Forks and Knives – Episode 11

FORKS AND KNIVES – Episode 11
A story by Kennedy C Katongo
∆ THE LADY WITH AN IRON FIST ∆
They took time to get at the hospital because of the traffic that was there. It wasn’t for long and they had reached the hospital. A mob of females stood outside shouting.
“Are you sure you have no idea what’s going on?” Mambwe asked after noticing the crowd.
“I wish I had an idea bro…” Malumbo responded with his jaw dropped.
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“Let’s go.” Malumbo called out to his brother on the window.
“Am not going anywhere. I will just wait for you in the car.” Mambwe responded.
“You got to be kidding me. Okay I will call you with an update. And please don’t leave for snacks.” Malumbo said with a smile. Yes, he was correct indeed. For someone who never gained Mambwe really had a thing for fast foods and snacks alike.
in,side the hospital, Jeff and Tandiwe were already there. They had surrounded the bed as the Doctor finished explaining to them what had happened.
“Have you called his parents?” Jeff asked.
“He specifically ordered not to have his parents notified about this. There is one other person he requested though…” The Doctor said.
“Who’s that?”
“His name is Malumbo… Something like that. He said he would be here.” With those words the Doctor left the two of them looking down on Roderick.
“Who is that?” Tandiwe asked as she turned to Jeff.
“It’s one of his friends. He once told me about him.” Jeff responded in a whisper.
“Hey guys.” Roderick spoke from the bed. His lip had been sutured, a bandage was wrapped around his head as he slept with his eyes swollen.
“You look a mess. What happened to you?” Jeff asked as they stood next to his bed.
“Don’t make fun of me. I was beaten up by Cherry and her best friend. Can you believe they used pots and pans. Those girls are evil. Ouch!” Roderick said as he tried to move his body on the bed slowly.
“Pots and pans? You joking right? What could you have done to get a beating.” Jeff laughed.
Before he could start talking, he looked at Tandiwe who stood next to Jeff attentively waiting to hear the wh0le story of what happened.
“Okay. I will go outside for a snack then…” Tandiwe said as she swung her hands in a begging manner. Something juicy was going on and she wanted to be part of it.
“I will give you a call once am done…” Jeff said with a smile.
“You will just find me outside. I don’t like hospitals any way.” She said in a sassy tone.
“You still after her? Man you need to move on… The girl doesn’t like you at all.” Roderick said in his beaten up voice.
“That girl is smart. She’s a queen. Stop talking ill about her. So why did you get beaten up?” Jeff asked him.
“The thing is – I have a child, well, not right now but am going to have a child.” Roderick said.
“You got Cherry pregnant? That’s not surprising.” Jeff laughed.
“Oh… That’s where the problem is. I didn’t impregnate Cherry. I knocked up someone else and she found out.” Roderick said. His voice was cold as he constantly tried to clear his throat.
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‘He really thinks am going to stay in the car.’ Mambwe said as he got out of the car.
There was a small shopping complex before the hospital and that’s where he decided to go and grab something to eat. At that moment, Tandiwe had already passed through the crowd that was gathered outside.
With his phone and music beating loudly through his head phones, Mambwe matched his way to the complex.
When he arrived at the complex, Tandiwe was seated at one of the eating places waiting for her order. Mambwe didn’t see her, so he walked up to the sales lady, “Is your Shawarma nice?” He asked her.
“It’s the best around town. We are actually the same as those who sell at Northmead market.” The lady said with a smile.
“Oh! That place is legendary. Then I will have two, add three bottles of water please.” He said with a smile.
The man who was wrapping the Sharwama came up to the counter and packed one in a plastic, “Tandiwe!” He called out.
Mambwe moved to the corner as a way of leaving space for the lady who was coming to collect her order.
“Thank you very much.” She responded.
“Would you love a drink with that?” The lady asked.
Before she could respond, Mambwe had looked at her and instantly recognized her.
“She will have a Fruitree please.” He said as he handed her a K100 note. She turned to face him and there he was, as if she had seen a ghost she just stood there looking at him.
“Here is your Fruitree…” She said as she handed her the drink and Mambwe one bottle of water.
“I didn’t accept this.” Tandiwe finally spoke up.
“You don’t have to accept it. It just adds more flavor to the Sharwama.” Mambwe giggled.
“Okay. Thanks. Have a great a afternoon.” She said as she walked away leaving him standing there.
“Sir, here is your order and change.” The lady said as she handed him a paper bag.
With a smile on his face, he fastened his steps and followed Tandiwe. She knew he was definitely going to follow her, so she made sure to walk faster so that he couldn’t catch up.
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In the middle of Roderick and Jeff’s conversation, there was a lite knock at the door. Jeff went to check who it was, “Hi, who are you?” He asked.
“Who am I? Who are you? That’s the question.” Malumbo asked Jeff.
“It’s okay you can let him in.” Rodericks voice echoed from behind.
“Huh, you have to be Malumbo.” Jeff said as he left the door open heading back to the bed side.
“What took you so long?” Roderick shouted.
“Hey… That’s not on me. The traffic is crazy and besides it’s Mambwe who drove me here. Can you believe he bullied me into buying him a full tank?” Malumbo said as he went to tap his friend on the leg. “Don’t tell me she found out…” He laughed.
“So you think this is funny? She hit me with a pot. A pot man.” He said as he added more salt to the wound.
Jeff and Malumbo began laughing at how dramatic he made it sound every time he mentioned the pots.
“But how did she find out – I thought you were playing it safe?” Malumbo asked.
“Well, I was supposed to take baby mama to the hospital. Check up stuff. At that moment I was with Cherry – my phone rang and it was baby mama. She saw the display picture and all hell broke lose.” Roderick explained.
“Dude who saves baby mama with a display photo?” Jeff commented.
“I have one much better… Why did you just stand there watching her call your baby mama?” Malumbo asked.
“She threatened to break my Galaxy. I wasn’t going to do something stupid and watch her break K14,000.” Roderick said as he ached in pain.
“And how did the pots and pans come in?” Jeff asked.
“She confronted her, she explained who she was and that she was expecting my baby. She called her best-friend over and when she heard the news she went wild. Believe me, I tried to run for the door. Can you believe it was looked?” Roderick said.
“Women. They crazy. I told you she could kill you. Look at you? Your face looks messed up.” Malumbo said.
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“Are you going to keep waking like am chasing you?” Mambwe finally called out to her.
“As long as you keep following me… Yes, I will keep walking this way.” She responded.
“Ta… Tandiwe right? Tandiwe!” He called out to her.
“Stop calling my name.” She responded.
“I won’t stop calling you until you stop and talk to me.” Mambwe said sharply with confidence in his voice.
“Some sounds like he doesn’t get turned down easily. Keep calling if you want.” She smiled as she kept on walking.
To be continued.