house next door. Halfway there he stopped and turned around to blow her another kiss. He was oblivious to the turmoil he had caused in her tonight.

  Sleep here! It had slipped her mind that he had his own home ‘here', and she was grateful that he did not know what was going through her head for those few moments, because she was ready to give up her principles. She had often wondered what it would feel like to fall asleep in his arms, but she knew that the time was not ripe yet. It was still too soon.