The one

PROLOGUE

He gave her what looked like a flower but according to her it was not a flower, it was something made of plastic. Its smell, its appearance and everything, one could say it was a flower. He even said to her "Laura, I got a flower for you, it's beautiful, it smells sweet, and even its texture it's just wow."

Lauren Mandala, was her full name, he loved calling her Laura. She had bright blue eyes, her hair was shot, she didn't like wearing makeup, but why would she need one because she had smooth skin with some few acne on it but then that only added to her beauty. Truth be told she was really beautiful and others could say she was a beauty on its c****x. She was a young beautiful woman, shorter than him, maybe even in her listening skills, she was fast to respond but this time James had an opportunity because she waited for him to finish.

"The beauty of it reminded me of your beauty" he said while showing her his serious face as usual. "The fact that it really looks like a real flower, it reminds me of how real you are and how sometimes you says no to what deserves a no, and a yes to what deserves a Yes. This flower is for you." He said this while stretching his hand to give it to her. She stopped walking, looked at him with a neutral face and then she smiled at him exposing her well packed white teeth and received it from his hands.

She smelled it, yah she was trying to be a real queen, and then smiled again. You read that right, "She was trying." She was not a kind of a girl who loved flowers, she was not the girl who was dressing to impress others and she wasn't the one to receive a flower and smell it before giving a response. She did something that was not her usual self, she even wondered herself. She continued to smile and he wondered too because ever since they have been friends from the first year till today where they are in their final year, this is the only time she has acted girlish.

All this was when he just started having feelings for her. He had no idea how to put his feelings into spitable and understandable words. Indeed it's not easy to propose, maybe to some but to the guy like him who has only dated twice for relationships that didn't even last a month it was difficult.

James an intelligent young man who was coming from a poor family has managed to secure himself a place at the university. He has been doing school and business, and now he owns a restaurant around the campus. He has gained influence and he is making impact. He believed long time ago that it is not any man's choice to be born poor but he told himself that it will be his choice to die poor so he started taking responsibility for his life long time ago. He is not a perfect guy per say but when he put his mind to something he never stops until he accomplish it. Now he has reached a place and he has set another goal that is disturbing his thinking maybe because this goal is not what others thinks is up to anyone choice. Does we really don't have a choice to choose who we love? Or is it our lack of understanding about love that makes us think it is not up to us to choose? Or maybe that is why it is called falling in love all because we just find ourselves loving the one we claim to love. These were the questions in James's mind.

"This is a beautiful flower but it is not a real flower, most things that are not real are beautiful to an eye" she said to him with a sad face now. "It is made of plastic, real flowers grow from the ground, real flowers need water, real flowers need nutrients and to maintain their beauty real flowers need a good gardener." was she talking about the same flower as in flower or she was talking about another type of flower? He wondered as they continued moving in the direction towards the library. He had no idea about where she was going but this time around she wanted her to know about his feelings.

"That's interesting to hear" he held her hand and walked with her in another direction. He took a path that lead to a university orchard. She didn't resist, she trusted him, and he has already won her trust. They have been friends for 3 years he wasn't a stranger to her. "Let's go sit there" he pointed at the chairs in the orchard. They walked there together, he took out his phone and played "Because of you" a song done by Driemo.

"Is it because you... am gonna fight for you... am gonna die for you..." they sang the song together, but that's what they always do, he was their favourite artist.

"So you are saying a flower needs all that?" he asked as she was sitting down on the chair in the orchard whilst he was moving it's back and laying his elbows on the chair support. "I think I can make a good gardener" he continued and touch her her shoulder. She knew where this was going and she told him "You can't just work up and say am a gardener, good gardeners have failed one or two times, they have succeed in one or two plants, have you tried taking care of a plant before?"

"I have failed in two plants, I planted a

The seeds but then they didn't even last a month, but I think I have done a good job on taking care of a seed that doesn't belong to me yet, it's been three years but I think it's high time I claim ownership of this plant, I want it to belong to me and me to it." He said to her in such a way that she get it and not ask too much questions but she was an intelligent girl too, she knew that he was not talking about a flower anymore and she knew she was a plant that he doesn't own yet.

"I want us to decorate our route." he said. "We have been walking on this road of friendship for too long, you have been my friend for long time now, three years to be specific, and I want you to be my girlfriend. I mean I love everything about our friendship but then I want you to be my suitable helper, I want to love you and I want you to love me"

She had no idea what to say to him. She has been hurt before. Love to her was not what she would expect from a man. To her dating was a path to brokenness. There was an unfamiliar silence and they both looked at each other, he was sweating now, in his mind he thought he has ruined a good friendship. She looked at him again and then looked aside as if she was ignoring his eyes. She was not just the woman he loved but she was also a woman he was willing to spend the rest of his life with. Maybe that was his problem, he always thought every woman he is going to prose will be his wife, but then what's the point of dating if it's for marriage?

