Chapter 38

Zuva Rekuyeuka—Memorable Day

Priscilla opened her eyes with a fright. Chamu stood over her bed. He leaned towards her, madness in his eyes.

“You thought you could run away from me?” he demanded angrily.

Priscilla shook her head, sitting up in bed. She pressed her back against the wall as he leaned towards her, arms stretched out. He put his hands around her neck and began to squeeze, his face tightened in rage. She tried to scream, but no sound came.

“Unashe! Unashe! Help me.” Her silent calls went unanswered.

Priscilla woke up suddenly with a gasp, cold dread in her chest. Her body was drenched with sweat.

It was a dream. Chamu is not here. It’s all right.

Priscilla stroked her neck as the pain she had felt in her dream faded. It seemed so real, and fear filled her whole being like an iron cloak of darkness.

All the memories of the past few days came rushing back.

“How did my life become such a mess?” she asked herself. Priscilla looked at her bed partner. She winced, pulling out of her daughter’s awkward embrace, and went to the bathroom. She washed her face and looked in the mirror. She did look like somebody who had been through hell. Her eyes were puffy. She had a faint bruise where Chamu had slapped her. Her hair stood on end as if she had received an electric shock. She brushed it back with her fingers and tied it in a ponytail.

She walked into the living room and Unashe was already there watching the early TV show.

“Good morning,” she said, standing behind one of the sofas.

“Hey.” He looked up at her, his eyes alert. As usual he managed to make her pulse beat quicker with just one look. She took in his eyes, nose and lips, loving every detail of his face, secure that he was there, strong and dependable, even though he was angry with her.

“How did you sleep?”

“I had nightmares, and Rudo was playing with my hair in her sleep,” she said, walking up to the fire. It warmed the room but added more than the heat. It added color and sounds and smells that were comforting and earthy. She looked out the window. The house was nestled behind gum trees and thick bushes that hid it from the street. She couldn’t even see the next house, but saw the dirt driveway that led to the road winding up the mountain.

“I was thinking we could go to the Troutback Inn and have breakfast, ride some horses and check out the ducks,” Unashe said.

“It looks warm enough,” Priscilla said, and looked down at herself. “But I look terrible.”

“No. You look beautiful,” Unashe said, his eyes on her face.

* * *

Troutback Inn was one of the more popular hotels in this busy holiday resort town. Companies liked to host conferences and couples and families liked to get away from the city and enjoy the lush green landscape with hidden, secret waterfalls at every turn.

Even though it wasn’t yet winter, it was chilly that morning. Priscilla enjoyed the warmth of the fire as they walked into the lobby crowded with guests.

“Can I go over there, Mummy?” Rudo asked, pointing to the fire.

“In a minute. Let’s buy you another warm sweater,” Priscilla said. They bought her an expensive hand-knitted cream sweater. Priscilla bought a matching one and Unashe bought a denim jacket. Everything was expensive at the holiday resort, but they were cold and would pay anything to keep warm. Unashe paid by check.

They walked to the dining room where a fire was blazing in the grate and looked out towards the lake beyond the glass and the sloping green grass and tennis courts.

“I remember that, Mummy. Daddy taught me to play tennis here,” Rudo said, pointing outside.

“Yes,” Priscilla said, looking at Unashe’s stony expression. She whispered an apology to him, but he just walked away. Rudo wandered to the fire alone.

“Don’t throw anything inside,” Priscilla called to her and turned to follow Unashe, who had moved to sit on the chairs. He was shaking his head at her.

“Is she always drawn to the fire?”

“Aren’t all children?”

“I don’t know anything about her. She’s so grown.”

Priscilla couldn’t mistake the pain in his voice. It was in the way he cleared his throat and turned his eyes away from her.

“She loves your fire truck,” Priscilla blurted out, and then winced.

Unashe smiled. “Yeah. Ma says she has it. I used to play with that thing until I was laughed at in high school.”

“Her Barbie dolls ride in it all the time,” Priscilla said and laughed. Unashe smiled.

“She also loves peanuts like you. If I don’t watch her she could eat a whole peanut butter tin.”

Unashe smiled again, and the pain faded a little from his eyes.

They ate breakfast and Rudo went and sat right in front of the fire alone while Priscilla and Unashe talked. He wanted to know a lot about her, from the day she was conceived.

