The Changing Tides – Episode 21
The Changing Tides – Episode 21
A Story By Tisa Phiri
“I have to go and see my son, Musonda, I can’t stay at peace knowing his not okey.” Maria panicked pacing around Musonda’s living room. She had just been informed that baby Paul was seriously ill and he was taken to the hospital.
“Have you talked to the maid to find out which hospital?” Musonda asked her holding her hand to comfort her.
The two had become so close with Musonda starting to think Maria would any time give him a chance. he had told her one day how he felt for her.
“Maria, I know you somehow still love the father to your child. But am asking if you can give me a chance to love you. You are a great person and over the time I can’t continue pretending am okey with just being friends. ” he poured out.
Maria, looked at him with a sigh,
“You are a good man and am glad you have stayed by my side and helped me cope especially with my new family, but I can’t promise you anything at the moment.
Am not ready Musonda and I don’t want to hurt you nor our friendship. ” she responded.
“I understand, I just wanted you to know and I want you to take your time and when you are ready I will be here waiting,” he had smiled.
Now seeing her so worked out, made Musonda feel for her. He was in agreement with Maria’s grand father who had suggested Maria goes back to get her son and came over to stay with him.
Maria was reluctant knowing going to Paul wouldn’t just mean re-living her past but that it wasn’t going to be easy to convince Paul to let the baby go.
Picking some fight with Paul was the last thing she wanted..
“Well if you want to go then, I will take you myself tommorow Maria,” Musonda told her.
She had moved out of the quarter and was now staying with her grand father after writting her final grade 12 exams.She however didn’t stop her work.
“Are you sure? ” She asked him.
” I wanted to get with the morning bus tomorrow I think it’s best you stay back Musonda I really don’t want to bother you” she told him.
“We are friends my dear, if I can’t be there for you when you need support then what kind of friend am I? Just prepare yourself and I will come pick you up tomorrow” he told her.
“If you insist my dear,” she shrugged.
“Let me head back home then I tell my grand father, you know how he is with such issues I hope he won’t start his preaching of me going to grab back my son. ”
“Well what do you expect Maria, he’s just trying to take the place of dad in your life and am sure he wants you not to make the same mistakes he made with his own son, your father”
“Yeah , you are right my dear. I will have to do that but for now I will let it be. It’s the health of my son am worried about for now” she sighed as Musonda handed her a glass of pure juice drink.
In the evening before Maria went to bed she called Chanda’s phone to find out how the baby was. .
She wondered what was keeping her from answering her calls as the phone rung until it cut. Trying again, Maria heard Paul’s voice on the other side.
“Helo!” He responded.
Maria was quite for a while, she had not yet heard from Paul since the last time she saw him over 3 years past. According to her, Paul never knew she always called and sometimes talked to her son.
“Helo,” She answered finally.
“How are you?” she asked just to find a starting point.
“Am okey” Paul sighed.
“Is Chanda around, am just wondering why you have picked her phone instead” she asked him.
“She went by the road side to get something.”
“Okay then, I just called to ask about the baby she told me he’s not well and am so worried. Is he out of the hospital?” She asked without giving Paul a chance to say another word.
“We came back this evening he’s better now. He had a fever but he’s doing fine after the injection” Paul told her.
“Okay thank you” Maria sighed quickly hanging up.
She went to sit down on her bed holding her mouth, the sound of his voice echoing in her mind.
” Oh my God!” She whispered.
“That man really got me, how can talking to him after all these months feel so good and scaring?” She wondered
Paul looked at the phone in his hands, the voice of the woman he had fought to forget over the years leaving his body feeling weak. He had come to know that Maria used to call Chanda his maid.
He had come home one day, and found Chanda talking on the phone. What drew his attention was the voice of baby Paul who he heard answering the phone when Chanda gave him the phone.
“Am fine mommy, when are you coming” The boy asked as Paul listened.
“Yes, a cake, okey!” The boy went on and Paul had called him afterwards.
“Paul, who did you talk to on the phone,?” He asked the boy who was busy smiling.
“Mommy!” The boy jumped excited.. Paul later on confirmed the issue with Chanda and she was made to tell him that Maria had been calling since she went away. .
“What does she say when she calls and where is she?” He asked
“Sir she only asks about the baby and nothing else I promise,” Chanda answered scared her boss would be upset with her.
“It’s alright Chanda, go back to your work” he told her and sat back wondering where Maria was. .
After she left Paul had taken some time to go round the clubs hoping he would see her even at a distance , even when he knew it would hurt him. he thought seeing her drunk or with another man would get him to have the more reason to move on and forget her.
However Paul was surprised she was no where to be seen, it’s like she had disappeared from Lusaka. He felt the urge to go and ask her friend Doro but later on changed his mind.
Unfortunately even Chanda had no idea where Maria was as she told Paul, that she only talked about the baby and Chanda had never bothered to ask where Maria was .
Chanda followed Maria’s plea to not tell Paul anything if he ever asked and so she denied knowing her whereabouts.
Paul was faced with the past after talking to Maria, recalling every detail about the happy moments they had in the past.
Over time, he had torelated Tasha into his home and whenever she came in the name of seeing Grace, Tasha always rubbed herself around him .some times they ended up having sex and Paul took it casually without attaching any seriousness to it. But of course that was a big issue with Tasha who thought the game was hers now.
He recalled the words of his sister Margret who told him if he had to move on in his life, he was to decide to start his life anew with another woman.
“It’s unfortunate you guys couldn’t work things out but I can’t Judge Maria so much cause I don’t know the side of her story. ”
“Welll sister,” Paul responded
” the side of her story is simple. She choose to go back to her old life over my love for her and her child.”
