The St James Project
Mercy Jones had studied at Oxford University, passed out a Class A student, and after doing her three years internship at the Great Ormand Hospital in London, working with children, she passed out and became a skilled practitioner. But when it changed its focus to scientific and general medicine she quickly realised it wasn't where she wanted to be. She'd spoken to several of her counterparts, researched, and even visited a few places in the hope that she would find something to ignite that fire within her again, but two years on and nothing, she was stuck in a job she was finding it hard to get up for.
"Come on" Jane banged the pillow trying to convince her friend
"It's not somewhere I've ever thought of going, it's dangerous" Mercy sat on the bed telling her
"We'd have a great time" she begged "Tony's parents are willing to look after us, they live in a gated community, it will be good"
"I really don't want to be a third wheel"
"Honestly" Jane huffed "You'd be doing me a favour, when he gets with his family, it's like I don't exist"
"So you want me there to stop you being bored?"
"No" she laughed "So we can go on some serious adventures" she grabbed her hand "I promise we'll hire a car and go all over the place every day"
"That's not even my type of holiday, I want to be sitting on a damn beach, drinking cocktails and being ogled by men, lots of men" she laughed
"Mercy" Jane moaned "Why are you resisting?"
"I've heard all the stories about those men, taking us into the hills and turning us into native women, apparently they have some sort of spell they put on us" she laughed
"Fake news" Jane rolled her eyes laughing "Please come"
"I don't know" Mercy looked at her friend
"Just for a week, if you don't like it we'll come back"
"A week?"
"Maybe two" Jane pushed it
"If I'm not feeling it after a damn day, I'll book my flight back" she waved her finger smiling at being worn down about this
"Yea" Jane bounced on the bed "We're going to have such a great time"
It really wasn't the right time for Mercy to be thinking about leaving home, she'd just broken up with Matt a colleague from work, they'd had a disagreement about what commitment was, he didn't think it mattered that he was seeing three women at the same time and didn't think he should make a commitment to her because she wasn't always readily available. So her next move was to make herself unavailable to the rat, of course he protested, but she had respect for herself, second or even third best was never going to cut it for her, she walked away, almost unscathed.
On top of that she'd just downsized her house, the prospect of leaving was setting up home in her heart, depression was setting in, and the more she spoke to her therapist, the more she knew her current situation had to change, the problem was to what?. She'd moved out of her three bad apartment with a bedroom full of medical books and the other full of barrels of medical gadgets she'd brought in the hope of them being useful one day, into a one bed apartment, the only advantage being the main wall was a bookcase that housed all her valuable books. The Barrels were sorted sealed and put into storage, ready to go, somehow she felt more ready to go, having gotten rid of most of her unnecessary belongings.
"Gambia here we come" Mercy waved her hands, half enthused
According to Jane, Tony's family came from a town called Brikama a nine minute drive from the main airport in Banjul, they were very well to do, and very influential in the town. Jane had met him at a Health Care convention she'd attended in Germany three years ago, they'd started this long distance relationship with no hope, but it had kept going and now they were invested, Tony spending a lot of time in California at her place. He'd just got himself a post at the General Hospital, his cosmetic surgery program was getting massive air time and they felt lucky to have snapped him up.
So this trip home was to inform the family, and move to California on a bit more of a permanent basis, on top of that they'd just decided to get engaged and that morsel of information needed to be passed on in a face to face conversation. Jane was so hyped because, this was the first time she'd be meeting his notorious sister Atta. Apparently she too was something big in town, she'd been the sole founder of some tourism association, an anagram of her name or something, Jane couldn't get excited about it, in most of Tony's childhood stories she sounded like a real bitch.
"Remember pack light, it's summer out there" Jane jumped off Mercy's bed onto the floor, grabbing her bag, pleased with herself for getting her way
Three weeks later and Mercy was smiling, she was doing something she loved doing, travelling, all be it for her friend but she was loving the experience "God its so damn hot" Mercy backed off her thin jacket and draped it across her case as they walked towards the airport exit. Just as she'd pictured it Tony and Jane had been wrapped in each other since they'd checked in, and she was very much feeling like the third wheel
Tony walked quickly towards a slightly older version of himself smiling, the two men hugged and talked in their language, before the man looked at Jane "Jane, good to see you again" he hugged her smiling
"Lamain this is Mercedes my best friend" Jane finally let him go to look at Mercy "Mercy this is Tony's older brother Lamain" she smiled, her eyes telling Mercy she was cooking something up
Tony was busy sorting their cases out, getting them put in the transport, talking very aggressively in his mother tongue to the two men helping them "Don't mind him" Lamain laughed "He always gets into home mode as soon as he lands"
"Did you get us the car?" Jane asked him
"Yeah, you can use one of the family cars, I hear you're almost official family anyway" Lamain laughed
"Does everyone know already?"
