Kiini Salaam - Ancient, Ancient

“no,” i say with sigh big. “you know dance merengue & salsa?”

“i do,” him say & hold me his hand out again.

i smile & take hand. him take me to floor dance. we fit in space tiny in floor middle. with wink in him eye, george begin the sway. we glide back & front on salsa beat, i think what kind assignment george be. will he be many work or many play? feel like play. i smile big. i close me eyes & listen to salsero song. before leave dance floor, i wipe hand on back of neck wet george. i rub me lips on hand, lick me lips & taste wet george. hunt begin.

After that dance, WaLiLa drank nothing. She wanted no liquids to dilute the tingle of George’s sweat on her tongue. That night, she lay down in her bed & tapped her chest. She touched her finger to the tingling spot on her tongue & transferred the tingle to her chest. She offered the taste as a trail, a scent that her hunterself could use to track George to his home. She freed her hunterself & watched her fly through the slanted glass slats left open for this purpose. WaLiLa closed her eyes & passed all of her energy over to her hunterself. She felt a cool breeze on her face as her hunterself sped through the air in the direction of the sparks that matched the tingling of George’s sweat. The further away WaLiLa’s hunterself flew, the weaker WaLiLa became. Eventually, she slid into unconsciousness. Her hunterself didn’t return until morning. She came back breathless & cold. I’m sorry Lila , she motioned. I couldn’t find him. He is too far away. She settled herself into the hollow of WaLiLa’s shoulder blade. I am sorry he is too far. Too far away.

air night feel good to me shoulders naked. me & malkai dance to beat merengue. malkai spin me half circle. i can see d.j. i smile to d.j., i want to him—song nice play me. i feel hand malkai on me waist. he spin me in circle again. over shoulder malkai, me eyes see george. i close eyes slow & smile.

“he me assignment,” i whisper malkai.

“ he is my assignment,” malkai correct me. “he will not be your assignment for long if you do not speak correctly.”

“what mean you?”

“what do i mean? i mean he is going to see straight through you.”

“see straight through me?” i ask. i look down & see me body. it still there. it no leave.

“no,” laugh malkai, “not literally. it is a phrase. it means he will know that you are hiding something, that you are not who you say you are.”

“you no worry on that. humans too separate. they not like people from places other, they not take time to know. they no even know people language in places other. i can say i from part different in haiti & he not know difference.”

“so you got the haitian?”

“yeah.”

we spin circle, malkai look better.

“he looks pretty easy.”

“yeah, who you assignment?”

“who is my assignment? i do not know. i have not found her yet.”

“you lucky.”

“lucky, my ass. i am ready to get the hell out of here. i only have two more jobs until i have completed my field requirements. i am going to be upset if it takes me a year to find this assignment.”

song end & we go to chairs. i feel touch soft on me shoulder, & i turn to it.

“hi, george,” i say name george for ear malkai.

“hi, walila, would you like to dance?”

i take hand george after give look & wink to malkai. on floor dance we find space empty. i fit self in arms george, he whisper in me ear,

“i like what i see.”

“and, what see you?” i smile, i like game.

“i see a beautiful woman.”

george feel me body get straight & he get confused.

“what’s wrong?” he asks.

“i am sorry, i not want to give you wrong think, but i not plan on making intimate to you.”

me hunterself say words with me. she know them by heart. we must practice them times many before. elders teach us it. they think to protect us. they not want us give assignment wrong think—assignment feel anger when discover we not them belonging. i have plan many to make intimate to george, but i not tell him. i not have to, george make me job easy.

“está bien, está bien. i can respect that. i just like the vibe i get from you. i would really like to be your friend.”

we go to bar. he buy piña colada to me & rum to him. me think it good time to get background.

WaLiLa closed her eyes for what seemed to George to be a split second. When she opened them they had changed. They were warm & glowing & their brownness seemed infinite. Staring into them, George felt the weight of life & gravity lifting off his body. His torso raised from its usual cool, suave slouch into a straight-spined, erect position. His chest cavity expanded as his heart opened valves, corridors, & veins to WaLiLa. He thought WaLiLa to be a kindred spirit, someone with a deep understanding of his inner self. He didn’t think it was the eyes. Those large probing eyes, wet with seeking, silently waiting at attention for any bit of information to come their way.

“I’m really making good friends with Patrice…” he began. & when he spoke, he almost had to check to see if the sound waves reverberating against his ear drums were actually his, for the talking took no effort. He didn’t have to send his messenger neurons scampering to his brain with the command to speak. His mouth flew open on its own. The words that passed his lips came directly from his heart. They did not pass the rigorous obstacle course through which he passed all his lines when meeting a new woman. The eyes were freeing him. In front of them, he disrobed his protective layers & spoke plainly.

“…I’ve had hundreds of women, hundreds…” WaLiLa appeared to be simply smiling & nodding her head. While her fingers were busy fiddling with her drink, WaLiLa had actually connected herself to the elders. Her eyes worked to ease George into a lulled state of consciousness. One that would allow him to open himself without fear or misgivings. George felt like he was having a spiritual experience. & he was right, he was. Standing there was not simply another soul working the room for love & sexual fulfillment. Standing there was a channel. Through WaLiLa his thoughts, his very being, was flung out into the cosmos. He was transcending his plane, transcending even WaLiLa’s plane, & communing with the elders—his ancestors—& it felt good.

“I must tell you a secret. I’m married. My wife’s in Canada. I’m under a lot of stress because I want to divorce her. I was way too young when we married…” Actually, WaLiLa was a bit more than a channel, she was a filter. She took George’s words & distilled them to their core meaning, their essence. With that essence, the elders would know exactly how to proceed. Everything George said to WaLiLa, to the cosmos through WaLiLa, could be simplified into one phrase— I am a lonely man .

“But you must not tell my friends.” With this information it would be easy for WaLiLa to get in. It would be easy for her to give the healing touch.

“george,” patrice say. “i’m bored, let’s go.”

george nod at patrice. me he turn to, “oh, walila, we’re going to ambi’s, you want to come?”

“no, money i not have.”

“that’s not a problem, i’ll pay.”

me hunterself jump up & down, do it, do it, do it.