TWISTED FATE BY VERONICA EDWIN - DANIEL

TWISTED FATE.

EPISODE FIFTEEN

When Lina had left Allen's family house the day after they came back from Rama, they gathered to talk about how they could appreciate Lina for her efforts in restoring Jonas' health. They concluded that they would offer her some amount of money, foodstuff and maybe some wears. When they had come to this conclusion, everyone of them got up to face the business of the day but they were all halted by Jonas who announced that he had a better way of showing appreciation to Lina. At this, they all sat back to listen to what he had to say. Jonas in his quiet way spoke up.

"Dad, mum, my brothers and my sister, the lady Lina is a wonderful being, she stood by me to see to it that my battered skin is perfectly restored, a thing that my own wife could not do. Because of my condition, she ran away with my three kids. I assure you that I will look for that woman anywhere she might be just to get back my kids and when I return, there will be no better way of appreciating Lina than to marry her." The astonished members of his family looked at him with their mouths agape. "Yes, I will marry the beautiful, courageous and hardworking Lina because I now believe that there is no better woman for me than the one who stood by me during my condition and that woman is Lina," He concluded. Allen on his part could not utter a word because he could not really deny the fact that he had already fallen in love with Lina. In fact, he was already thinking of asking her to be his girlfriend. However, his brother's announcement which struck him with a great shock, made him to conclude within himself that he would not tell her anything because he thought that if he did, it would seem like he had betrayed his brother.

In few days time, Jonas set out for his wife's home town. When he got there, he went straight to her parents' house where he was told that Margaret was not living there, that she was living in the town of Abima, not very far from her own home town. Without any further delay, Jonas boarded a vehicle going to Abima but to his greatest disappointment, he forgot to ask for the address of where she was in Abima. Due to this, he decided to go back home, he would just plan another day to go to Margaret's parents to ask for her address. Before leaving for home, he thought it right to do some little shopping for his supposed wife, Lina at the market. He surprisingly ran into his wife Margaret who was buying some wears for her kids. On seeing Jonas, the children ran to him with great excitement while Margaret just stood staring at her husband with a feeling of surprise and of shame. They were both quiet staring at each other for several minutes. Jonas' stare at his wife was of course an accusing one, the type that sent signals to her nerves telling her of her guilt and betrayal and how she broke a relationship that was meant to last forever. At last, Margaret found her tongue.

"Jonas, your skin is now normal." Jonas was quiet. A feeling of regret washed over

Margaret, she never knew he could get better. "But why is he here? Has he come to ask me to come back to his home? Oh no, far from that, Jonas of course has not come to ask her to go back to him. "Margaret, I am here to get back my kids." "What about me?" She asked soberly.

"We shall talk about that later Margaret," He said. He spoke to her gently so as to make her give him the kids without any argument and then he promised to come back to her in few days time but of course right within him he knew he was never going back to her.

Jonas arrived home with his kids, had his bath and dressed up; he looked very handsome. Satisfied with his looks, he went straight to Lina's house. He arrived at her place after several minutes. She sat in the compound washing some few clothes when she heard the sound of the gate opening. She was surprised to see that it was Jonas. However, she immediately stood up to welcome him. She then lead the way into her house and they both sat down in the seating room. When they were seated, they exchanged pleasantries once more then a restless silenced crept into their midst. The presence of the silence was so overwhelming that Lina felt very uneasy. Silence had always been like that. Whenever it comes between people especially strangers, it leaves an indelible mark: This time, it held both Lina, the host and Jonas, the visitor to ransome.

It super-glued their tongues to the roofs of their bucal cavities. For Lina, it was worst for even though she had being of immense assistance to Jonas when he was ill, she never expected him to go all out to visit her. "Why would he come? Why has he come? Why didn't he come with Allen?" She pondered restlessly. Helplessly, she swam in this ocean of thought and was about drowning when the force from Jonas' voice came to rescue her as he broke the silence.