Echoes Of The Heart

Episode 41

collect money from me when you knew very well that the information you were giving me was fake?”

Her temporary-friend-turned-nemesis-again scoffed. “You wanted to take my grandchild away from her mother…my niece, did you really think that I would sell you information that you could use against her?”

Mrs Mwewa looked more than ready to pop, on the face that is. “You really have no shame,” she hissed. “You took money from me!” She hollered.
“I never forced you to give it to me,” Sibu’s aunt contended. “You came all the way here in your fancy car and fancy clothes and threw a few words at me. I wasn’t the one that followed you. I simply saw an opportunity and I embraced it.”
“That’s called stealing!” Mrs Mwewa howled. “We had a deal and you cheated.”
“ Poteto – potato,” Aunt Tafadzwa said. “You call it stealing, I call it surviving. Now get out of here, I have a business to run.”

“How about we talk some more,” Sibu appeared from nowhere and joined the two women gawking at her in shock. She looked with repulsion from one woman to the other.
“Sibu, what are you doing here?” Aunt Tafadzwa asked, soaking wet in the aftermath of being caught red-handed.

“I am not sure yet,” Sibu said, still looking from one woman to the other. “But I would certainly like to know what sort of information the two of you were trading.”
They both just stared at her.
“I have to go,” Mrs Mwewa soon announced her departure and left before aunt and niece could say anything.
“Oh just quit it already!” Sibu snapped at her aunt who was looking like she was standing in a lion’s den. “I am not here to fight with you. Nothing you do these days surprised me so you can quit putting up that poor woman defenseless front.”

Aunt Tafadzwa immediately recovered from her act. “What do you want?” She asked, turning her back to her as she went back into the shop.

Sibu followed her inside.
“Tell me where I can find my father, ah,” she raised her hand to shush her aunt who was about to open her mouth. “I am done listening to your lies. If you do not tell me where to find my father right now, I can promise you that I will make you and your children pay for everything you put me through all those years. You know me well enough to know I am not bluffing, so speak.”
Aunt Tafadzwa was wise enough to know this was a battle she was never going to win. “He lives in Woodlands,” she said. “He moved here with his family a few months ago.”
“Moved here?” Sibu asked. “From where?”

“He used to live in Botswana but he moved here to be closer to you.”

“So I was right, he knows about me now.” Sibu said, mostly to herself. “When did he find out?” She asked her aunt.
“Last year. He went digging around for information and when he found out, he almost killed me.”

“Am I supposed to feel bad for you?” Sibu asked sarcastically. “Why didn’t he just come to me when he found out the truth instead of following me around like that? What exactly did you tell him?”
Aunt Tafadzwa shrugged her shoulders. “I only told him that you might not accept him easily into your life since you’ve hated him for such a long time.”
“I only hated him because of what you told me about him!” Sibu yelled. “But how can I hate him now when he’s just as much a victim of your schemes as I? You will never change Aunty. Text me the address right now and don’t make me come back here to ask for it again.”

Sibu glared at her aunt in incredulity before storming out of the shop.

Sibu received the address to her phone moments after leaving her aunts shop. She couldn’t help looking through her rear-view mirror for any cars that might be following her even though no one had done so since that day at the restaurant.

When Sibu reached the address of her father’s home, she couldn’t get herself to hoot so they could open the gate for her. Instead, she parked to the side of the road and called Ted.

“I can’t do this alone ted.” She told him. “Can you come?”
“Where are you babe?” Ted asked. “Text me the address and I will be right there.”
And as promised, Ted parked right behind Sibu a few minutes later. She got out of her car and went to meet him.
“What am I going to say to him Ted?” Sibu nervously rubbed her hands together.
Ted put his arm around her. “Don’t think too much about it my love,” he told her. “It’s obvious he also wants to meet you, desperately…so just act natural, be you and let everything pick up from there. Now should we go and press the button?” He pointed to green gate in front of them.
Sibu nodded and so the two walked forward. Ted rang the bell and then they waited.
The gate opened slightly by remote control and a woman standing on the veranda came into view.

“Honey!” She shouted the moment she saw who was at the gate. Her husband quickly came running from the house and joined her.

