Chapter 4

Immediately after revealing that she was amnesic, Imani had walked over to the loveseat—the very one his grandma had sat on the previous night—and collapsed on it. Kaito had moved to take a seat beside her but she had glared at him with the same murderous glint he had seen in his nightmares.

Like an automated controlled object he had turned around and took a seat on the armchair at the other side of the room.

They had sat in silence for almost an hour, during which Kaito’s stomach had rumbled thrice reminding him that he didn’t have dinner the previous night. But he didn’t dare leave the room. Any time he even spared a glance in the direction of the kitchen, Imani would shoot him a glare, her hazel eyes bearing so much hatred that he couldn’t tell whether he was being held in place by her anger or by a spell she had silently cast.

Since he couldn’t leave the room and she also glared at him when he had started tapping his feet on the floorboards, he contented himself with studying her out of the corner of his eyes. Her braids, an assortment of various pastel colors, were pulled into a ponytail to accentuate her angular, tense face.

The red sweatshirt she had on perfectly complimented her bronze skin. The previous night, her plump lips had been colored to match her sweatshirt but now that the lipstick had been wiped off, he could see that they were in dire need of lip balm. Her hazel-colored almond-shaped eyes were pensive as she tried to recollect part of her life.

“Do you know anything about me?” Imani asked in a tiny voice.

Kaito shook his head. “Only what you’ve told me. What do you remember about yourself?”

“My name is Imani Cornwell and I am a witch.” She recited. “That’s all I’ve got.”

They slipped into silence before Imani spoke again. “Was it worth it? The video call I mean.” She added when Kaito gave her a blank look. “Was it worth this? Was it worth all the memories I’ve lost?”

For a while, Kaito didn’t answer. He was weary of her tone. She sounded too calm for someone that should be furious.

“No. I’m sorry,” he responded in a whisper.

For the first time that morning, she smiled. “You’re right.” Then she lifted herself from the loveseat and made her way to the kitchen.

Kaito sat for a while before following her all the while keeping his distance. In the kitchen, he watched as she moved around opening cupboards and cabinets and pulling out ingredients, plates, and cutlery. He reclined against the fridge opposite her just watching. Soon, she found the toaster and after much prodding, figured out how to operate it.

“You know our country has laws for a reason,” she stated after pushing two slices of bread down the toaster. “Those laws exist to keep us safe. You broke a law yesterday. How does that make you feel?”

Two browned slices of bread popped up from the toaster. “Guilty.”

For a while, Imani didn’t respond. Instead, she occupied herself with splattering each slice of toast with copious amounts of strawberry jam. She spun around once more and took a huge bite of her toast then pulled a disgusted face.

“So apparently, I hate strawberry jam,” she announced after spitting out what was in her mouth. She began to scrape the jam off the toast. “I guess it’s good that you feel guilty. But that’s not important. What’s important is trying to right your wrongs. You’re going to help me get back the memories you made me lose in the first place.”

“Excuse me?” he asked just as she was about to take another bite of her toast. She had been able to scrape off most of the jam from the toast but inevitably, the toast had already absorbed some of the jam but nothing could be done about that.

“Did I stutter or did you not understand what I said?” she asked putting the toast back on the plate.

“You can’t be serious. What I did last night was terrible and I can promise you that I’ll never touch my phone when I’m driving. But as guilty as I feel about your amnesia, I am in no place to help you recover your memories. I’m not a medical practitioner. I don’t know how to help people get their memories back. I just graduated from high school waiting for college; I don’t even know how many kidneys people have.”

“Typically two. Sometimes three,” she answered through clenched teeth.

Kaito who either didn’t notice or chose to ignore that her anger was close to the surface threw his hands up in celebration. “See. You don’t need my help. You’re remembering all on your own.”

Imani slammed her fist on the kitchen counter and he flinched. “Listen here, you dumb dog.” She began, marching towards him pausing just inches away from him. The five-inch thick heels of her brown platform boots allowed her to glare directly at him without having to crane her neck. “Knowing simple facts about biology are not the same as having actual memories. I can tell that I know. I know the escape velocity of each of the planets. I can remember different spells. I know different facts about different species—NHEs and humans. What I don’t have are memories. I don’t have memories of friends or family. I don’t know anything about myself. I didn’t even know that I hated strawberry jam until I took a bite of the toast. So Fido are you going to willingly help me get my memories back or do I have to spell you?”

Kaito glared at her. He knew he had messed up big time by answering the phone while driving.

In all honestly, they were both lucky she hadn’t died or sustained any serious injuries. He thought about what it would feel like to lose his memories. To not remember his family or friends or any memories he acquired. It would have to be the most terrible thing. All the same, that didn’t warrant the name-calling. It wasn’t just an insult to him but an insult to his entire species.

He was about to spew out his retort when he heard a squeal behind him.