Claiming Love

1

A summary of character description of the three lead characters (Season of the Whispering Palms)

Gina

She is without doubt the main character in the story who by a stroke of fate overhears Jenifer, a woman she had all her life thought was her mother, tell one of the family friends that Gina is not her daughter. This sends the young high school graduate on a long journey of self discovery. She is a young beautiful and energetic girl with a very sharp brain. What distinguishes her from the rest is her knack for doing the balancing act in life; she is bitter by the bad treatment she receives from her surrogate mother but never vindictive towards her, she can accept acts of benevolence but not at the price of compromising her morals, she rises to apex of the societal ladder but does not ignore the downtrodden. Her relentless search for the truth and justice for herself and for humanity is tellingly evident.

Chief Inspector Jackson Papa John

Chief Inspector Jackson ‘Papa’ John is a man on a mission. With almost twenty five years service in the police force, he boasts of cracking some of the most difficult criminal cases presented to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.. His relentless pursuit of justice for the victims has gained him both admiration and loathing from members of the police force and the public in equal measure. He takes no prisoners when he is working on a case. Being a family man he ensures that he brings up his children in a socially acceptable manner cognizant of the law he himself has sworn to defend and enforce. He is a strong willed, professional career policeman whose zeal to crack the current case is informed by personal considerations and experience from the past. For his efforts in meticulously pursuing criminal cases by sticking to facts, details and the law the incorruptible officer has received many awards and rumor has it that he is next in line to succeed the Inspector General of Police

Dr. Fred Otis

This is the man at the centre of the Matter Maternity Hospital child trafficking scandal. In his adulthood, Fred, was distinguishable from the rest of his siblings by his nonchalant outlook; his parents saw this as tendencies symptomatic of a brewing internal war within him waiting to explode. After a failed marriage to the outgoing and beautiful wife Pretty, he wants to prove to the world that he can make it big in life without the usual encumbrances of marriage; he delves into using his position at the labor wards to secure the newborn babies using very uncouth and unethical ways from their mothers and passing them on to third parties for a fortune. Complaints from people who have fallen victims to this nefarious activity draws in the national police to carry out investigations. Fred is suspended from his post but doesn’t wait for the law to catch up with him; with the mind of the hunted, he flees to the coastal city of Mombasa where he has had wind that one of the beneficiaries of his scheme, Stanley (Gina’s surrogate father), has secured an accounting contract. Being a man with evil intentions and determined to evade prison he secures with the aid of Walter, his former campus mate, protection from an obscure cult-like outfit that goes by the title ‘Association of the Emancipated’ that is led by the equally obscure and powerful figure calling himself ‘Boss’.

Anastasia aka ‘Helen’

She is a walking killer-machine for the Association of the Emancipated. After seeing her father killed and mother repeatedly r***d - before also being killed – in a home robbery, she develops a bitter hatred for humanity and wants to avenge herself. She joins the dangerous cultic group going by the name the ‘Black Wolves’ where she trains and gains the fighting and defense skills she has all along wanted to help her vent her wrath on humanity who all along she feels was responsible for her parents’ demise. She joins the more superior Association of the Emancipated from where she intends to launch her life’s sworn venture. It is therefore interestingly ironical that towards the end of the tale she becomes the useful driver that gives all concerned the opening they use in cracking the case.

“I wish she was my own daughter.”

Those words, spoken with a tinge of sorrowful regrets, provided the impetus for her undertaking this unforeseen journey to nowhere in particular. She just wanted to be as far away as possible from the owner of those words. Although young, at fourteen years of age, her intelligence surmised the possible meaning of that statement. The key lay in the words ‘my own’. Simply put, she was not Jennifer’s daughter! It was a crushing realization but not overly surprising because at that very moment Gina started reliving her immediate past life and pieces of the jig-puzzle she called her life begun to fall in place. She now knew why Jennifer, the woman she had called her mother all this time had treated her differently from her sister, Maria. Jennifer had never appreciated any of Gina’s good deeds; when she was not scolding her, the young girl would find herself butt-whipped for things and mistakes she knew nothing of.

One day she had stayed late into the night pretending to be studying for an upcoming examination, but in actual sense she was waiting for Stanley her father who on a normal working day would arrive home at ten. Immediately he came through the living room door and saw her seated at the reading table, he knew all was not well, and this was a cause for concern. Stanley had always had a soft spot for Gina. As much as he loved his other children, she occupied a special place in his life, she was intelligent, a go-getter who always had the knack for finding solutions for apparent difficult issues; the more reason he always referred to her as Mom! For a man who had grown up in a family that espoused hard work and honest living these were virtues he could not take for granted or ignore. He had always told himself that he would do everything in his power to ensure this beloved daughter gets the best in her life.