“When did you find out you were pregnant?”

“After you were gone.”

“Oh.”

“I couldn’t believe it. I always had a low opinion of girls who got pregnant out of wedlock. Oliver had a name for them I won’t repeat. I was scared and humiliated. No man to speak of and there I was, pregnant, just as my father had predicted I would be.”

“I should’ve been there for you,” Unashe said. “I wish I had known.”

“I know. Chamu came in and just took charge of everything and within two months I was walking down the aisle.”

“That’s exactly what he wanted,” Unashe said.

“He couldn’t have known about us, could he?” Priscilla said.

“He knew everything about you. Chantel told me how he paid her to do what she did and even contributed to my studies overseas. Chamu knew about us somehow, and he knew about Chantel. I even think that’s why he offered me a job, to keep his enemy close, so to speak.”

Priscilla stopped eating. She felt like she had been punched in the stomach again. This time the blow nearly knocked her over.

“You really think so?”

“That’s what happened. I’ve known for a while, but I didn’t want to ruin your marriage,” Unashe said with a twisted, ironic smile.

“I’m not his wife and never was,” Priscilla said, then looked at Rudo who had turned to look at them. She waved at her.

“She is very intuitive. She knows something big is going on and we need to talk. She is a great child, Una.”

“I can see that. But she thinks Chamu is her father.”

They stared at each other. Priscilla couldn’t think of a thing to say after that. They completed their meal in silence.

After eating, they walked outside in the sun. It was warmer outside as the sun shone down on them. They went to the pond where ducks waddled in the water and gazed at them for a while before Rudo noticed the pony. They got Rudo a pony ride and Unashe walked right by her side. He turned to Priscilla as they walked.

“Have you seen this waterfall hidden behind a mountain?”

“No. When we were here we just went to the casino,” Priscilla said.

Rudo wanted to see it, so they got in the car and drove several kilometres before they reached a deserted area with a bumpy dirt road. Unashe had to go very slowly up the winding road, and Priscilla feared their car would not make it.

“It’s worse in the rainy season,” Unashe said. “Cars get stuck here a lot.”

“Are you sure this is the right road? There aren’t even any signs.”

“I think I’m sure,” Unashe said.

“You think so?” Priscilla teased.

Finally, they arrived at the top of the winding road after passing a game park, a lodge and a village, and, true enough, they were not lost. There were a few cars parked and a man and a woman selling souvenirs. Priscilla bought a hand-carved elephant and then followed Unashe and Rudo.

As they walked down the path they could hear gushing water.

“Listen,” Unashe said to Rudo.

“I can hear it,” Rudo said excitedly. “Is it like Victoria Falls?”

“It’s a little smaller, but just as nice. Do you want to see it?”

“Yes,” Rudo said happily. Her smile had always reminded her of Unashe. She had his love for life, his infectious grin and generous heart.

“Come, I’ll carry you on my back,” Unashe said then they started the steep, meandering descent to the waterfall.

They trekked for a while where they could hear the water but couldn’t see it. They met three people returning from viewing the waterfall, but otherwise they were very alone. At last, all its beauty and glory was revealed to them and both Rudo and Priscilla gasped. Unashe looked at them with a smile.

They watched the water gush down rocks from where they stood, making its way down to an unseen bottom. They moved around carefully, enjoying the view from different angles.

“You like it,” Unashe said, putting Rudo down. Priscilla could see his pride at having brought them, as if he had made the waterfall just for them. She loved him even more.

“Do you want to go over there?” Unashe pointed to some rocks that the water didn’t reach.

“I’ll fall,” Rudo cried, holding on to Unashe.

“Don’t worry, I’ll hold on to you,” he reassured her. Priscilla looked at the two of them, her heart warm and sad at the same time.

There was a lot to be talked about, but now wasn’t the time to think about the future. She was going to enjoy their first day as a family and hope for many more.

They found a nice, smooth rock and then sat down sunning themselves like lazy lizards.

They were silent for many minutes, but soon felt the chill as the sun went behind a cloud. It seemed as if their nice day had been taken away and replaced by something from an ominous movie.

“Time to go home. It looks like there are a lot of clouds forming,” Unashe said, getting up.

It had suddenly become dark, a light was turned off in the heavens, and Priscilla had a horrible feeling of getting back to reality and leaving their dreams behind on that waterfall.