between a girl of 8 or 18 and a woman of 28, 38, 48, 58, 68 or 78?”
“I don’t know, you tell me,” Lilly Loveless said, casually, not knowing what he was up to next.
“One of our politicians recently said the difference was ‘bobi tanap’ and ‘bobi don fall’, comparing the first to the opposition and the latter to the ruling party.”
“What did he mean by that?”
“Firm upright inexperienced tits, as opposed to tits flattened or ironed by age, practice and motherhood.”
“Was he of the opposition or the government?”
“He was the opposition in government.”
“And you, what do you think the difference is between 8 and 78?”
“I read on the Internet that at the age of 8, you take her to bed and tell her a story.”
“At 18…?”
“You tell her a story and take her to bed.”
“28...?”
“You don’t need to tell her a story to take her to bed.”
“At 38…?”
“She tells you a story and takes you to bed.”
“48…?”
“She tells you a story to avoid going to bed.”
“What about at 58…?”
“You stay in bed to avoid her story.”
“At 68…?”
“If you take her to bed, that’ll be a story!”
“And at 78, both the bed and the woman are dead and buried?”
“Exactly! What story? What bed? Who the hell are you?”
Listening and dancing to Mimboland’s rich and fascinating music on social virtues (love, honesty, hard work, etc.), social ills (jealousy, corruption, prostitution, etc.) and power relations between men and woman and at various levels of society, Lilly Loveless reached an instant decision. She’d have to look into how these themes are captured in popular music, and would recruit a research assistant to collect and transcribe relevant popular songs for her.
She submitted herself to the music, and to the Mimbolander sense of spectacle. The large mirrors on the walls produced and reproduced images of her, Bobinga Iroko and others locked in ecstasy.
“Listening to Petit Pays,” said a young girl in her teens, probably, “makes me feel all charged up.”
Lilly Loveless could say the same, for the music was indeed luring and electrifying in its suggestiveness.
The pleasures were profound, beyond words.
The night was long and consumed by excitement.
There were mixed fillings of drinks, but no mixed feelings.
The enjoyment was total.
There was kissing… with Bobinga Iroko… much kissing.
“One needs to be kissingly close to notice that you are yet to have your wisdom tooth,” Lilly Loveless whispered.
“And one needs that experience to know just what an excellent kisser you are,” replied Bobinga Iroko, blissfully.
Well before the time the sun kissed Mount Mimbo good morning with its baby rays, the buyam-sellams, bus drivers, taxi men, bendskin riders, truck pushers, travellers and other early risers in Puttkamerstown could see Bobinga Iroko’s Toyota Hilux stagger into town as if it had refilled at the bar, not the filling station. They looked in wonderment at the excited car exciting everything along its way.
Britney quickly thumbed at the keys of her cell phone in response to a text message she had just received: ‘University closed down due to student riot, till God knows when. Problems with fence VC is building. More later. Love you.’
She was eager to impress Lilly Loveless who was raiding the magnificent Puttkamerstown Botanical Gardens with her digital camera, repeatedly whispering ‘tropical paradise’ with almost every shot she took. Finally satisfied she had captured every plant and flower that caught her fancy, including several shots from varied positions of the thorny imposing ‘lover’s tree’ at the centre of the Gardens, Lilly Loveless joined Britney on the bench where the latter was sitting, hungry to start.
“My ears have been filled. Ready for me to fill yours?” asked Britney. Lilly Loveless smiled in anticipation of what Britney had gathered since their last meeting over a week ago.
Although Lilly Loveless woke late after the night of dancing, musical and self exploration with Bobinga Iroko, she had made sure she stopped by a shop for cold juice, water and biscuits, which she brought along in an environmentally friendly plastic bag.
Britney was sitting beneath two flamboyant trees that met overhead, listening to the musical concert of a multitude of colourful birds in the trees. She sat with her beaded purse on her lap, her notebook grasped in her hands and her knees turned in, ready to share. Lilly Loveless simultaneously appreciated the morning breeze and noticed Britney’s flower print dress, sleeveless and tight fitting on top then flowing to her ankles as she sat. Did their meeting place influence Britney’s choice of attire or was it a complete coincidence? Lilly Loveless wondered.
Britney waited patiently for Lilly Loveless to open two bottles of juice, ready her recorder and open her notebook. When she could tell Lilly Loveless was all ears, she began.
“Let me start with two letters I collected from a classmate of mine on my way here, who, frustrated by a recent experience with a married man in Sawang, does not have a kind word to say about men right now,” began Britney.
“Go right ahead,” said Lilly Loveless.
***
“The girl is called Veronique, She writes: ‘Good morning Darling, How are you doing? And your business? I hope you find time to rest a bit. My Darling, I miss you terribly, I think of you every day. I’m already quite embarrassed passing at the telephone booth every time to find out if you have called, only to be told no message.
“‘I really used to love it when we saw each other regularly, when you used to tell me your beautiful stories. Even more, I used to adore your smile and especially your beautiful lips that made me always want to kiss you everywhere. Darling, I feel good with you. By your side, I momentarily forget about everyone surrounding us. You therefore can imagine how much pain your absence is causing me. You see, you promised to let me know whenever you were in town. But, since we last saw each other, something has changed. You could even call me from Sawang, just to let me know you are also thinking of me. In any case, you could call just to say good morning or good evening, and insist that the message be transmitted to me.
“‘All I wish is for us to see again and to be as we were before. If you’ve misplaced
