The Veil - Chapter 7

Obi was driving too fast. When he did drive, he drove like a maniac because he saw no other reason to risk his life by getting into a metal death trap if he wasn’t going to have fun while he was at it. Ignoring Sefu’s groans and gasps as he turned corners too fast for comfort, he gritted his teeth, finally breaking out of the city that had become as stifling as the tiny room he had just escaped. As the buildings thinned out and became rare appearances amid the landscape that was becoming more and more arid, he slowed down. He took a breath and opened his mouth to speak only to close it and glower at the shimmering heat waves ahead.

“You’re angry,” Sefu murmured, his fingers playing with the decal in the leather of his chair nervously even as his voice remained calm.

“I’m furious.” His voice was a quiet calm as well even as his knuckles were white against the steering wheel. Color returned to them as he relaxed his grip with a long sigh. “What were you thinking?”

Becoming very still, Sefu turned to look at his friend. “I was thinking that the men in that room have little to no military experience. I was thinking that you were just what they needed. I was thinking that you would perhaps man up and want vengeance for your nephew!”

They were in the true desert now. Only the well-kept road connecting the capital to different trading posts remained as man’s mark on the land. Everything else was covered in sand and shifted by winds. The whisper of the wind rushing past the car mocked Sefu’s impassioned words.

“Lekan doesn’t require vengeance. He will survive.”

Sefu laughed, the loud noise ringing unpleasantly against the windshield. “Because a whore is telling him how to act?”

Braking suddenly so that both of them jerked forward, Obi stared at him as the car idled into the hard silence. “Whose side are you on?”

“The people’s! We need to change the way the government is run. As it is, Rufulo has far too much power. We need to take a stand!”

“I need to protect my nephew. Blood comes first.” He watched Sefu’s face for a trace of understanding and felt his heart contract as he couldn’t find it. His voice, to his humility, was pleading. “There was a time you would’ve understood this.”

Sefu looked away, over the passenger door. The hot wind rushed by, playing with his loosened tie and forcing him to close his eyes or get grit in them. “There was a time where you wouldn’t have stood by while someone, anyone treats you like dirt. He kicked you out of the palace when you had good reason to say what you’ve said. He made an example of Lekan obviously to punish you. You’re luck Lekan doesn’t have the sense of a bird, or he would hate you. How much will Rufulo have to do before you actually swing back, Obi?”

He wanted to rest his head against the steering wheel and close his eyes and pretend he was back on tour during a time of peace, guarding the border during the night and bedding women all day long. That side of the country had been wet and beautiful. He closed his eyes to remember it, and for a moment, the warm damp breezes he had loved kissed his face. He took his foot off the brake and kept his face stony. “Regardless, I should have been given a choice.” Turning around, he started back at a much safer pace. “I’ll continue to come, but I don’t like it. I think we should do this as peaceably as possible,” he continued, his mind starting to branch out into the several different possibilities the small rebel group had.

A small smile, on his face, Sefu nodded. “That’s why I brought you. You’re the best at these things.”

Forced for only a moment, Obi’s chuckle broke the tension between them. “Of course I am.”

The ride to Sefu’s townhome was far more characteristic of their normal interactions. They simply refused to speak of the rebellion or the meeting which was strange enough, but both of them were able to ignore it. Mostly there was silence as their minds were on other things.

Obi quickly reverted to Lekan though his resources were now going to be split. A positive, he supposed, of being a part of the rebellion was that he could keep them from using Lekan’s name as a rallying point. Glancing at Sefu, he smiled at the serenity on his friend’s face as a bird soared overhead, and they made their way back to the shade of the oasis that had been pushed past its limits and was now kept thriving via aqueducts. He knew him well enough to know that serious thoughts played behind the face that would suit an old grandfather which. Of course, now that Obi thought about it, his friend was an old grandfather.

Funny how that made him feel so old and alone.

“How is Benu?” he asked, thinking of Sefu’s pretty daughter who may have caused some of his hair to fall out before its time with her flirty ways and wild behavior until she finally settled down with a decent lord a few months ago. Her pregnancy was surprisingly far along, but Obi would never imagine telling Sefu such.

“Moody. I won’t let her around me.” He shook his head. “Serves her right. Every woman should have to get pregnant in summer. Then we wouldn’t have all of these brats running under foot.” He softened his harsh words with a wry smile. “She’s also beautiful and very excited. It’s nice to see her prattle about the babe.” He rubbed his head as he did when he was considering and added softly, “I’m doing this for them, you know.”

Letting that statement dissolve into the silence, Obi stopped at the curb in front of Sefu’s home. “Say hi to Paniy for me.”

“She’d love to have you for dinner.” Sefu got out of the car slowly and stood on the sidewalk, hands in pockets.

Obi shook his head, smiling. “Thanks for the offer, but Conya will be eating alone tonight if I don’t go home.”

Teasing, he laughed. “Why don’t you just marry her already? You already take care of her. You should get some benefits.” He wiggled his eyebrows for emphasis.

Obi smiled as best he could, surprised that he couldn’t take the joke as well as he would have in the past. Despite his attempt to seem normal, Sefu noticed.

“Are we going to be okay, Obi?” The worry folding the corners of his eyes and in between his brows made look several years older than he was. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Leaning across the passenger seat, Obi took his friend’s hand resting on the door. “You and I have survived worse than this, don’t you think? At this point, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, eh?” He smiled as Sefu did and straightened. “Don’t be such a woman, Sefu. You act like I’m important to you or something.” He winked and drove off, not allowing for an answer partly because he always felt awkward during but more because he wasn’t sure if he’d spoken the truth.

The different possibilities weighed heavily as his moved different aspects of the situation about on the figurative scale, seeing what would tip things out of balance. He had just thrown the capital into anarchy for the fifth time when he pulled behind his house. He merely raised an eyebrow when Lekan came strolling out, his expression too innocent.

"Can I borrow the-"

"No." Swallowing a smile at Lekan's slow blink, Obi got out of the car, grimacing at how creaky his knees felt.

"I have to meet someone and…"

Obi started toward the house, nodding at the gardener. "You better get to walking then."

Jogging to catch up to his uncle, he wheedled, "Come on. You're not going out again tonight." He sensed the tension in the beat of silence and quickly amended, "Are you?"

"No."

He smiled. "Then-"

"I just don't want to give you the car."

"But-"

Turning around, Obi leaned against the door jamb. "Don't you have a girl waiting on you?"

Lekan frowned. "…Please?"

"Enjoy your night, Lekan." Obi allowed himself a chuckle once he closed the door and hung the keys in their appointed place by the door.