RENTED LIFE 27

 

AKANWA KANDI 70

FOUR YEARS LATER

JUNE POV’S

My morning was blessed as i stood by my bedroom balcony of the beautiful mansion; it was the morning of Chloe’s Christening and dedication to the Lord. My heart had not known so much joy than this. The Lord had indeed blessed me in ways I could not imagine and I was grateful for the many blessings that were to come. I couldn’t be more proud of Rajesh and Kabwe for bringing a wonderful granddaughter into the world, she was now 10 months and because the parents were catholic, she was ready for baptism.

“Mum… Uncle Brent is here” Kabwe said as she came up the balcony

“Okay sweetheart let us go” I said.

I took one look at my white maxi dress and I smiled, I looked fine. Kabwe warned about my fine looks. She often said… “I foresee a wedding coming your way” I often laughed. My children enticed me like that because they wanted me to be happy and not to be worried and lonely.

Kabwe was in a beautiful white peplum dress with a white fascinator and silver stilettos. My daughter had grown and matured so beautifully. I was a proud mother. Her brothers were doing fine now with Patrick being an accountant and the twins both specializing in agriculture.

There was a story behind uncle Brent, uncle Brent was not a relative but was from the neighborhood and he was kind to my daughter and her husband. He was a widower and since I moved in with Kabwe just after the wedding, Brent was always visiting us and being friendly. Sometimes a little too friendly for my liking, with time I adjusted after I noticed he was a wonderful man and also dedicated to his faith. Brent was taking us to the church as Rajesh was running late, he had been out preparing the venue with his parents while Kabwe and I remained getting ready, we were supposed to be at the church early so that we could rehearse through the procession and since Brent was like family and was also invited to the christening, we agreed he would take us to the Church.

As I headed down with Kabwe, I was feeling a little odd about seeing Brent when I was looking so good. I felt shy for some reason but I did not want to show it. Let me run you through a little about Brent. Brent was a financial director in a wood processing plant; he was still very hard working at 52 and also a dedicated father to his daughter. Brent was married once but lost his wife early in a car accident and he had not been married since. His daughter had now since graduated and living alone, she was a medical doctor. Letisha was Brent’s daughters name; she was so calm and collected. I met her once when Brent had a work barbeque where he invited the Patel’s.

“Let me get her” I said as Kabwe reached out for the baby from her nanny, a 21 year old college student who worked part time.

“Ok mum…” Kabwe replied as she rushed to pick my bag from the couch and her bag too as well as the baby bag.

Brent looked at me and he smiled, I ignored him from the corner of my eye as my focus was on Chloe. She was sleeping peacefully.

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I was finally preparing to go back to Zambia after being away for a whole year. It was the longest I had been away from home since Augustine died. So much had happened. The court ruled in my favour just a month after the funeral, my children and I were entitled to most of what Augustine left. Camilla was entitled to some money and a house which was not so much of my concern as Augustine initially purchased that house in chalala to give it to his mother. I was fine with the court releasing it for Camilla who was under the care of Lenganji. Need I mention that Lenganji was divorced a year later with conflicts to do with her not having children and now she lived alone with Camilla. She always flaunted Camilla on social media. At least she had a memory of her sister.

I was shocked to learn that every property Augustine and I acquired was in my name and I mean every single thing, well except the house in chalala. The lawyer told me how he always mentioned that no matter what happened he wanted his children and I to be comfortable and for nothing to change. True to those words, my children and I did not suffer. We had nothing to long for. Augustine left enough money and property, even plots I had no idea existed. That alone reminded me of who he was despite his bad side. After the funeral I decided to move out of the farm and we left it on rent to a white farmer who started a maize plantation on a large scale. My children and I moved to Salama Park where we started our lives afresh in one of the houses Augustine left in my name. Kabwe went back to school to finish her studies and she did very well. I often sometimes wondered and questioned where some money came from that Augustine had and now it made sense. He never told me about three houses which were all still under my name, they were flats in meanwood, semi-detached and well-built with 4 bedrooms each. The lawyer said Augustine’s always mentioned how if I knew all this his mother may end up knowing too and that would be a disaster. To think he protected me so much form her made me understand why she hated me so much.

