Echoes Of The Heart

Episode 20

I would have given anything to give this man standing before my heart, my soul and my body.

I would have stopped the hands of time just to capture this moment in my head and replay it for life.

I would have taken a leap of faith and thrown caution to the wind just to hear his heart beat fast against mine.

I would have paid any price to belive every word falling out of his mouth without any inhibitions.

And most of all, I would have la!d down my life if he allowed himself to lean on me…
If only….

If only…my life was mine to give away.
I still had a ransom to pay.

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“So do you now understand why I also have certain things going on in my life that I don’t feel so comfortable to share with you…yet?” Martin said.

Sibu wasn’t comfortable with that arrangement but she had no right to argue because Martin was right. “I understand…I get you…but are you sick?”
Martin pursed his lips. “Do I look sick to you?” He said in his usual confident tone of voice.
“I heard what you said on the phone….”
“You never heard the whole conversation,” Martin said. “That conversation was not about me.”
Sibu didn’t look convinced. “You are really going to stick to that story no matter how much I press ins’t it?”
Martin tenaciously moved his other arm and put it on top of her hand he was still holding and starred at it for what felt like an eternity. “I just need you to trust me when I say I mean well and that my feels for you are real.”
Sibu hesitated before responding, “I get you,” she said unconvincingly. “But can you let go of my hand now,” she was looking down at the hand intertwined between his hands.
“I will only let you go if you promise to at least think about my proposal.” Martin insisted.
Sibu sighed. “I can’t….”
“I suggest you really think wisely before you respond,” he cut her off before she could finish her response. “Remember, we are out in the middle of nowhere and I am the only one with a car.”
She scoffed. “If that was meant to scare me, then I am sorry to disappoint you. I have seen so much hell in my life that a little darkness doesn’t scare me.” She again tried to free her arm from his grip but he didn’t budge.
“How about just spending the night here,” Martin suggested and won himself a glacial stare from Sibu. “I promise I won’t touch you,” he raise one arm up to swear. “I will take the upstairs bedroom and you can go back to the guest one.”
“I would be a fool to even consider sleeping in the same building with you after what happened before….” she was blushing.
Martin was smirking excitedly. “You still think about that night don’t you?”
Sibu took that moment he was lost in his thoughts to finally release her hand. “Because of those few hours of pleasure, I got pregnant and then lost the baby. Of course I think about that night…but certainly not in the ways you are imagining.”
“And what ways could those be?” He still hadn’t lost his smirk. “The fact that you thought about whatever I could be imagining means that we share the same thoughts, except…you chose to look at them from my point of view, but the same thing.” He shrugged his shoulders in satisfaction.
Sibu brushed him off with a shake of her head and started walking away from him towards the direction they had come from.
Martin immediately gave chase. “Are you seriously thinking about walking out here alone this late in the night? I don’t know whether you are brave or insane Sibu. Wait here and I will go get the keys.”
Martin ran back into the house and came out a few seconds later with keys in hand.
Sibu looked like a very pleased woman.
“You are a very stubborn and cruel woman.” Martin said as he drove them to her place.
Sibu ignored him and started playing with his radio.
A few minutes after dropping off Sibu, Martin was driving himself home when he received a call on his cell. It was a strange number.
“Hello,” he greeted the caller, using one hand to drive while the other attended to the call.
“”Is this Junior Mwewa?” the female caller asked.

Martin was taken aback. It was rare for people to address him like that. It was either Martin Mwewa Junior or just Junior, if not Double M like most of his close buddies preferred to call him. “May I know whose calling,” he answered.
“This is Sibusiswe’s aunt,” the woman revealed.

Martin’s leg hit on the brakes accidentally, extremely surprised by the unexpected call. Did Sibu give her my number? What could she be calling me about? Martin thought before finally responding.
“Aunt Tafadzwa?” He asked, getting his hold

There was a strange laugh on the other end of the line. “So you remember me?” the woman asked.
“Even if I wanted to, there was no way I can forget that scene you put up at my workplace. Is there any particular reason you called?” Martin was cold as ice in his delivery.
There was a brief pause from the other end of the line. “Is that the way to talk to your future mother in-law young man?” Aunt Tafadzwa roared. “This is what happens when you let maids raise your children.”
Martin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What did you say?” He asked.
“You heard me,” the woman snapped. “Come to my home tomorrow, you and I need to talk. I might not be Sibu’s mother but I am the only guardian she has.”
Guardian my a-s. She is your guardian and you are her burden, Martin said in his head as thought about what he had learnt when he had asked someone to investigate Sibu’s background.
“What time do you want me to come?” Is what he said to her instead.
“Come at 9 at my stand in the market.” She said. “I am sure you already know where it is. And don’t tell my niece about this call or the meeting, okay?”
Clenching his teeth tightly and mouthing a few expletives, Martin ended the call without offering a response.
Being a Sunday, there were only a few stands operating the next morning when Martin showed up at the market. In her screaming lime green top, it was easy to spot the naturally angry looking woman from the few women operating their stands.
Aunt Tafadzwa excitedly waved her arms in the air and called out his name the moment she saw him, attracting attention from everyone around. It finally dawned on Martin why she had asked him to meet her at such a place.
Martin curled his face up in irritation and slowly walked towards her.
“Son in-law,” she loudly said and picked up a stool to give to him. Martin looked at the stool in front of him and instead of siting, he looked back at her and said, “what do you want to talk to me about?”
The smile on Aunt Tafadwa’s face quickly faded. “If you really want to have my niece, you will have to develop a new approach with me. I am the only person capable of persuading her to marry you, you know.” She said smugly.

Martin looked at the woman in puzzlement. “What do you mean by that?” He asked. He wanted to wipe the proud grin from off her face.
“That’s all you need to know. I don’t owe you an explanation,” she replied. “For you to make Sibu yield to your wishes, there are piles and piles of layers you would need to peel off and no matter how hard you try, you will never reach the bottom…but, I know just what button to press to get her to agree.”
“Why are you telling me all this?” He quizzed her.