Echoes Of The Heart

Episode 5

Despite all the confusion going on in his head, there was one feeling Martin could neither deny nor suppress; the ache in his heart upon seeing Sibu in such a state.

What exactly was this feeling? He placed his hand over his chest as a sombre and troubled expression played on his face.

He curled his hand into a fist and repeatedly, yet softly hit it against his chest as if to stop his heart from feeling whatever it was threatening to feel.

If there was one thing Martin was most afraid in life, it was feelings. Sentimental feelings and Martin existed in two parallel universies.
Putting both his hands back on the steering wheel, Martin blinked profusely as if to
wake himself up from whatever spirit was threatening to overpower him. He didn’t need to look in Sibusiswe’s direction to imagine what she was going through. The force she was using to try and keep her pain under wraps was causing her body to shudder almost violently against the seat. He too could feel the pressure from where he was seated.

Martin took a deep breath and kept his eyes right ahead, his hands tightly holding on to the steering wheel as if to keep it from slipping away. With just classical music playing in the background and no words spoken between them, Martin drove like that the rest of the way.

Martin had driven for close to an hour when he finally brought the car to a stop. He got out of the vehicle and stood outside to give Sibu chance to compose herself.
Inside the car, Sibu slowly opened her eyes which were now swollen from crying for such a long time. When she looked out through the windscreen, she was impressed by the scenery around them. It almot took her breath away.
“What’s this place?” She was now standing behind him.

Martin had both his arms tucked in his pockets with his legs spread apart as if in deliberate pose.

As she took in his frame, Sibu wondered what time he had taken off his jacket. There was something a little safe with his jacket on and something completely unsafe with it off.
With his now exposed light blue shirt clinging to his broad shoulders and compact upper body, and his well-fitting dark blue pair of trousers whispering promises of long chiseled legs, Sibusiswe struggled to maintain focus of her surroundings.
There should be a law against being that good looking, Sibu mussed to herself.
“Where are we?” She asked as she came to stand next to him.

Martin turned in her direction, his hands still in his pockets.

Sibu blushed and immediately looked away at the sight of his buffed up chest threatening to reap through the tight white vest under his shirt where he had left the top buttons undone.

“It’s my secret hideaway.” Martin cheerfully announced, loving the reaction on Sibu’s face. “It’s the first piece of land my father put in my name. I always come here whenever I need to clear my mind. What do you think?”
A few meters from where they were standing were beautiful young palm trees lined up into a narrow aisle that went on as far as the eye could see. To the right of the hedge was a thirst provoking orchard with bounty fruits yelling a near harvest.
To the left where ready to harvest vegetables that seemed to be doing surprisingly well in spite of the weather. About six yards away from the cabbages was a small but beautifully designed two story cabin towering over everything else that caught Sibu’s attention.
“Are there people that live here?” Sibusiswe asked.
“Yes, the caretaker,” Martin supplied. “It’s refreshing isn’t it?” He had his arms stretched out with his head pulled slightly back to allow the fresh air to reach most parts of his body.
Sibu mimicked his actions. “It’s very beautiful,” she said. “Who would have thought that there’s such a place in Lusaka? I guess there really are perks to being friends with rich folks.”

Martin was more than glad to see her smiling. His plan to cheer her up had worked after all.
“I can only imagine what it would be like watching the sun set in over such a beautiful scenery.” Sibu muttered. “Thank you for bringing me here Martin. I don’t care what your intentions are for bringing me here but…I needed to see something like this to remind me that there are still beautiful forms of life on this earth…kind of makes you want to live again.”

Martin grinned proudly, completely missing edge to her tone during her last remark. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were looking forward to spending more time with me,” he teased.

“I was wondering when the douche in you would wake up,” she teased back, not daring to look in his direction. “You never disappoint.”

They both laughed.

