He looked back in horror and as he tried to swerve to the other side, the trailer collided with them, the front part moving over their vehicle.
The screams of the people seemed to match the defeaning noise the accident created.
Time seemed to stand still as the couple lay crumpled under the weight of the heavy vehicle. David had his last moment thoughts, his life seemed to flash by in seconds having pictures of his past, present and finally Helen's wave that morning.
He knew he was dying. He was bleeding seriously and with a last look at Lineo's cold face, he whispered painfully "I love you", stretched his hands to hold her cold hands and then gave up the ghost.
The siren of the ambulance announced it's close arrival. The police men arrived, asking questions from the people who stood by while some men jumped out of the ambulance in a bid to resuce the victims.
Pedestrians shook their heads as the bodies were taken into the ambulance. An officer walked to the car checking for vital documents that will reveal their identity.
As he turned to leave with their bags in his hands, another officer pointed to something little that was at the corner of the car. It was an ID-CARD. He reached inside to pick it up.
"HELEN ADAMS" He read the name and looked at the smiling face of the little girl.
********
"Helen, why is your mum not here yet?" Miss Gloria, her teacher, asked as she looked up from the scripts she was done marking.
"I don't know why ma"
"Wait in the class until she arrives. I don't know what's delaying her. She is always earlier than this" Miss Gloria tidied her table and made her way out of the classroom.
Helen obeyed and sat down. She wondered what was keeping her mum, maybe she went to the market to buy the video game she promised or maybe she was cooking Braai. She had promised her that too in the morning.
Miss Gloria was worried, she went to the Head teachers office to report.
"Ma this is four 'o' clock and Helen's mum isn't here"
"Have you dialed her number?"
"Yes ma"
"Dial it again and give it to me" Miss Gloria did as she was instructed and handed over the phone to her.
A male voice responded " Ma this is the Police. I was about to call you"
"Good afternoon Sir. I am the head teacher of Mavil group of schools. May I know why you are with Mrs Adam's phone?" She rolled her eyes confused.
"We have sent a group of men to the school to deliver an important information" The officer continued ignoring her question.
"An important information?"
"Yes ma. It will provide all the answers you need."
"Where is the owner of the phone?" Mrs Martin was perplexed.
"The information is about her" The officer replied and the connection went off.
"What's going on ma?" Miss Gloria asked.
"I don't understand myself. I guess we wait for....."
"Wait? Ma, it's late already" Miss Gloria replied,she had a date she didn't want to miss.
She turned sharply as she heard the knocks, with her hands on her chair, she exchanged looks with her boss as the knocks persisted.
"They should be the one" Mrs Martin muttered and proceeded to tell them what they wanted to hear.
"Come in"
Armed policemen entered as the gateman who escorted them bowed and left.
"Thanks Danjuma" Mrs Martin waved him off.
"Good afternoon ma" One of the officers greeted.
"Good afternoon Sirs, how may I help you?" She addressed standing up as a sign of respect and formality.
"We sincerely regret to inform you that an accident occured this morning and...."
"An accident?" Miss Gloria covered her mouth standing up in shock.
"Yes ma and we are deeply sorry....." Mrs Martin wasn't listening, the room was spinning in seconds. She tried to regain herself.
"O..k...ay, so... whe..r.e is the... owner of the number I called, has she been detained or something?" She blurted.
"She didn't survive"
"What?"
"What of her husband?"
Miss Gloria and the Head teacher shouted simultaneously.
"We are sorry, he didn't survive too. Please accept our condolences. The corpse has been taken to the mortuary by the family."
" You can reach them at home. We are sorry we delivered it this late, it was what the family wanted"
Mrs Martin gripped the chair as she struggled to process the information she was receiving. The tears flowed freely.
"We would take our leave now" One of the officers said and they took their leave one after the other.
Miss Gloria seemed to be in a daze, this can't be happening, not that godly couple, not that beautiful Lineo who always had smiles for everyone, not that David who was so encouraging she waved thoughts of her date aside and wondered what they would tell Helen who sat in the class waiting for her mother.
As they approached the classroom, they had heavy heart beats. They had managed to clean their tears and tried to look happy, but it seemed impossible.
Helen was busy entertaining herself by playing with paper created toys. As soon as Miss Gloria saw Helen, she turned quickly because she couldn't control her tears.
"Helen" Mrs Martin called her.
"Yes ma" she responded and stood up.
"I will take you home, okay" The woman said as she walked close to her and stroked her head.
"Where is my mummy?" Helen asked.
The woman looked up and tried to comport herself before she finally replied.
"She said I should take you home"
(LESOTHO, SOUTH AFRICA, YEAR 2004)
Mama Leratho looked out of her window and saw the happy faces of children as they played their games, going around each other and clapping their hands.
Her last born Eva will soon be back from school. She called her Nthabiseng in their tradition but she didn't understand their children of these days, they preferred to be called by their English names, rather than upholding the traditions of their people.
When her husband died, she decided to return to her home town and took her children with her. It was hard then but time healed all wounds. The Children were all grown nowm
Soon enough in about few years from now, Eva, would be moving to the University.
"Oh! how lonely I would become" she said hugging herself.
She sighed and shook her head, allowing her thoughts travel to the distant lands and finally to Nigeria. She thought of the call she made to Lineo, her first daughter who stayed there.
She wished Lineo will visit but Lineo was busy with marital responsibilities and little Helen, her grand daughter, how she missed her chubby cheeks and little smiles.
Her phone rang at that moment and she stood up to pick it.
"Oh Lineo!" she echoed happily as she saw the name. She picked up the call with excitement written on her face.
"Hello Lineo my daughter!"
"Good afternoon ma" Another voice responded instead.
Mama Leratho removed the phone from her ear confused.
"This is Lineo's number right?" She asked herself and replaced it back.
"I want to speak with Lineo" She replied firmly.
"Lineo is...." The officer started but stopped, he thought it's wise not to deliver the message like that.
"Where is Lineo? Where is my daughter? What have you done to her?" Mama Leratho shouted hysterically.
"Lineo was...involved in a..car acc..ident..ma" He stammered.
"Accident? Did you just say accident?" Mama Leratho was shaking.
"Accept the condolences ma"
"Condolences? She...she is not dead? Right? Tell me she is not...dead!!!!"
The officer kept quiet.
"Answer me!!!!!" Mama Leratho shouted as she began to weep.
"She is ma"
"I am finished!"