#akindofEXPRESSION

Z's story.

Wasted on the couch, I managed to open an eye. It was gloomy, last day in November, and the harsh harmattan breeze suffered my skin. Trying to get a glimpse of the alarm clock, it suddenly got to me I was not in bed. Another reckless debacle? I reached down to get my usual confirmation, and whew! no shorts. no briefs. I grinned at the shameless path I had once again walked…

My sight wiped crystal and my moral thinking cap flipped as I got a clearer view of the beautiful Bare Back erect in front of a refrigerator. Her hair fell on her spine, reflexes of her hands were magnificent.

I took a second look underneath the sheets. I tried hard to evolve flashes from the previous night…evening…day… How long it had lasted was all blank to me…

“Hey, rider!” She wouldn’t smile. Yet, her beauty was unhidden. Her blackness was nursery to a million and one other amazing features a woman could possess. And her height reminded me of the great Nefertiti. She walked towards me with a glass of what looked like water. It gave me such an ego boost to know she would comfortably walk the room with just her panties on. The G. My weakness.

Damn! How could I not remember the…



“How’s your head?” she sat on the edge of the couch. As though sitting close would garner something she tried to bury with her long face. An enigma…my fancy.

“Uhm…”, I collected the glass. “Uhm…” I drank.

Got the sharp taste on my tongue, like a stretch of a four-faced needle scribed a mirage doodle. My stomach rumbled, but it was fine. Relief swam through my bloodstream. She had handed me soda.

She stood and walked out of the room. Her smile suddenly re-appreared. There…



“No, I don’t”

She let me take the empty seat. I once again embraced my guilt of letting my imaginations run wild with an ambience blessed with the presence of an adorable being as her. My comfort was the worth and power of the ebony beauty; being more than the declaration her face would ever give off. That was a feature that laid beneath the face. Wonder beyond the worth of any wishful wishes. I quickly dashed my thoughts away, letting her take control of the moment. Wholeheartedly.

“Uh, sorry”. My apology was irrelevant, yet I muttered. “Im usually lost for words when I have to talk to a beautiful girl”

“Not a girl” She quickly replied, and added, "…woman”

She wore a long face. I hoped strongly it was an act. It would be a bad omen being unable to make an ebony smile. It was the bedrock of knowing her beautiful…seeing her beautiful…feeling her beautiful…

“Thats ok. I can save you” then She lifted her brow, as though waited for my response.

I smiled to get my posture, one point lead, She got that one. An easy one. What was enigmatic and eloquent about her beauty was the tribal marks. On both cheeks, they had faded, yet it was hard to discard their presence. It used to be my vice. It used to turn me off. But here it was, giving me a good interpretation of the true African beauty. A wonder-work of nature in its truest form. Only a foolish me would contest anything She had to say. “Aha, my Princess Charming then”, I finally added.

“You don’t have to flatter me, you know” she pouted, taking the first sip of the night. She had cocktail, but her face had had something else. The loss of expression and emotions on a Friday evening could be a result of a tedious day, or week.

“Would have thought the flatter is meant to caress the female ego…like yours” It was a jab, but a risk I had to take. It was essential to break the tough girl panacea, else my evening would end just like every other.

Now her face softened. She suddenly lost the Thatcher impression she had as prowess. “And what makes you think you can caress mine?”, she pushed back like she wanted to make me notice something.
...my eyes launched an expedited search but caught me unaware I had failed to notice, the body. Very little could be seen from where she sat across the table from me, but it required no expertise to know she was a dime! Nadia…Rihanna… “oh, baby…” soft whisper came to my hearing…the subconscious.

I had to take a handful gulp from my cup to wash down the impressions that aroused from within. Canal mind. I pitied myself. Another good gulp. It was Heineken. Maybe her green color quickly brought the touch of the grinder’s green, or…something I had yet known. It was not a night to define my affectionate hold on an alcoholic brand. Would rather focus my attention and all on Miriam.

“ok, so you had to…before you answer that?” now she laughed. Finally!

It created a different feeling inside me. It worked its way from my chest, spinning wheels of fortune across my body. I felt it. It worked like magic. The vibes. The chemistry. I got the tingly feeling, letting me tap my sole and dim my eyes. It was my unsolicited response to this feeling. Something had to be done to contain it, anyway. Else I was at risk of an outburst.

“Nah, just killing a silly thought”, I managed to answer. Getting a boost of confidence, nonetheless.

“Care to share?” she tilted her head to a side, and gently drew out one of her locks. She would not pull, instead, stroked it gently with a little pull in split-seconds.

