After that first weekend with him, we met for months, and I got pregnant. When I informed him of my pregnancy, he only said the words, which gave me sleepless nights. He started disconnecting my calls. Eventually, his number was no longer on air. I started having patience until my pregnancy reached six months. On that Saturday, I wanted to see him face-to-face and hear his side. For sure, I was still in love with him. He gave me a choice about the child in my stomach, and I opted to see my child grow than going for an abortion. I wanted to have his child, so that I was going to be inseparably tied to him if cosmos permitted. In no time, I was in the Southern part of the Drazen region, in the core of Blockside town. I was standing in front of his workplace. My anger and confusion were pushing me to the edge of my craziness. I was determined to be unfriendly when I laid my eyes on him. His child was kicking like a horse in my stomach, while he was unreachable.
I stood like a concrete pole watching from outside through the fence when I felt afraid to enter the perimeter of his workplace. Inside, everyone seemed busy that I couldn't figure out whom I was going to approach as I was already confused with many thoughts. However, there was no other way I was going to find Menzi without asking around. So, I looked into the security. Everyone was wearing a serious face and busy every second. Every area that seemed busy had guards. Others were on phone calls, and others were in vans. Anyway, I wanted to speak to Menzi, so I gathered my courage and entered the gates of the perimeter. Before I even stepped further, the security guard stopped me. He told me I was trespassing. The voice of the guard almost trembled me, and it wasn't long before the gate siren sounded. I didn't step an inch after that. The guard came straight to me. He stood in front of me. Before he talked to me, two men approached. He asked them to search me. After they found I had nothing threatening, they realized I was harmless and asked for my identification. I removed my identification card. My body was wracking with shivers as the bitter cold seeped into my bones.
"This is a restricted zone. What do you want?" the guard asked.
"Menzi… I am looking for Menzi Mabuyani," I responded, zipping up my fluffy jacket.
The guards looked at each other.
"The Bull Boss," one of them whispered to the other.
They paused, looking at each other.
"Who are you to look for someone here?" the guard asked, looking at my identification card again.
"Lisa Koko!" I responded.
The guard told his two men to go away. He then held my hand, taking me outside the perimeter.
"I am helping you… go away, by my words," he warned, looking concerned. "Mabuyani… is… he's no longer working here as of thirty minutes ago."
I puzzled even more. Menzi once showed me his workplace, and I knew that was undoubtedly the right place to look for him. The man realized I was confused, so he gripped my arms and told me to look him in the eye, which I instantly did.
"Little girl, you have the same surname as me. You are like my daughter. I'm confused… how can a little kid like you seek a big man like Mabuyani?" he asked and sighed lowly. "Anyway, Menzi resigned today. He won't step inside the perimeter again."
After hearing those words from the guard, I felt paralyzed. The guard left me, and when he was about to get inside the perimeter, he told me to never come back there because it was too dangerous for me. I called Viola and informed her of everything that had happened, but she enlightened my mind by asking me to go to Menzi's hotel room. Even though I knew, Menzi moved from the hotel room I knew, to one that I had no clue about; I knew where to find him. Sheila House! That was where I was going to see him. On most occasions, he called me there, and we spent most of our time there when he once seemed possessed by seeing me. The place was in his heart. It was quiet, and you would deny that alcohol existed there. I took a taxi. In forty minutes, I was standing outside. It seemed there were a few people inside the Sheila House. I first took a turn leading me to the alcohol bay, but he was not there. I thought otherwise and headed to the bay, which was loved by most people who were not drinking whiskey. Beef, chicken, pork, and some drinks were all there. The place offered such a wonderful space that led to the well-mowed park.
Without wandering too much, I saw Menzi. He was sitting with a very light-skinned woman. I stood for seconds, watching them. They were smiling and laughing as if they knew each other. I got so jealous because I had never seen him smiling like that with anyone except me. To make things worse, the woman gave Menzi a phone, and I was so confident that he was giving her his number. In frustration, I went straight to them. I grabbed Menzi's hand and took the phone. I didn't even look at what he was doing on the phone. I just threw it on the floor.
"Lisa!" he screamed in disappointment and pulled me to him. The smiles I witnessed on their faces faded. Only traces of anger appeared on Menzi's face as it veined. I kept quiet in shock because of the way he grabbed my arms. It was as if he was going to crush me onto the floor. He let loose of the grip on me and checked the woman's reaction. The way I threw her phone angered her.
"She lent me her phone to call you, and you didn't receive your phone," Menzi explained why he was with the woman.
"What?" I looked at the woman, as I felt ashamed. I instantly apologized. "I am truly sorry. I don't know what to say."
"You know what… forget it," the woman said, receiving her phone from Menzi after he picked it up from the floor.
"I'm sorry. It just shattered the screen. Take this money. You can repair your phone," he said. The woman took the money and left.
Thereafter, Menzi looked at me from the toes to the forehead.
"I didn't expect you here," he said and commanded, "Follow me!"
"But you wanted me… you said you were calling me," I stammered, trailing behind him as I was checking the missed call on my phone. For sure, there was a missed call from a new number. He waited for me and responded, "Yes, I called you, miss dummy girl."
I realized I acted dumb by creating the scene. He held my hand as we went outside the building despite the cold.
"What do you want? You're calling me after six months of silence; to make things worse, your phone is always unreachable," I asked him.
"Yes, Lisa, I had a lot to do. Do you remember my words when you first told me about the pregnancy?" he asked.
"Yes, I remember. Your words haunted me a lot. I couldn't sleep," I responded in confidence. He looked at me, expecting me to repeat them.
"You said, 'Yes Lisa, take it off. But please keep it in mind, because we can go big with it.'"
"Exactly," he smiled and said, "I'm glad you kept my word."
"But I'm confused. I didn't understand what you meant by going big," I confessed to him.
For real, I didn't know what he meant, so he was supposed to tell me.
"Relax, that's why I was trying to call you," he told me.
I hit him on the chest with my fists and told him how stressed I was. He said his words were intentional, so that I was going to make my choice about the child's fate. We were supposed to go into his new place so that he was going to tell me everything about himself. I was pressuring him to open up for me by making me understand him better. He confessed he wanted a future with me despite my age. His words gave me a hope in life than waking up for college every day. When we were about to go to his car, he grabbed me, and my momentum crushed me into his body. He looked me in the eye, and I sank into them until I realized Menzi loved me a lot.
"I can't wait to call you by my surname," he whispered, kissing my soft lips, "And… my little child in your stomach… better be carrying a boy because…"
Before he finished talking, I saw a red laser dot on his shoulder. I felt his heart beating louder, and he looked at me so hopelessly. He pushed me down, and in seconds, I couldn't believe it. His cream-colored jacket was red and wet. Blood on the ground. I feared as horror befell me. I screamed before my mouth went dry. People ran away. No one was there to help me. My heart throbbed fast, and I went out. A sniper man killed my husband-to-be, the father of my child-to-be.