The Art of Storytelling : The Edge of Love - Essay Example

Edge of love Ann’s house is located in a neighborhood where most of the middle citizens in California live, her house is adjacent to one of the largest elementary school in the area, and therefore sometimes it tends to be very noisy especially when the children in the school are out for their break. On the other side of her house, there are several flats that belong to her parents and are usually rented out, these flats, have been her source of livelihood. At the gate leading to her compound, Ann has planted exotic trees that have now threatened the safety of the motorists using that route since their branches hang precariously on the road. This has caused her trouble with the authorities several times but she has always found her way out by promising to cut down the trees, which she has not fulfilled as she holds a high aesthetic value of them. On entering her gate, the first thing that catches a person’s eye is the flower gardens that have an assorted species of flowers with different colors and scents, the gardens are well taken care of as Ann takes care of the flowers personally when she is free. From the path leading to her house one can hear the buzzing of bees and birds as they suck and collect nectar from the flowers. At the front of her house there is located a car park that can fit at least three small cars, the car park is adjacent to a water tank to the left which is used to collect rain water(Spaulding 11). Kelvin, who by now has been happy with the progress he has made in his quest to sleep with Linda whom he had met in the college compound that morning, pulls his black metallic BMW in front of Ann’s house, which is located a few miles from where he lives. Before opening the car door, he stares at Linda and gives a mischievous smile. Linda, who is not sure why Kelvin gave her that smile, looks at him: “What was that smile for?” The question catches Kelvin by surprise and he looks away shyly as he opens the car door for her. As they walk towards the main door of Ann’s house, Kelvin tries to hold hands with Linda but she pulls back her hand with a stern gaze into his eyes “do not do that” she says in a rather stern voice, Kelvin looks into her eyes’ “you have very soft hand, anyone would wish to keep holding them”. Ann, after hearing a familiar sound of a car, jumped from her bed where she had been lying since lunchtime, elated that Kelvin, whom she liked although he was not saved like her had finally decided to visit her. She ran toward the door and after exchanging pleasantries, they entered the house, “Why did it take so long for you to come and visit me?” asked Ann in a rather low tone that Kelvin had to struggle to hear “My end of year exams are near so was busy preparing for them, oh! By the way, meet my friend Linda”, he stretched his hand towards Linda, “we met today in the school compound” he said this as Linda who seemed anxious about something directed them to the house. They all walked hand in hand up to the living room as the two women familiarised with each other. “Can I bring you some drinks?” Ann asked as she rushed to the kitchen without waiting for an answer, to fetch a drink for them. Kelvin could not help staring at the rich bosom that Ann displayed when she was rising from her seat to go to the kitchen. When he realised he was being watched, he tried to look the other way, but Linda had already noticed and she mumbled something that was not coherent. Ann returned with a bottle of grape juice, which they proceeded to take as they chatted over general things. “What do you do with yourself?” - “Ann, how was the sermon on Sunday?” - Kelvin interjected as he thought this was not the appropriate moment for that conversation. When it was time to leave, Kelvin decided they should now explain to Ann their reason for coming and he told her the whole story of what had happened since they met at the car park, and after finished he excused himself to the washroom. After he left, they looked at each other with teary eyes, and a sense of connection attracted them to each other; however, Linda was suspicious about Ann, but since her newfound friend Kelvin had told her that she is a God fearing person, she had no reason to worry. Kelvin came back just as they were about to pray, and he was forced to join in the prayers which he was not conversant with, as the only time he can remember praying was when his mother was in a coma after being involved in an accident with his vehicle while driving to work in the morning. A week passed and Kelvin had not been seen in class; his social group began to get worried about the whereabouts of their peer who rarely missed school. Their calls went unanswered and they did not have any other relatives’ contact apart from that of his girlfriend Jane who did not know his whereabouts either. A week later, a black BMW pulled at the students’ car park and Kelvin alighted from the vehicle and hurriedly walked toward the administration block. Albert, on seeing Kelvin from the classroom window, ran out amid shouts of “Kelvin! Kelvin! Kelvin!” leaving everybody perplexed at what had caused him to act in such a manner. When one of the students pointed out at Kelvin from the window, they all looked in that direction and knew he had to be the reason why Albert had hurriedly left the classroom. Albert followed him inside the administration block where he found him at the reception of the Dean’s office looking all pale and disinterested. “Hello, Kelvin”- Albert