"No" he looked at Tony still busy "He asked advice on the proposal, I dressed up and everything" he laughed
"Come on get in" Tony turned sharply telling them
They'd barely had chance to start a conversation before the car came to a stop, the two story house sat behind a massive automatic iron gate, white painted walls spread as far as the eye could see. They sat waiting for the gates to open before taking the almost regal drive down a lane lined with palm trees, finally exposing at the end of it the full beauty of the house "Impressive yeah?" Lamain smiled at Mercy
"Very" she smiled, she was excited to see inside
It didn't disappoint, the marble floors, winding stairs, large paintings, extravagant African art pieces, everything looked and smelled money "This is our humble home" Lamain smiled leading her into the house
"It's absolutely beautiful" Mercy gasped, every picture taking her breath
"You must be Jane" a woman maybe, ten years her senior walked towards her with her hand out "Pleased to meet you" she looked into Mercy's eyes
"No, I'm Jane's friend Mercedes" Mercy pointed to Jane "This is Jane"
"Oh" she looked clearly disappointed at Jane "Pleased to meet you" she directed her hand to Jane "I sort of expected..." she kept the thought in her head
"You must be Atta" Jane grabbed her waiting hand smiling "I've heard so many good things about you, pleased to finally meet you"
"Likewise" she forced a smile at her soon to be sister-in-law
They got inside, met the rest of the family and went to their rooms, the bed was so big, Mercy felt she could easily have stayed in the whole two weeks. After packing her essentials away, she had a wonder around the grounds, they had cattle, horses and crop, lots of people running around making sure everything was in it's place, she stood in the field taking in nature, disturbed by Lamain's voice calling her name
"How did you find me?" she turned laughing
"The animals led me to you, they know when a stranger is in their midst" he laughed
"Joking right?" she looked at him suspiciously as he walked towards her
"I was watching you" he giggled "I find I can't take my eyes off you"
"Not the shy type then" she giggled
"Me?" he laughed "I've heard the word before, but I must admit, I don't associate with it"
"I've heard about you Gambian men"
"And if it's good every word is true" he stopped in front of her "Maybe after dinner I could drive you around the grounds, there's lots to see" he looked back at the house "Tony and Jane are going to be busy later, after the announcement I mean"
"Yeah I'd like to look around" she looked out at the vast land she hadn't covered yet "I never asked, what do you do for a living?"
"I work in pharmaceuticals"
"It's like a medical convention around here" she laughed
"We need to get back for dinner" he held his arm out for her to grab, he was being friendly and today he was the only friend she had, so she grabbed his arm and made social chit chat, all the way back to the house. She'd hardly heard of any of the food they laid out, but she enjoyed it, the build up to the announcement was nail biting, eventually Lamain kicked Tony and the words flew out his mouth, followed by total silence for about a minute
"Married?" his Mother called across the table
"Yes Mother, and I'm only having one wife" Tony told her, looking at Lamain for approval, smiling at his nodding head
Perhaps the most touching moment was watching Atta's face break from that stern 'don't mess with me' face she constantly wore, to a smile, her congratulations came in the form of a hug, and before they finished dessert she was already referring to Jane as her sister. Lamain was right of course the focus was on the wedding; plans were being made, venues were being discussed, it was no place for Mercy to invade, she was happy when he suggested they go for that drive.
The next day Jane was mega apologetic when the parent had arranged for them to do something, Mercy sat thinking she should have trusted her instinct and stayed at home "Thought you'd be at a loose end" Lamain's head popped around the drawing room door "Fancy a drive?"
"Yeah" she jumped up happy for the change of scenery
"Jane tells me you're into children, sick children" he smiled "I've got to deliver some pharmaceuticals up to the small surgery up in Barajali, It's about 4 hours away, but we can do it in a day, if your interested?"
"More than interested" she followed him out the door
They made the trip through the dusty roads leading out of the busy town into desert land, the stark differences between the have's and the have nots more than apparent the further they went out of town, the chatter quietened as Mercy took in the scenes of poverty. They stopped off to grab water and fill up with gas before making the last few miles of their journey which ended at a double fronted brick house, it looked so out of place in it's surroundings, with it's pretty potted plants, hanging baskets with fresh flowers, gravel driveway, everything beyond the front door was kept private with walls on both sides reaching across for as far as the eye could see.
"This is Doctor O'Neill's home" Lamain jumped out of the jeep giving his hand to help her out "And his place of work"
"He has a surgery?" Mercy asked surprised at the prospect and possibility "St James Hospital" she read on the plaque outside the second gate
"He has a hospital, provides work for those that can, just around the house and in the fields, but he buys medicines" Lamain replied, grabbing some boxes from the back of the jeep
Mercy helped with the boxes, she needed to get inside to see what was going on, she was past excited about the place. The house was past extravagant for the area it was in, reminded her of the houses in movies on the plantations, they walked towards the house, peeping through the glass doors she could see tables, large wall painting, ornaments on stands, and double doors at the far end of the hall obviously leading to the garden.
"James" Lamain walked towards the man smiling "Your order" he nodded at the box in his hand, James waved and walked towards them,
"Lamain, you're a sight for sore eyes, this is late"
"Had to wait for the shipment" Lamain told him "This is Mercedes a doctor from America"
"Have you come to help?" James asked her
"She's on holiday James" Lamain laughed "I told you, I've handed your application in" he looked at the elderly man, his eyes tired and his body mal-nutritioned "Are you alright?"
"Me?" James looked at Lamain asking "Can you see all these children?" he pointed through the house
"But you need to look after yourself old man"
"The quicker you get me that assistant, the quicker I can get on that" he laughed
"They're on their way" Lamain assured him
"Do you specialise?" James asked Mercy offering them to come in
"Children actually" she looked around for a spot to drop the load
"Arthur" James shouted, a young man walked towards them smiling "The woman's struggling man" he waved at Mercy, the man quickly took the load and hurried off "Welcome to my home" he smiled finally offering his hand for shaking
"Thank you" Mercy smiled, still curious
"I thought our guest might be interested to see what you do here" Lamain told him
"Very" Mercy's eyes sparkled at the opportunity
They walked through the house and out into what Mercy originally thought was the garden to find, what could only be described as a village. The first brick building had children in beds lined against the white painted walls, women sitting at some of the beds she learned were parents, come nurses. The second hut had fewer people in but they were adults, she walked along listening as James explained that, people brought their sick for him to treat, he did day surgeries but those that needed to stay in generally came with their families and as payment they worked the land or in the house, they lived off the land but also sold a lot of it to the neighbouring town and they lived peacefully and happy on that arrangement.
