Heartaches and Tears – Episode 10

HEARTACHES AND TEARS – Episode 10

A story by Kennedy C Katongo

NATHAN AND THE KIDS

When I entered the room, our diver friend was fast asleep, Amanda was still on the laptop watching Suits.

“Welcome back?” Amanda said with a smile.

“Why are you happy?” I frowned. My eyes were everywhere the room trying to trace were the box of pizza was. (Don’t judge me) After I had spent time with the young man, I then understood that my pride had covered my eyes. I was so much focused on making sure that I never got to date a guy from college, after all, to me all they wanted was sex. I had heard of relationship that survived the test of time at College but things turned once society had it’s say. That was something I wasn’t ready for. I wanted more than a fairy tale, I wanted a relationship that would stand the test of time and this idea of mine was now handing me over into the hands of wrong men like Emmanuel.

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Two weeks had gone by since Amanda and I went out with Mr Saturday. She never spoke about him, at times I would see his calls go unanswered and his texts ignored. I always wondered what would happen to their relationship after Amanda completed school, but I guess this was it.

After a week in school, Amanda and I began looking for a place to stay. We found a boarding house in Thornpark that was fairly priced and manageable. Once we moved there, I began looking for a Job. (If only I knew job hunting was a pain in the butt) I moved from one Pharmacy to the next with my fingers crossed.

I dropped envelopes almost everywhere possible, at this time I didn’t care about the money. I was broken down, all I wanted was a job to help me survive. It was such days that Amanda would suddenly mention Nathan.

“I wish he didn’t mess up.” She said as she sat on the bed. We were lucky to get a small room that only had two beds in it. So just like College, it was only me and her sharing a room.

“You miss him?” I asked her.

“I do. He always made our life easy. Do you know that he wanted to find me a job?” She asked me. “But I turned his offer down. I didn’t want to depend on him for everything. Now that I think of it, I wouldn’t mind at all.” She added with a giggle.

“You should call him.”

“I can’t do that. I told myself never to do that. It’s been 3 days now and he’s never called nor texted.” Amanda said with a deep sigh. I could tell she was thinking just the same way as I was… Mr Saturday had given up and might have been busy trying to mend things with the wife most likely.

It was on Saturday when I took off, I had planned to visit a friend in school and also visit Link Pharmacy at Levy Junction. That was the last place I wanted to work, the stakes were high and it came with the pressure. After all, the only experience I had came from the attachments I had done early that year.

When I entered the Pharmacy, it was unlike all the others in town. The way things were arranged was different and the place just smelt expensive. I slowly walked up to the counter were I could see an Indian man attending to a customer who was with two children.

“Dad I want sweets…” I heard one of them say as he pulled his father’s hand painting at a box of medicated gums.

“Jay! Behave. Let’s get medicine for your young brother first.” He said as he shook his boy off. The voice sounded familiar, I took a distance away as I waited for them to finish so that I could approach the Indian.

“Daddy… It’s Aunty Mwaka.” The young boy that he had lifted up said as he pointed at me with a smile. When Jay turned, he ran up to me.

“Aunty Mwaka!” He called out as he hugged me.

Mr Saturday smiled at me as I walked up to him, “Hi Mwaka.” He said warmly.

“H-e-y Mr Sa…” My voice faded. “Hi Nathan!” I said vocally this time around.

“Huh! I guess you two still use that name on me.” “How have you been?” He asked me.

“I’ve been okay thanks.” I responded.

“And Aunty Amanda, how is she?” He asked. I didn’t know how to respond, he spoke casually of her around his kids. I was aware they knew both Amanda and I because there were times when he would bring us food in school and he was with the boys. (The way this man loves his kids) It always confused me why he did what he did.

“She’s good.” I responded. I didn’t want to say more. I knew how bitter Amanda was about him finding out were we staying.

He picked up two bottles from the table and showed them to me, “Give me some professional advice here. Which one should I get?” He asked me.

“Benylin Pediatric is better. At least both of them can use it.” I said with a smile.

“Hello! She’s one of us?” The Indian asked Nathan. From the way they spoke, it was obvious they knew each other. Amanda always told me about the many business ventures that Nathan had involved himself in… That was why I found it strange when I learnt that the wife made more money than him.

“Mwaka this is Mr. Yadav. His the Pharmacist in charge here.” He said. “Mwaka here was at Evelyn Hone College. That’s were she did her Pharmacy.” Nathan added. This man was selling me and I was just there blushing.

“Oh! Mwaka, are you working?” Mr Yadav asked me. Jesus knows even if I was working I would have said I wasn’t. Every Technician knew how difficult it was to be hired by Link and once you were on board, the pay was good.

“Am not working at the moment Sir.” I responded. Nathan smiled and winked at me.

“If you have time, we have a good internship program going on, and we can see what happens next from there.” Mr Yadav said as he handed me a piece of paper for me to write my email address.

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“This was God!” I said happily as we headed to Pick and Pay. Jay was busy pulling my hand and swinging on it. The father had given up on telling him to behave, he was always hyper once he saw Amanda and I.

“What were you doing there by the way?” He asked me.

“I actually came to drop a letter. It’s wild out there. People ain’t hiring.” I told him.

“Then it’s a good thing I was there. I actually asked you which one to take on purpose. Mr Yadav is a good friend.” Nathan said, “How is Amanda, is she working?” He asked me.

“Daddy, are we going to see Aunty Amanda?” The youngest one asked. I always found it funny that both their names ended with the letter Y.

“Kenny! No we are not. Dad has to get you home.” He told him.

“But Daddy. I want to see Aunty. She promised me Ice cream.” Jay spoke up.

Nathan knew she was still mad at him, for that reason he kept objecting his kids. He knew there was no way she would agree to meet him. Amanda was right after all, things seemed way to easy when Nathan was around. Am sure I wouldn’t have even been moving around from one Pharmacy to the next dropping envelopes. At least now I was assured I had a spot at Link Pharmacy. All that I needed was to prove my worth to them.

To be continued...