Lance Hangala stared shell-shocked at the daughter he had been dying to meet for the past year.

“I think we can go in now,” Ted said to Sibu and led her by her hand to her father.

This was the first time Ted was seeing Sibu looking so nervous and at a complete loss for words.

“Good afternoon Ma’am, Sir,” Ted greeted the couple. “My name is Ted, and this is er….”
“I know who she is,” the man nervously said.

And then there was an awkward silence as they all just stared at each other.
“How about we all get inside so we can sit down and chat properly?” Mrs Hangala excitedly announced to the group.

They all followed her inside.

Sibu was more than impressed by the interior of the house. She had seen the outside and had an idea of her father’s financial standing, but the inside spoke volumes about the kind of man he had become.

I bet Aunt Tafadzwa would collapse if she walked into this house right now, Sibu thought as she looked around the huge expensively furnished living room.

Ted kept his hold on her hand as they sat down and only released it when they were saved beverages.

“I can’t believe that you are really here,” her father finally said. “I don’t even know what to say to you.”

His wife joined him by his side once she was done serving. “How about I take you on a tour of the house Mr Ted while these two talk?” Mrs Hangala offered.

Ted turned to Sibu.

“It’s fine love,” Sibu said, “you can go. I will be just fine.”

Ted sq££zed her hand tightly before standing up. He followed the friendly woman and the two disappeared from the room.
“So,” Sibu said once she was alone with her father.

“I am very glad you came here Sibu,” her father said.

“Me too.”
“How did you….”

“My aunt,” Sibu supplied. “I didn’t leave her much choice. Why didn’t you just come up to me instead of following me around like that?”

Lance laughed nervously. “I tried, God I tried to so many times but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was so afraid you might reject me and I….”

“I thought you were some crazy stalker,” Sibu laughed. “You pretty much freaked me out but eventually I figured it might be you. That almost accident at the restaurant made things even more obvious.”
“I figured,” he said. “Did you report the lady to the police?”
“No…I couldn’t, it’s just complicated.”
“I see,” he looked disappointed. “I guess there is a lot going on in your life that I don’t know about. I can’t believe it took this long to find out the truth. Sometimes I feel like going over to Tafadzwa and squeezing her neck. I just can’t believe that people can be that wicked.”

“Well, Aunt Tafadzwa is one of a kind.” Sibu said. They both laughed.

That day, Ted and Sibu ended up pending the rest of the at her father’s place and the two of them got to learn about Sibu’s new family. Sibusiswe discovered that she had two step-siblings who were fraternal twins, a boy and a girl aged fifteen. They had remained in boarding school in Botswana and would only be joining their parents in Zambia after graduating high school.

Her father was a retired farmer who had over the years invested most of his money in real estate both in Botswana and Zambia.
“Why are you grinning?” Ted asked Sibu as he drove her home late that night. They had decided to leave her car at her father’s place and he offered to bring it to her place the next day.

“I just can’t believe that I have a father,” Sibu said. “And that he is such a wonderful man. His wife too, she is very kind…you can’t help liking her.”
Ted smiled with her. “You know you really look alike with him….” he said.
“You think?” Sibu asked.
“I know so…except…you are so different from each other, personality-wise. He is so soft-spoken and you are…” you know….” He laughed as he waved his hands in the air.

Sibu threw him a nasty look. “So sleeping over for you tonight,” she threatened him.
“What?” Ted protested. “No way!”
Sibu laughed.

---

A week later, Mrs Hangala paid Aunt Tafadzwa a visit at her shop.

“Who are you?” Aunt Tafadzwa asked the petite woman standing in front of her.
“I am Mrs Hangala,” she candidly announced. “Sibu’s mother.”
“Don’t you mean step mother?”
“It doesn’t matter to me,” the woman retorted.

“What do you want here?” Aunt Tafadzwa asked.

“Aren’t you going to offer me a sit?” She asked.

“You are not welcome here, why would I give you a seat.”

“Er,” Mrs Hangala shrugged her shoulders dismissively. “I guess am going to have to deliver my message whilst standing.”
“What message?” Aunt Tafadzwa asked.
“Since my husband and my step-daughter won’t do anything about you, it is up to me to do something in their stead. You have two days to vacate this shop and go as far away from my husband’s daughter as possible.” The petite woman commanded in a very menacing tone.