tried to initiate a conversation, “I’m doing great” Kelvin seemed disinterested in the conversation, “maybe you should leave him alone, he seems to be in a foul mood” one of the students who was in the queue with Kelvin advised Albert, so they set there as Kelvin waited for his turn to be served. Everyone in the room noticed the mood and they all kept quiet apart from occasional ringing of the secretary’s desk phone. “Jane is leaving,” these words from Albert made Kelvin confused, he pulled Albert by hand outside the room “Tell me what is happening,”- asked Kelvin who by now seemed anxious to know. “Nothing happened; I just wanted to get your attention to tell me why you have missed classes for one week without picking my calls” - “Okay, I will tell you everything but do not disclose it to anyone,” replied Kelvin. They went and sat on the resting bay where Kelvin explained to him all that had happened in the one week he had been away from school. After Kelvin had left Ann’s apartment, he headed towards his parents’ home although he passed by the local store and bought himself a bottle of his favourite Johnnie Walker whisky. On reaching home, he went straight to his room to think about the events of the day from the man who was being lynched at school, to meeting Linda and later taking her to Ann’s apartment. Early the next morning as he was preparing himself for school, his phone rang and on checking it, he found that it was Ann calling. She sounded distressed, and on realising that Kelvin did not think twice – he rushed to his car, reversed it quickly and before the gatekeeper could open the gate fully, he was accelerating the vehicle. This left the guard dumbfounded, so that he forgot to salute him as he would usually do every morning. When he arrived at Ann’s apartment, he found her waiting for him at the door; she directed him inside where he found Linda lying on the table with vomit all over the living room. Kelvin did not think twice – he took Linda into his arms, rushed to his car, and zoomed off toward the nearest hospital. The doctors were quick and admitted her immediately; after several tests, she was diagnosed to have taken poison, which had caused damage to her brain cells, and she would be hospitalised for at least six weeks. Kelvin had not been allowed to see her for a week since she was in the critical care unit. He had decided to go and defer his studies in college for a full academic year so he could take care of Linda when she returned to the general ward. Linda had been in hospital for a week now, although she could not talk, most of her other senses had improved drastically since she was discharged from the critical care ward; Kelvin had been visiting her in hospital before he went to school. He also made sure he prepared breakfast for her, which she gave nurses to feed her when he could not be able to do so himself. All this time, Kelvin had been wondering where the poison had come from as she trusted Ann to imagine she could have been responsible for the poisoning. One day after dropping Linda’s breakfast at the nurse’s office, he decided to go and see Ann who had only gone to visit Linda in hospital less than four times. On arrival at her house, he met two suspicious looking and heavily built men leaving the house, “are you Kelvin from Beverly Hills?” asked one of them in a deep voice, “Why are you interested in knowing my identity?” Kelvin asked him arrogantly as he closed the door to his car. The other man, who all this time had remained quiet seemed surprised by the way Kelvin had answered their question, because they were either not used to people talking to them arrogantly or by the courage that Kelvin had showed when he talked to them. Doubting their motives, he decided to leave them and proceed towards the door. He rang the door several times before Ann could open it, he entered inside leaving the men, who had now took their respective seat in their car, still staring at him. Inside the house, Kelvin and Ann exchanged their usual pleasantries, they sat down on the sofa facing each other, and Ann was staring into Kelvin’s eyes, which made him blush and face the other side of the room. It was now evident there was something that was going on in Ann’s mind but which she could not bring herself to tell Kelvin, he seemed to realize this and he gave her time to compose herself. He excused himself and picked the remote control from an adjacent chair to which Ann had been sitting, as he was going back to his seat, Ann pulled her to her chair and gave her a peck on the forehead, Kelvin was confused on the meaning of the peck, he smiled and sat on the armrest of the chair. “Kelvin” Ann started “I know you suspect that I am the one who put poison in Linda’s meal, I am not going to accept or refute those claims, but there is something that I have always been eager to tell you though I never got the chance”. Not sure of what Ann was going to say next, Kelvin requested Ann to bring him some warm water; she did that hurriedly as if she did not want to forget what she wanted to tell him “The poison that Linda took was because of my mistake, but I did not…” Ann stated to tell Kelvin, those words had a great impact on Kelvin “you mean Ann you are the one who wanted to kill Linda even after she gave you her story? Are you the Ann I know? Did u plan to poison me too? Was it...” Kelvin slammed the glass of water that he was holding on the ground and rushed out of the house shouting at the top his voice. Kelvin found the two men whom