Benjamin….
” I received a call from Clara’s mother, I had called her the day Clara was put in custody , trying to
find out where my son is. So she was returning the call and I thought it best l see her in person.” I
explained as Jen nodded her head.
” Okey, so?” She sighed sitting up as she moved her feet on the couch folding herself, her knees
touching my side. I knew she loved sitting that position.
” So, I went to talk to her and unfortunately she started giving me conditions for me to see my son
again”
” What conditions now?” Jen asked surprised.
” She’s a joke my Love, that boy is your son, does she have any rights to keep a child away from
the father? I can’t believe she’s behaving like her daughter, what in God’s name is wrong with
these people?” She scoffed disappointed.
” I was wondering the same too babe, she asked me to drop the charges against her daughter or
better still negotiate for her sentence to be reduced, just then will she tell me where my son is, can
you imagine that?”
Jen shook her head murmuring in disagreement. ” She’s nuts, are you in any position to negotiate
her daughter’s sentence
? Someone must tell her how this works. Let’s say that was possible, does she expect you to just
let that Clara go scourt free after everything she has done? ” She added still shaking her head.
” I know what to do my love don’t worry. As I drove back here I had an idea. Right now Clara will
do anything to get out so I will use that to my advantage” l smiled assuring her.
” Not anything to do with getting close to that woman my love” she whispered concerned.
” Come here,” I pulled her close.
” She cannot do anything to me, I need to face her one more time if I have to see my child again.
Don’t you trust me?” I teased her nose.
” I trust you Ben, but it’s that Clara am worried about. Even in her grave, I wouldn’t trust that
woman one bit” she responded seriously.
Later on after we discussed the issue at lengthy, she reluctantly agreed for me to go face Clara in
prison before her final trial.
Days Later, I prepared myself and in the afternoon I was standing outside the the detaintion centre
where Clara was being held. I took a deep breath as I matched to the entrance.
Asking to see her, I was ushered inside and I sat waiting. She was brought in later on her hands
still in cuffs I guessed she was being considered a top crime criminal.
She looked at me with so much distaste l could have died if only looks could kill.
” What do you want?” She snored angrily.
” Well, ofcourse not to pay you a courtesy visit if that’s what you think, and not really to see you for
pleasure you know how much I would pay a good fortune to make sure I never see you again” I
snapped back and she made a disgust face.
” I should have killed you when l had a chance!” She whispered hatred clearly portrayed in her
words.
” Well, you never did, and am still alive. Any way am here to make you a deal,” I started and she
looked up my face with a wide grinn.
” mnmmm my mother never told you where your son is huh?” She responded sarcastically.
” I want him Clara, he’s my son too and you and l we both know you hate him. So why are you
hiding him from me?” I asked her.
She leaned back in the chair and placed her cuffed hands on the table between us.
” Well, let’s just say I want to purnish you. I hate you Ben, I hated you when you proposed to marry
me and I hated you whenever you played good husband with me, I hated you when people talked
well about you like you were the most handsome and perfect man. I hate you now and will always
hate you” she spat her mouth curved into a sign of hatred I could feel her deep hatred where I sat
across.
I shook my head honestly feeling pity for her. Jennifer was right, Clara was sick in the head and
the kind of hatred she had was so intense it scared me.
” lf you hated me that much why did you agree to marry me? I mean, it could have been better if
you simply told me the truth in the first place, we couldn’t have been here.” I shrugged.
” I want you to know Clara that when I married you I had loved you, with a pure heart even though
I saw how you treated me bad, I had hope that one day you would come around, I wanted is us to
have a home and I had chosen to grow old with You, because that’s me, I always am serious
about the decisions I make. Am not pushed by people or money. Now I can’t even dispise you,
cause unlike you, am not like that inside.
I just hope one day you will realise how much you have hurt me for doing nothing but committe my
life to loving you and wanting a better life with you.” I told her the truth and she kept looking at me
blankly.
” I have learnt one thing from all this though, the heart and mind of a woman is a mystery. You
may never know what lies behind their smiles and laugh. If not for the fact that I found a woman
pure in Heart, the one who has a heart of Gold and would do anything crazy to see me happy and
well, I could certainly have vowed to never love another woman in my entire life, You, dear Clara is
a true definition of a woman with a dark heart. ” l added seriously telling her what I longed to tell
her years back.
” You are so ungrateful, unreasonable and with nothing close to a beautiful woman because as l
have come to learn, beauty is in the heart and seriously yours has none of that. Tell me where my
son is and today we will both close this chapter in our lives. I don’t even need to come and testify
at your trial if you do so. All I want is my son please” I begged and she was still silently looking at
me.
