QUICK AND PAINLESS

Her friend knew that he was forever gone, that is what they do. They never realise the effects of the cup they enjoy so much. To them it is like a bus, as long as they reach their destination, they don't care about what happens to it after.

Think about, these two have been high school sweethearts, the famous university couple that everyone admired, they were unstoppable. Unstoppable may not be a romantic word but believe me they still were.

It was seven months after their graduation; they have tried their best to hustle but they see no signs of success but only survival on a thread.

She thought about her bad-mouthed sister, she knew she was going to be called a slut, she was going to be told that she has always been the lady of the night and the lady of pleasure. She was going to be chased from the house, she was going to be chased like a homeless dirty dog.

Still, she had to tell them, she just had to, her good friend Betty, also advised her that she should indeed tell her sister the truth.

She thought about her boyfriend, wondering if he is okay and why he is still not calling back, she checked her watch, it was 5pm. She said goodbye to Betty, the working Betty, she habitually called her that. Partly because she was working and independent but also because the word ‘working' was misused by Miss Betty. Like instead of asking “what are you doing?” Betty would use the phrase, “What are you working on?”, instead of 'how are you?' Or 'How is life?' She would say “How is life working out for you?' And when you ask how she is doing, she would often say, "uh, you know us workaholics, it's always busy but we are fine"

When she reached home, she managed to explain to her sister, but she didn't manage to finish the story...as long as it involved pregnancy, her sister was always going to chase her, she had in fact been looking forward to it, sometimes she actually envisioned the moment, how she can do it "should I first push her out, then throw her bags after? maybe I should throw the bags with some real power so that her stupid clothes would be flying all over the place, then then I would push her out and close the door in an instant."

On that day, even her low voiced and childish in-law had a manly voice, perhaps it was a win for him, the economy was bad, a man had to count his blessings. It was at this moment that she realised that when luck desserts you, even cold food burns.

It has been two weeks now, working Betty was the only person looking out for her. She was the only one doing the ‘work’…

At this point, she was becoming conscious of the fact that her boyfriend didn't want her anymore. They spent seven years together, made mistakes together, laughed and cried together, but now he was bailing out on her. She thought about the movie night they had, a day before graduating from university, that day the fool promised her a good life, held her tightly and whispered that he loved her so much. How romantic he always was, how caring his touch always felt. His soft and longing voice which she always noticed and loved especially during the morning and late-night calls. She failed to accept it so she tried to avoid thinking about it but it was all coming back to her, every moment, every kiss, touch and sweet stories they always shared.

It was nine months now, working Betty had even started some extra shifts to help out a friend. The boyfriend was nowhere to be seen and at this point, his phone was not even reachable. She managed to ingest the pain, at least for the sake of the baby. Working Betty assured her that the baby will be taken care of, she told her that once the baby is born, they will find a nun and then she will hook her up with a job. Not at the same company where Betty worked because that was her father's company and Betty's parents did not like her friend (let the rich play with the rich).

Every Saturday, working Betty worked half day. However, on this particular Saturday, she was late. Of course, she called in the morning to check up on her friend and the unborn baby but she always doesn't end there. She calls when knocking off, to ask what the friend wants for supper and about many other cravings she might be having because of the pregnancy. Tamara knew that something might not be okay, it was 7pm and there was no word from Betty. She tried to call her but it went straight to voicemail.

On this day, Tamara was very fatigued, she was feeling the strong cramps and the contractions were more frequent. They have been consistent, but on this particular day everything was worse. Tamara became aware that she was going into labor. She had no choice but to call through Betty's company line. Betty's father picked up, she explained to him that her daughter has not reached home and that it has never happened before. The man was bewildered by this conversation and had a thousand questions which at this point were irreverent but nevertheless, he still asked.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my daughter's house?"

Before Tamara could answer another question was fired

"Are you staying with my daughter? Are you that Tamara girl? I always knew she will ran into problems because of you, what have you done to my daughter girl?"

His voice kept rising and it was terrifying, fortunate enough her phone was not fully charged and thus the battery died in the middle of that conversation...

