single seed, once it germinates,it can't live to bear a single fruit.
there will be multiple of them.likewise when you do a single wrongful
act,you will leap a hundred fold.
the boy in question was sixteen years old, a son to our
neighbours.that was what hurt most. remember Viyegzo? it was her
brother Jacob. I have known these people since I was young and my
father used to be drinking partners with their father. its true, the
people closer to us are the ones likely to betray us,they know our
every step and every move.
when he saw us, he cast his face down in shame. I wanted to slap the
hell out of him but my mother told me to be a good Christian and
forgive. it wasn't easy. we found out that a baby to Jacob's sister
about 6 years old while playing with his friends had told them how his
Uncle and his friends had torched down our house. he said it saved my
mother right for refusing to give his grand Ma the salt she begged
from her. an old man sitting close to them had overhead the
conversation and had called the boy inside his house where he
explained everything. he even said his Uncle kept a photo of me and my
mother. the old man told him to go and take it and he did. the issue
was instantly reported to the chief who wasted no time but reported it
to Police with some members of community policing.
it was then that the Police came in the wee hours of dawn to nab
Jacob. afraid of a prison sentence whilst young, he confessed that it
was Peter's Mum who had sent him and two of his friends. they had been
paid in advance Mk3,000 each through Peter's sister. was that how much
my family was worth?
Jacob's mother was outside crying and begging my mother to drop the
charges. he had dropped out of school in form one and had been loaming
around the village God knows doing what. an idle mind is a devil's
workshop for real.
my mind was running inside a whirlpool of questions. this woman hated
me so much she wanted to kill my family and stage it as an accident.
it struck my mind that she wanted me out of the picture to pave way
for Masozi while I was busy sorting out the damage the fire had
caused. I was right where she wanted me and I didn't know what was
happening back at my house in Lilongwe. what if she had been the one
deliberately delaying Mike from coming to sort the Masozi mess? did he
really come to take her back? my mind couldn't get hold of everything.
even if I ended up getting married to her son,there was no way we
could click. not in this life maybe in the next.
I wanted to call Peter but my mind run against it because the Police
had already called the Police in Area 25 where I resided and gave them
Mike's phone number to get handle the issue. if I had called Peter am
sure he could have instantly shipped her to the moon. the way he
worshipped the ground she walked on was a wonder. I don't think in his
mind there was anything wrong she could do.it had always been my
mother this my mother that as if I didn't have my own. there was no
way I could have let her go Scott free. she had to pay for each one of
her sins. the hand of justice had to catch up with her. this was
deeper than I thought. Peter was standing between locked horns of
dilemma. if his Mother was caught, charged with arson and sentenced to
prison there was no way he could stomach it that I could have done
something to help her. if I could drop the charges against her, there
was no way my family could have forgiven me for choosing a stranger
over them.
I didn't know what to do …
EPISODE 8 (Part B)
Life is like a mirror, it always reflects what harbors your mind
through your actions. You may pretend for a while but not too long,
eventually you get caught up in revealing your true colors.
Have you ever heard of conflict of interest? Right now I was wobbling
in one and doing a lousy job of fighting it. We went home. Back at the
police station I had let my mother do it in her own way. Besides I
couldn't make a decision for her since she was the one who had lost
everything. For once I saw her angry. Angry at a fellow ruthless woman
who hated her daughter so much she wanted her family dead to hit her
where it hurts. She told the Police Officers to do their job and not
in any way be lenient in handling Peter's Mother. She said she was a
woman who was a disgrace to womanhood and didn't have mercy for her
fellow woman. When we were leaving, one officer called me aside and
asked for 'ya fanta' (that's the term they use to ask for a bribe). I
gave him MK1000 as for my phone number I told him there was no way he
was going to get it. He looked at the green note you would swear it
was his first time touching it in months.