“I don’t know Paul” Margret had told her,
“all this doesn’t really add up for me. It’s just crazy that after some time being happy together and Maria deciding to do school and work that she would just turn back and go back to prostitution? It doesn’t make sense at all.
And the fact that the day you claim she had disppeared on you, you were on the way to pick her up. I don’t really know my dear brother, but this whole thing is just too, I don’t know” she shook her head,
“unreal'” she said looking at Paul.
That day when Paul went home he too gave it a thought and somehow reaslised that maybe he had acted so much out of anger and if maybe he had given Maria the chance to clear things out things could have been better. But everytime Paul looked at the video and photos of Maria Naked with another man and the drunken state she was in last time he saw her, Paul convinced himself there was no way Maria could just be innocent, it didn’t make sense.
The day after, Paul had gone out to see if he could maybe talk to Doro and find out what she knew since he didn’t give her the chance to say a thing the last time he saw her. .
Doro was at her house washing when Paul drove in her yard.
She wiped her hands with a dry cloth and clapped in awe.
“well, well, look who the morning wind has blown to my home” she smiled teasing Paul.
Paul sighed, “how are you Doro? ” he asked instead .
“Just spit it out already” Doro snapped angrily
” I thought you don’t mingle with prostitutes anymore, what the hell are you doing here?” she asked him.
“Oh I see you are bound to live by that huh?” Paul asked her getting down from the car.
“I just came to see how pathetic you and your friend are doing with the kind of life you choose but I see it already you are not ashamed at all.” He added.
Doro looked at Paul in silence. She smiled at last.
“You know what Paul, i respcted you so much as a man. I even thought you are one of the kind but now I see you are just like any other man. You have the audacity to stand there and judge us? Especially Maria when you have no slight idea of what happened to her. you of all people should know how you had a hand in destroying her life.
Well, am sorry if you came here to look for Maria so that you can remind her of the pain you caused her and tell her she’s cursed like you told her before. am sorry to disappoint you. Maria is not here and you will never see her again.
Just know one thing for sure. You and that evil girlfriend of yours will never bring her down again. She’s standing up for her life and right now she’s in good hands.” She added as Paul looked at her, her words getting to him.
Without another word Paul went back to the vehicle and as he reversed to drive away, Doro went close to his window.
“One more thing Mr, next time you decide to choose a girl learn to choose them for who they are and not what they show off in your face, I guess you aren’t that dump to choose unwisely” she spat and went back to continue her washing.
Paul shook his heard and drove off echoing her words. Somehow wondering where Maria was if he would never get to see her again.
After going through all these memories, Paul went to check on his sick son who had fallen asleep.
He’s fever had dropped a bit and he sighed in relief. The doctors had told him baby Paul had some kind of infection and that caused some sores in his mouth. Which induced the fever.
He quickly rubbed the medicine he was given into his mouth and went in to join the baby in the bed to sleep. His mind echoing the events of his memories.
“Take care of yourself my child and please when you reach there to see your son, talk to the father so that you can get your son back. You have a family now and there’s a home for him here. It’s not you alone anymore tell him that,” Maria’s grand father told her as she stood outside ready to leave.
Musonda had gone to pick her up and she had already put her big hand bag where she had put a few of her things in the car already.
“By the way, that man there is one hell of a good person.” Her grand father added, with a laugh.
” I like him as a man and a person. Besides he told me about how he feels. So I don’t know what you are waiting for” he smiled.
Maria shook her head. .
“Grand pa, will see you when I come we have to leave now” she smiled at him ignoring his last comment.
” And I will talk to Paul as you have said ” she assured him and left leaving him watching.
“We can go now” she told Musonda who was waving at Maria’s grand father..
“now I know where you get some of your good traits from” he told Maria as the car drove out of the yard.
“That man is a good man and over the months I have known him I know he loves you so much. You are blessed to have found him”
Maria looked at him and let a laugh….
“What?” He asked surprised..
“Well guess what? He just told me exactly the same about you” she smiled looking at him.
“I guess am a lucky girl then, am always finding good men in my life.” She smiled.
Musonda looked at her smile, she looked beautiful that morning even though he knew she was sad deep down.
He wondered how he was going to help her live past her past as it seemed Maria wasn’t as happy as he wished she could be. .
“He is going to be okey?” Musonda extended his hand to her shoulder when they stopped at the traffic lights and he saw how quite she had been..
“Yeah,” Maria sighed sadly.
“I really hope so, am so worried. He has never gotten that sick to end up in the hospital. My son needs me Musonda I can feel it. This is the second time am abandoning him after the time I did that pathetic thing of ….”
She couldn’t finish her sentence, and he cut her short.
“I don’t want to hear about how you made wrong decisions and started whatever, please Maria, it’s all gone and for me it really doesn’t matter, the Maria I know today matters more to me ” he told her.
“Am content being a friend to this person am seeing now and I can’t bear seeing you all sad about your past. It’s gone and let it be forgotten. So lets change the subject alright?” He smiled.
Maria looked at him and smiled…. “thank you for being my good friend Musonda. I really appreciate it.”
They talked and laughed the whole way as Musonda told stories to help Maria forget her worry and be at easy.
easy
She sat up as they drove in Paul’s yard. Being a weekend, she knew he was probably home. She had initially thought of asking Chanda to take the baby to her somewhere else but the thought of her moving a sick child didn’t seem so good. She knew it would be uncomfortable for her to face Paul again but Musonda assured to stay by her side.
“I know this is hard for you Maria but am here for you and I promise you I won’t let anyone say or do anything to hurt you. You are my best friend and I wlll do anything for you.” He held her hand
Maria smiled,
” well I really hope all goes well dear am not ready to face your bad side” she teased as she got down from the vehicle.
“Lets go now” she sighed walking to the door as Musonda walked besides her.
To be continued
