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Episode 21

“Because we both have needs and we can help each other out.”
“Huh?”
“I heard you are an intelligent man, don’t plat dumb with me.”
“And exactly what would you like to receive in return for this help you are offering?”
Aunt Tafadzwa looked around her to check if anyone was looking at them and then moved closer to Martin and whispered, “I convince Sibu to marry you and you give me ten million Kwacha in cash as a thank you.”
Martin pulled away from her as if he had just been struck by lightening. “Is this some kind of joke?” He shouted and everyone around turned to look at them.
“That is peanuts compared to what that child owes me. She will never be able to pay me back even if she had seven lives.” Aunt Tafadzwa stated,

“What did she do to you that is so back it turned you into this kind of woman? That girl is your own niece. Don’t you feel bad treating the only thing your sister left behind in such a manner? Don’t you have any shame whatsoever?”
Aunt Tafazdwa’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets. “Don’t act smug with me when you have no clue about what’s going on. Did you ever hear Sibusiswe complain about how I treat her?” She paused and waited for Martin to respond but nothing came.
“Shouldn’t the fact that she’s never said anything to you tell you something about the kind of relationship we have?” Aunt Tafadzwa asked.
The first thing that came to Martin’s mind was Sibu’s remark; Marrying you is not enough to buy me the kind of freedom I desire in this world.
What had Sibu meant by that? Martin thought.
“You are intelligent after all,” Aunt Tafadzwa said upon observing Martin’s reaction.
“And you are deluded if you think you can use me to profit from your daughter’s unhappiness,” he replied curtly. I am going to leave this place and pretend this conversation never too place.” And with that, he turned to leave.


It was late at night.
In a long, dity and narrow dark street, an owl let out the most melancholic cry and could be seen flying off into the night sky there after.
But right there in the middle of the darkened street stood a little girl, about 5 or 6 years old. She had appeared out of nowhere and the fear radiating from every inch of her tiny frame was chilling to the heart.
Alone in the ghastly environment, a black cat appeared from the pile of waste just a few feet away from her. Despite the darkness, she could make out two big shimmering eyes starring at her for a few seconds before turning and disappearing into the night.
The little girl froze in horror, her head pounding so hard and her heart beating loudly. Just then, a foreboding sound from behind her could be heard and it went – pong, once and stopped. She quickly turned in that direction only to find nothing but darkness glaring back at her.
She had just turned back around when the noise immediately started again. It went pong, pong, pong this time around. Each pong sounded closer than the previous one. She gasped and then froze again, afraid to look back.
As the noise slowly kept getting closer, the little girl held her breath in, shut her eyes and waited for the inevitable. But just when she thought her world was coming to an end, a woman dressed in a long white gown appeared right next to her and took placed her arm over her shoulders from behind.
The noise immediately came to a stop.
Looking up at the familiar face, the girl instinctively smiled back.

However, no sooner had the feeling of safety crept through her tiny little frame than it disappeared. As if transposed into time unknown, the scene before her completely changed and the woman was nowhere in sight.

For a second, the child who now appeared slightly older than before found herself standing in the middle of a whole new street. For a moment she just stood there trying to make out her bearings. Unlike the grisly scene she had earlier been confronted with, the long wide street she was now standing in was lit with lights everywhere and was filled with cars coming from all direction.

She was standing right at the intersection of it all.

As if suddenly awakening from a delirium, she sensed the danger around her and could now hear the screams and cusses from drivers and pedestrians alike. She tried to move out of the road but her feet were stuck on the tarred ground.

She could not move.

She tried to open her mouth to scream and wail for help but her mouth wouldn’t open. Moving her arms around erratically to catch someone’s attention, she felt the ground below her crack.

She stopped moving, looked down and realized she had very little time before the ground opened up and swallowed her into the abyss.

And suddenly, the bright day had turned into night.

Bright lights from an oncoming vehicle approached her from the distance at record speed. She could see nothing else except those headlights shining at her into blindness and she could hear nothing but the incessant hooting from whoever was behind the wheel. Shaking all over in fear of the impending doom, she shut her eyes and waited for the end to come, again.

“Sibu!” A voice called out to her but she could not risk opening her eyes.
“Sibu! Sibu! Get out right now!” Came the desperate plea from whoever was calling out to her. She could feel someone shaking her rapidly and fearing that the ground might open up, she immediately opened her eyes.
“It’s that dream again isn’t it?” Sibeso asked Sibusiswe who was lying in bed and soaked in sweat. She removed the bedding’s covering her friend and went to open the window. “When did they start?” Sibeso asked when she turned around from opening the window. She grabbed a face towel from where it was hang to dry and used it to wipe the sweat off her best friend’s face and neck.

There was nothing but horror written on Sibu’s face.

“You are burning too much,” Sibeso noted, placing her hand on Sibu’s forehead to get a good feel of her temperature. “Let me get you a glass of water first
.” she was getting up to go to the kitchen when Sibu grabbed her by her arm.

“Don’t leave me alone,” she implored Sibeso in a deeply shaken up voice. Sibeso complied and sat back down, starring at her friend in unrestrained commiseration.
“Why are the nightmares back Sibu? What happened to you to bring them back when they havent bothered you in the past five months or so? Which one was it this time?”
Sibu swallowed hard before responding, her throat was dry from her nightmarish struggles. Despite the dehydration, she could not risk even for a second being alone while Sibeso went to bring her water.
“I think I have an idea as to why the dreams are back,” Sibu said. “I lost track of things and became selfish again.”
“What do you mean you became selfish?” Sibeso asked. “Don’t tell me you think this is about your relationship with Martin? I don’t know what happened between you and your mother Sibu since you’ve never told me the whole story
but, I do know that no mother would want to see her child suffering the way you’ve been all these years.
“Every time something good happens in your life, you pull back in fear and out og guilt. How sure are you even that things happened the way your aunt told you they did? That evil woman could have cooked up lies just so she can turn you into her slave for life
and it’s worked. You still haven’t remembered anything from that day?”
Sibu shook her head. “I haven’t,” she said solemnly. “I have tried so many times to force myself to recover the memories but I’m still blank. I have no choice but to believe her. I know she is not a very good person
but she can’t be so evil as to lie about something like this
at least I hope.”
“I can’t put anything past that woman. I’m telling you, something is not right. You don’t look so good, let’s go get some water from the kitchen.” Sibeso got up and extended her arm to her friend which she took and was helped out of bed.
Sibusiswe was on her lunch break with Peggy at work when her phone rang. It was a foreign number. The only person that ever called her with a number like that was Martin
and Martin was back in town already.
“Who is it?” Peggy asked upon seeing the puzzled expression on her colleagues face.
“I don’t know,” Sibu replied. “It’s a foreign number, London.”
Peggy’s eyes immediately sparkled with excitement. “Could it be Ted?”
Sibu had not spoken to Ted ever since their last conversation the day before he left for school. It had been one of those exchanges that implied they would never speak to each other again. He had been disappointed, and she had had her dignity shattered.
“It can’t be him,” Sibu said with a far-away look on her face, her mind going back to that last exchange that left her feeling like she would never be able to look him in the eye ever again.

“Is it true what Martin told me?” Ted had called her outside the office and confronted her about the night she had had with Martin.
“What did Martin tell you?” Sibu had asked.
“That you guys slept together,” he spat out the words like a bitter pill he didn’t want to taste.
Sibu was caught off-guard by his bluntness but she was even more hurt by the fact that Martin had already told people about that night when she had not told a soul. But what had she expected? To him she must simply be a new name added to his list he couldn’t wait to brag to his friends about.


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