We arrived home, Laurent was crying from the heat which was getting
worse by the day and Amanda was complaining of hunger. I prepared food
in no time and after she ate, she went to sleep immediately. My mother
called me for a serious talk. She needed some explanation. I told her
everything of what was happening especially the reason I thought why
Peter's Mother was being that wicked. She said if at all I needed
strength, it was now to deal with the prospective Monster in Law
without affecting my love with her son. The problem was that this was
Africa where you don't get married only to the man but to the whole
family. The way I have observed Peter's family, she is the final
decision maker and her word calls for immediate action. It frightened
me that she could be able to set all the other family members against
me, dooming my future of being Peter's better half. This was what my
mother told me," this is a test that will determine how much Peter
loves you. When he knows the extremes his mother has gone to destroy
your relationship, she will put a strain on their bond and he won't
look her in the same eyes he used to. He will back track and get out
of her grip to make a decision as a man." I loved how this was turning
out. I had reservations of calling Peter, but he will hate it to hear
from someone else if the Police managed to arrest her. Immediately I
beeped his number and he called back.
"Hey sweetheart" it was nice to hear his voice again, I needed him
after all that happened.
"Hey love"
"Have you already started preparations for building the house?" I told
him about the progress of the project and he was so sympathetic and
sent his apologies to my mum for the belongings she lost in the fire.
He said after the house was complete, he would buy furniture and other
stuff.
"I wanted to tell you a very sensitive issue but promise me that you
won't act out of emotions but before I say anything I want to know if
Masozi is gone." I could take it from his silence that she was still
there. This man was testing my patience.
"Peter I don't have the whole time in the world, answer my question!"
I was now raising my voice and trying so hard to be calm.
"I am sorry babe…i.." I interrupted him before he could finish.
"You know that's not what we agreed. You spent the night with her?
Just the two of you in the house? Who do you take me for? A fool
perhaps. Let me tell you something, if I ever get to know that you two
did something stupid God help me because I will send you on the
available bus to hell."
"Don't overreact my love; I will sort this out soon." I was touched by
the calmness in his voice but that didn't guarantee that he couldn't
cheat on me.
"That song has long outgrown my ears. I need action you understand.
Meaningless tales have never been my favorite so spare me the crap.
You people want to drive me crazy. Your mother is always ruining my
happiness. Do you realize that she is the one who sent people to burn
down my mother's house?" I was now losing it. That wasn't the way I
had thought of going about the whole thing but the Masozi issue had
somehow ticked my temper bomb off.
"What?" his voice could way be heard to the moon. I narrated the whole
issue to him and believe me when I said he point blankly told me that
there was no way his mother could do that. Not the woman who brought
her into this world and single handedly raised her when his father had
disappeared to God knows where, leaving six children behind and a
crazy and angry controlling woman. Sometimes I understood her over
protectiveness but it was high time she let the now grown up children
breath.
When I told him that it was just a matter of time before the Police
arrested her and brought her back to the village. He said there was no
way he could allow that to happen.
"Criminals deserve to be in jail and that's where she belongs." I
answered. I regretted saying it the very moment it came out of my
life. The way he way defending her was irritating. I hated to think
that if her plan had succeeded, I could have been crying for my mother
now. I had just lost my father and in no time, my mother could have
been gone too. No way.
"Oh you shouldn't have said that. Unali ndani iwe (who were you) if
not for me? That good for nothing man of yours could have sent you to
an early grave but I rescued your sorry a** and is this how you repay
me?" my grandmother used to say an angry time is the moment of truth.
You know what people think of you when you make them angry. I was
shaking in anger and to avoid saying any more words that I would
regret, I hung up the call. He tried calling again but I didn't reply.
A message came through.
"You are so ungrateful and inconsiderate. I know you hate my mother
but don't try to create such stories that if not handled carefully
will be the end of us." I didn't like where that was going but you
know what, the moment I looked at Amanda and Laurent oh how my heart
ripped in a joyous jump, I told myself that I had so many reasons to
be happy despite the storm happening in my life.joy is a net of love
by which you can catch souls. A joyful heart is the inevitable result
of a heart burning with love.