"So how do you afford the medicine?" Mercy asked
"Charity" he smiled at Lamain "Some people are very generous"
"You give the medicine?" Mercy asked her friend
"Not just me, my whole family" Lamain held his hands up
"That's so generous" she looked into his eyes genuinely impressed, this man had many strings
They spent some of the afternoon with the natives, had a late lunch and started their very chatty journey back to Brikama, everyone seemed to reach home at the same time, the house was alive with conversation about the wedding, anyone would have thought it was happening the next day. The only conversation that was held about her day was when his Mother asked if the medication had been dropped off to James, Lamain replied with a very final yes and the conversation switched back to weddings. Dinner was more of the same, she got maybe an hour with Jane just long enough for the girl to butter up the fact that she was going to meet Tony's grandparents the following day so once again Mercy was going to be left home alone.
She went to bed regretting having made the decision to come to Gambia with Jane, she was more than happy she was getting married, that she'd been fully accepted by his family, Jane was stressing about that, but to just drop her without argument, that was a crossed line. She woke up the next morning having made the decision to do her own thing, she didn't need company to see the world, she never had before and this wasn't any way different
"You can come with us if you want?" Lamain smiled as she announced her plans to sightsee for the day
"I'll just need a reputable car and someone who knows something about where to take a lady, thank you" she smiled at him, he was getting cute, Mercy's eye caught Jane's disapproving stare and wondered what that was about, but before the question could be asked the conversation was carried away and she was back to listening again
"That would be me" Lamain laughed "But duty calls today, I have to be with the family, it's tradition, so I'll ask Frankie to drive you"
"Thank you" she smiled at him, their eyes locking for longer than they needed to, she broke away from them noticing Alla looking at her funny, maybe flirting wasn't the done thing or something, she shrugged her shoulder and carried on eating
Day seven and she was back at the hospital, she needed to ask questions, get some understanding of how things went, James had given her an idea "Do you think this might be something you'd be interested in?" he finally asked watching her sat playing with the children
"There's a lot of responsibility" she told him "I want it but with nobody to run things by.." she shook her head
"You should come work with me for a while, get some confidence" he smiled "You fit" he looked around
"I'd like to seriously think about that offer" Mercy sat up telling him, that night she lay in bed joining all her dots together, she'd arrived here for a reason, she was packed at home, as fed up with her job as she'd ever been and then this drops in her lap, was it fate? She did feel comfortable here, James was right, seeing it had made her take a deep breath and drink it all in
"You'd live in the house of course, there are five bedrooms so you'd still have your privacy and everything" he laughed "I rarely go upstairs to be honest" his eyes sad "Meals, board and health care included of course"
"Very tempting" she laughed "Seriously, I'll think about it"
That second week she was turning down offers of outings with Jane and Tony, opting for spending more time at St James Hospital, getting to know the people, going out into the fields to learn about the crops, seeing what went on in the house and lunching with James while listening to the interesting stories about his life as a young man, his wife, who died at a young age, and what kept him going in the face of failure. It wasn't hard to see what kept him there, he knew these people, intimately, he was like their saviour having breathed life back into their sick, given food to the hungry and a meaning to life for those working for their own survival.
The huts they lived in scattered around the parameters of the large field, meant everyone had their privacy, they didn't look like much from the outside but inside they had beds, cooker, table and chairs for the families. In the evenings James would light up the big screen, entertaining the children with cartoons of old and story tellers tales and later a movie for the adults to cuddle up to, before the house went quiet and everyone went about their own business, only for everything to start again the following day
"So?" James smiled watching her leave for the last time before getting her flight back home
"It's calling me" she giggled "I've got some stuff to wrap up, but I will be back"
She got back to Brikama that evening keen to speak to Lamain, he knew she'd been offered the job and was keen for her to grab it. She'd thought maybe there was a spark there, they'd hit it off from day one and that had only gotten stronger over time, he'd gone back to work half way through her holiday but the evenings were theirs and two days ago they'd shared a kiss, she was thinking on it.
"You're back" Lamain greeted her at the front door
"Someone's eager" she giggled stepping out, looking at him stood at the top of the stairs
"I've made no secret of it" he smiled wider "Had a good day?"
"Yes"
"Decision?"
"Not yet, but soon" she grabbed his waiting hand and took the last few steps to get to him
"We need to..." he was interrupted by Jane rushing towards them
"Mercy, I have the best dress, you've got to see this" she grabbed her friends hand to move with her, Mercy looked at Lamain helplessly as she followed her friend. The dress was beautiful no doubt, it was perfect on her friend but Mercy had things on her mind she needed to sort out
"Now I've actually got you on your own" she turned to her friend "On this holiday we were supposed to grab a ride and disappear" she huffed "I've been offered some training at St James' Hospital and I'm seriously thinking about it, what do you think?"
"For how long?"
"As long as I want, I think"
"How long are you thinking?"
"I'm still at should I" she laughed "And Lamain's being so supportive about it, I think we might..."
"No you won't" Jane butted in "I can't say anymore than that" she fanned her off
"What do you mean?"
"I can't say anymore than that Mercy, look we go home tomorrow and you can forget about Gambia and Lamain and get on with your life"
"What are you not telling me?"
"Jane" Tony shouted through the door, the guests are arriving hurry up babe"
"I'm truly sorry about this holiday Mercy, I didn't think they'd take to me like this, everything just went so well"
"Except I was left out in the damn cold" she hissed
"I'll make it up when we get back"
"You will" she sat watching Jane get out of the dress, and hung it up while she put her other dress back on "Ready" she assured her
Dinner was very uncomfortable, the guests spoke only in their own language, and constantly snapped their words while they looked in her direction, there was no point in looking at Jane for help, she didn't know what they were saying either. Tony kept looking at Lamain, while their parents stayed relatively quiet throughout the whole meal, The clock stuck midnight and it seemed like the wicked family from the west had to fly back home on that damn shadow of the evil broomstick they'd left in the air, they said goodnight to everyone except Mercy
"That was all about me then?" Mercy asked Lamain
"They're too traditional" he laughed throwing his arm around her
"I'm going straight to bed" she flicked his arm off her shoulder, how the hell could someone be dissing her the whole night and he sits there saying nothing, and then he wants to come hug her up after the damn fact, she wanted to shout fuck off, but she was in Jane's in-laws house. She used the hour of anger to pack her case, if she never had to see this damn house again, it would be too soon, they're pretended to like her all holiday, she sat on her bed thinking about it. Actually they hadn't, they'd never included her in anything they'd done for the wedding, and Jane had allowed it, if she thought she was going to be a chief bridesmaid or anything like that she could forget it, her ex-friend must have been in on the game they'd played with her too.