My mother in law remained with whatever Augustine bought her while he was alive as well as the one plot he left under her name which had an unfinished house. Some money was allocated to her too. I had never held a grudge for her and I would never hate her for no reason, I just prayed for her every day and hopefully that she would find peace. She never said sorry and honestly it was the least of my worries. Her pride was still eating her up but she communicated with her grandchildren and sometimes greeted me when she pleased. I was now alone in Salama Park as the boys were independent hence Kabwe saw it fit that I visit her for a year. It was an interesting stay and my mother and two grandchildren (Mulima’s children) remained in my house. Augustine’s mother died of BP while I was in North Carolina. We did not travel, the boys represented us.

Apart from packing the day before my trip, I also had a date to catch with Brent, for the first time I actually accepted to go just for coffee. The guy did not come to play; he impressed me on our date with jewellery and roses as a gift and finally was courageous enough to ask me. Brent and I had spoken in the past and he knew my story and how I lost Augustine.

“I know you are going back to Zambia… but before you go I wanted to ask …if you do not mind that we take this friendship seriously. We have at least known each other for a year… we don’t need to think too much of other things. We can just focus on one step at a time, we are both grown now. Our children are grown; we can still just be together for companionship”

I shrugged my shoulders as I tried to escape this topic a reminder that my husband had barely been underground for 4years

“Which is long enough please June… think about it…” he said.

I had not much to say but we enjoyed our coffee and agreed on keeping in touch. My flight back to Zambia was a peaceful one knowing that I was going to see my mother. I made no mention of Brent’s intentions to Kabwe and I decided to keep it from my mother too. I was back in Zambia for 3 months and each day Brent and I communicated, I always told him what I was up to but mostly involved taking care of my mother whose health was unstable. My 47^th birthday approached and Brent travelled to spend it with me, we had made plans prior to that. Talking to him was always the best part of my day. While he was in, I had made up my mind that should he ask me again for a relationship I would accept because I was content with our friendship as far.

Well, like fate had it, on my birthday dinner Brent asked me to marry him in the presence of my mother and her sister Aunty June. I had told mother about Brent and by now she had accepted him. Mother gave her blessing and Brent and I got a high court certificate while he was still in Zambia. We arranged for a formal wedding in North Carolina but postponed when my mother went to be with the lord. It was hard but I made peace with how long she stayed with us despite her failing health. Brent and I had a wedding back in North Carolina in the presence of all our children. I guess life had its own way of granting me a fairy-tale and as I journal this today, Brent and I have clocked 20years in marriage. At 67 I couldn’t be much happier and I must admit my life has been healthier and happier. Seeing the children grow in to great adults and finally putting my past behind me has been the biggest blessing life could accord me. I have 15 grandchildren with the twins giving me 3 grandchildren each; Patrick gave me four and Kabwe giving me 3 wonderful granddaughters. Only Kabwe gave me a son, her last child. All the boys had girls but all beautiful children. Letisha also gave Brent and I two beautiful granddaughters. What has my twenty years of marriage been like? It’s been awesome with travelling and travelling!! We have visited every beautiful place you can imagine but North Carolina remains home. However, Kabwe and Rajesh are now settled in Ukraine where Brent is a doctor. I visit them so much.

What my life taught me. Life taught me the basic things I need to know, but one important lesson. The tongue has the power to bless or curse. What do you speak over your life? I learnt something important after I lost Augustine and it was the positive affirmations of successful people. That healed me completely, I did not allow Augustine’s passing and the drama surrounding it get to me. I can assure you that many people were counting down to my death as they believed I would not make it but I realised what you speak over your life and what you believe automatically becomes your reality. I practiced this on my children too and it took a lot to remove all the negatives I spoke over my life and even on my children. I learnt the power of positive affirmations and taught my children the same thing. I also noted one thing, I went into my marriage with Augustine believing all men are the same, all men cheat, all men are liars. I affirmed my reality; I brought to life what I spoke and still got shocked when it happened. There’s power in the tongue of life and death, you may not be able to change who people are but you can change who you are and what comes to you. I pray you learn to affirm positive things over your life and make it your life goal to teach people to affirm positive things over their lives too.

                                THE END