She called his name to break the silence between them "James." She whispered his name. He looked at him with confidence, he was trying to hide the confusion he had inside himself. "I don't think I can do this, love is more than four lettered word, you know that right? It has the power to break and to mend a person" she said with a sincere voice. She continued and said to him "How sure are you that this will lead to something more what we have right now, I think we are better off as friends and this will only confuse our friendship"

That was the bullet to James's ears but as a man she was supposed to show his skills on how to dodge that kind of bullets.

"I am afraid just like you, am afraid I will ruin our friendship, long and enduring friendship that we have had, but I have one intention and that is to make sure that we are facing life together, I want to share my life purpose with you, I want my dreams to be your dreams and yours to be mine.

Am not the best man there is but I would love you to give me a chance to prove myself that I can be the best lover"

Ooh, that was sweet to her ears but she was old enough to know that words are sometimes beautiful but the results and actions are just another thing.

The wind in the atmosphere was a little cold, there was few clouds in the sky here and there, as wind was blowing some leaves on the beautiful grass in the orchard so was her thoughts running out of words. Words to make him understand that she is not afraid of love but she was afraid of making wrong choice, she was afraid of becoming a something that will not be her best self. She wanted him to give her an assurance of how much he understands the concept of love. She wanted him to prove himself that he is a man who is trying to make his way into her pants so she asked him "why now, and why dating instead of being just friends?"

"I can't even explain that myself, one thing I know is that I love you, we will figure out the rest together, am not good with words but I would love you to know that I will use our dating period to know you more and to let you, Know me more"

"I am not a perfect guy, you know that already, but then what's perfection? Other than just a deception that lead to depletion"

"Am not an expert on relationships but one thing I know and I am sure about is that I will not pretend to like you when I love you, am not going to hide myself under the lie that I don't want you to be mine when deep down all I want is you, am not going to lie to you and say that you are the most beautiful girl in the world but I promise you this that you are going to be the only beautiful girl in my world and you won't face life alone, we will be together all along till the end." He said this with his deep and calm voice. He didn't say all that to please her, no, he just poured out his heart to her.

She stood up and so did he. He stepped a little forward and whispered in her ear "I love you Lauren Mandala"

"I love you too James Malembo"

They held hands and face each other for a while without saying a single word. There was silence and the only thing that was making noise was the sound of the birds that were enjoying the fruits in the orchard, or maybe as they say walls have ears maybe those birds were hearing the sweet words they were sharing as so to remind them when times are ugly and sweet words starts taste like quinine and when light turns into darkness that they were once friends and friends who turned out to be lovers.

He kissed her chick and hugged her a little tighter. She was in another world, another world built by him. She let go and told him "Hold me like this forever, let's share our worlds or let's just create one together. And please don't break my heart."

That was the beginning of their love story. Is it really a love story or just a story of two people who thought they got each other? Anyways this was the beginning of it all.

...

Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink! That was the group of young boys cheering up Mr Chiukepo, an elder man in his early sixties. He lives by a bottle, a bottle of alcohol, and a bottle of alcohol lives by him that's how people in his community described him. He finished drinking and then he shouted Give me another one! he opened it, laid his head up, his eyes on the bar ceiling and then he started pouring the alcohol inside his mouth as if it was not alcohol but some juice, maybe even if it was juice one could paused a little but as if it was some water. Men in the bar gave him a name, they nick named him concrete, that was because of the way he was drink, it was like water poured on concrete and not able to penetrate the ground.

He was once a retired commander officer, he has fought many battles in his life including the one that occurred in Ruanda. To him life is not all about being what others want you to be but its all about what you want to be yourself. After the things he has witnessed with his eyes, the killings, r**e, hunger, destructions and everything war and fights brings to a nation and on lives of people he started seeing everything as meaningless. To him everything was temporary, he had one principle and that principle was Live happy or die sad.

He has witnessed things that people thought will not break coming to an end, and forgotten in seconds. He has saw so called wise men die like foolish ones. He has saw sons betraying their fathers, he has experienced love and he has experienced hurt. To him life is all about today for tomorrow is not promising. He has lost touch of reality and his family lives in dire poverty. A man and a father of two boys, a man who has fought for his country, a man who was supposed to be appreciated by the nation was not able to support himself for half a month. Maybe its true what they say that there is more love in a bar than in a church because that was the only place he felt welcome and he felt like home.