There was more to come before she left that part of the world, that morning they'd had a quiet breakfast, Lamain constantly asking her what was wrong, she didn't have the heart to blow the family up, the servants had been really kind to her, so she left it. They said their goodbyes and made for the cars Lamain, couldn't leave it like that he pulled here away from the others
"I guess you're not going to say goodbye to me either?" Lamain stood in front of her asking "What did I do?"
"You let those people talk about me last night and you didn't say a damn thing" she spat at him
"It's just not the done thing" he told her "I'd be disrespecting my family.."
"But it was alright for them to disrespect me?"
"No" he pulled her to him "I thought we had something going on between us?" he touched her cheek "You're going to have to grow a thicker skin sweet"
"I'll try" she smiled up at him
"Come on let's get you to the airport" he pulled her back to the car
"Are you coming?" Tony asked him shocked
"Just to the airport"
"You're sure?" Tony asked with a puzzled look on his face
"Drive the car" Lamain tapped the drivers head rest
They got to the check in and stood yet again saying their goodbye's "Lamain" a voice approached the laughing crowd "You came to collect me?"
"Yes" he turned without hesitation, smiling at the tall dark woman coming towards them "Just seeing Tony, Jane and Jane's friend off, did you have a good trip?" he leaned in and took the kiss on the lips the woman was giving him, Mercy stood smiling thinking traditions she'd need to get used to
"Hi" the woman hugged Jane and then Tony, it was clear they knew her "And Jane's friend..."
"Mercedes" she told the woman
"I'm Elsa, Lamain's wife" she smiled shaking her hand
"Oh" Mercy was happy her skin tone wasn't showing how angry or embarrassed she was right now "Nice to meet you Elsa" she flashed the wickedest look at Jane, her supposed friend who couldn't even give her a heads up on this shit, she'd sat watching her making a fool of herself for two weeks with this damn man.
"My parents had a lot to say about you, they met you last night at dinner" she smiled
"Right" she looked at all four of them "Well it was nice to finally meet you Elsa, Lamain said nothing about you, and I'm about to miss my flight so.." she turned and walked away, she didn't speak to Jane again until they got back to America. She told her she wasn't happy about her not telling her about Lamain, not spending any time with her throughout the holiday, and not sticking up for her to Lamain's wife's family, ending with that wasn't what she expected of a friend and they parted company.
Two Years Later
Mercy got on with her life, there was no thought of Gambia, Lamain or even Jane for a while, she was still doing her shitty job, depressed and daydreaming about a better life "Mercedes" Rachel her colleague came running towards her with a newspaper in her hand "I remember you said something about St James once, I saw this and thought of you, is it the same place?" Mercy took the paper and looked at the advert
"Yeah, it's the same one, she smiled at the picture of the front door of the main house, it brought back some happy exciting times
"They're looking for a doctor" Rachel nudged her
"I don't know"
"It's been two years Mercedes, you don't even see that girl anymore, you said yourself it was like half a days drive from where you stayed, what's there to lose?" she grabbed the paper out her hand "And you hate this job, even I can tell"
"Maybe he'll remember me" she grabbed the advert back
"Part of being young is making the right mistakes" Rachel laughed "Just go for it"
By the end of the week Mercy had applied for the job and was sat back waiting for the unexpected to happen. Everything was still packed waiting, she hadn't told anyone she'd applied, she didn't want all her eggs in one basket, nearly four months later she got a letter out the blue inviting her for an interview, asking for her availability and notice period, it sounded like the job was hers. She wrote back with all the details and sat waiting for another month before she got the offer of an interview, packed her case for the week and went in search of a new life
"That's me" she told the guy stood holding a name board "Where's James?"
"He sent the car for you Mam" he told her grabbing her bags to load them, reluctantly she went with him, taking that familiar, unfamiliar ride back to St James Hospital, surprised to find everything as she'd left it some nearing three years ago
"Miss Mercedes" the door opened to show a smiling face she recognised but couldn't think of the name "Barney"
"Of course" she smiled taking his hand "Where's James?"
"He's..."
"I'll take it from here thanks Barney" a voice came into the hall "Sorry my name's Sam Evans, apparently he's been waiting for you for a while"
"So I guess you know I'm Mercedes Jones" she gave her hand "Were you the assistant that came?"
"Seems like an age ago, I feel like quite the expert after three years" he laughed "He's through here, he's not well but he was keen to see you again, you left quite an impression" he pointed towards a door and started walking towards it, his arm telling her to come with him
"What's wrong with him?" she followed him across to James' bedroom door
"Cancer, it's very aggressive" he stopped at the door telling her "He doesn't have long left, days maybe" he opened the door before she had a chance to get to grips with her feelings
"James" she gasped at seeing the frail man again "What have you been doing to yourself?"
"Wasn't running fast enough, it finally caught up with me" his voice week but his laugh apparent "I feel much better for seeing you"
"And I for seeing you, I should have come back, but there was so much going on..."
"No matter all that, you're here now" he held his weak arm up "Listen" he called her closer "I don't have much time, we all know that" he chuckled "But I want this place to live on, I gave it to you" he smiled
"What?" she gasped "James I..."
