Heartaches and Tears – Episode 22

HEARTACHES AND TEARS – Episode 22
A story by Kennedy C Katongo
THE PRICE OF LOVE -P-1
“Are you okay?” I asked Mwaka as I helped her up. She looked bad, her face was a mess.
“I can live…” She responded. “Is he dead?” She asked me.
“I don’t give a damn about him. Is Amanda okay?” I asked. We both walked out of the bedroom to the passage were Amanda’s body was laying on the floor. Another pool of blood had formed. It seemed she was bleeding. I lifted Amanda, held a tight grip so that she wouldn’t fall off. Then walked as fast as I could to the car that was still parked outside waiting for me.
“Open the door. Hurry” I told her as he rushed to open the door.
“What happened?” The driver asked me.
“Don’t worry about that. Do you know were Open Words Medical Hospital is?” I asked him. He nodded his head as he jumped in. I asked Mwaka to go with them as I was going to wait for the police to arrive. Most likely they were looking for fuel money.
I went back to the house and it was a mess. My clothes were now stained in blood. He must have kicked her really hærd for her to bleed in such a manner.
When I entered the ladies room, the dude was flat on the ground, I leaned on him so check if their was any sign of life; thank goodness, he was still alive but just unconscious.
I got my phone and began taking photos of the room and everything, I knew of Mable saw this, then she would understand why I really did what I did.
A couple of minutes later the police arrived. One of them, being Mr Mbewe. A close friend of mine from back in the day. Him and his men got the young man, they took photos as well and asked me to clean up the place.
“So what’s going to happen?” I asked him.
“Well, right now we just need a statement from Amanda and Mwaka. I’ve spoken to one of investigators. Her name is Thelma. She will look into it. She’s vast in GBV cases. And I think you should omit the part were you hit him with a container. If you know what I mean.” Mr Mbewe advised me as they left for UTH.
Immediately called Mwaka to alert her of what was going on and asked her for an update, she told me the Doctor and Nurses had rushed her to the Theatre. And their was no news yet. I forwarded Mr Mbewe’s concern to her and she had no problem with it.
After what seemed like an hour, Mr Mbewe gave me an update. The young man, whom I had now learned went by the name KK was put in an isolation ward. To avoid media guys buzzing in on him. Furthermore, he was chained to the bed because they believed who would run away once he woke up. Instead of GBV, they had also added attempted Murder on the case board according to the findings of the female police officer. However, he had no update on Amanda’s condition and couldn’t tell me anything.
After beating myself up, I called my wife to tell her what had happened. At first she denied and accused me of making up the story just so I could be with Amanda. I sent her the pictures and then she got worried.
“What kind of a devil does that to a lady?” She asked me.
But at the end, I finished up and left the house. I went back home awaiting the police to call me in for questioning since I happened to be part of the wh0le incidence. Not only that, I found voice recordings from Amanda as she was being beaten, the scre-ms and cries as she called out for my help wrecked me. I felt bad that I wasn’t their on time and now. Her life was in God’s hands.
@@ @@ MWAKA @@ @@
It had been two hours since we arrived at Open Words Medical Hospital. Two hours of waiting for a Doctor or Nurse to walk up to me and tell me that my best friend was alive and well.
The only message I had received was that a Police Officer had already arrived and had been talking to the stuff that and the driver that brought us. It was just a matter of time before she walked in to ask me what had happened.
About 10 minutes later the officer walked up to me, her black suit and white top made it hærd to miss as she stood in front of me. “Hi, My name is Thelma.” She said politely as she took a seat opposite me.
“Hey.” I said, my voice was no better than a whisper. That bloody man, he had stomped on my throat a couple of times with his brown boot.
“Before I can be of help to you and your friend… I would like to know how this happened. How did you find yourself in this situation.” Thelma asked me.
“Well, it all started 2 years ago…” I said. Then I gave her a brief recap of the wh0le story.
She went quiet after I was done narrating the story. She took a deep breathe and then kept silent.
“Let me just make sure I’ve gotten you right. Your friend dated a married man, She then broke up with him – he went to be with the wife. Your friend began dating this celebrity guy who happened to be bipolar?”
“Exactly!” I responded.
“Then why is it that you the one whose here, beaten down, looking like you the girlfriend?” She cleared her throat. It was obvious this was the part she had been waiting to clarify, behaving like she didn’t already know part of the story.
She held her head high, “Sorry, I didn’t even get your name.”
“My name is Mwaka.” I said calmly. “I had just knocked off from work when I heard loud noises coming from our room. I rushed there and found the door locked: Amanda (my friend) and her almost boyfriend – it’s complicated; they were fighting.” I told her.
“I presume you rushed in to help her?” Thelma asked sounding a bit b***hy.
“Not really. I went to make a phone call. When i returned, i noticed the keys on the floor. I opened the door and then walked up to were Amanda was laying down in a pool of blood. It seemed she had been bleeding for some time. I wanted to lift her up and that’s when he punched me from behind. I turned and he slapped me again.” “I then pushed him, he slipped and hit the bed. That bought us time. That’s when Amanda managed to walk out, I reached for the keys and that’s how he held on to my leg. He couldn’t let go. He then jumped on me and bit me up. He got up, with his big sized boot he stormed on my neck.” I explained in a rush. Talking too much made my throat hurt.
She went silent again, this time, it was like she was writing down everything I had just told her.
“Am sure you are aware that KK is in a comma right now at UTH. Can you please explain to me how he found himself in that state?” She asked me.
“While, after stomping on me, Amanda walked back in with a container but she passed out. I got the container and hit him with it three times and that’s how he passed out cold.” I told her.
“A container?” She asked curiously.
“Oh yes! It was solid hærd. She got it from the fridge.”
“You could have said that earlier. And who’s idea was it to call the police?” Thelma asked.
Despite Thelma’s helping hand, she was starting to be a pain in the butt with her repeated questions here and there.
I went on to tell her, it was obviously my idea, because I had done it the minute I noticed they were fighting. I told Thelma that I called Nathan to come over and his the one that called the Police instead.
“So, Nathan, his the one that’s married. But why would you call him?” She asked me.
“I called him because his been like a parent to us. Judge if you want but Nathan always looked out for us, he was the only one I knew who cared enough to come.” I told her. I began to drop tears, I knew Mr Saturday wasn’t perfect, but he always showed up for us. He had done what a lot of men could never do – and that affair between him and Amanda, that was mutual attraction and it wasn’t something that any of them would regret.
“Am sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Am just trying to get the pieces together. The word from UTH is that KK is Bipolar, and has done such things before – Amanda isn’t his first nor second victim. Take a bath. You look a mess. Am sure your friend is going to be okay.” “And in case someone else questions you – Nathan is a good friend of yours. Full stop.” She smiled. She got up, and silently walked out.
I overhead her tell a colleague of hers that what I had said made sense following what Mr Mbewe had told her after talking to Nathan.
To be continued…