The Makings of Mariam - A Novella

First Excerpt:


The moment Eli set his eyes on Mariam she felt her lips quiver. Of course, no one could see this, but Mariam felt the quiver and immediately crossed her legs. She thought if she left her legs a part she would shamelessly part them for him in front of everyone. She stared at him as he walked towards her and she didn’t cut her stare. For each step he took towards her, she felt her heart beating faster, body getting warmer, and her panties getting wetter. She hoped that he would take a turn and walk left or right of her, but he stopped right in front of her and said “why is such a pretty girl sitting alone…do you want to join me in a game of checkers?”. Mariam opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Eli chuckled and held his hand out. Mariam took hold of his hand and followed him across the gymnasium.


It was a long walk to the checkerboard. She knew he could feel how nervous she was. She felt gross and unworthy. Her hands were sweating and her heartbeat could be felt in her palm. She trailed behind him, still gripping his strong hand. Eli glanced back a few times and offered her the most charming smile. Mariam was sure there was a trail of liquid that escaped from her patties but she was too embarrassed to look back. Eli set the board up and said with a devilish smile, “show me what ya got”. Mariam made a conscious decision not to beat him at checkers. She didn’t fully understand the power struggle between man and woman, but she knew that girls were supposed to be dumber than boys. So she purposefully lost two games in a row. Eli said “I think you are losing on purpose, come with me”. Eli looked for the camp counselors, and they were all huddled in a circle shooting craps. Eli grabbed Mariam by the hand and led her behind the bleachers.


Eli pinned Mariam against the wall and kissed her hard. He did this until she finally parted her lips. When she did this, he slipped his tongue in her mouth and worked every possible angle. She did not understand what was going on, but allowed him to do whatever he wanted. Eli placed her hand on his jeans and she knew the stiffness was similar to the wetness she had developed, but Eli didn’t appear to be embarrassed at all. In fact, he appeared to be proud. He said “take it out”, and Mariam hesitated, looking over at the edge of the bleachers. He said, “no one even knows we are back here, take it out and I promise to make you feel good”. Mariam nervously unzipped his pants, and reached beyond his underwear. What she laid her hand on seemed unreal. It was flesh, throbbing, and hot. She barely pulled on it and out sprung from his pants was a handsome, slightly foreign object. Eli said “don’t act like you never seen one before...do you want to suck it?” She nodded no, and Eli said “then we can jump right to it”. Eli lifted her dress and pulled her panties aside. Realizing that she had crossed the threshold of childhood and adulthood, she wasn’t sure if she should scream for help or remain quiet so as not to spoil feeling good. So she closed her eyes and prayed that Eli: would not hurt her.


He whispered in her ear “I won’t hurt you, just relax and let me get it in”. And get it in is just what he did. Eli would kiss on her neck and move back to kissing her in and on the mouth. With an odd mix of pleasure and pain, Mariam felt more alive than ever. She was doing things with her body that she had only executed on the dance floor. She would shift to being embarrassed by her actions but Eli would just smile at her until the embarrassment melted away. At one point, Eli picked her up and pressed her back up against the wall, he slowly lowered her down on him, and she thought she was going to faint from the sensation. It was at this moment that Delphi was conceived. Eli delivered three hard thrust to Mariam’s body and covered her mouth with his hand. The heat from her breath on his hand encouraged him to deliver two more thrusts and he leaned into her with a chaotic spasm laced with exhaustion.


Mariam pushed him away so she could catch her breath and stand on her feet. She was wetter now that she was before. The child in her felt used, and the women in her felt new. She squatted down while Eli fixed his clothes. Eli said he would walk from behind the bleachers first, to make sure no one sees him, and told Mariam to wait a few minutes before she came from behind the bleachers. Mariam watched him walk away knowing that she didn’t fully understand what just happen, but Eli knew. She waited more than a few minutes before she came from behind the bleachers. She didn’t want to walk, but somehow she managed to do so without any signs that she had been fucked.


Second Excerpt:


Jasmine pours Mariam another glass of Merlot.  “Girl, are you going to be ok?  Those folks painted you out to be some monster”.  The room is silent and Mariam stares into her glass, takes a sip and says “Well, I did kill snoppy”.  They both broke into a laughter that removed the seriousness from the situation. Mariam walked over to Jasmine and hugged her from behind.  “Jasmine, I am so thankful for you.  When ever I need something, you will drop what you are doing and help a sista’ out.  For that I am grateful. [she pauses and steps to the side of Jasmine]. Tell me something, how do you work in a beauty salon all day, giving those ladies facials and pedicures?  Do they ever comment on your scars?” 


