A STRIDE OF HOPE

CHAPTER TWO : HEARTBREAK AND SORROW

Jenifer had quite a history with blood pressure this after seeing the glances and gazes of the officers on the reception she collapses due to anxiety.The officers rush to offer first aid to her as I stand there full of thoughts and not exactly coming into terms with the events that were occuring at that precise moments.

After 20 minutes or so she regains consciousness and we are taken to the county mog .By then I was both scared and discouraged as I knew henceforth nothing in mult life would be the same again.

An hour later ,Saul's family arrive as we thus head for the hospital mog.The body viewing part was the most traumatizing and emotional as I was now hit that all this was a reality and that I was now officially a partial orphan.

Little did we know that Saul's family had planned to take all the documents that would enable them have their hands on all of Saul's property and wealth.

"All of his important documents are not here,"said one of my aunt's.Shortly ,Sandy, Saul's colleague and a family friend approaches us and informs Jenifer that he took all the documents and that they were safe.

He had been informed that Saul's family had planned to take all of them for themselves."Is money and wealth their only priority?"I asked myself."How could they only think of his property the day they learned of his death ?"I wondered .

Luckily if I may say ,Sandy had secured all the documents that would help us finance our education.Later on in my narration I will share with you how this would lead to quite an opposition from Saul's family.

It's now almost 7 pm and I am to be heading home as my younger siblings were at home all alone."Should I inform them of the life changing , heartbreaking news?"..."Should I just give them one more night of peace of not knowing that they had lost their dad?"...I asked myself as I was heading home .

I swallow painfully since I am filled with sorrow as I could not manage telling them such news let alone handling their reaction.I arrive home at about a quarter to 8 .Carrie,my sister approaches me and asks whether dad was ok.

I am forced to lie to her by telling her that it was just a false alarm and that he was actually well.She seems quite relieved and joyful ,this really heartbreaks me that I rush to my bedroom where I am overwhelmed by tears.

"Why is...why my family..why now ...? This wa all I wondered of all night.

The following day Jenifer comes home and she has to inform my younger ones about the tragic news.We are mostly worried about my sister will react as she was the 9ne closest to Saul .

Jenifer summons them and carefully and slowly explains what had occured and explains the position we were in now as a family.

"This is the last news a mother would wish to tell her children,but I'm afraid I just have to tell you about the tragic death of your dad!"Jenifer said as as tears streamed down her cheeks.To our surprise my siblings seem to understand which somehow comes as a relief as we expected worse.

This however didn't mean that they were fine,it's just that they were still processing the Information and they would react later on.

It then strikes us as to what really killed Saul .Was it just a coincidental tragic accident or was there more to it than meets the eye?It now comes to my attention that Saul was working on a delicate case that had caused quite some pressure on a number of individuals.

It was alleged that the driver of the purported car was a relative of one of the individuals involved in the case.All this didn't seem like a mere coincidence to me.

On the other hand it was said by some of Saul's colleagues that he was having some disputes with a section of officers in his command station.

They said that they had a problem or rather had been envious of his rapid success and rise in power.

Saul was said to be one of the successful and quite developed officers among his colleagues with the same pay grade.I mean that was not such a huge motive for one to be murdered but what made that rise interest was a particular event the previous week .

Apparently,Saul was in a heated confrontation with Mark ,his best friend turned for.Mark allegedly made some serious threat to Saul claiming I quote "Only a fortnight of ripping!" before the argument ended.

At that time it did not mean a lot to Saul as Mark was his friend for the longest time,even though they were clashing at the moment but he wouldn't reach the level of harming him he thought.

In every traditional African society especially the remotely located people in the villages ,superstition is the order of the day.Personally I was not one who believed in such but I have to admit that the theory they brought to the table about Saul's death was quite believable and it made some sense.

One of them located where Jenifer and I were seated and approached us.He was a middle aged man who was a drunkard but somehow today he seems sober.He came to where we were seated and started stating his suspicions or rather his theory.

"Saul was my old time friend ,he would offer me some money whenever he visited the village,"he continued ..."his death is really painful to me that's why I had to come speak with you ."

By now he had in someway gained our attention."You know that Saul had recently purchased a piece of land from Miriam's husband...(Miriam and her husband had divorced and separated so he sold part of the land to Saul and relocated)..Miriam was not happy with all this ,"the man pauses as he swallows then continues...

"Miriam is known for her habit of witchcraft ,all of us are aware ,so she planned and executed the death of my old friend Saul."..."Oh my friend Saul,why did you leave us?"the man started mourning .

As he wanted to continue with his narration ,one of the men in the gathering came and removed him from where we were.I was perplexed as even though I was not a superstitious person I had come into terms with the man's allegations.

It was true that Miriam had a history with witchcraft as from the stories I had heard from the villagers.

To me there was a billion dollar question that I had to answer.This mystery must be solved I assured myself.

What really killed Saul?...the supposed delicate case file involving some quite powerful individuals ?...His own colleagues at work who were not in terms with his development?...Or was it really Miriam?..The Witch!