As if in herald of bad news, a week later Peter's mother was arrested
in Lilongwe and transferred to Nkhatabay Police Station. Peter trailed
the Police Van all the way. I went there with my mum and all hell
broke loose. I came face to face with Peter but it was evident he had
made an enemy of me. Fine I wasn't the one who bore him but if he
truly loved me he had to weigh the story carefully and see that she
had not been fair to my mother. He shouted at me for being the cause
of everything. If I had listened to him and trusted him enough to
handle the Masozi saga, things couldn't have gone that far.
His mother had been selfish and treated him like a baby. For crying
out loud he was old enough to differentiate right from wrong. I was so
disappointed in him when we had to create a verbal war outside the
Police station until my mother held my hand and got me out of there. I
didn't care what would happen to us because I couldn't take it to have
a man who disrespected me in front of people, if he had wanted to vent
out his anger I could have appreciated it the most if it was done in
closed doors, away from prying eyes.
When we arrived home my mum understood that my relationship was going
through a major crisis. I didn't know if it was because of the money
to build her a house that would stop if I broke up with Peter or
because she knew that I was happy with him. She told me to go to him
and talk about our differences, she even said we could forgive and
forget about what his mother did and moved ahead. Drop the charges and
let her go as free as a bird. Would I be able to live with her again
as if nothing happened? If yes then it would be dangerous living since
I would keep on looking over my shoulder to see what next she would
do. There was no way I was going to him first, I had my pride.
If he still wanted me he would come for me. In those two weeks he
stayed in the village, he never bothered to come and see me yet he
knew where I was. When we had gone to the Police station to drop the
charges, the Police said they couldn't leave such a cruel and
dangerous woman off the leash because we were not the ones who had
ordered and initiated for her arrest. The Police had an obligation to
protect citizens of the country regardless of the relationship between
them.
They would not leave her until she stood trial and be proven guilty or
innocent. We talked that she should get out on bail but they said such
an action would interfere in gathering evidence. At last after a month
they got her out on bail on condition that she had to report to Police
every day until her case was taken to court and she wasn't allowed to
get out of Nkhatabay without permission from the Police. What happened
to keeping people in custody for more than forty eight hours without
trial being considered to be against the law?
The house was almost completed with the window frames fitted and the
grass roof thatched. What remained were glasses and the floor. I
didn't want it to have a clay floor like most houses. Peter came at
last. The way Amanda run to him was a wonder, even Laurent sensed his
presence and appreciated it by giggling.
I thought I was dreaming but it was true. After the greetings, my
mother excused us and told me that she was going to the kitchen to
prepare food for the visitor. After five minutes of awkward silence,
he asked how the kids were doing and how much he missed us. Did it
have to take him that long to realize it? I looked at him and all the
love I had for him came rushing out as the anger melted but I wasn't
going to make it easy for him so I looked away as he continued
plucking out words from the love dictionary of his heart.
Was he so strong or it was the weakness in me? I wanted to laugh at
how much he was trying to make me understand how sorry he was. It
takes a strong man to apologies but an even stronger one to forgive.
One forgives to the degree one loves. Yes I loved this man to the
degree he could never know more than the depth below and more than the
depth above. I apologized as well for all the words I said to him in
anger when we could have settled our differences like civilized
people.
My mother prepared lunch and we ate while laughing and joking like old
times. He said we had to prepare getting back home in three days time
since the house was almost in completion, I couldn't have been any
happier. I was glad our period of misunderstanding was over.
Just as thoughts of the plague Masozi started gnawing at the back of
my mind, before I could ask what happened to her, there was a message
on Peter's phone that made his face so pale after reading it one could
swear he had seen a ghost.
"Can I read the message dear? Who is it? You seem to be pretty
shaken?" I asked while getting closer. He was a bit hesitant but i was
sure he quickly thought that if he refused, it could make me
suspicious so he handed me the phone.
"I want to tell you that I have missed my period and don't try to deny
it because you are the only man I have known. It was once but that's
all that it takes"
Ohh noo!!!!
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