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| Daydreamer |
Bidel is a lovely sixteen-year-old, with a slender figure, luminous eyes of varying shades of green, and unusually long eyelashes.
She is an above-average student, although she never seems to have to study.
She lives with her parents in a wealthy, gated community.
While on the outside they seem to portray the perfect family, in reality her parents fight constantly, drifting further apart each day.
Her father is a successful corporate attorney with his own law firm, and her mother manages an art museum.
Bidel has never had a close relationship with her father, but always gets whatever she wants from her mother; including a brand new red Mustang convertible, for which she is the envy of her classmates.
Despite the car, at school her peers view her as a real nutcase.
She is a dreamer and once she starts a daydream, she lets her imagination run wild. Some of her fantasies come from books she reads, but more often from overhearing rumors about other girls in her class. Bidel isn't interested in the boys her own age, thinking them boring and immature.
On more than one occasion, she has dealt with several who have spread malicious rumors about her.
On her fourteenth birthday, Bidel's mother gave her a computer. On a lark, she and a friend posed nude for one another. As soon as her mother discovered the shenanigans, the computer was taken away and Bidel went back to her daydreaming.
When her parents are locked in one of their frequent battles, she escapes to her room and closes herself off. With her books and music to keep her company, she lets her fantasies ignite, at times becoming so intense she has trouble separating her daydreams from reality.
Her most recent fantasy is about an older man who follows her home from school. She invites him into her room, where she commands him to do her bidding.
One Friday afternoon, on her way home from her violin lesson, Bidel took a short cut through the park close to her home. As she crossed the newly cut lawn, she saw one of the girls from her class.
Mayomi, a beautiful young girl with golden-copper skin and shiny black hair, is a stunning combination of her Kenyan father and American mother. Mayomi stood in the middle of the expansive park, sobbing.
Curious, Bidel walked up to her. "Hey, Mayomi? Are you okay?"
Between sobs, the young girl told Bidel about a group of boys who had circled her, yelling obscenities and threatening their intentions. Luckily, one of the groundskeepers had driven by and scared the boys off.
Bidel, her heart going out to the other, hugged Mayomi tight and invited her home.
After making sandwiches, the girls enjoyed a beer as they sat and talked. Bidel, taking an instant liking to the young Mayomi, invited her to spend the night. With her parents away for the weekend, she had the whole house to herself and could have had a party if she wanted, but that wasn't her style.
Mayomi called her mother to let her know of the plans and the girls grabbed another beer, retreating to Bidel's bedroom.
The alcohol helped to loosen the girl-talk and Bidel began to tell Mayomi about her daydreaming and how sometimes, her dreams were so real she couldn't tell fantasy from reality.
Intrigued, Mayomi asked, "Please tell me what sort of dreams you have?"
"Well, I'm really a shy person and I don't have many friends. They all seem to leave, eventually. If I tell you, I hope you won't leave me, too."
"Oh, no! I promise I won't. Please, tell me."
Both girls lay on Bidel's bed, facing each other. Mayomi rested her head on her hand, her elbow on the bed, while Bidel cuddled her pillow to her tummy.
Taking a sip of her beer, Bidel began her story.
"Sometimes, I dream I'm in a different city. The sun shines on this city quite differently, like a new sun, one especially made for this particular place and the light it sheds is a peculiar sort of light. In this city, people live very differently than we do. The citizens are governed by beautiful women and the men are all good looking and very masculine. They don't communicate like us either. But, instead, know all the wishes of their women, serving them well."
Mayomi swallowed a lump in her throat, not sure now, if she wanted to hear any more. "Goodness, girl! You sure do have an imagination. But, tell me, did you learn this from a book?"
"Please, Mayomi. Don't interrupt me."
"But, you talk like you're reading from a book."
"I know I talk like I'm reading, but I'm telling you my stories for the first time and it's the only way I know how to tell them. I feel like I'm a genie who's been bottled up in a jar and imprisoned for a thousand years. Suddenly, the seals are removed and it's like a floodgate has opened and all the pressure is being released. Please understand, I don't think I could tell my dreams any other way. I think daydreamers are strange and lonely people. Sometimes, I love the four walls of my room where I'm secure and free of responsibility. And, sometimes, I'm so confused about everything. Particularly my dream about this older man who keeps following me."