"You've struggled against yourself for too long Mercedes, I figured you needed someone to make the choice for you" he chuckled and ended up coughing "I saw it in your eyes that first time we met, you wanted this, you just didn't know how to start, here it is"
"James" she grabbed his hand
"My name's not James, that's the name of the building, I didn't know the founder, it got handed down to me by a lovely lady, my name's Simon O'Neill"
"Simon" she giggled "You look like a Simon"
"Sam's a brilliant doctor, you could learn a lot from him" he looked over at the man standing watching them "I told you she was beautiful didn't I?"
"You did" Sam laughed "I'll leave you two to catch up" he made his exit
Mercy sat with him talking, watching him sleep and crying for a while, eventually disturbed by his nurse coming in to do the usual checks "Where did you get the morphine from?" she asked about the restricted medication
"Mr Sam buys it Mam" the nurse told her, reminding her there was someone else in the house
"Oh" she got up to go find him "Where is he?"
"Setting up the movie Mam" she smiled remembering, happy even, that traditions still prevailed, she left the room to go find him
"Do you need any help?" she walked up behind him, smiling at his sudden move "Sorry" she giggled for startling him
"It's fine, I should have known it was you, there are no other American's around here" he laughed finishing loading the movie "Simon likes his traditions"
"I know" she laughed "It's good to keep things going, do they all know he's not well?"
"I think they do, news spreads like wild flies around here"
"Where did you practice?" she looked at him, trying to study his looks through the sunburn
"I practiced at Stanford, did my internship at Texas Med, specialising in children and the elderly" he smiled "You?"
"Oxford, stayed on at Great O for four years and now I'm bored as hell" she laughed
"That's about where I was before I came out here" he looked around "This has everything I need"
"So you're planning on staying then?"
"To protect my interest, yeah" he laughed "Sorry maybe Simon didn't explain things properly, he gave me the other half of this business"
"No he didn't" she giggled "I guess we need to get on then"
"So you plan on staying?"
"To protect my interest, of course" she looked at him before they burst out laughing
"I was starting to worry about taking all this on, so that's music to my ears"
"What's the film?"
"Thought I'd be a bit adventurous" he smiled "I got Independence Day, I love that movie"
"Good choice, I'm actually looking forward to it"
"Your rooms the second on the left upstairs in case you need to freshen up"
"Do I smell?" she sniffed her arm pit
"No" he laughed "You've not had a second since you came"
"Well thank you for thinking about me" she turned to walk away
"No charge" he smiled watching her walk off before catching himself "It's been a while Evans" he told himself, rubbing his hands down his trousers before getting on with setting the movie up
Over the week they took it in turned to sit up with Simon at night, and sleep the morning away while the other tended to the clinic, looked after the sick patients, dealt with the afternoon rush together and set up the children's activities so they could spend some time with Simon together before the adult movie. The start of the week they were sitting across the room from each other for movie time, but the emotional week had brought them closer together, and today, they were sharing a seat, Sam having just mopped up her ever flowing tears.
They were on day three of the Twilight boxset, Bella had some big decisions to make, everyone was eating snacks, settled down for the next episode, the film had been the talk of the village all week "I feel like you're my Edward" Mercy looked up at him smiling
"Whatever happens you can be my Bella" he touched her nose with his finger
"Does that make me Carlisle?" Simon asked trying to laugh
"Yeah" Sam laughed looking over at him in his portable bed
"Seriously, I lean on you so much" Mercy looked at him again
"And when it's my turn, you'll feel it, believe me" he settled in to watch the movie
Simon finished watching the boxset and that same night he went to sleep and stayed that way, of course everyone was upset about it, the wailing went on for hours, but it eventually ceased, life had to carry on, there were sick children to attend to, deliveries to be made of the harvested products and clinic to open. It was Friday before they got a second to think about their own feelings and breathe. The funeral was as personal as he'd wanted it with only the people in the house attending and he was laid to rest in the garden where those before him had been laid
"We need to go into Basse Santa Su, that was all Simon told me" Sam told her "We might have a few hours after the morning rush" Sam suggested a week later
"Eleven thirty?" Mercy asked
"Perfect" he smiled "Are you going to sort that stuff out for shipping today?"
"Yes" she rolled her eyes "It's a complete waste of resources having them sit in storage at home, when we need them here"
It was all legal stuff, Simon had named them as he successors in his will, they were never going to own the house or the land, but they could live on it and work on it for as long as they lived or until they passed it over to their successors. There were many beneficiaries that would need informing of the new names for cheques and correspondences they had to agree to having their details, and finally a cash sum of 80645161.29 Dalasi to be shared equally between them from Simon himself, apparently he'd walked into the house with that amount and more.
Sam and Mercy walked away blown away, this man that lived so humbly, gave everything to others, died in this house, in the middle of nowhere, with no family, friends, nothing, he had all this stored up, for what, who, why? "How much do you reckon that is?" Sam asked
"I have no idea" Mercy sat in the car looking out at the view "No idea"
"Let's sort your shipment out" he started the car "It's getting late"
They went to the exchange and contacted Rachel to get things started, sending the money and giving her the forwarding address "Done" she smiled, they stood looking at each other for a second "It's getting real now"
"It's life changing stuff" he laughed opening the car door for her
Gambia was the kind of place you'd never be fed up of seeing people, one minute you were in a crowded town, unable to hear yourself speak for all the bantering going on and the next you were driving through desert land listening to nothing "Turn the music on" Sam told her when their conversation died down
"Let's see" she turned it on "Oh" she looked at him, surprised at the music coming at her, she started it again and lay back in the seat listening to the sweet sounds of "Turn Me On' by James Vickery
And hold me in your pretty little arms, indulge me with another slip of my name
I don't want to suffer here in silence, I just want to know, whether you reciprocate my signs and, if it's worth the talk
You turn me on, when I'm not off, cause it's always on, when we are alone
He was driving but the way she was reacting to the music was distracting him, his eyes wondered every now and again, watching her legs rub together, her chest heaving as she lay there with her eyes closed, he swore she knew what she was doing to him
"Do you mind?" her eyes opened
"Sorry" he looked ahead
"If I repeat this?" he stretched to start the song again
"No, not at all" he smiled happy she hadn't caught him checking her out, he'd lost count of the amount of times he'd done that now
And judge me after you have heard the mileage, engulf me, I'm addicted to you now...