“You are late for bed Mom,” he said with a bit of hesitation as he came to sit in a chair next to her cuddling his hands around her shoulders.

“I know Dad and am sorry,” and indeed she felt sorry. “But I had to talk to you”

Stanley looked straight in her face concerned. She looked disturbed. Never had he seen her like this before. “What is dear?

“It is about Mum. I really don’t understand her continuous negativity towards me”.

Stanley had all along suspected that this will come out one day. Despite his cautioning of Jennifer about mistreating Gina, his wife had cultivated a worse attitude towards the young girl than before. He felt deflated and hopelessly exposed to lie himself out of this situation, for whatever he did, he had to balance between avoiding his wife’s explosive reaction if he decided to tell Gina the truth, and ensuring that the young girl does not take them for hypocrites who had created an environment for her to live a lie all this time.

“No, Mom, don’t take it that way. Your mother loves you and wants to make you a better person”, he replied without conviction.

“Papa, one cannot make another a better human being by mistreating them always,” she said matter-of-factly.

The reference to as ‘Papa’ always melted him away. He knew his was in daughter in jocular way telling him that he was on the trail of making excuses for Jennifer.

“I know how you might be feeling dear. But remember what I have often told you, your mother and I will always wish you to have the best,” he himself didn’t believe what he was telling her. But it was the only way to try to keep peace in the family. He continued not letting her interject. “Your mother told me she wanted you to grow knowing that life and the good things in it are not given on a silver platter; they must be earned. She wants you to grow into a woman of steel, unafraid of challenges and winning battles in life”. He looked at her for a moment and left for the master bedroom.

That was almost two years ago. Now, as she hurried along the dust road leading to an unknown destination, she realized that there could have been some ironic truth in the web of those statements; if she had to run far away from Jennifer, she had to brace herself for tough and rough times ahead. It was not lost on her that if she had to survive outside the care of the family, any family, she needed to be prepared physically, have a positive outlook on life, be wary of the treachery that comes with a world full of self imposed advisor friends but most importantly posses the right psychological and mental strength to withstand greed and unbridled clamor for the good things of life.

She preoccupied by her own thoughts that she didn’t realize how fast time has gone by. Since she did not have any device to check what time of the day it was she would only tell from the position of the sun that it must have been about six in the evening. Soon dusk will set in giving her a cause for concern. Up till that moment she had seen very little of human habitation since she had decided to take the dust road that passed through the local forest. Interestingly this new fear didn’t dampen her resolve to put as much space and time between her and Jennifer. It was a welcome relief when half an hour later she came to a stretch of clearing in the forest and saw about two hundred meters ahead in the dimming light of the setting sun a wooden cabin with some light coming through its windows, which was surely a sign that there were people in there.

The middle-aged lady who opened the door for her seemed surprised when she saw her. Reluctantly she allowed her in. the cabin was modest consisting only of a neatly arranged sitting room and what she later learnt was the bedroom. Gina felt that the lady of the house was very wary of her presence and she could not immediately understand why. After directing this unexpected visitor to one of the two single couches tucked at the corner, the lady of the house sat in the other for what would later turn out to be a long night of inquisitive discourse and eye-opening disclosures to both this women.

“Excuse my manners, at this time of evening there is nothing much to offer you,” the hostess apologized looking at Gina directly. “You see, I don’t get visitors in this place and especially at such a time of the day.”

Gina didn’t care for anything other than getting a roof over her to protect her from any danger that might be lurking out there in the dark night. However, she could not help herself from finding out why her benefactor had chosen to live away from other humanity. “Is your stay here by choice or by design?

A tinge of mirth laced her lips as she endeavored to answer this question. “It is a long story my child,” she said with deep reflection on her face.

“I won’t mind listening, in any case sitting in here is sleep enough for me,” Gina truly felt she was ready to listen to whatever this seemingly troubled woman had to say.

In the brightly lit room Gina sat to listen to one of the most exhilarating life stories she had ever heard in her equally turbulent life.