There was nothing about her demeanor that spoke of the innocence she had displayed in front of Ted and her step daughter.

Right there in front of Aunt Tafadzwa, Mrs Hangala’s little menacing frame was one to be reckoned with.
“Now why would I do something so stupid?” Aunt Tafadzwa said. “Sibu bought this shop for me and I am not going anywhere. You think you can just appear in her life and run it for her however you please? Sibu and I had an agreement, I earned this shop.”

“She might have bought it for you but it is still in her name.” Mrs Hangala smugly corrected the woman.

“What do you mean by that? She told me that it was in my name?”
She laughed. “I guess she’s always been clever that one hasn’t she? The shop was never in your name. I offered to buy the shop from her and she agreed since she no longer wants to have anything to do with you. Right now as we speak, I am the new owner of this cute little place. My husband and I bought this whole section of shops. We intend to build a huge shopping mart for the locals so I suggest that you pack and go.”
“I knew that that girl wouldn’t just let things go. She just had to get back at me and she thinks kicking me out of here will make me fall? Well, she has another thing coming.” Aunt Tafadzwa fumed.
“She actually never wanted to sell this place,” Mrs Hangala explained. “I was the one who approached her and begged her to sell it to me, told her that I would help you get settled somewhere else but she said she didn’t care. I could tell she was lying. She still cares about you despite everything. But I don’t. And I need you gone by Tuesday next week.”

“Who do you think you are to kick me out of here?” Aunt Tafadzwa towered over the petite looking woman who never flinched under her stern gaze.

“I used to be a crazy woman before my husband married me and I can promise you that the crazy still lives inside me so don’t tempt me,” the woman roared. “My husband and his daughter might have forgiven you but I won’t let you off so easily after all the hardships you made him go through.

“A man his age cried himself to sleep for months when he discovered what you had done. No one can do that to my family and get away with it. What gives you the right to mess with other people’s lives like that? If you don’t want to find your stuff gone and no shop standing here, I suggest you leave before that happens.”

Aunt Tafadzwa couldn’t believe what was happening. She wanted to scream and wail but her pride could no let her do that in front of the strange woman.

“You can leave now. I will be out of here this very day.” She said arrogantly and headed back inside.

Mrs Hangala smiled triumphantly before turning to go.
Inside her shop, Aunt Tafadzwa called her daughter Tammy.

“You tell those stupid boys you are always hanging around with, tell them to come here and help me move my stuff home.” She said.
“Move what stuff mum?” Tammy asked from the other end of the line.
“That cousin of yours sold this shop to someone else imagine. They have asked me to move out as soon as possible,”
“Why so soon? You should have asked for more time.”
“I can’t stand being in this place any longer so just get me those boys here immediately.”

“You know that they won’t do it for free,” Tammy said. “I know tight you are when it comes to money so unless you promise to pay them, they won’t come.”
“Just tell them to come you stubborn brat!” She yelled at her daughter before rudely ending the call.

A few hours later, Aunt Tafadzwa had secured transport and she had Tammy’s friends help her move her things from the shop to the vehicle.

“I don’t know this driver very well so I can’t trust him alone to take my stuff home.” Aunt Tafadzwa said to the boy she suspected was the one sleeping with her daughter. “I have to clear out a few things with some people before I leave so I need you to drive with them home. I will come give you and your boys money when I get back home.”

“Tammy said you would give us after we finished the job ma’am,” the boy protested.
“And you haven’t finished the job,” she said. “You are only done half way. You have to unload them and put them into the house. Tammy will be waiting for you at home.”
And with that, she left the bunch of visibly upset boys behind.

Later that night when Aunt Tafadzwa got home, she cried blood when not a single thing of her stock from the shop had been delivered home.

“What did I tell you about those types boys?” She sobbed as she hit her daughter over and over again while her son watched in wonder in a corner.

“You have finished me Tammy…you have finished me you foolish child.” She threw herself on the ground and spread out her legs as she wailed dramatically.

