The Power Of Destiny : Episode 19

But every day, he saw the loath in the boy’s eyes. Even though the boy saw him as an elder brother, and probably loved him, there was no denying it that the young boy loathed what he did for a living.
Since Aisha’s husband died, she had faced one persecution or the other, it was the reason she left Lusaka for Livingston. But still, they took her to court every other day, dragging the wealth her husband had left behind. Most times, she travelled to Lusaka for court hearings, for this reason she put Elizabeth in a boarding school and after her secondary education, she was sent to the United States for her higher education.

James had grown to be an upright child. He lived for his father’s approval, and did all the things boys his age did, and even more. He graduated from secondary school, top of his class, and was even the captain of his school’s football team. When his mother heard Elizabeth had been sent to the United States to further her education, she also asked Ernest to send James to the same school.
James meets up with Elizabeth in America and they begin to date. Elizabeth, though dating James, kept imagining what Chisala would look like now. Though everyone thought was Chisala dead, she still believed Chisala was alive somewhere. She didn’t know how she came about that conclusion, but she just felt it in her heart that he was still alive. So, subconsciously, she withheld her heart from everyone, including James, waiting for the day that Chisala would come back into her life. So, James always felt like her heart was not in the relationsh¡p and he always complained about it. Until he pushed Elizabeth into having a relationsh¡p with somebody on the internet.

For his 18th birthday, Kopakopa employs a tutor to tutor Chisala at home. He did this because, after watching the ground breaking of the orphanage established by Kamulaza, he could see the longing in Chisala’s eyes, and everyday afterwards, the boy got restless. Kopakopa was afraid that he would abscond someday and rat them out. Also as a gift, he changed Chisala’s name officially to Mabvuto with the help of a judge who was once his client. Chisala passed his examinations with flying colours and gained admission into the university of Livingston, to study Medicine. He never forgot his mother’s dream, and everything he did, he did towards achieving his goal. Even joining the gang, was to preserve his life long enough to achieve his mother’s dreams. He had passed his Cambridge examinations and had applied to one of the Ivy league universities in America. Due to his high performance, he had been accepted into UCLA, but Kopakopa had refused to let him go.

Kopakopa: “The only way you can leave us is through death” he stated bluntly.
Chisala didn’t have any friends because, Kopakopa did not allow him associate with anyone, for risk of being found out. So, Chisala found succour in the internet. This was a capital case of having all the things money could buy, and not being happy still. Kopakopa gave him anything he wanted that money could buy, like clothes, phones, he could even drive any car he wanted in the compound, but his freedom he could not have.
One day, he was on social media when a girl sent him an instant message, he opened it and viewed her picture.

 He was shocked, it was Elizabeth of his childhood. She had grown more beautiful and robust, but her face had not changed one bit. He made to type a long message to her, as a friend who had found his long-lost friend. But he remembered Kopakopa had warned him about contacting anybody from his past. So, he refrained from gushing to her and only replied ‘hi’. However, that did not deter Elizabeth, as she continued chatting him up.
Soon, they became close friends, and spent all their waking hours chatting. Elizabeth told him about a childhood love whom she lost, and hoped to see again. But Chisala had no personal stories to tell her. He only told her about Kopakopa, whom he lied was his father., and stories about his school and the course he was studying.
Elizabeth: “So, you are going to be a doctor. I guess you can treat my mother, she is always sad”
Chisala: “Why” he asked, remembering the nice woman who rarely smiled, but had good eyes that reflected a good soul.

Elizabeth: “Well, my father died, and willed everything to me and my mother. But my uncles and aunties are unhappy with that, it is the reason they have been after my mother. She goes to court every other day, it is the reason she sent me to the States” she texted back. She was surprised that she told this stranger, things she did not tell her boyfriend, James.
Chisala: “I am sorry about your father, he is probably in heaven smiling down on you” he said
Elizabeth: “You believe that, are you a kid?” she teased, but Chisala didn’t find it funny because, these were the words of his daddy Ernest, and he held on to it through the years, hoping that his mother was in heaven smiling down on him.
Elizabeth: By the way, what’s your name?

TBC

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