“So are you going to tell me what that was all about?” Martin asked after a while.
The smile on Sibu’s face disapeared immediately.
Noting the hesitation, Martin tried again. “What did you do that was so bad that you let your aunt treat you like that?”
“I wish I could tell you everything…but today is just not the day. I just want to take in this scenery and forget about everything that happened today.”
Not one to pressure any woman into divulging personal information that might cause his heart to betray him, Martin only nodded and quickly changed the subject.
Perhaps the less he knew about her the better. The last thing he needed was getting attached and messing up his already la!d out plans for the future. Women were just too complicated for his brain cells. He already had enough on his plate memorizing all those statutes.
As Sibusiswe allowed herself to get lost in the scenery before her, she couldn’t help feeling a great sense of respect and gratitude towards Martin who had made it possible for her to forget about her sorrows even if just for a little bit.
It was the first time anyone had ever taken the time to do something for her. Although she suspected that he might have ulterior motives for appearing as her knight in shinning armor, she resolved to only focus on the good part of the experience because her mind had had enough misery for a day.
When Sibu finally came back to reality, it was to find Martin behind her, his back resting against the car with both hands back in his pockets. The manner in which he was smiling at her gave Sibu pause. for the first time she could see sincerity in his eyes.
Since when did he start looking at her like that? She blushed profusely, debating whether to take her eyes away from him or maintain eye contact. If she broke contact, he would know he had some effect on her, and if she kept looking at him, her eyes might betray her.
With her heart nearly leaping out of her chest, unconsciously, Sibusiswe brought her hand to her chest. It was her inert defensive mechanism shielding her from harm…. How else could she stop her heart from feeling things it was not supposed to?

Just in those few seconds she had lost herself in the embers of his smile, Sibusiswe’s heart sent her mind to slumber. Never before had she felt so vulnerable.
And still, Martin kept smiling.

He was silently taking pleasure in watching the mixed emotions playing on Sibu’s face. However, just as he was about to c—-x from the rewards of his well la!d out plans, something in Sibu’s eyes sent shivers running down his spine.

Was that fear he had just seen in her eyes?
And just why did that make him uncomfortable?

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July, 2015
Saturday mornings were always a hype of activity at Chilenje market. Both shoppers and marketeers went about their business in committed shrew.

The perversely undecided winter sun relentlessly assaulted Sibusiswe’s windscreen and crushed onto her forehead, forcing her to drop the sun visor in frustration.
Parked by the side of the road overlooking an array of shops on the other side of the road, Sibusiswe straightened her back in her seat and kept her focus on one specific store where an unsuspecting woman fortuitously attended to her vegetable stand in front of her fully stocked shop.
It was Aunt Tafadzwa.

In tight fitting blue skinny jeans and a tight red top, Aunt Tafadzwa put most women her age to shame. Her forty-nine year old form was very different from the slightly overweight woman with a passion for oversized clothes she had been eleven years ago. It seemed time had somehow awakened a sense of fashion in her and given her a flair of youth that had eluded her all those years. Now that she was just a whisper away from the fifties, she was intent on negotiating her case with time and nature till they succumbed to her wiles.
How unfair could life be? Sibusiswe thought as she watched her aunt enjoy a hearty laugh with two of her customers.
Gripping her hands around the steering wheel as the contempt boiling up in her stomach threatened to overwhelm her, Sibusiswe shut her eyes and curled her faced to half its size.
She finally stepped out of her vehicle and walked towards the store.
Aunt Tafadzwa’s smiling features graduated into a frown in record breaking time the moment she la!d eyes on Sibu.
The make-up on her face was perfectly on point, as if done by a professional.
I wouldnt put it past her to use a professional make-up artist every single day , Sibu thought as she glared at her aunt.
Aunt Tafadzwa handed over the plastic bag of vegetables to her customers and reluctantly said goodbye to them, taking her time as if there was no one waiting for her.
“You have never visited me on your own volition. Who has died?” Aunt Tafadzwa asked whilst walking back into the store.
Sibu followed her inside and offered herself a stool while her aunt sat on the one behind the counter glaring at her.

“You still carry yourself like a rich madam despite being divorced,” her aunt commented sarcastically looking at her immaculately attired niece.
Sibusiswe was dressed in a long white dress that contoured around her body in eye catching fashion despite the mid-length fur-collared red coat she had on top.
“I guess some things are hard to get rid of…” Sibu replied, looking down at her red and white striped stilettoes for a second before looking up at her aunt. “…like your attitude towards me despite all the years I’ve spent slaving for you.” She fired back, her eyes unflinching against her aunt’s disdainful glare.
“I never asked you to do anything you didn’t think you needed to do,” Aunt Tafadzwa retorted. “Don’t you think it’s about time you stopped playing the victim card?”
Sibusiswe scoffed. “Victim you say?” She said a few expletives under her breath.
“I never forced you to marry Martin,” Aunt Tafadzwa growled. “You had fallen head over heels in-love with him even before I suggested marriage to you. Now, just because your marriage failed miserably, you want to blame me?”

Sibu could feel the rage rising up inside. She silently willed herself into calming down. “It is true I was in-love with Martin but I never wanted to get married to him. I would have easily taken care of my feelings and walked away but your threats forced me to marry a man I knew for a fact wasn’t good for me. Having feelings for someone does not mean you have to marry them. But because of you, I had to get married to him.”