There's no limit to your finest, I just need to know, I don't think you even could define it, why don't we take it off?
You turn me on, when I'm not off, cause it's always on, when we are alone
She was doing this on purpose, he knew that, but surely she wasn't actually telling him to take her shit right here on the road, the very dark road, with nobody in sight, maybe she was, should he take the chance, suddenly the choice was out of his hands when they heard a loud bang and the car slowed to a stop "Shit" he hissed
"What's happened?"
"I'm excellent with bodies, know everything about them but cars... so not my area of expertise" he held his hands up
"Shit... it's hell of a scary out here"
"We'll just have to pray someone drives past"
"We've been driving for nearly an hour and not even a wild animal has been seen, what's the chances?"
"On a scale of 1 to 5 I'd say maybe a 1" he laughed "I saw a building about three minutes ago, let's get safe in there, we can't sleep in here"
"Sleep?" she looked at him "Are you really going to do nothing?"
"I work with people, not machines" he chuckled "Are you coming?" he got out the car and started walking
"Sam" she jumped out the car "Wait for me"
They got to the small building, opened the door and smile at the fact that there was at least a lamp and sheets, all be they dirty on the floor "What?" he asked at her bursting into laughter, he chuckled at the fact she couldn't stop laughing "What?" his voice full of giggle
"Sorry" she held her tummy trying to come to grips with herself, she eventually took a few deep breaths and straightened up "We just inherited a lucrative business and nearly 2 million dollars between us, and we're sleeping in a damn derelict hut"
"I guess you have to have been at the bottom to appreciate the top"
"I think you might be right, again" she spun round to look at him
"I'm into you, I guess you know that already" he stepped closer to her
"I hope you know that about me" she smiled up at him "I'm throwing my feeling around like there's a damn sale going on" she stepped closer to him "And I'm not the clingy type, I'm not asking for commitment or anything like that"
"So what, you're alright with seeing where this goes?"
"And if it goes nowhere" she stepped closer "We're grown enough to be friends about this afterwards, yeah?"
"Yeah" he smiled grabbing her arm to pull her to him "I've got maybe three good seconds" he chuckled before his lips covered hers
She suddenly realised it had been nearly four years since a man had touched her body, that was a man outside of her imagination, she stood frozen, wondering what to do next, if he could tell she hadn't had sex for a while, what was he thinking about her body, suddenly she was shy, boarder line frigid. She didn't have much time to think on, that the feeling that rose up inside of her took over, a lust came from so dep within she didn't need her usual influences, this was happening she could feel his fingers searching her body. "Mmm" she moaned when his hand cupped that warm, wet, aching place between her legs "Not so fast" she pulled away from him
"What?" he stepped back his lips swollen and red, his blue eyes begging for an answer
"Let's slow this down, if it's only going to happen once, I need to at least remember it" she smiled pulling him back to her
He took control this time pushing her up against the stone wall, his lips finding her mouth again while his hand slipped back to where it was searching her for an opening, they both gasped when he found it and settled his long fingers inside her. If she'd have wanted to struggle it would have happened then, she felt like she was being fucked, his fingers were so long, her body shuddered when his thumb started rubbing at her sensitive bump his fingers moving inside her to a rhythm he forced her body to move to. "You like that?" he let her lips go to ask
"God yes" she moaned unable to control the burst that was being forced out of her every time he touched that bump
"Now do you want me to fuck you?"
"Yes" she gasped
"So you'll remember this?" he asked teasingly
"Sam please" she moaned, it was there and he was distracting her
He felt the first wave and quickly removed his fingers, opened her up and sunk in, the pressure of her orgasm pulling the juice out of him, his gasp loud as he released everything he had stored into her "Shit" he gasped without the strength to pull out "Contraceptive?"
"I'm good" she screeched as wave after wave of orgasms flowed through her like electric shocks, her body just wouldn't stop, and with every sound he moved further into her, until her insides totally relaxed around him "That was more than three seconds" she giggled her voice itching as he lifted her legs off the floor and started up again, slamming her against the wall hard, his hand cupping her breast his mouth open, eyes closed, he was in his zone now, she smiled and kissed every part of him she could reach until she found his mouth again, her nails digging into his flesh. Then suddenly everything stopped moving, and all that could be heard was their breathing and the pulse of his juice throwing itself around her insides, his body finally relaxed when he found her mouth and kissed her passionately
"God" he gasped letting her legs go "I'll remember that" he kissed her and moved for her to stand up
Shortly afterwards they fell asleep wrapped in each other, Mercy using Sam's chest for a pillow, they were woken by a familiar face "Barney" Sam's eyes opened at the door opening
"Saw the car and knew you wouldn't be far Sir" Barney smiled "You're going to be late for surgery if I don't get you back now"
"We'll be out in a minute" Sam told him, waking Mercy up, reluctantly she got up, used her sleeve to wipe her face before they made their way to Barney's car, he'd already tied the jeep up so they could drag it home.
They were playing at bedhopping for a few weeks before Mercy finally moved some stuff into Sam's room, and they let the staff know they were an item, not yet committed but they were seeing each other. The house became something else, it wasn't a place that was known to have a couple working there, let alone living as an unmarried couple. The children were singing more, the parents were laughing, couples were being couples openly around the complex, not anything x-rated just appreciating each other, a different feel to the one Simon had forged
Six Weeks Later
Week six, things were running fine, they'd brought in newer movies than their predecessor might have deemed appropriate, but their audience was appreciating it and they'd got some outside interest too, which was always a good thing, they were toying with the idea of buying more land to expand on the community and provide more care, everything was in hand.