Awww. Double damnation…what this did to me…

“Ah, why would I want to share my silly thoughts with Miriam that has only managed to smile once since we got talking”

“Since we met…”

“Nope. we are yet to meet”, I reached out my hand again. “Now you’ll take my hand and respond with a warm smile like a young lady would” I quickly recalled she had egotistically referred herself a woman just a while ago. Whoops! the baby bottle… Nah! the lofty laugh…

She gladly shook my hand and blessed me…with the warm and affectionate Lady smile. “How is this? Nice to meet you…” she cut, “Thelma...you still haven’t told me your name…”

At that instant, I knew we had gained a fair ground, conversation finally reached a balance. My smile reaching across the table and it scared me. Might be giving me away as the lost dude who just wanted to get laid. But no, I was going to spend the night proving that utterance wrong.

“So, are you going to answer that?” She was keen in knowing.

I told her my name, and without surprise, she repeated it twice. “Yeah, I know the feeling”

“We’ve all been through it, right?”

“Good consolation”, I shook my head with an ugly pout, “…not scoring a point with that one”

She laughed out loud.

Oh! whatever I was doing, I better keep doing it right. It would hurt to ever see Thelma without such heart lifting smiles and laughs. “You keep laughing that way, I might keep having those silly thoughts”

She scoffed, quickly took a long sip. “Awww, should have guessed what you were thinking!!”

“And…you would have guessed wrong, eventually”, I caressed my baby bottle before letting through the last gulp.

“Why? no. I can tell sometimes what is on a guy’s mind—”

I cut in, “Man. A young man, I’ll let you have that one”

A smart one, she rolled her eyes letting me know she had intended the impression when she first made the woman reference. Now she smiled again, “well, young man…tell me your silly thoughts…”

“else…” my mind raced trying to decipher the completion from the long look she wore.

“no more smiles, no more laughs…and…will let my girls know am here”

“Oh, oh, oh, is that supposed to scare me?”

She smirked and sealed the smiles and happy woman from her face.

“No, no…I meant the letting your girls in….” My sudden submission to letting her grace the moments ahead was unexplainable. Keeping this beauty green and full of life had suddenly worn the drive of an ambition for the rest of my evening.

She let loose now, and smiled again. “ok, so are we back on track?”

“Yes!!”, I added, “If you promise not to judge me for my thoughts”

“they are silly, right? then will let my subconscious be the judge…”

We chorused, “the jury, and the executioner”

She raised her glass. I remembered my baby bottle was now empty. But who would pass on the cheer from Miriam? not in their right mind, would say. we clicked and she giggled. we giggled.

“Its ideal that I have those thoughts, you know”, there I was…using the same phrase i criticized every interviewee for engaging. Here, it was a slip or slide with the words, so I chose the latter. “Some very, very dark and canal thoughts”

I got her edgy. It was the ultimate feeling of a hungry one peeling an Autumn gold apple for brunch. She wanted to hear more. I wanted to say less…

“First, cant stop pondering over what you’d look like…not sitting down”, I was on the choking spree, “…not wearing makeup, letting your hair down, smiling nonstop…”

It would be a long stretch wishing for a blush on a black beauty, so I looked out for signs. First the heaven seemed shut on this one. I exhaled and continued, “…without the evening gown, maybe in a silk underwear, maybe in a g-string, maybe moaning softly…you’re killing me…”

She let out another loud laugh. Seemed like every preceding moment had been leading to that. Her eyes I had failed to notice glistened with the frequent rays of the disco light beaming our way. It was beautiful. Her beauty graced the rays of light.

“Alice in Wonderland” was all she could whisper. She was conscious, and not any close to the sloppy feeling from excess cocktails. But something else had struck her. I tried to find out.

“Well, you cant blame a young man for having a room for those—”

She cuts in, “Are you going to continue?”

“Really?? Letting me continue might be costly”, I stopped as I saw her frown. “Except you forgot I’m baring my luscious thoughts to you, Miriam”

Maybe it was calling her name, but she withdrew to bless me with the entirety of her attention this time. She said, “will be kind enough to tell you mine if you tell it all…”



As we sat across the couch from each other, she wore a wicked smile. One that seized memories and awaited a slip in my response. Would be a heavens gate to slide through this one. It was apparent, the sitting needed a conversation. However short it would be, what baffled me was the perfect expression to wear when she let the cat out of the bag.
concluding part coming soon... keep your fingers crossed *winks*

Read Z's story 8pm 2night as @team_csi unveils  #akindofEXPRESSION. We'll be publishing individual's stories with a full imagery content..to send in your story or picture csi_expression@writeme.com . 
model photo acknowledgement; Biola Naira