Concrete! shouted a bar man who was about to close the bar. Just close it, I will sleep right here. Said Mr Chiukepo. Jones looked at him and shake his head, he has heard stories about this man, a man who once had great dreams and great hopes not only for himself but for his family as well as his nation. A man who willingly went into dirt in order to save the ones he claimed to love but now he has nothing to care about, maybe its wrong to say he has nothing to care about because his family is still here, his kids, and his country hasn't been deleted on planet earth, he just don't care anymore. Man you know my boss, he will fire me when I leave you here. Jones the bar man complained to Concrete. Your boss is just like the rest of them then, you work for him every day, you sweat to make him sweets but what does he do in the end? He fires you for living a drunk man in the bar concrete vomited the truth to the bar man. Maybe its true what they say give man a bottle of beer and money, right there you will see his true colours. Jones walk towards the bench where Concrete sat laying his head on the table. He held his hand and walk him outside the bar.

It was a cold night, Mr Chiukepo clawed back to his house. He knocked on the door and waited for someone to open a door for him. Someone please open the door, its cold out here! he shouted. He kept knocking at the door for an hour then he remembered that he stays alone, his wife left him, his second born boy followed his mother and his son who visited him once or twice a month was at school. He looked at himself and laughed as he was crapping his hands. He puts his hands on the war of his house to prevent himself from falling. He used one hand to reach for his pocket to reach for the keys, he didn't found them and he thought he has lost them, he looked down and remembered that he put is keys under the doormat. He opened his door and entered his house, he throw himself on the bed and started sleeping. His phone started ringing but he had no strength to reach for it, he heard it but he just didn't had it inside him to answer the phone. He knew who was calling, after all it was only one person who bothered himself to call him, and it was his son, his first born son. The phone stopped ringing and few seconds later it ringed again but this time he was fast asleep he didn't even hear it.

He walk up in the morning with big headache, he went on his knees and prayed Father in heaven, thank you for today but I still think you are blind, why cant you see that am all alone and everything I once stood for is no longer on my side, the people I would take the bullet for are the ones behind the gun, and some people I really took the bullet for are running away from me, they say I will ruin their clean clothes. Am tired of this planet just take me I don't care anymore. Anyways, you are the boss, I salute to you sir. He said his prayer, he was a believer, an imperfect believer. He went to his refrigerator and took a bottle of water. He went to his kitchen and find out his cornflakes were over, he finished them two days ago. He poured the water into his camouflage cup and moved to his bedroom, he took his phone and called his son who he didn't answer yesterday or lets say earlier today. Hello son he greeted his boy. You was drunk again right? he asked the question as his son was also asking it as well, that was his usual words and he always do that to show him that that was an obvious question. We say good morning, or hello or how are you before any question Mr. Chiukepo said this to his boy, I was calling to check up on you brother his son said to him, he sometimes called his dad a brother. Don't you have a boyfriend brother? he asked his son and his son laughed remembering that it was just yesterday when he got one. No, only if you was there to teach me how to approach girls I would have one by now. James said to his dad Mr. Chiukepo Malembo. They laughed again and said their goodbyes.

Mr Chiukepo took a bath then went to a shop to grab a bottle of wine and some eggs. On his way back home he received a call from his friend back in military. Hello brother, how are you keeping up?

Same old, same old my friend answered Mr Chiukepo I got a green light from Gideon, he says he has a business for me but I cant do it alone I need you by my side just like good old days. Said Alex his old friend. Its been two solid years brother since I last spoke to you, what kind of business are you talking about? Concrete wondered. Man we have tried so hard to play it nice but look at how the s**t is going, we are so f****d up man its time we do it the earthly way, the hard way, the only way we know how shouted his friend on the other side of the phone. Don't bit around the bush, just hit the nail on the head brother commanded Concrete with a calm voice. There is money and some illegal stuff that need to be moved from Malawi to Pakistan, tell me that you are in and I will give you details.” Concrete breathed in and paused for a while before giving him an answer.

Concrete thought about the things he has been valuing all his life. All his life he has been living by term integrity, to him integrity was defined as doing the right thing even when no one is watching. He taught the same principle to his two sons. He got angry looking at the principles he has been living and where they got him. He throw the bottle of wine he was carrying on the floor. What is it concrete? his friend on the other side of the phone asked. Life is always not fair man! he said as if he was not on the phone but as if he was talking to himself. There was a battle inside him, he was tired of living as a man with no purpose, he was tired of being taken as nothing after all he has done for his family, nation and everyone else in his community. He was tempted to say yes.