I saw her wipe a tear from her face and wondered what it meant, I had no idea whether it was the
impact of my words or she just realised how pathetic she had been. But what she uttered next
puzzled me and I was so shocked to the core I felt my heart skip a bit.
” Well, I knew this will happen the moment I saw you walk in my house, so I prepared myself. I
killed that b****** because he was a constant reminder of you. If you want to see him go to the
grave yard. You will find a grave marked Ben Kangwa(Jr) that’s where your son is. I bet that crazy
s–t who picked you can give you other kids. I wouldn’t live to see something that would remind me
of you” she uttered her last words and stood up calling the warderess to come open the grill door
for her.
I was left numb I felt my feet go weak.
” Jesus!” I sighed wiping my tears as I felt something p—k my heart. I had thought she was
bluffing so I rushed to the grave yard she mentioned to check out the graves. I spent the rest of
the afternoon searching amongst the fresh graves and finally to my disappointment, as I had
wished her words were not true, I found the grave marked with my son’s names. I fall down there
weeping like a Child.
I called Jennifer who came over with a taxi as I had got her vehicle. She too was so shocked she
weeped like she knew my baby.
” She killed him, she killed my son all because she hates me for nothing reasonable” I sobbed.
” Come on my Love, I know this is so hard but you have to put yourself together, let’s go home
now it’s getting dark here” she whispered pulling me up and dusting my pants.
We walked to the car and she drove me in silence as I replayed the conversation I had with Clara,
” is she a normal human being?” I kept asking myself.
All the days that followed we mourned my son. My sister’s couldn’t believe she killed Ben.
” Maybe she dug an empty grave brother Ben, I don’t believe she can be that evil to kill her own
son. She just wants you to feel the pain you are feeling right now” Memory told me.
“I wish that were true sister, but I had the grave exhumed and my son’s body is burried in there.” I
shook my head sadly.
Jennifer…..
Months later,
Clara was given a life imprisonment and we heard the drug Lord that was apprehended together
with her bailed himself out and paid off his case. He however sent his people to pull out Clara’s
eyes as payment for her betrayal. I felt pity for her, now she was blind and would spend the rest of
her miserable life in jail.
Ben proposed marriage to me though he didn’t want anything big given his history of a bad
marriage after having a very big and colourful wedding. He proposed something intimate with
close relatives and friends. I had no objection. All that mattered was living the rest of our lives
together.
Kegan too supported us and we remained friends. Even though he always teased me of how he
wanted to search for a crazy woman too, lest he found his true love.
I never heard from my best friend and ex boyfriend. Rumour had it that he left her and married
another woman from Choma.
We had an outside wedding at Iriss Gardens with a few guests. Our dear priest Father Lamba
blessed our union. He made us give our own vows and Ben looked at me with his soft white eyes
and well shaved moustache,his black suit and white shirt making him look so smart and handsome
I felt proud.
I was in a simple but classy ball wedding dress with some 100 %hair extensions tied in a pony tail
a small crown placed on top of my head.
” I have no words to express the happines that I have experienced in this short period I have lived
with you.” Ben started his vows,
” Every time I think of how we met, my heart melts with joy. I want to live the rest of my life waking
up to the smile of your beautiful face my Love., because I know there’s no one else in this world
that will ever make me so happy and I would love more than I love you, will you stay with me in
sickness and healthy, riches and poverty?” He paused wearing a smile
” That I wouldn’t want you to answer, because I already know the answers, you have shown me
love through the most impossible times already. love you forever!” He smiled placing the ring on
my finger.
I smiled tears of joy in my eyes, his beauty making me want to say a million words but I had no
idea how to express them.
” Ben, you are the love of my life. I have never felt so much at peace and in love with anyone
before. Each new day you show me how much love you have for me and even if we have some
differences sometimes, that just makes me love you even more because I realise in our
imperfections, lies our strength and courage to forge ahead. I would go on telling you how much
you mean to me but the day is not enough to me to do that. I want to spend the rest of my life with
you so that I would have to tell you how much you mean to me each new day. I love you forever” I
smiled and he wiped my tear and kissed me.
We heard people cheering and the priest saying you may now kiss the bride and we smiled
without breaking off the kiss.
Our days were worthy the fight. Ben recovered his family mansion in meanwood where we all
moved in. He recovered all his company assets. Within a year he managed to get the business
back on the map in the country and his sister’s both went back to school.
My brother and Ben become the very best of friends I sometimes felt jealous how much they spent
time together whenever he came visiting.
It was months before our second anniversary when I discovered I was pregnant. I have no way of
expressing how happy and excited Ben was. He treated me like a baby, he almost stopped me
from going for work.
My story turned from a crazy passion for a mad man into a series of happines and pure love. I
always go down my knees thanking God for everything……