They had a hearty meal which was interjected with frequent chats. That evening was a peaceful one for Luvuno since the unfortunate events that she experienced. She resolved to call her mother Kwekwe and narrate to her about her experience and also ask for advice since she had guided her in her earlier years. She pondered on the reason why she was distanced with her and she couldn't stop tears from falling again. She stopped herself from sobbing so as not to worry Bahati who was in the next room. The reason for her strained relationship with her mother was all about Daniel. She had never admitted to dating Daniel to her family but her mother always had a knack for these stuffs and warned her against it .She was once caught by her mother right on the doorstep when she tried to sneak out to meet a teenage crush . Her mother had silently waited on the door in the middle of the night waiting for her to sneak out and harshly reprimanded her. She can still clearly remember the talk that lasted till the early morning. Kwekwe never told anyone in the family even her dad, Mrondo. Kwekwe gave her a stream of chores that made her dog tired the rest of the day. Now that she thinks about it, it was a light warning to not indulge herself in this stuff. She was nevertheless happy that she was expecting. She rubbed her belly in anticipation for the newborn.
The next morning ...
At the crack of dawn, she walk up to the movements in the kitchen and occasional cutlery noises as ahe was a very light sleeper. She got out of bed took a hot refreshing shower and wore a simple long dress with floral patterns. She found Bahati making pancake and she assisted by making tea and cutting some fruits for the breakfast. The settled in the dining room and ate in the midst of the morning news. Bahati talked about the latest gossip in the office to pass time. Luvuno later offered to clean the dishes as she urged Bahati to prepare for work. Bahati came half an hour later in a long skirt with a long sleeved blouse. She had applied light make up which complimented her skin tone and adorned herself with a necklace and gold earrings. Her perfume wafted in the living room as he came out of her room. She bid goodbye as she hurriedly left the house.
"Take care of yourself dear, "she urged.
Luvuno decided to call her mother as she figured she had already woken up and was busying herself at home. Kwekwe was always an opinionated woman who claimed a woman's worth came from her hands. That is not being lazy .a s the call went through waiting for the receiver on the other end, Luvuno hearts was thumping wildly in her chest.
Ding
"Hello the lost one"
You could sense the tone was reproaching as Luvuno seldom called her mother since she started dating Daniel. She held back her tears as she realized how ignorant she had become since dating Daniel.
"I'm sorry mom, I should have listened to you sooner...," she told her mother of her unfortunate set of events.
Kwekwe took a deep pause as she listened to her daughters chatter. She couldn't believe what she had gone through. She was overwhelmed with everything that had happened to her daughter and she couldn't find words to express her emotions at present. She calmed her daughter who was on the verge of sobbing. She was nevertheless delighted on the news of her future grandchild. She instructed Luvuno to wait as she discussed this with her father, Mrondo, on the way to go. Luvuno wanted to object but she eventually knew this kind of thing couldn't be hidden for long, so it was better to come out with it earlier.
She was once close with her father when she was young but as she grew older for reasons she doesn't recall at present. Mrondo had a total of three wives and Kwekwe was the first wife. He was a traditional man and was conservative of its customs. The government dispensed a lot of customs and Mrondo had never fully adjusted. Two decades have passed but time did no change to his old traditional beliefs.
He nonetheless embraced some aspects and ensured his children went to school. He sold cattle if need be to settle the fees in the institutions. His wealth was in cattle and dear oh my, did he have hundreds of them. So it wasn't a strain to educate his many children.
Luvuno later hang up the call after chatting on recent events in Makina. Some of her stepsiblings were about to marry. Some have not been to Makina for a while and no news of them anywhere. Her younger siblings were still in school though. They were in the secondary school. She felt relief as if a massive load was lifted off her back. She started rethinking about her current trajectory of life. She even had the thought to quit her job altogether but she immediately dismissed it. She decided to formally write a letter asking for a long leave and suggesting working at home. This would inevitably lower her chances of promotion but she gritted her teeth and sent it to her immediate superior. She was for stability and her current situation and mental state demanded so. She didn't want to inconvenience Bahati any further though she would not mind. She had to take charge. No sooner had she sent the email to her superior did she receive a call from Priscilla.
She had an impulse to reject the call but she didn't want her visiting her residents.
"Luv, are you there?" she asked as Luvuno had answered the call but remained silent.
"What do you have for an explanation?"
"I didn't mean to, Daniel forced me since he noticed my jealousy towards you upon your current success .He planned to destroy our relationship. "
Luvuno couldn't believe her ears.
"What sort of a ridiculous excuse is that?" she wondered.
She realized how a fool she had been to actually trust her in the past. She wanted to immediately scold her but stopped herself in time. She had a partnership with her in a very lucrative business but she didn't want to jeopardize it. She planned to figure out a way to kick her out and fully control the business. At the moment, Priscilla controlled the whole business to hiring and all the connections that came with it. She wanted to finally revenge on her. Her participation on the business was from repeatedly funding and bearing losses when due, since Priscilla always played the damsel.
"Please forgive me Luv, I won't meet him again." She pleaded as she used her nickname.
"Mmmmhh…..okay,"
Priscilla sneered as she hang up the call. She knew that she could play Luvuno in the palm of her hands and she knew how to control her