“My name is Felicia Makuta. I was the daughter and only child to Mr. Daniel Makuta and Mrs. Roseline Makuta. I come from the village of Bakiku about five hundred kilometers from this place.” She stood up and walked to the water dispenser that stood near the door leading to an inner. She filled two plastic cups and gave one to, sat down and continued with her story.

“My parents worked the ground in their small farm growing food and some cash crops and concurrently kept domestic animals, with poultry taking prominence,” her voice changed momentarily to express her fond memories before reverting to the crackling but firm narration. “The income from the farm produce was modest by the standards then. They could afford to provide for my education and other basic necessities at the home front. Being the only child and a daughter at that, nobody could fault my parents for being very protective of me and wanting the best for me. I don’t know why I am telling you all these but maybe because something tells me you might be sailing the same boat as me,” she pause as if expecting some kind of response to this assertion.

When there was none, she continued. “At the risk of sounding my own family trumpet, I dare say my parents were both honest people.” This was delivered with a sense of nostalgic pride. “My father was the first son of the family and was expected to be patriarchal heir apparent but his siblings, especially the brother felt differently; reason? He, my father had not sired a son. Hanging on the age-old community tradition of giving honor to parents who had sons, these men kind of ostracized my family.” Gina could discern a sense of bitterness in Felicia’s voice, but she let continue; this was getting interesting.

“One day four years ago, I vividly remember it was a Saturday, my father told me to be prepared to attend Sunday mass in our neighboring town. This took me by surprise for the two major reasons. One, my father, who was a devout Evangelical Lutheran, had never, as far as I could remember, attended church service with only one of us. So this would be his first. The second reason was that father was always careful about the way he spent family finances.” She stopped to take a sip of water. She realized that she had not touched her own cup of water; but how could she with this captivating story? “To me spending a fortune, for me that is what it was, on long trip just to attend mass was an inappropriate way of using the meager resources at the family’s disposal. For whatever reason, this seemed to be a very important expedition to the old man.”

”So did you go on this trip? Gina asked after a long while listening to the monologue.

“Yes. It was an experience to remember for the entirety of my life. After service at Church of Christ Lutheran church we had lunch at a modest hotel in the town. Just as I thought it was time to leave for home, my father made another surprising pronouncement. ‘Excuse me; we still have to make another short trip to some place I want you to see before we return home.’ I was to say the least, dumbfounded. What was my father thinking? I was the wiser not to ask him. He was my father.”

Another sip of water and the story continued. “We took the road leading back home but a few kilometers into the journey we came to a fork-in-the-road where my father instructed the bus driver to stop for us to disembark. We took two motorbikes and continued on our trip on the right turn along a dusty road and after about two kilometers we arrived here, in this cabin.” Gina waited with a sense of eager expectation for the conclusion of this story. She looked at the clock hanging above the sideboard and saw that it was ten. ‘Aha, still early,’ she thought to herself.

“My father sat there where you are seated while I sat here. He started by telling me that this was property he had bought a while ago from saving he was making secretly. ‘, I know I have not been able to provide many of the good things of life, for you and your mother and I don’t want to give excuses for it,’ my father said this in a voice I had never had from him. It was sheer heartbreaking. It was as if he was blaming himself for the family’s shortcomings. ‘For a long time I have reflected on all manner of aspects in my family. You are all I have in the midst of evil men and women. In this world there is enough to go round for everyone, but due to greed and a penchant for self aggrandizement we see wide economic differentials among communities and families leading to the disproportionate class culture of the haves and have-nots.’ I was unable to hold my tears back. It was unfair for my father to feel that he was a failure. I told him so.”

‘Over the years since you were born I have watched and listened to all the talk coming from my brothers and persons of their ilk and I don’t like what I am seeing and hearing. You might be a child at this time to understand what I am saying now; but one day you will remember my words. That is why we are here.’ I didn’t know where this was leading to but I felt the old man was about to make an earth-shaking statement. I was not far from right-guessing as my father continued, ‘I bought this place to cushion you and your mother, and especially you, against any antagonism from the axis of evil called the community. It will be a home for you in times isolation and peaceful solitude when your mother and I are gone from the face of this earth. Remember my daughter, your father is human, has feelings and emotions like any other; I have been laughed at, shamed before the council of fellow men and even denied my rightful place in the family all because I don’t have a son; but because of my belief in the God of Providence, I have had very little to worry about those infractions, insults and unsavory gossips. This is what I ask of you. Don’t get distracted by all these, follow your heart, be positive and pursue virtue and greatness without necessarily being vindictive or vengeful.’