TASTELESS

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"Mercy, should I tell your husband about us? Does he know that Vincent is my son?"

"What did you say?" Joe asks. Mercy holds her mouth.

"Are you going to let her free now?" Andrew continues. Joe signals his men to stop tying Kayla. Mercy drops the spray can and continues holding her mouth. Joe looks at Vincent and walks towards Andrew.

"Mercy, why are you doing this to me? I thought we were family?" Kayla asks.

"Keep quiet!!" Joe shouts at Kayla angrily. His anger is evident that sweat droplets start to form on his face. Mercy tries opening her mouth but no words come out. She is speechless. The two men have now shifted attention from Kayla and are awaiting instructions from Joe. Kayla takes advantage of that to unwrap the towel around her head. She then unties her legs but remains motionless, in case Joe and his men turn back to her.

"Tell Joe the truth," Andrew says looking at Mercy.

"Andy, seriously?" Mercy finally finds the guts to talk. She is holding clueless Vincent, who seems lost in the drama. Joe stares at Mercy, then shakes his head.

"Let's go." He says and leads the way out of Kayla's house. Mercy follows behind with Vincent. The two men are left behind confused.

"What are you still doing here?" Andrew asks, referring to the two men. They also walk out. Kayla stands up and gives Andrew a tight hug.

"Thank you so much. You have saved my life." Kayla says.

"Don't worry. I am sorry for stalking you." Andrew says.

"Why did you follow me?" Kayla asks and releases Andrew.

"I needed to know where you live," Andrew replies. Before Kayla adds anything, Mercy gets back sobbing. Vincent is not with her.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Andrew asks. Kayla does not seem to care.

"He beat me," Mercy says. Kayla looks at Andrew and laughs.

"Let us go," Andrew tells Kayla.

"Where are we going?" Kayla asks.

"To my place. You cannot stay here." Andrew replies. Mercy looks at Kayla with merciful eyes. She has stopped sobbing.

"Andy please don't leave me here." Mercy pleads.

"Where is Vincent?" Andrew asks.

"They went with him." She replies.

"Andrew, stop listening to her. Let us go." Kayla says as she packs her things. Mercy is a betrayer. She can't be trusted even a bit.

"You should have told your husband what happened," Andrew says.

"Stop talking to her, let us go," Kayla says. She has picked a few of her belongings and packed them in a handbag.

"We can't just go Kalee, Joe could still be around," Andrew says as he peeps through the window. Joe's car is not there.

"Do you see anyone?" Kayla asks.

"No, let's go," Andrew says and leads the way out. Kayla follows him. Mercy is left alone.

Andrew and Kayla quickly get into the car and drive off.

"Sorry I lied. I am married." Andrew breaks the silence after driving for a while.

"Really? So, where are we going?" Kayla asks. The mention of a wife by Andrew has hurt her. But she doesn't know why.

"We have an SQ, you can use that for today," Andrew replies.

"What about Mercy and my house?" Kayla asks.

"Well, you cannot go back there. Don't worry about it, we will find another house. They should never know where you stay." Andrew responds.

"So you are married? Do you have children?" Kayla asks.

"Yes, I have two kids," Andrew replies.

"Well, three kids. Have you included Vincent?" Kayla asks.

"That is a long story," Andrew replies.

"No, tell me," Kayla says.

*****

Mercy and Andrew dated back in high school. They met during a music festival function and fall in love at first sight. Mercy was in form two while Andrew was in the fourth form. The relationship continued even after Andrew finished high school. They later broke up when Mercy joined University. However, Andrew and Mercy had a unique connection, because even after the break-up, they were still going out for dates and their friendship remained intact.

When Mercy started seeing Joe, she kept it secret and made sure that Andrew never noticed. Joe proposed to Mercy, started wedding preparations and Andrew knew nothing about it. Mercy ghosted Andrew throughout the entire wedding period.

One day, three months after their wedding, Mercy coincidentally met Andrew in Nanyuki. She was on the line of duty while Andrew was on vacation. It had been a long time since they saw each, that they ended up booking a room together. The obvious happened and, as if that was their farewell encounter, they never saw each other again.

A month later, Mercy conceived. She knew a hundred percent that Andrew was responsible, but she could not tell Joe.

*****

"You slept with a married person?" Kayla asks after Andrew told the story.

"No, I honestly didn't know she was married." Andrew answers.

"Had you married yourself?" Kayla asks again.

"No, but my fiancee then was pregnant," Andrew replies.

"This is funny. So how do you know that Vincent is your child?" Kayla asks.

"I saw Vincent today and it was as if I was looking at myself in the mirror. The boys looks like me when I was young. I even don't understand why Joe could not see it." Andrew says as he steers the car towards a beautiful gate.

"Where are we going?" Kayla asks.

"Tumefika (we have arrived)" Andrew responds. The gates open by themselves and he drives into a beautiful compound. Kayla is smitten.

"Is this your place?" She asks.

"Yeah, this is where you are going to spend the night. Tomorrow we will find another place. Let Mercy have that one." Andrew responds. The car is parked and they get out.

"Thank you so much, see you tomorrow," Kayla said and got into the SQ. The two-roomed house was fully furnished.

'What a house! I wish I could stay here for more days.' Kayla said to herself. But she wondered how Andrew maintained a low profile, yet he seem to have it all.

'I pity her, but she deserves that for being heartless. I still don't believe Mercy could do that to me.' she tells herself after lying on the bed, ready to sleep. Before her eyes closed, she heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" She asked. No one answered. Someone else knocked at the windows simultaneously.

"Open the house" ...