Chapter 5 Dark clouds

A week passed by quickly as Zuko's departure drew near. He would be leaving the next morning, having purchased new clothes with the money sent by his family. According to him, he had secured admission to a university abroad with the help of his uncle and would be starting school soon. It was great news. That night, Zuko and I spent our final moments together at the river bank. We discussed various topics, starting from school and ending up debating about names we would give our future children. If everything went well, we planned to get married upon his return and go back together.

"I'm really going to miss South Africa and everyone here. I'll miss Mrs. Jane's loud singing, the church bells, children playing under the tree, the pesky mosquitoes, and even the harsh African sun," Zuko said. I chuckled at the fact that he would miss the mosquitoes too. "Don't mosquitoes exist elsewhere, or are they only found in Africa?" I asked. "They do exist, but they're few in number and mostly found in forested areas. The climate there is very different and much colder than here. My uncle also mentioned that we can't play loud music or sing loudly there, as it's against the rules. They could arrest you and make you pay a fine. Life is different and enjoyable there," he said, gazing at the sunset. I didn't realize at that moment that he was already starting to prefer that place over here. He might decide not to come back again. I hugged him and said, "Remember that South Africa is where your family and friends are, and no other country can replace that." He understood what I meant and held me closer. I felt the same sensation as before and hoped it would happen again. He felt it too and leaned in to kiss me. Our lips gently met, and his hands held onto my waist. The intensity grew as I felt his desire burning in his chest. He paused and looked into my eyes for approval. I had no reason to refuse, so I granted him permission to continue. We went further, exploring each other's bodies, until we found ourselves on the river bank, consumed by our desires. Unbeknownst to us, someone was approaching until we heard footsteps drawing near. We hastily grabbed our clothes, jumped into the river, and swam to the other side before anyone could spot us. It was a group of children passing by, and it wouldn't have been appropriate for them to witness our encounter. We continued until it grew very dark and decided to head home. It was truly a memorable experience and my first enjoyable sexual encounter. I would miss him dearly, and I knew he felt the same way. I didn't have the chance to see him tomorrow as he would be leaving early for the international airport. So, that was the last time I saw him. We hugged each other one last time and bid farewell.

Since that day, my mom had been moody and frequently engaged in conversations. I assumed she had an argument with my stepdad, but she refused to share anything with me. I tried talking to her about it, but she always pushed me away. Finally, I decided to take action and searched for her medical scan when she was not around. It took a lot of effort to find it since she had cleverly hidden it from me, but I wondered why. I discovered it in a safe behind her box in the closet. The scan revealed that she was carrying a baby girl, and I felt joy knowing I would have a little sister. I didn't want a brother because I didn't want him to turn out like his father. Now I understood why my mom was worried. My stepdad had warned her not to give birth to a female child and even threatened to kill it. Which sounded absurd to me,I had told my mom to worry and that she wasn't the one that determine the gender of a child. I understood she was scared on what he might do but for me such situation needed a plan. At that point the only option left was to file for a divorce and get the help of NGO women. She might be worried about funds but I trusted that my supermarket would have enough money to settle us into a new house maybe one outside the city. With that I waited for my mom to come back and confronted her about it. "Who send you to search for these papers?",she yelled at me. "That's not the issue here mom. The main issue is why did you keep it a secret from me? I thought we shared everything together?",I replied. "Not everything you discuss with a child and this matter doesn't concern you",she said and snatched the reports from me. " Wait mom you can't turn my questions down like that. I'm not a little child anymore and presently you have only me with you. Who do you want to share your problems with if not me? And also this matter concerns me a lot. Since is a matter of my unborn sibling and I won't let that fool come near her",I said to her and fir a while she sat down and became mute. " Still you won't be able to do anything",she replied calmly. I wanted to say something but she gestured her hand to stop me. "Don't say anything please. I had spoken to a female lawyer who works for an NGO. She agreed to help me and she advised that I file a divorce which I have already done. Now I just need his signatures and for him to agree to it",she finally said and walked away not letting me speak. I was glad she had agreed to get a divorce but the next problem was how to get him to agree. For the past few days mom looked for a way to bring up the divorce bit got scared anytime she approached him. I guess she had come to fear him over the past years and had always avoided issues with him. She has never wanted something for him and she was scared that he might refuse to sign the papers. I had given her the idea of tricking him to sign the paper but she made me understand that his consent was still needed in the court. The day arrived when she let the cat of the bag,it rained that day indicating that something bad was about to happen. He sat down comfortably on the couch watching TV, that's when mom came and gave him the papers. "What's it now? What's these papers for?",he yelled. "Read it then you'll know or don't tell me you've forgotten how to read over these years",she replied harshly. Mom stood though leaned on the chair because of her pregnancy and kept calm ready for anything he might say. He looked at the papers,three it away and laughed,"You actually brought divorce papers. Do you think I would leave you easily?",he yelled. I picked it up for mom and handed it back to her. "And do you think I want to remain with you forever? I'm tired of this marriage that is actually a cage. Sign the divorce papers and let's go our separate ways.",mom yelled back. " And you think I would let you leave me with my child. You're free to take your sloth of a daughter but for my son in your womb he would stay with me. After his born you're free to go wherever you want",he replied. " What if it isn't a boy with would you still take it tell me? Wouldn't it belong to me then? End this marriage",mom said again. He got up angrily," How dare you call my son a girl? Hear me straight it's going to be a boy whether you like it or not",he said and slapped my mom. She lost her balance and fell down. I ran towards her and gently raised her up," You foolish man do you want to kill her and the child. It is clear that you hate us,sign the divorce papers and you won't have to see us again",I shouted at him. " You little slut who asked you to interfere. Stay out of this matter or you would regret it",he yelled. " What would you do? Drag me to the room,force yourself on me or beat me? I'm not afraid of you hear me. I'm only quiet because my mom or by now you would had been dead",I yelled back. " How dare you talk to me like that?",he said in anger and pulled me away from my mom and threw me to the wall. I hit my head on the wall and my ears began ringing. I became filled with rage as he approached to hit me. The next thing I knew mom used a vase to hit his head but it wasn't enough to knock him down. He retaliated back and she fell down on her stomach as blood rushed out underneath her. I became scared and ran to her trying to wake her up but had fallen unconscious. I carried the vase and hit it in his head again causing an injury on his head,"How dare you fall my mom down?",I proceeded to hit him more as he held his head but I felt a hand stopping me. Mom had regain consciousness and requested me to take her to the hospital. I helped her get up while I quickly went to get her purse and her things. We boarded a cab to the hospital and the driver was kind enough to help me get my mom inside. It took some time before they attended to her and by that time it was too late. The doctor came out to tell me that she had lost the baby,I ran in to see my mom in shock not wanting to listen to the doctor again. Mom was already late in tears as I ran to hug her. "My sweet child I'm sorry for all that had happened to you",she said in tears. "Mom is not your fault please say that",I said trying to hod on to my tears. "If I had tried to make the marriage work with your dad it would had been better. He wasn't a good husband but at least he was a good father. Take care if yourself for me please and he wanted me to tell you that he is California. I had written his address in an old book in my closet. I didn't want to tell you since I didn't want you to go to him. Right now I think is best you stay with him",she said still crying as she moved her hands on my face. A part of me felt I was slowly losing my mom,she began coughing while I began yelling for the doctor. " Don't worry please is too late already",she said slowly as I noticed blood coming from her mouth. " Mom please you'll be alright. We would both go and meet dad and live in together",I said trying to get her to talk to me. She smiled and slowly took her last breath. I tried waking her up but she didn't wake up,the doctor quickly checked her and pronounced her dead.