Tamara' s labor time was fast approaching, she could feel it, every single thing pointed to labor. At this point she could not even walk, but again she couldn't handle this on her own, she wanted a hand, even that of a stranger was more valuable at this point.

With the little power she could manage to dig up within her soul, she managed to crawl her way out of the house. Nevertheless, the gate needed her 'standing ovation' because it could not be opened when she was literally laying down.

Bothered by the fact that there was a person he didn't like at her daughter's place and partially because her daughter was missing, Mr. Zimba decided to go to her daughter's place. He had also called the wife and told her about the incident and he also advised her to report the matter to the local police.

- 

When the wife reached at the police station, she learnt that her daughter was involved in a horrific accident and had been taken to the hospital, she did not have time to call the husband, at that moment the only thing in her mind was her daughter’s wellbeing, "oh my Betty" she wept…

-              -            -

"Hey! iwe (you), what are you doing there? Why are you laying down at my daughter's property?

He did not get any response, and its hard for a man who is used to one.

When he got closer, he noticed that the woman was pregnant and she was groaning heavily. Tamara saw Mr. Zimba, with her almost closing eyes, she lamented in a very small and helpless voice "labor, labor"

Mr. Zimba quickly managed to put her in the car and drove her to the hospital where she gave birth to twins, two beautiful girls.

In a moment, Mr. Zimba got a call from his wife who was also within the same hospital harboring their darling daughter. He found that Betty was okay, but she could not walk and they were advised that it will take some time for her to walk again. Mr. Zimba explained to her daughter and to the wife about Tamara’s situation as well and the twins she just had.

Betty's face was filled with joy, she almost wanted to jump, forgetting her own pain and misery.

The following day, Betty was given a wheelchair. Her parents took her to her friend’s room upon her demand. Tamara was stunned to see her friend on a wheelchair, but she was still happy that her friend was alive. She thus explained to her about her labor situation in which she depicts Mr. Zimba as hero. Of course, he still hated her, but the praise was very welcome.

Betty explained to her friend about the accident and what the doctor said about using a wheelchair. Nonetheless, She was very happy about the twins and she told her friend the good plans she had for the twins, how she was going to shower them with gifts and all the sweet things that life can offer.

Tamara was troubled by this, her friend had already done enough, she also believed that her friend was involved in a road accident because of her, she felt that it was not fair for her to continue getting any sort of help from Betty, she got so emotional and started crying. Hard as it was, she told her friend how thankful she was to her, and that she will move out of the house in five days because her elder sister has changed her mind after hearing about the twins. She had no choice but to lie to her friend, these were not tears of pity for her friend, these wear tears of regret and hate for herself. "How dare you Tamara! How dare you lie to one person in the world who means everything to you, shame on you, shame on you Tamara Gondwe"

Betty's parents did not allow her daughter to live alone at this moment. Prior to that, Betty had put up a good fight before she could let them get their way. Tamara knew she can never go back to her sister, if the woman had a bit of heart or human blood she could have at least called once or texted, Tamara knew that what she did was wrong, but there is still a difference, of course she had no house but she was still a University graduate.

After three days, she started talked to several NGOs, Churches and Orphanages because she knew that she was not going to manage to keep two children. She thought about starting work as a maid, but again she had no one to look after her babies, and nobody will allow you to work while you are busy nursing your children when in fact you should be attending to their spoilt children.

It was a week after giving birth and food had run out, she had no money, no family every friend she called could not manage to offer assistance, they all started explaining their own problems. She had no choice but to go to Betty's place.

When she reached there, she found Betty's mother who told her that Betty has gone to UK to get the professional medical care that she was not accustomed to in their local hospitals. Tamara tried to ask for money from Mrs. Zimba but she told her that they have spent every penny on Betty’s health because she had traveled with her father.

Betty knew that she had to make a DECISION and NOT think twice about it. She got the kids and dropped them off at a white person's door steps. Given the hospitality she thought white people had, the kids will be in good health. She then went round the house and smashed a window, as if to prompt them to come outside and take a look that the gift of life before them. She then hid somewhere to see what will happen and just like she had imagined it, the white couple took the two beautiful babies inside their house.