Jasmine drops the dish that she was holding back into the sink and walks back over to the dinning table.  She doesn’t answer Mariam immediately, but Mariam waits for her response.  With unstable hands, Jasmine starts to set the table and a slight grimace can be seen dashing across Mariam’s face.  Jasmine said “I manage”. 

“Well, if I were you I would find another line of work.”

Jasmine mumbles something that sounds like “you may have to”, and Mariam said “What did you say”.  Jasmine did not repeat herself, looked at Mariam directly and said “how do you feel when you look at me.  I get the sense that you feel superior to me because of my scars”.

“Do you really? Well, you all say I have an ego the size of Texas, so maybe it’s not your scars that make me feel superior to you.” [she laughs].

“Mariam, you can be such a bitch at times.”

“Girl, I am kidding.”

“No you’re not.”

Jasmine starts to fix the salad and she gets the urge to spit in the mix, and she does.  She is facing away from Mariam, but if Mariam could see the smile on her face she would know not to eat any of the salad.  It was at this very moment that Jasmine realized just how much she hated Mariam.  She wasn’t sure if she always hated her, but right now Mariam was the only person she hated this much.  She enjoyed the fact that she got away with spitting in Mariam’s salad and she added a few more dashes for good measure.  She took the salad over to Mariam and started preparing the bread.  Mariam complimented her on her selection of wine and the homemade Italian dressing.  Jasmine laughed and said “girl, I will take my cooking secrets to my grave”.  There is a knock at the door and Mariam doesn’t flinch.  Jasmine looks over at Mariam and rolls her eyes, but realizes that she’s enjoying the salad.  She smiles and shifts from anger to joy in less than a second, walks over to the door and greets Jalysa and Devin with an unusual grin on her face.  Jalysa gives Jasmine a great big hug and says “get that shit eating grin off your face”.  Jasmine laughs and says “more like spit eating”.


Third Excerpt


Tuesdays were usually reserved for the city council members to confer with the public.  Mariam checked her calendar and she noticed that Cassandra scheduled a 30-minute meeting with the council president, Sheba Dickson. Mariam wasn’t prepared to deal with Dickson, but she decided to keep the appointment.  Mariam purposely showed up 10 minutes late, and entered the president’s office with a coy smile on her face, and her mini-voice recorder tucked away in her pants pocket.


“Sorry, my phone conference ran over. [Mariam]”

“Girl, no problem. C’mon in here.”

“Something’s different about your office.”

“Could it be that ugly tree Jason brought?”

Mariam thought she was the only one getting special treatment from Jason. [She thought, it’s the same fucking tree!] “Oh yeah, I got the same stinky thing in my office. He’s a hoot.  Let’s get right to it, are you staying or going?”

“My, my, don’t get ahead of yourself.  I didn’t schedule this meeting to discuss those bogus court proceedings.  I called you in here to check on you…and, well…your potential court proceedings.” 

Mariam surveyed Dickson’s face and there it was, the sinister grin she usually rendered when she was digging her claws into her prey.  Mariam was in no mood for the mind games and decided to beat her to the punch. 

“No doll, no one will be dancing with me in court.  That matter is under control. I have my eyes set on your position.  So I just want to know how soon I can start decorating to my taste.  This crusty off-white theme ain’t hittin’ it.”

Dickson purposefully swiveled her chair away from Mariam so as not to show that she was thrown by the comment.  “Do you really think you can fill my shoes?”

“I know I can.  Let’s not forget, we come from the same hood. I knew you when you were giving head at the skating rink.  So when ever you are ready to sling mud, I got my hands dirty and ready.”

Dickson swiveled her chair back so as to get full view of Mariam’s face, in her hands, she held a letter opener.  With an unexpected forced, she jammed the letter opener into the desktop.  “I should laugh at this point, but you are really full of yourself.  I am not going anywhere.”

Mariam thoughtfully fixed a coy smile on her face.  “Who you think you scaring with that letter opener. If you decide to resign let me know.  I have some great ideas that will liven up this pitiful space.”

“I see that tragedy didn’t zap the bitch out of you.”

“The only tragedy up in here is you using gift cards that were intended for the citizens. Dickson, I’m mean really…you don’t have $600 bucks of your own money. I could have lent you that.”

“Those sorry bastards get enough handouts.  Shit, word on the street is that you are broke. That ain’t nothing T. Rowe can fix.” Mariam had a look of shock on her face. “Yes, I know your business. I always have. You are nothing Little Ammie. You are here because I have allowed you to be. And the next time you come out of your mouth at me sideways, I will expose you for the hood rat bitch that you are. Get out!” 

“Today I will leave, tomorrow you will. Enjoy the rest of your day Dirty Dickson.” 



Did you enjoy the excerpts? You can send feedback to badilisho@gmail.com

Badilisho
http://ibwriting.blogspot.com

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