"Mercy" they heard someone call her name while they stood counting the medication "Great to have you back"
"Lamain" she looked up shocked "I thought you couriered the orders now?"
"We do" he laughed walking towards her "But I heard you had a shipment coming in, I was in two minds but when I saw the address I knew it had to be you" he kissed her cheek
"Lamain" Sam walked up behind her holding his hand out "What brings you all the way down here?"
"Mercy here and I go back a way, she's a friend of my bother's wife, I actually introduced her to St James"
"Oh" Sam looked at Mercy wondering why she hadn't mentioned that
"Yeah we kind of have some unfinished personal business to discuss" Lamain looked at him
"Oh, I'll leave you to it then" he looked at Mercy before walking off
"Sam" She called after him "You can stay if you want"
"It's fine, I've got to set up movie night" he backed out telling her, taking the time to look back at them talking
"You were so rude when you left last time, didn't even come to the wedding nothing, you just led me on and left, why?"
"Lamain you have a wife" she looked at him shocked at the conversation
"I can have as many wives as I can afford" he shouted back, both of them looking around at the attention they were attracting
"Well I'm sorry but where I come from one is enough"
"But you're here now, which means you live under our rules" he grabbed her hand "And you will be my wife"
"I won't" she pulled away from him
"Is everything alright?" Sam walked into the hall asking
"It's fine" Lamain snapped at him
"Mercy are you alright?" he asked ignoring Lamain's tone
"I'm.." she looked at him "Just give us a minute please Sam" she smiled watching him walk back out
"I can make life very difficult for you here" Lamain hissed at her "Grab your purse and come with me"
"I can't I have the hospital, clinic..."
"If you don't come with me now, you won't have any of it" he hissed
"Are you threatening me?"
"This is what you've reduced me to"
"I'll have to hand some stuff over" she turned, tears springing, she couldn't hold them back "Sam" she walked up to him
"What's happened?" concern in his voice "What did he say to you?" anger in his tone, he looked up with the intention of getting to the damn man
"Sam don't" she pulled him back "His family is one of our biggest investors, his sister owns the shipping company, they're powerful, in other ways"
"What does he want?"
"Me" she looked at him "He wants me to be one of his wives"
"Are you serious?" he looked at her shocked
"I'm in a bind, the business needs to carry on, we promised Simon it would"
"So you're going to be with him, knowing you don't have feelings for him?"
"We said there were no strings between us, didn't we?"
"Mercy" he raked his hand through his hair and rolled his eyes "You've known for a while, I'm in love with you, I haven't kept it a secret"
"What's the hold up" Lamain's face came into the garden
"I have to go" she looked at Sam, tears still falling
"Mercy" he grabbed her arm as she stepped off "I'm here for you, you know that"
"Thanks" she smiled, wiped her tears and walked out with Lamain, the ball of hate that filled him was frightening, his eyes met with Lamain's and said in that one look everything he thought of the piece of shit stood there
"Are you sleeping with him?" Lamain asked
"What?" she turned to look at Sam stood listening to the comment "No, we work together" she quickly turned back and carried on walking with Lamain, she wasn't too sure what the man was capable of, best to keep Sam out of things, for now anyway. She didn't end up at his family home, like she expected, she was in a place called Kaiaf according to the last signage she'd seen, it wasn't at all poor, this seemed like an oasis in the midst of poverty, almost cruel in it's lavishness "Where are we?" she asked him looking up and down the street, while they waited for the gates to open
"This is my home" his voice calmer, maybe because she hadn't said a word all the way there, and now she was being polite, she was going to bring the Mercy he fell in love with back, in the hope of talking him around some time soon. The road to the house was easily a mile long, she'd have to get into training if she was thinking about walking out of there, when they finally saw it, the house was magnificent, the house in Brikama was nothing in comparison, he smiled at the gasp that left her mouth "That brings back memories" he smiled
"What of?"
"When you saw St James" he giggled "Glad I can still wow you"
"Too bad about the circumstances" she hissed at him
"I never wanted things this way Mercy, you brought this on, you didn't answer any of my calls, it's been nearly three years, I didn't even get an explanation"
"You were married Lamain, and you didn't even think to mention it, that girl you were trying to make me look like back then" she waved her finger at him "That is not me"
"I would have told you, I was about to tell you, I was so swept away, I didn't even care that Elsa was going to be there" he gasped "I told her that same day I wanted you to be my wife"
"And what did she say?"
"That she'd always be wife number one, and she expected to be treated as such"
"This is insane" Mercy shook her head "Lam" she shuffled in her seat to look directly at him "In no life, this or the next, would I ever agree to being someone's number two, it's not going to happen, if you want this to go any further, you're going to have to force it, and I mean on every level, I don't want this, I walked away"
"So what you're saying is everything we said, felt, promised, has all gone?"
"From the second I met your wife, yes" she giggled a bit trying to believe she was actually trying to talk someone out of being a two timing rat
"You'll grow to love me again Mercy, I believe that"
"But" she rolled her eyes and lifted her hands in the air "That's not what I just said Lamain, I said no and where I come from, no means no"
"And where I come from, you have no say" he chuckled nervously "So I guess you'll stay until you catch feelings for me again"
"Did someone tell me once you were an educated man?" she rolled her eyes "I want my own room, with access to no one unless I give express permission"
"Done" he smiled jumping out the car as if she'd just accepted his proposal of marriage, she giggled to herself and grabbed her bag, she'd forgotten how damn cute he was "Welcome to my humble home" he led her up the stairs, women servants stood everywhere she looked
"Are there any men working here?" she asked playfully
"The cook is a male, but everyone else female"
"Like a harem?" she giggled
"You're familiar?" he turned asking
"Through films yes" she looked at him "Is this a harem?"
