home with Norah. It was hard to continue carrying her on my back with
another load on my tummy. I bought laundry soap and packets of sugar.
I paid and went out. Somebody called me from inside beckoned me to
stop and I did. It was Peter my childhood friend from my village. I
was happy and surprised to see him. You know during those childhood
games where we played house.
Peter and I always played mum and dad and others would divide
themselves who to play the children, the thief, the hyena or the dog
*chuckles* mostly the one who played dog or hyena was the kid who had
mucus drilling from his nose and never seemed to blow it enough.
Nobody wanted him close, in case he wiped it on your hand or cloth. He
was looking GOOD and his perfume told me a lot about him, not the
cheap ones that break you sinuses.
A guy's perfumes always say volumes about him. Ladies take note. We
don't want men who smell like they have just escaped from a goat
kraal. He offered to take me to grab something to eat and we went to
Gazebo at Bwalo La njobvu right there in town. I ordered chips and
chicken my favorite and he had a beef burger with a cold drink. We
talked about the village and some of our peers who had split between
Tanzania and South Africa to seek greener pastures.
The villages being along the lake, made people prefer fishing to going
to school earning fast money. When he asked me if I was married
pointing at my bulge. I told him to tell me about himself first
because mine was a story long enough to write a novel. Falling
pregnant twice for a man who seemed more or less like a distant
memory, wasn't a bragging matter.
I was the only left to clean the mess after he had done it and went
away scot free. It's not easy to walk with a visible sign that you had
sex, even your parents know what you have been doing lol. Don't start
thinking that I told him that. He said after he had finished his
secondary school, he was selected to University of Malawi, The
Chancellor College and studied Bachelors of Arts majoring in
Literature.
I couldn't hide my envy because that had been my option B if I failed
to make it in Mass Communication. He was now working with one of the
prominent NGOs. I broke down and told him about most part of my life
omitting the sad ones. I convinced him that the father of my children
was a nice man, responsible and all. You never know what will happen
if you tell every Jim and jack all your troubles and drama, you might
scoop an Oscar in the latest village gossip. I didn't want that
unnecessary limelight. We exchanged numbers and he said he might visit
during one of his free weekends. Later that night he called to find
out if I arrived home safely.
There goes a gentleman. He ended the conversation with "good night
gorgeous." And hung up. That completely took me unawares. Immediately
I sat upright, looked at the phone as if it might give me further
answers. I didn't want men on my tail as if I was a dog with rabies. I
had to take it easy and roll the ball in my court at a comfortable
pace nevertheless I went to sleep with a glow on my face.
Two weeks elapsed; Edward didn't say a word about my money even though
we continued talking every day. When I asked him, he said he didn't
have it presently but will give it to me when he came back to Malawi.
That wasn't the agreement. Was he trying to play smart with me? If he
was used to steal from people in that manner then he was in for the
biggest shock of his life.
It wasn't much but my money is my money and needed to be paid back at
all cost. I didn't own a charity organization. Besides I never liked
him, he kind of forced himself on me. He had a wife and two children
waiting for him at his home village in Mzimba but here he was trying
to score one with me. He even talked about having a kid with me and
name him Ulunji. Did I look like a baby making machine? I don't know
what this tendency with men is. When they see you having a kid, they
think you can also have their kids. Seriously???? Yeah… I missed Ben
so much and still looked forward to that day he might pop back from
wherever he had disappeared to but I didn't want to bruise my self
esteem by getting tempted to call him.
That was a no go zone. The man could talk as if he had vulgar language
dictionary tucked under his tongue. I had been his constant victim and
didn't want to fall on that unfortunate path again.
As promised, Peter honored his words by coming to visit. He bought
Amanda puffs. That put him in the good books of the little lady. I
thought she missed her dad so much; she had to find a replacement
until he came back. It was evident on her bubbly face. We laughed so
much; this guy could make a good comedian. When it was time to leave,
Amanda cried so much I felt embarrassed. When I came back from
escorting him, Norah did not waste time to attack me.
No wonder she had been drooling over his every word and stared at him
as if she was a bear hungering over a honey pot. "Wow what a fine man.
Give me his number; we can make a nice pair. Why didn't you bring him
all along? " "Forget it hun that man deserves to be in a stable
relationship with a sane girl. Sometimes you can be a real animal and
I fear for him." I answered her while disappearing into my room. There
was no way I would let Peter fall under Norah's spell. Not when I was
alive. Yes she was my friend but sometimes she had a lousy way of
handling men.
She always wanted a man to do as she saw fit but how could a man be
himself if he was under petticoat government yet he had not even put a
ring on her finger. Men run for their dear lives because she was a
control freak. While I was confined in the comfort of my bed, my phone
rang. Caller ID: Ben!!!!! With trembling hands I pressed the ok
button. "How are you doing?" he asked in that familiar deep voice that
had made me fall for him with his sweet nothings.
My lips curled into a smile. "I am great and you?" I answered back
dying to detect any straying and about to fly emotions. There was
none. "Well I just called to know how you are doing. It seems you are
remarkably well. Say hie to Amanda. Bye." Just like that he was gone.
This man was full of surprises. Sometimes I was forced to think that
he suffered some kind of mental diseases, if not then he was prone to
suffer it at some stage of his life. What kind of person does that? He
was so casual about it as if I was a distant aunt he had long
forgotten and it had just skipped his mind to call her, out of respect
for fear of what she would say at the next family gathering. It was a
Saturday, Peter called to say he was coming over, he had missed
Amanda. You are to be alert. Some men aren't loyal, they will know
your kid loves them and will use that to get deep into you. Every time
he came around and asked about Ben, I always told him that he had gone
to such such a meeting outside town. He always bought it.
He even asked about his photo to get a glimpse of how he looked. I was
so shocked to realize that I didn't have a single photo of him. I had
burnt them all in my fit of anger. I went to make popcorn. I didn't
know why I got nervous every time he said he was coming. I wanted to
put everything in order.
I scolded myself for acting like a teenager on a first date. He
knocked on the door and I ushered him inside. He always had a ready
smile plastered on his face, it made me warm inside. It was just the
two of us. Norah had taken Amanda to see her mum and were staying for
the weekend. He walked straight to where I sat and I told him to take
the other seat. He refused saying he wanted to seat close to me. I
took my pillow and slept down on the mat, he followed me. It turned
into a sweet game where he imitated me. We engaged into a cushion
fight, we were laughing so hard like a bunch of kids. When I was
exhausted, we sat down on the mat and had some tea while watching a
movie. He took the pillow, put it on his lap and told me to sleep on
it.
He continued cracking my ribs with his endless jokes. His hands were
now smothering the straying strands of hair from my face. It felt so
nice. Suddenly with a single knock,before i even had the time to
answer it the door opened …I had the shock of my life…
To be continued…
Watch out for Season 3
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