Tammy ran away from her mother and tried to call her boyfriend’s number again but she still couldn’t get through.

“What have you done you son of a b—h,” she said whilst hitting her fingers over her touch screen. She raised her head up to look at her mother who was sprawled over the ground and covered in head.

She just sat there looking straight ahead with a blank look on her face. She looked like a woman whose brain waves had been exhausted.

She was deathly quite for someone that had spent the past thirty minutes wailing and crying her lungs out.

There was fear in Tammy’s eyes as she watched her mother embrace her sudden defeat.

Was this the end for them? Tammy wondered.

---

Ted waited in the car while Sibusiswe and Martin talked inside the restaurant where Sibu had almost lost her life. For the three of them, the restaurant had come to mean much more than just an eating place. It was the place where memories had been resurrected and where memories could be buried.

“Congratulations by the way,” Martin said. “I know I should have said this a long time ago but….”

“I know,” Sibu forced a smile. She silently wondered if there would ever come a time when she would look at Martin and not feel so sorry.

“But I really mean it,” Martin fought back the tears. “Ted is a great guy. I hate him, but he’s what you need.” He too forced a smile.

“Martin….” Sibu said.
“Don’t say it,” Martin told her. “Don’t say thanks and don’t say sorry because that will really make me feel shitty. I took a lot for me to finally decide to take a clean break and move on…it doesn’t mean I like it…but I know it’s something I have to do. I wish…I wish….” he desperately forced back the tears. He wasn’t going to cry on this day. That’s not how he wished her to remember him.

Sibu cried.

She wanted to reach out and comfort Martin but she knew she couldn’t. Despite everything they had been through, she would not have been where she was had it not been for Martin.

He was the first person to break down my walls and show me what real love is. Sibu thought as she watched Martin walk away from her, memories from their past together flashed before her eyes.

Ted walked in at that moment and she ran into his arms.

“I want to see my mother,” she said to him.
Ted drove her to Memorial Park. He listened in silence as Sibu cried the whole way.

He dared not ask what was going through her mind.

He had the rest of his life to find out. This time he was just going to stand by her side and give her a shoulder to cry on if she needed it.

Once at the cemetery, Ted watched from a distance while Sibu chatted with her mother. She was still crying.

“Do you also think that I am a bad person mother?” Sibu addressed her mother.
“I really wanted to love Martin you know,” she sobbed. “I thought I tried my best but…I only ended up hurting him. Why I am always hurting the ones I love? Have you seen that good looking man standing over there,” she looked in Ted’s direction.

He had his eyes fixed on her with a smile on his face.

“I am going to be his wife in a few days,” Sibu said. “Do you think I deserve the kind of love he’s shown me? I am scared…. I have never been this happy in my life before so I am scared that one day I will wake up and it will all be gone.

“I just want to keep on dreaming. I just want to shut out the echoes from my heart and just love…love like there’s not tomorrow. I really want to do that mother.” She wiped at her tears and then smiled at Ted again.

He smiled back and waved at her from where he was standing.

“By the way, I met the love of your life mother…my father. He is quite a catch even for his age. He has never forgotten about you. I smile every time I think about him because I know that there is someone out there that loves me unconditionally…someone I can call my father.”

She had finally stopped crying now and Ted got the cue and came to join her.
“This is Ted mum,” Sibu introduced him to her mother. “Say hi to my mother Ted.”

Ted was all smiles as he lowered his head towards her mother’s tombstone. “I am honored to meet you Ms N’cube.” He said. “And thank you so much for giving birth to such an awesome daughter. I hope you don’t mind that I will be making her my wife…because I really really love her. I am crazy about her.”

Sibu was blushing all through Ted’s mini speech.

They both paid their final respects and headed back to the vehicle.

“Do you think she would have liked me?” Ted asked as he drove them home.

Sibu laughed. “I think so. You look a lot like my father so….”

Ted grinned from ear to ear. “That’s a compliment, right?”
They both laughed.

Sibu watched Ted as he drove. He looked happy.

she too felt happy.

I can’t hear them anymore , Sibu thought, with her gaze still on her soon-to-be husband.
The echoes, I think they’re gone.

She smiled and reached out her hand to him.

THE END.