The Antelope's Journey

14. Goodbye, Jim

Betty had been in her lonely house for a few days now. She had been thinking again. She wondered why she did not get washed into the delusion like the others. Possibly things would have been easier for her. Maybe it would have been easier to watch Mbali with another lover. However, she only maintained her reality. What was so different about her? Constantly, her mind shifted to Mbali again and again. She knew that the full moon was close. And on the full moon, the doors closed and they wouldn’t be able to leave that place anymore.

“Francina…”

The girl turned back and saw Betty by the door with her. “Hi, do I know you?”

“I live just next door, that house,” Betty pointed to her house, which was right next door.

“Hhm, I never thought anyone lived there.”

“I’m a friend of your mother.”

“Ow, you’re here to see her? You can come in,” she opened the door wide. “I just came from my best friend, myself. He’s recovering from surgery—I’m so excited. He’s gonna be walking and jumping around again. And we’ll finally get to do all those things we couldn’t do back when he was sick. And I think he has a crush on me. Do you think he has a crush on me? Have a sit, I’ll go call up my mother.” She went up the stairs.

Mbali descended a short while later. She immediately got furious in seeing Betty there. She started cursing her out—

“Wait, wait,” Betty had begun pressuring Mbali into looking at her wedding photos. “Do you remember anything about this?” Betty went on to take Mbali’s hand and revealed the tattoo on her inner wrist, “How did you get this tattoo? Do you even remember where you gave birth to that damn old child?!”

Mbali was puzzling in her mind, her thoughts were racing and this other woman’s voice was getting even louder. “Stop!” like that, she started shoving her out again. Betty would not easily move this time. Ow, she tried standing still and resistant against her push. “Mbali, please! The full is in less than 24hours!”

Mbali had managed ridding her ‘lunatic’ neighbour out of her house. However, the words did come back at her at night. She found herself ruminating over what Betty had said. She had the wedding photo in her hand, she tried making out a vision of the captured memory. Nothing came out. Instead, she found herself creating her own memories. She went to bed to sleep it off. Maybe the next day might be a better day.

Betty was out of her wits at this point. She was standing at Mbali’s gate outside that night. Seeing the moon very close to filling up, made her jittery. She stood looking at the light switch off from the different windows of Mbali’s home. Betty could not keep her eyes off the moon. Come on please. Please, slow down, moon. What am I going to do? Because I know for a fact, that I’m not leaving without you, Mbali. Fight through the illusion.

……….

Mbali would toss and turn. This was beginning to worry her husband, laying next to her. She would have snippets of visions. It was what seemed like her previous life with Betty, in their varsity years. She did not sleep a wink that night. In fact, she woke up and got packing as soon as the husband left for work. Francina had been trying to get through her mom—

“I am not your mom!” she reminded her again. “And I told you to get packing, we are getting out of here. We have little time!”

“I,” Francina had her arms folded, she stood chickly at the woman’s door, “am not going anywhere without dad.”

“Fine, suit yourself,” Mbali swung the bag over her shoulder and let it hang there. She whooshed past Francina and tromped all the way downstairs. Francina chased after the woman and slammed the door closed before anyone could walk out. This shocked Mbali, she could almost predict aggression. “Francina! Listen,” she had grasped Francina’s elbows, her eyes locked with hers and she played emotions on her face while she talked, “this is not real. You have to snap out of it. That man, you call your father, I don’t know him. And I do not have a child. You don’t have any family—”

“I have a family!” Francina had tears blurring her eyes. “I have a mother, and I have a father! They love…me. I d—I don’t have a fam—” she broke into tears and wailed bitterly. Mbali tried catching her but she gently suspended herself on the floor. Mbali never thought she’d see this side of the aloof girl. Her pain was deeply felt.

They took Betty with them, and she showed them where Jim was. He was at the big company owned by himself and his twin brother. His twin brother was the supposed father of Francina and husband to Mbali. Jim had found his twin brother and they finally had a life of luxury—they had a big company and each with a happy life. It was only now that Francina saw the resemblance between the two but only, Jim had no scar on his forehead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, ladies. And I don’t know any of you,” Jim said for the last time, and then he proceeded to call security on them.

They had gone there in hopes to try and awaken Jim as well, but Jim refused to wake from his delusion. Jim had all he wanted in this particular world; he had his twin brother back and he had his own successful company. All seemed well for Jim, and so, on his right, why would he leave that place and go be stuck in some miserable part of the game? If he had to be stuck, that was the place he chose for himself.

………

“We couldn’t get through to Jim,” Betty was relaying the news to Kamo and Kali. Kali held tight to his monkey. He did not want it getting distracted and falling off his shoulder. A portal was open on the street and they just had to jump in. Mbali was very worried, she wanted to turn back and try Jim one more time. Betty would not let her. “He’s not our friend. He is her friend, let her go get him,” Betty said, referring to Francina. However, Francina did not bother. She proceeded to jump into the portal next to her. The portal was sizing down, for the full moon had come.