Excerpt

He took the chair across from the desk, thus her afternoon work plan was put on hold. His body language told her that he was overwhelmed with emotion as his words told her about his life as a student there at Northern Arizona University. Could it be possible that his tale was true? This man was an international student, a Fullbright scholar, a thirty year old man, a guest in her country who was living in a dorm with an eighteen year old roommate. Yet, for two years, this student from Africa had never been any farther off campus than a distance he was willing to walk. No professor or student had invited him into their home. Consequently, his experience of the United States had been courtesy of the TV and classmates at a university who had been cordial to him, but ignored his as a human being. And, Leisa realized, she had to be included in that number. Yes, now that she thought about it, she could remember seeing him in her classes, but she had never even considered talking to him. And evidently, everyone else looked right past him too. Not with intended hurt, but it had.

As time ticked by unnoticed, she listened to his story, and wondered how she could have been so completely unaware of this fascinating man. Those soulful eyes, protected by perfectly placed thick eyebrows, competed with his large mouth and gleaming white teeth for her attention. Undeniably, in any color – black, white, red, brown, yellow – he would be judged a handsome man. His wide, high forehead was topped with hair cut so short as to render it unnecessary. The flawless face was hairless and his high cheekbones could have been courtesy of a Cherokee Indian heritage like hers. Yes, his story was pitiful, but he was not. Regal he was. Sitting there erect, yet unassuming. The ringing phone didn’t even distract her from this compelling man in her office. She said very little. He talked and talked, yet she intuitively knew that his mind was more on her, than on his story. Therefore, when a rare smile did come to his impressive face, his eyes began to reflect an unfamiliar feel, and his new-found desire to smile was like a magnet to her soul.

“I will be going back to my family, my wife and daughter, who live in Ouagadougou. That is the capitol city of Burkina Faso. Upon my return, I will take a teaching post at the university. It is like this, my destiny was determined when I was only a child. You see, I am to serve my people by helping them to advance in education, and too, I have a financial responsibility to my parents and siblings.” He spoke with such authority that it didn’t register with Leisa to question his philosophy of ‘destiny’.

Long before he ended his story, her ‘fix it NOW’ habit to any problem (whether it was hers or not), kicked in. She started thinking of how she might remedy a situation that embarrassed her as an American and a human being. So as he was leaving, she encouraged him with the promise that she would be calling him with a social invitation of some sort. However, her concentration on ways to improve his life were sabotaged when he took her shoulders firmly in his hands, and quickly touched his cheek to each of hers, as he thanked her for the visit.

She wasn’t ignorant of the gesture. She had seen it many times in movies as a welcome or a farewell, but it was the effect of his energy, when their bodies were momentarily close, that had her mystified. How very strange, she thought, as she sat down at her desk to get busy with neglected work. Knowing that nothing is by chance, as the rest of the afternoon passed, she pondered this unusual and initially unwelcomed interlude.

”Leisa? Is this Leisa Jennings?”

“Yes,” she answered into the telephone. It was five o’clock and she was exhausted from an afternoon of effort to focus on her job.

“This is Yaro Bomou. Please, I just wanted to express to you how gracious was your company today, and I am calling to thank you for the conversation.”

Warmth and compassion washed over her, and she said with heart-felt genuineness, “You are very welcome.” And then, adding quickly before she dared to let herself think about it, “I haven’t had time to contact anyone else, but if you would like to join me, I’m going hiking this Sunday in Sedona, and I was thinking that you might enjoy seeing that beautiful part of our state. It is less than an hour’s drive from here down the switch-backs.”

His response was immediate, passionate and affirmative. She would pick him up at his dorm late Sunday morning. The phone fell lifeless from her hand, and instead of leaving her office she turned off the light and sank into a chair near the large picture window to watch the last snow fall that always came in March. Her eyes watched the tree limbs sway while her body commanded attention to its pounding heart and a mind that was shouting at her:

‘What in the shit are you doing? What? Oh, sure, it’s the good Samaritan thing, right? And you want me to believe that you aren’t in the least bit attracted to him, correct? Oh really? Okay, okay……unwarranted hysteria from the good sense department of your brain. I am to disregard the fact that you are a forty two year old single woman with no intention of getting romantically involved with anyone? And this isn’t a problem? A man who is the victim of desperate loneliness and not just any man, but a black, married man who is probably younger too! So sure, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this picture. Good lord, Leisa! You make me crazy’.

Her heart and her mind waged constant battle as the days marched toward Sunday. What was she doing? Why would she risk getting involved with this inappropriate man? Improper, immoral, and no-future is the definition of ‘inappropriate’ in this instance. According to his university records, he was twelve years younger and yes, married. Certainly it was crystal clear that if their involvement became romantic, it would only have negative consequences for the both of them.