"What? Tell me more!"
"For a long time, I've had this same dream about being followed by this older man, old enough to be my father. Several times, I've seen him standing across the street from school and he's watching me, but when I stare back at him, he looks away. I don't recognize who his is, but his eyes look familiar. They're so green, just like mine. One time, I actually got the courage to walk up to him and he just turned and walked away. He always stands under the big oak tree and on the days when he isn't here, I'm actually disappointed. I've even seen him at Starbucks. He sits across from me and watches me. One afternoon, I was doing homework and I was sitting in one of the comfortable chairs with my laptop on my lap and my feet tucked up under me. You know, making sure he couldn't see my legs or anything. Well, he dropped his head in embarrassment and got up and left. A few minutes later, one of the baristas came and asked me if I wanted more café macchiato. I must have looked surprised, because she told me that someone paid her to give me a refill."
"Have you told your parents about this man?"
Bidel laughed. "A little bit. My father thinks my fancying some older guy, whether he's real or not, is normal for my age. With all my raging hormones, as he refers to it. My mother is more serious about it. I think she really believes me and wants my dad to arrange for a restraining order or something. I'm sorry now I even said anything to them."
Mayomi listened to Bidel in amazement. "Look. I haven't the faintest idea why these things are happening to you, but I have this feeling that this guy is real."
"I'm so glad you understand. Up until now, I haven't had anyone to share my deepest secrets."
"You know, there are some girls who're just dying to have some excitement happen to them. You're so lucky! Please, go on. I can't wait to hear how this all ends."
"Well, one night, the older man snuck into my room."
"No way!" Mayomi's eyes grew wide.
"He was standing right there by the French doors. I didn't know whether to be scared or take my opportunity. So, I stood on my bed and started dancing like, you know, like a stripper. But, all he did was hold up his hands and wouldn't let me do anything inappropriate. I actually got quite embarrassed and then I started screaming. My parents rushed into my room and my mom was hysterical when she saw me standing on my bed half-naked."
"So, what did the man do?"
"He ran out the French doors and when I pointed in that direction, my dad ran after him, but he'd vanished. When my dad returned, my parents kept questioning me as to what had happened, but there wasn't much I could tell them, because I still didn't know if he was really real or not."
Mayomi was seriously trying hard to refrain from laughing. "So, what happened next? Did you see him again?"
Bidel nodded her head. "Last week I saw him as I came out of Starbucks. This time he came up to me and said, 'Please don't be afraid. I just want to talk to you.' I told him I wasn't afraid and we went back in and sat in the corner."
"Then what?"
"He said to me, 'Forgive me for scaring you. I want you to know I'm not trying to hurt you in any way. What I'm going to tell you will shock you, but you must hear the truth.' So, I stared right back at him, daring him, you know? And he finally said, 'I'm your real father.'"
"Oh! My! God! What did you say to him?"
"I said, 'Do you expect me to believe that?'"
"And what did he say?"
"He said, 'You will if you'll let me tell you the whole story.'"
"So, did he?"
"Uh huh. He said, 'Your mother and I were lovers before she married her lawyer boyfriend. I can't blame her for choosing him. He was well-established and me, well, I was just a poor college student. Two weeks after she married him, she called to tell me she was pregnant. I was suspicious from the beginning, with the timing and all, and so after your birth I had a DNA test done. The results didn't surprise me. You are my daughter.'"
"What are you going to do now?"
"He said he had to leave to take care of some business and that he'd come back to take me away to Australia, where I'd have lots of family and friends."
Mayomi couldn't help herself. She burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Bidel, with hurt and disappointment filling her eyes, cried out, "I think you should leave. You're the same as all the others!"
Mayomi got up and as she was closing the door, she turned back to Bidel, "You are a real nutcase, just like everybody said!"