Just Mine

Chiamanda took in the evening air. She missed home, she missed her mom and work too. She was a workaholic and strangely, she missed her boss. She overheard Ms Sky talking about the corn from this part of the country. So she asked Bones to take this route.

They"ve become close, this past few days. He stayed with her in the hospital and refused to leave her side, saying it was the boss"s order. He helped her out with the work she had to do. They even talked. She didn"t know how she was going to convince him that she wasn"t going to die on him.

"Teach me self defense. Teach me how to use a gun" She said all of a sudden, surprising herself. She didn"t mean to say it out loud.

Bones thought he didn"t hear her right. "What?" He asked without taking his eyes off the road.

"I want to prove to you that I"m not weak. I"ve seen Ms Sky fight, she"s good. If you don"t teach me, I"ll sign up with her after she delivers." Chiamanda turned away from the window and looked at him.

"Self defense can"t save you from a car accident. Yeah let"s say you are able to tell when there"s a bad person around. You can"t tell when there will be an accident or a gunshot from a sniper." Bones said, taking his eyes off the road to look at her for the first time since they started their journey.

"Yeah you are right Bones, you"ve said it all. I"m sure you yourself can"t tell when there will be an accident or a gunshot from a sniper. So stop being a coward and let"s give this a try."

"Actually I can tell if there"s a sniper somewhere, especially if I have my guys with me." Bones said smiling.

"Yeah I get it Bones. You are afraid to let anyone in, for fear that you might loose them or you are just too scared cause of your selfish reason. What about the way I feel about you Bones? Do you think I want to die? no I don"t want to so I"ll be careful." Chiamanda paused then sighed " You no what Bones? it"s ok, forget about it. It"s not your fault it"s my fault for feeling this way about you."

She looked out the window to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes. She wasn"t going to talk about this matter anymore. No more begging a man.

Bones was surprised at her outburst. He"s never seen her talk like that before. He smiled bitterly as he replied her after a short while."I never pictured you for a talkative. I"m sorry Chiamanda. I"m sorry I can"t be the man you want."

"Yeah it"s obvious I"m only like this around you. But don"t worry, it won"t happen again. Don"t forget to stop at the next village, I need to get something." Chiamanda reached for the radio and turned it on.

Bones could hear her voice break, he didn"t want to hurt her. He didn"t want her crying because of him and he didn"t want her to stop talking. She was a beautiful woman, a smart one at that. She deserves someone better, not him. He doesn"t have much to offer. He liked her but he was too scared to open up after the hole his ex left behind.

He opened his mouth to talk but he closed them back. It"s better this way. She needs one of those educated men, maybe an engineer or a pilot or a Barrister not a bodyguard. He took a peek at her and she was looking out the window. He increased the volume of the radio as he focused on his driving.

Why do I always fall for the ones that I can"t get? They are lots of men out there, who would do anything to have you but no, you always fall for the ones who doesn"t want anything to do with you. Chiamanda chastised herself as she listened to the music playing on the radio.

After about fourty minutes of driving in silence. Chiamanda looked at Bones, she didn"t want to look at him but she noticed the way he was looking at his mirrors as if something was wrong. And she was bored, the music was boring and she wanted to talk to him.

"Everything ok?" She asked as she looked back

"Yeah. Just that the truck driver behind us is acting strange." Bones looked at his side mirror.

"But how can you tell, it"s not that close too us." Chiamanda looked back at the truck.

"Yeah it wasn"t but it"s getting close. There"s a military checkpoint up ahead so he should be slowing down not increasing his speed plus the road is bad."

"Ok let"s get away from him. Drive faster. Do you think he"s chasing us?" Chiamanda asked. She tried to hide her fear so he wouldn"t notice.

"No I don"t think so. Maybe he"s a bad driver or something is wrong with his truck. It"s not a straight road so I can"t go that fast cause a vehicle might be coming."

Chiamanda let out a sigh of relief as she sighted the checkpoint. But she noticed Bones increase his speed and drove like a maniac. She was scared of looking back.

"Hold on tight" Bones said as he tightened his grip on the wheel.

Chiamanda could hear the screeching sound from the truck. She wanted to look back but she was scared. They were close to the barricade and he wasn"t stopping. "Bones!"

"I think his break failed. I can"t get off the road cause of the rocks. But after the barricade, we"ll be able to leave the road." Bones could see the soldiers flagging him down. He put on his double trafficator to let them know something was wrong.

Chiamanda decided not to talk to him anymore so he wouldn"t be distracted. She started praying quietly as she held her chair tight and looked at the truck swerving right and left just behind them. She closed her eyes as they hit the barricade causing the soldiers to dive off the road. "Please save us Lord" She said quietly.

Bones thought he could get off the road after the checkpoint but what he didn"t expect was the village just after the checkpoint. He saw a few houses, he didn"t want to run into any of them but it was as if the truck was after them. It was obvious that the driver had lost control of the wheel and just moved it anyhow. Bones saw the truck falling. If they want to make it alive, he"d either run into the house or the tree close to the house.

"Hold tight" Bones throttled hard as he swerved left. He covered Chiamanda as he let go of the steering.

"Boom" was the last thing Chiamanda heard before she felt a heavy load on her.