he had met when he came in to Ann’s house earlier, sitting on the bonnet of his car. “Kelvin,” maybe you should listen to her side of the story before you judge her” said one of the men whom he had talked to arrogantly in their previous encounter. Kelvin did not want to listen, but when he saw the men advance towards him, instincts directed him to run, and that is exactly what he did, he run towards the gate leaving his car behind. He found a cab some few meters away, he boarded it and directed the driver to drive him to the university. On arrival at the university he found his friends waiting for him at the parking bay, he greeted all of them using their signature shoulder butt greeting. The group of Kelvin and his friends started walking towards their favorite corner in the university compound where they preferred to hang out during their free time. “Boys, can you believe that Ann wanted to kill Linda?” they are seemed surprised “ are you talking about the girl whom you told me you had asked you for a lift to town about a month ago?” asked Keith. “Yes, I am talking about her, what I cannot believe is that Ann, whom I considered a Christian, was responsible”. Kabani, a good friend and college mate of Kelvin who comes from Kenya, always loved to tease him, and in a sarcastic voice he said, “The great master of women affairs has finally found his match to tame him from his escapades”. They all laughed except Kelvin who seemed not to understand the reason for their laughter, “he has just encountered a swampy spot where he is stuck, lets pull a brother out before he falls in love” Albert retorted as the others laughed uncontrollably. James, a rather quiet member of the group and who was always the most logical of the group suggested that instead of the group mocking Kelvin, they should instead spare sometime and go visit Linda in hospital. This decision was embraced by all the members and they decide that they should go and visit Linda that evening, besides that they were able to convince Kelvin to give Ann a chance to explain herself full on what had led to Linda taking the poisoned meal. They all parted ways and headed to their respective lecture theatres. In the evening, they met at the car park and since Kelvin had left his car at Ann’s place, they had to hire a cab to the hospital. On arrival at the hospital, no one wanted to pay cab driver although they had all agreed share the fare equally, Kelvin, who had now started getting angry with his friends did not want to cause a scene in the hospital so he volunteered to pay the fare. He paid the fare and went to see Linda, at the door, Kelvin stopped to give his friends instructions on how to behave, as he did not want them to annoy Linda, before he could start, he noticed Keith was not with them although they had come with him. “where Keith has disappeared to?” he asked his group members who where there, they all looked at each other suggesting no one was aware where Keith had gone. “We cannot get in when we do not know where one of us has gone so I suggest that we take time and look for him”. They all left to look for Keith except Kelvin who was left standing at the door, he went inside after they had left to see Linda. After staying in hospital for several days, Linda was discharged to go and recuperate at home. Kelvin came to pick her up and take her to his parents’ home as he deliberated on the next course of action, one of the things that bothered him was how to approach the idea that Ann had tried to poison Linda. Deep in his mind, he was not sure he could confront Ann with the issue although he felt he would not let Ann go unpunished, as it would be an injustice to Linda, he decided to let Linda heal first before bringing up the issue. One day as Kelvin was leaving college for home, he found a mail on the windshield of his vehicle. He looked around the neatly trimmed lawn to see if there was anyone who was observing him, after being comfortable that no one was interested in his activities, he picked the mail cautiously as if it contained something delicate and placed it on the dashboard. He started the engine, but before he could even cover one mile, he heard his phone ringing, he picked it without looking at the caller “Hello” Kelvin responded as he slowed down the vehicle, which was travelling at a speed of 80 miles per hour. “Hello Kelvin, it is me, Ann, I was wondering whether you could spare some time we talk about the incident with Linda” Kelvin disengaged the phone and slowed the vehicle to a halt. He removed the letter from his pocket and started to read it, in the letter Ann described how he had come to know Kelvin since they were childhood neighbours as they lived in the same neighbourhood and attended the same elementary school. Ann went ahead to remind Kelvin of the numerous letters that they had sent each other in high school. As Kelvin read the part where they would wait for each other in town during closing days, he shed a tear as it reminded him how fond they had grown towards each other and how present circumstances had forced them to be on the opposite sides. Kelvin started realising that he had been so close to Ann, such that it may have given her some false conclusions that he was interested in her romantically. Kelvin finished reading the letter, placed it on the dashboard and started the engine, it was some minutes past 6 o’clock in the evening according to the clock in the odometer, this made Kelvin realise he had spent more than an hour at the place where he had stopped