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them in her wheelbarrow, begging tete to<br />
<br />
her home. I was to push the wheelbarrow<br />
<br />
the way.<br />
Two do not walk together unless they<br />
are in agreement. People were looking at<br />
us as we were walking lackadaisically<br />
down the road, as from a distance we<br />
seemed to be quarrelling.<br />
“Tafadzwa, Elizabeth was wronged by<br />
a man she trusted very much,” said tete.<br />
“Wronged, what exactly are you trying<br />
to say, tete,” I quizzed. Not fully grasping<br />
what she was alluding to, but knowing<br />
from the movement in my stomach what<br />
she was talking about.<br />
“She was tortured by the every man<br />
whom had been trusted with her care,”<br />
she continued. I tried to imagine different<br />
types of torture and the pain Elizabeth<br />
went through, because torturing was not<br />
an easy experience and from what I learnt<br />
in history books of people who were<br />
tortured during the liberation strugglethe<br />
phenomenon was not an easy walk in<br />
the park.<br />
“Let me explain further, Tafadzwa.<br />
Elizabeth’s parents were involved in an<br />
accident and died on the spot when she<br />
was doing her grade seven. Since I was<br />
staying and working in South Africa as a<br />
nurse, I could not be there for my niece<br />
so she was left under the care of a local<br />
priest.<br />
“Life was never the same for this little<br />
girl, who was her parent’s only child. She<br />
was under a lot of emotional stress after<br />
losing her parents at such a tender age,”<br />
said tete.<br />
I still had not fully grasped the whole<br />
story, I was still imagining the torture<br />
and the pain that I thought Elizabeth had<br />
gone through.<br />
“Elizabeth lived for four years with<br />
the Priest and his wife. But unfortunately<br />
his wife died of breast cancer when<br />
Elizabeth was doing her form three. After<br />
that, things we never the same between<br />
Elizabeth and the Priest.<br />
“In the year that followed, the Priest<br />
started making overtures at Elizabeth.<br />
She refused, rapeatedly, but he forced<br />
himself on her. Elizabeth was raped by the<br />
priest, resulting in her falling pregnant.<br />
She gave birth to Tapiwa,” narrated tete.<br />
I felt the ground drop from my feet,<br />
as I unloaded the containers from her<br />
wheelbarrow. I had been listening<br />
attentively as I worked, but I stopped and<br />
could only stare blankly at her<br />
“My niece could not sit for her O’levels<br />
and she was robbed of her bright future.<br />
She could have become a teacher or nurse<br />
if she had sat for her exams,” explained<br />
tete.<br />
“What happened to the Priest?” I asked.<br />
“He was sentenced to 20 years behind<br />
bars for raping and impregnating a<br />
minor,” tete concluded.<br />
<br />
a harrowing and torrid time and I needed<br />
to take a different approach if I was going<br />
to win her heart.<br />
I decided to invited Elizabeth to my<br />
house the following day. To my surprise<br />
she did not turn me down like she used to.<br />
“I know the whole story, tete told<br />
me yesterday and I am sorry for what<br />
happened,” I said offering a shoulder to<br />
lean on.<br />
To my surprise, she accepted my offer<br />
of comfort. She cried, cried and cried her<br />
lungs out. All I could do to help was have<br />
her lean on my shoulder as I patted her on<br />
her back whilst I consoled her.<br />
Her greatest fear was all men were the<br />
same. She did not trust men later alone<br />
be able to love a man. She poured out her<br />
heart and laid bare all her fears, thoughts<br />
and feelings.<br />
As I was comforting her in my<br />
antiquated room, seated on my<br />
dilapidated bed we lost track of time and<br />
found ourselves caressing, kissing and<br />
then making passionate love.<br />
After love making, I felt very much<br />
connected to the pros and cons of Eliza’s<br />
persona. I just wanted to delve deeper<br />
into her.<br />
Moments after eating the forbidden<br />
fruit, we sat far apart from each other and<br />
she was ashamed of herself and remained<br />
speechless until I asked her a question,<br />
“What are we now?”<br />
“Just a pen in the hand of a creator,<br />
I love you Tafadzwa and please do not<br />
break my heart,” she said with tears<br />
trickling down her virtually wrinkled<br />
cheeks.<br />
I lost the will to talk but just nodded<br />
my head in agreement. TP<br />
The Parade - Zimbabwe’s Most Read Lifestyle Magazine August 2014<br />
Page 45
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