The following day she went near the same house to observe but she did not see the kids, later that day she saw it on the news in some shop. The white couple had reported the matter to the police.

Tamara now knew that even if they white couple doesn't end up adopting the kids, at least the matter is in the hands of the state.

-          -        -

Tamara left the city and changed her contact number. After three years she managed to get a stable job. She also learnt that her friend Betty was able to walk now, this was good news for her but she still didn't know anything about her children, every day she was getting drained by the thought of it, it was too much to handle.

After a few months Tamara got a new job with a better pay and a better position. After this she managed to shift back to the city where her best friend and children lived.

.... this was a hard to for Tamara, she barely knew where to start from and she was making plans as time went by. When giving up on the twins, she thought that come hell or high water, her decision was final but she was very wrong, in fact she had no idea how wrong she was.

Every time after work she would pass through the white couple's place but would still fail to knock on the door and confront them. She would also go to her friend's place but stand from afar and just stalk her for hours. she would smile, cry, and laugh all the time she stalked her.

She looked at her life, all these resources, this big house, the car and the money, it was all never worth it because part of her was dying in the inside. She would come home and it was always quiet and dangerously peaceful. These were horrific times because within this quietness and peace, her soul was getting consumed. Indeed, it is true what they say, it is the calm and silent water that drowns a man.

One Friday night, she gathered her strengthen and knocked on the door of the white couple's house but they no longer lived there. There was a new owner at house and he warmly welcomed her. Most men are nice to women they don't know, they are like entrepreneurs, always looking at it as 'chance.'

They talked for some time and lucky enough this man had the phone numbers of the white couple. She hurriedly called them and asked them about the children they found on their door steps several years ago. The white man told her that they were taken to an orphanage and gave her the details to the orphanage. When the white man asked why the woman wanted to know about the children, Tamara did not respond. The only thing in her mind was formulating a plan on how to get to her children.

The following day she took some days off from work and went to the orphanage. She had bought a lot of different foods and told them that she was there to volunteer, to give the children some food and clothes and help out the workers in anyway possible. Tamara kept going there for the whole month until some workers started opening up to her and told her the various stories about the children. When she was told that there were two girls who were left at a white man’s door steps, she showed a lot of interest and hence kept asking questions.

The worker told her almost everything about these twins. "Sis these two girls are adorable, I think whoever left them must be dead by now, you cannot be alive after doing such a thing to these angels, I swear if I knew people who do such things I would kill them personally, these kids are get almost everything here but it is still not a good environment, nobody should be born for this"

Before she could finish throwing these spears, Tamara told her that she wants to meet the girls because she was thinking about adopting two girls.

Unfortunately, the woman told her that between the two, the younger one was adopted a few weeks ago, the same week that Tamara had started volunteering.

"What! but you said they are twins; how can they adopt one and leave the other?" Tamara asked angrily.

The woman told her that the people who adopted the child were very specific and that the elder sister actually allowed it, she really wanted the best for her young sister.

Tamara could not hold her tears, she cried and told the woman to bring the girl.

"Her name is Mary" the woman said

When Mary came, Tamara was trying hard not to cry but tears have no life support. She looked at the girl and she could not handle the emotions which were bleeding within her soul. She did not have to think twice, but to do the paper work and 'adopt' the child.

She felt like she had restored part of her, but was still thinking about Mary's young sister, the thinking always drove her crazy. She wanted them both, even though she could not find ways of telling them that she was their biological mother.

Tamara didn’t want to give up again, not this time. After getting some information about the people who adopted Mary's sister, she went to look for them but she was told that the couple went to live in another country.

For this, she felt vulnerable, weak and could not move a thing in her body, the voices in her head were also getting louder…….

THE FEAR OF WHAT IS and WHAT IS NOT, if gone either way, it will teach you that patience can cook a stone and that an elephant that kills a rat is not a hero...