to read Ann’s letter. On arrival, his parents were not yet home so he decided to go to his house directly, to his surprise, he found Linda sitting on the sofa watching movies, the house had been neatly arranged and all the dirty laundry had been done. He went to his bedroom, changed the clothes he was wearing, and joined Linda in the living room, it was some minutes past seven and CNN news were just starting, Kelvin requested Linda to switch the channels so that they could watch the news, Linda obliged and switched the channels as she went to sit beside Kelvin. Kelvin was up to now confused on how he would handle the Ann’s attempt to poison Linda, he thought of excusing himself and leaving Linda alone in the room but he thought otherwise and decided to stay and face any questions that Linda may ask him. “Have you talked to Ann today?” Linda asked, “Yes I have, why are you interested?” Kelvin responded as he now abandoned watching the news and faced in the direction of Linda. Linda told her how Ann had called her earlier in the day to ask for forgiveness for her deeds but Linda did not want to respond before she had told Kelvin what had transpired. With teary eyes, she explained to Kelvin all that had transpired after he had left her with Ann the day she was poisoned. She told him how after he had left, Ann requested her to accompany her to the supermarket to get some groceries that she had forgotten in her earlier trip to the groceries store. Throughout the journey, Ann was keen in knowing the background of Linda, since Kelvin had told her that Ann was a good person and she could trust her, she opened up about her family, how her mother was a drunkard and Linda had been born as a result of rape. She told Ann how her mother and her grandparents did not accept her and that when they met with Kelvin in college that day, she had been living with a relative in the university who had finally decided to chase her away as she could not afford to take care of her basic needs. The conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door, Kelvin went to the door and opened, it was their house help who was bringing supper, he let her in and excused himself as he stepped outside. A lot was running in Kelvin’s mind, he did not want to lose Ann’s friendship and at the same time, he wanted Linda to feel that justice had been done, he went back to the house, took his car keys and left without telling anyone where he had gone. Thirty minutes later, Kelvin found himself in a nightclub that he usually frequented with his friends, he ordered a bottle of his favourite whisky to drown the thoughts that had been running through his mind for the past few weeks. After several bottles, he was drunk beyond his usual limit, since he felt he could not drive he decided to book a room until the next morning when he would be sober to drive. He took a room and requested the bar attendant to send a woman to his room who was willing to spend the night with him for a few dollars. A few minutes after he had entered and locked his room, he heard a knock at the door, he thought it must be the girl that he had asked to be sent to his room, on opening the door, he was surprised to see his father standing in front of him. “Dad, what are you doing here at this time?” asked Kelvin in a shocked tone, “ I came for you, something has been bothering you for the last few days, you have not been yourself and you have been acting strangely.” Kelvin did not say anything, instead he went and sat on the bed staring at his father, he knew he had been cornered, as he never wished his parents to know that he was a drunkard. His father came and sat beside him on the bed and touched his shoulder, this sent a cold shiver in his body as his father had never done that before. His father explained to him how he saw him along the highway as he came here and he decided to follow him, this angered Kelvin as he thought his father was stalking him but he could not react. His father took the responsibility of driving Kelvin’s car home while his chauffer drove the other car. On arrival, Kelvin went direct to his room feeling embarrassed, attempts by Linda who was still in his living room to talk to him fell on deaf ears as he went up to his bedroom and locked the door. When Kelvin woke up the following day, it was almost noon, he checked his mobile phone to see if anyone had tried to call him, he found several missed calls from Ann and Linda, his mother had also tried to call him. He thought of calling Ann to know what she wanted to tell him but he first decided to go to his parents’ house to see why his mother had been calling him as he took some painkillers since he had a severe headache from the previous night’s drinking spree. In his parents’ house, he found his mum had left to see a neighbour, only his father and house help remained behind. He went directly to the kitchen to eat his breakfast, as he could not stand meeting his father face to face after what had happened at the nightclub the previous night. He took his breakfast in a hurry and left the house through the backdoor but before he could enter his house, he found Linda waiting for him. He pulled her inside the house to avoid his father seeing them but since Linda did not want to stay indoors, she suggested that they should go talk in the balcony that faced the garden, Kelvin agreed. “Kelvin,” Linda started “ I am sincerely grateful for all what you have done to me from when you picked me at the university car park up to now and ...” “please stop that, I did not have good intentions then” interjected Kelvin. Ann was surprised at that statement from Kelvin, “What do you mean you did not have good intentions?”