At that moment,a sharp pain pierced my heart and the walls of my heart came crashing down. Tears poured down as I began screaming at my mom to wake up. "Mom get up please. Please don't leave me alone here. Wake up mom,wake up,wake up...",I kept yelling while the a nurse held me. They raised a white sheet over her and covered her. It took me a long time to get myself together and I was still shock that my mom had actually died. They requested me to contact my family members but I replied that I had none. I refused to make mentioned if my stepdad's name since he wasn't the reason she was dead. I remembered my aunt at that time and called her,she became shock over the phone and said she would come. My mom would be buried by her siblings but I couldn't stay with the fact that my mom was dead while my stepdad still live. I returned back to the house to see him attending to his wound,"So your back. Where's that mother of yours that wants to get a divorce. Let her come and force me",he said. "She's dead and you're the reason for her death", I replied plainly. He let out a chuckle,"Your joking right! You and your mom have come up with another scheme to fool me",he said. "Believe it or not you killed her and I'm not letting you live a second again",I replied with rage. " I guess you're serious. It's good she's gone,she wasn't going to give me a son anyways and that means you are all alone with me. This would be fun ",he said smirking as he slowly approached me. At that moment I brought out the knife I had and kept it at my side. I waited for him to get close enough and stabbed it at his chest right at the heart and dragged it out after leaving it in for a while. He looked at me shockingly holding that side and dropped down dead. I brought out a cloth and cleaned the knife and kept it back in my back I made sure to burn the cloth so that there would be no proof against me. I quickly picked up my suitcase which I had already pack,I took out all the money in the house including his. I wasn't sure where I was going but I was going to leave the country to find my dad. I found the old book that contained the address and took my family album. Times like that I wished Zuko was still around. He would be of great help in trying to get out of the city. I freshen up and took a cab to fishing port. I reasoned my aunt would arrived soon and I didn't want her to find me. The main roads would be the first place she check for me so I decided to board a ship. To where I wasn't sure but I planned to sneak on the next ship that wasn't leaving the city. I wouldn't get to California but I would be out if the city. From there I could find my way. A ship was about leave so I secretly got on and hid in the storage cabinet. I would stay there until we arrived or if I got hungry I could meet them and plead with them let me stay with them. I figured they wouldn't be able to tell me to leave since we would be in the waters. They would have no choice than to let me on board till they land on shore. They are free to kick me out then and I would be far away from home.