"Some people collect gold, some collect fine artefacts, I prefer beautiful women" he raised his eyebrow at her
"So the answer's yes?" she wanted to vomit, her lips had touched his in the past, of course she wasn't naïve she knew everyone had a random, but 499 of them, this wasn't a case of drawing a line in the sand, this was more like grabbing a bull dozer and knocking a giant hole in the universe with him on the other side of it, she needed to get away "Where's my room?" she asked one of the waiting ladies, Lamain nodded and she came forward to take her
If she didn't get it before she got it now, walking into the bedroom, which looked like an extravagant room in somewhere you might picture to be a brothel. This wasn't at all what she'd pictured of the man she met three years ago when she stepped off the plane at Banjul with her then friend and her boyfriend, for a second she was scared for Jane, and what she might have married into. Her next thought was on Sam, she got her phone out and made the much needed call, he was horrified at what he was hearing, thinking of things to do to get her out, but as much as he needed to be right now, he was in no way a gangster. He left the conversation telling her to hang on, and he'd sort something out, the next day her phone was dead and with no charger she was stuck in the place not knowing what, if anything, was going on, on the outside
She spent that second day in that room eating, sleeping and doing nothing, scared for what she'd find if she came out, Lamain had promised her no one would provoke her unless she gave them permission and so far it seemed he'd kept his promise. He knocked about twelve times that day asking if she was alright, if he could come in, she she'd come out, she was fed up of constantly repeating herself "Just let me go home" was all she had to say
"When are you going to grow up" a voice burst through her door late evening, making her jump, her eyes wide at the intrusion "You've had time to adjust, I don't like the time you're taking up" Else's face looked bigger than she remembered it
"Lamain said I could have privacy" she came back with, it sounded lame now she'd said it
"Lamain says and does a lot of things that he shouldn't" she walked towards her threateningly "We're going to be sharing a man, we need to get on" her whisper soft but somehow threatening
"I'm not sharing your husband, I don't want to be here"
"You'll learn, Lamain always gets what he wants" she giggled, she didn't answer, because all she knew as a truth was that she'd die before she let this shit happen
Else said she would come to see her every day, Mercy didn't care she'd just sit back and let the woman do her worst, obviously there was something not quite right there, if all she could think about was ways to get her husband to stop crawling all over her. Day three and Else came back into her room, this time she wasn't flouncing in like a princess, she seemed humble "What's wrong?" Mercy got up concerned at the look on her face
"It's Lamain" she flopped onto the bed "I warned him this was going to happen" she covered her face with her hands
Mercy sat wondering if the woman really wanted her to pretend to feel sorry for her right now, that might of happened had she done the right thing and helped her to get out of there, but she was fighting for the damn man "What happened?" she asked reluctantly
"You need to get out of here" Else looked at her "Hurry" she looked around the room "Just grab what you can and go, there's little time"
Mercy only had her bag to grab, she picked it up and looked at Else for a second trying to work out what was happening "Will you be alright?" she asked unsure what she needed the answer to be
"I'll be fine" she smiled at her for the first time, it looked genuine "Thanks for asking, go" Mercy looked at her for a second before walking out
The house was in chaos, people running around grabbing stuff ornaments, paintings, anything they could fine "What's happening?" Mercy stopped the girl that regularly brought her food
"Mr arrested for us" she told him
"Arrested?" she asked watching the girl run off
She made for the front door swung her purse over her shoulder and went in search of a cab, she had plenty of company for the mile long walk to the gate. She'd said there were maybe 499 women as a joke when she walked into the place but now they were leaving there were maybe nearly a thousand, and some of them really didn't look like they were being treated respectfully. The sun was hot, it was summer, and the time of day for everyone to be indoors, not walking down a mile long lane with no water for thirst or hat to cover their head, she was exhausted when she got to the gate
"Mercy" she heard as she sat on the floor. too tired to call a cab, she looked into the crowd, scared and ready to surrender to anything for water "Mercy, it's me" the person stood looking down at her
"Sam?" she asked shielding her eyes from the hot sun "Sam" she went to get up and collapsed in a heap on the floor
The next thing she knew she was sitting in a car, feeling the cool air from the air conditioning system, and dizzy "You're dehydrated, drink this" he held a bottle of water to her mouth, watching her drink like she'd never tasted water before "Are you hurt?" he looked at her body "Did he hurt you?"
"No" she grabbed his arm to steady herself "He didn't touch me, what happened?"
"I reported him to the Inspector General" he laughed "Apparently his daughter is married to Lamain, he investigated him and found out he was trafficking women, they busted the racket wide open this morning, and arrested him, I think they have enough to put him away for a very long time"
"Will he come after us?"
"We've got the Inspector on our side now, you don't get higher than that" he laughed starting the car "Get some sleep, we'll be home soon" his attention now on the road
When she woke up there was around ten minutes left of their journey, she lay still, smiling at him playing their song and humming along to it "Hey" she sat up alerting him to her being awake
"Hey" he smiled looking back at the road "You alright?"
"No" she sat telling him what had happened since she'd been locked in that room "And all I could think about was that I hadn't told you"
"Told me what?" he looked at her
"That I've loved you for a while too" she bit her bottom lip nervously
"I love that look on you" he giggled "Hold up" he turned the music on
"Our song" she giggled
"Had it on repeat since you left" he cranked the volume up listening "By the way, there's a friend of yours waiting at home"
"Rachel?" she gasped, she didn't know she was missing friends until that second
"Here we are" he stopped the car and let her out
"Jane?" she looked in horror at her friend she hadn't seen for over three years "What the hell happened to you" she was a skeleton of the girl she used to be back then, she looked twenty years older than she should, and fear in her eyes
"Tony, Lamain and others like them" she ran into her arms crying "I never knew Mercy, I swear"
"I know" Mercy wrapped her arms around her friend, right now they had ore in common than they'd like to admit
"I'm going back home the weekend" she told her
"I've found my project, and my happy ever after, I think" she hugged Sam smiling up at him
"Happy ever after, I like it" he smiled kissing her forehead