. “ I just wanted to sleep with you then dump you, but after you gave your story to me then you trusted me to help you solve your problems, my intentions changed and I became genuinely interested in helping you.” Ann could not believe that Kelvin wanted to exploit her weakness but after considering that he had reformed and helped her, she did not give it much thought. After an emotional discussion, they decided to forget the past and start afresh. Kelvin had already forgotten to call Ann as he had earlier planned and only remembered this when he heard his phone ringing, he picked the phone and when he saw it was Ann who was calling, he excused himself from Linda before he picked the call. “I Am sorry I did not make to call you when I saw your missed call” Kelvin told Ann as he picked the call, “its okay Kelvin” replied Ann. “ Can you come to my house right now” Ann requested Kelvin and he promised to be at her place in an hour. Kelvin returned to the place he had left Ann and he found her sad, “What has Ann told you?” asked Linda with a weak voice that sounded hurt, “nothing much, she just requested me to go to her place, there is something urgent that she wants to discuss with me.” Linda looked at Kelvin in the eyes in a way that made him nervous. “Kelvin?” she started “I am listening Linda” Kelvin replied in a soft voice, “ I have been looking for a chance to express my gratitude to you, I do not have money to pay you, but I have a heart that I am willing to give to you unconditionally” Ann said this as Kelvin wiped tears from her face. Kelvin did not utter a word, he held her in his arms until he stopped crying. Although Kelvin wanted to tell Linda he loved her too, he held back that urge, as he was nervous about what Ann wanted to tell her. On arrival at Ann’s place, Kelvin found Ann on the sitting room waiting for him, he gave her a warm hug and sat on the couch. Ann, who seemed unhappy about something sat next to Kelvin and started to explain what had happened the day Linda was poisoned. When Kelvin told Ann that he was coming to see her, she thought he was coming alone, but when he turned up in the company of a woman, Ann was demoralised although she did not show it to them. When he had explained that he had met Linda in the car park earlier that day, Ann thought that Linda wanted to take advantage of Kelvin and later steal from him. This idea prompted her to act in order to protect him from Linda. Kelvin who had been furious about Ann’s act started changing his perception towards the whole incident, as it was now apparent that Ann was only defending him. Ann went ahead to explain how he took some pesticides that she had stored and mixed them with some orange juice that she had made for breakfast. She had made sure that Linda suspected nothing when they went to sleep that night by being warm towards her. Early in the morning, Ann had woken up and prepared breakfast for the two of them ensuring that she had positioned the glass with poison where Linda would sit. After Linda took the poison, Ann sounded concerned and she had called Kelvin to come and take her to the hospital. Kelvin who had all this time not uttered a word, rose from his sofa and walked towards the widow, Ann followed him to the window and explained that she did all that because she loved him. Kelvin had become more confused when Ann said that she did that because she loved him. “What do you mean you did all that because of love?” asked Kelvin. “ I have loved you Kelvin since we were children studying together in the elementary school, it took me years to be able to gain enough courage to tell you that, although I wished you would tell me before I did but I realised you were not interested”. Kelvin who had now become more confused because he could not decide on what to do with the two ladies since they both wanted to be his girlfriends although they knew he already had a girlfriend in New York, decided to leave before things went out of control as Ann had already started seducing him to sleep with her. A week passed and nobody had seen Kelvin after he had left for Ann’s place, Linda and Ann tried to enquire about him from all his friends but none seemed to know his whereabouts. In the course of searching for Kelvin, Linda and Ann had become friends forgetting that Ann had tried to poison Linda. One Sunday evening as the two friends were sitting in the balcony of Ann’s apartment, they saw the familiar black BMW stop in front of Ann’s house. Kelvin alighted from the vehicle wearing a grey suit and a white shirt matched with a grey tie, they were surprised, as they had never seen Kelvin wear a suit or a tie. Kelvin headed to where they were sitting and greeted them formally as if they were business acquaintances, he invited them inside the house as he had some important information to share with them. He explained to them that he had gone to New York to see his girlfriend Jane and while there they had decided to get married at the attorney’s office, he showed them the diamond ring that proved their union. Linda looked at Ann and they smiled “you were at the edge of our love” they said to together as they wished him well in his marriage life (Spaulding, 69). Works cited Spaulding, Amy E. The Art of Storytelling: Telling Truths Through Telling Stories. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2011. Print Read More