STAINED SOULS

Chapter One

Present

In the therapist’s office was a young girl of about twenty seated on the couch and hugging her knees. She was dressed in an all-black outfit because she thought maybe if she wore black, the cruel world that she had grown up in wouldn’t see her.

She felt like black was a color that represented darkness, just like her dark soul.

“Maze, how I wish you would tell me something, you know every time you come here and not say anything, you incur charges, yet you aren’t being helped. The psychiatrist told her as she pulled up her glasses.

Only if she could get through to her.

It had been over two weeks and the only sensible information she had gotten from the client was a few words;

‘They were six of them.’

Those words didn’t make any sense to her.

Who was she talking about and what had they done?

From the way she had said the words in hysteria, Mrs. Mwali knew it was something bad, she just didn’t know what it was.

She had done a background research on her client, she couldn’t find anything scary from her past, apart from the disappearance of her father five years ago. Her was the school principal of Bidii high school.

He had left a letter to his family saying he had found a new and better life and was leaving this life, about six months later a body had been found drowned in a river, they claimed it was a suicide and the police had closed that case.

For a then fifteen-year-old, that might have had an impact on her, but not this bad that it still affected her years later.

Only if she knew what was going on in her tiny little head.

For Maze, she didn’t mind staying here and wasting the psychiatrist’s precious time. She wasn’t going to tell her or anyone anything. I mean what did they expect she would say?

 She wasn’t as crazy as everyone claimed.

 She just missed her father so much that it affected her life.

 Only if her mother would understand that.

But her mom had been fed up with her husband, Maze was pretty sure she saw her toasting champagne to herself when she found that letter of his leaving. She hated her husband with all her might.

Only her would tell the story of the man he was before he died.

Maze didn’t know any of that.

She saw him as his father and she loved him and losing him affected her really bad.

She just wanted to stop feeling guilty for whatever she knew about his disappearance. Deep down she wanted every one of them to pay.

She didn’t know how she could get that justice.

If justice couldn’t be found all those years back, then she should just forget that idea of justice ever being found.

The perpetrators had moved away, she didn’t know much about them. They had graduated. There was no way anyone would believe her if she told them she saw what they did that night.

Her mother never believed her when she told her before. She called her insane, if her mother wouldn’t believe her, then no one would?

That was why she felt like coming to these sessions were a waste of time and money, because, no one would believe her.

Not even this psychiatrist who pretended to care, she would prefer if she didn’t talk so that she would be coming for more days, that meant more money for her.

And it was like Maze had read Mrs. Mwali’s mind, all she cared about was the loads of money that her mother pumped into her account. She paid more than any regular client, because she was rich and anyone that would lie was helping her daughter heal would be in the receiving end of her generosity.

But she was starting to get exhausted with Maze, her job was to help her, but she wasn’t getting anywhere with that.

“Honestly Maze, if you don’t start talking, I might just have to end our sessions because we really aren’t getting anywhere.” She told her but she swore she must have seen her roll her eyes.

She wondered how Maze would ever open up if she didn’t even respect her.

She might love the money, but she’d rather receive lesser but help someone who was willing to be helped.

“You can’t, I know you love the money my mom gives you.” Maze told her with a don’t care attitude.

That was it.

Mrs. Mwali had had enough.

She was going to end their sessions.

After all therapy wasn’t meant for everyone.

There are just those souls that have been damaged beyond repair, and she wasn’t going to strain herself with trying to get into a wall that had been put up.

She already had enough problems of her own to deal with.

Like a cheating husband who she still didn’t understand why he was doing that after everything she had done for him.

She was even in this job, despite the fact that she would rather be a stay at home mom because of him.

He was driving her insane.

She internally chuckled at the idea of her needing a therapist. She felt like she also needed one, despite the fact that she was one herself.

“Okay, you know what? I have had enough of you thinking I’m doing this for money, so how about you try someone who won’t want your money? Or rather you can just go insane and fulfill your moms wish.”

Maze was so pissed with what she had told her.

 How dare she?

 It wasn’t her fault that she was this way.

 Whatever she saw that night turned her into this person.

“Fine, you want the full story?”

Mrs. Mwali forced a smile and nodded.

It’s all she has been waiting for all this while.

***

Tina was just staring outside the window of her hotel room; it was a beautiful scenery. Watching as the palm leaves were being swayed by the wind was just breathtaking.

Staring at the ocean from the distance was a beautiful view.

She made a promise to herself to take a walk at the beach later in the evening.

She loved this kind of life.

It was just so beautiful.

Spending some lone time having fun and travelling to such places. She could afford it and she wouldn’t mind doing it.

Her phone buzzed back in the room and she groaned as she pulled back the blinds and walked back in the room. She reached for the phone on the bedside table and rolled her eyes when she saw the caller ID.

She still didn’t understand why her mother kept calling when it was so clear that the probability of her picking her calls was one out of ten. She just didn’t like having chit chat with her mom.

 She didn’t see any reason to it.

She was probably calling to rant, ask for money or probably gossip about her new neighbor’s dog, as if Tina would care.

She didn’t want to pick the call but the moving person on the bed would question why she was neglecting her mother’s call.

He was the only one who would convince her into picking her mother’s calls, so she was going to pick it before he woke up.

She took a moment to stare at his beautiful face as he was sleeping. She was just glad that he was a part of her life, and having this alone time from him, away from their busy schedules was something she loved.

She walked out to the balcony and hugged herself when the morning cold hit her. She shouldn’t have taken off her night gown.

He never liked it when she was cold.

It’s something that she knew about him.

“Mother.” She called once she had picked the call.

She was just hoping her mother would get straight to the point and not try to start convincing her into travelling home, because that was something that she had made so clear years back.

Some things are better off left behind.

She didn’t like that town, and she wasn’t going to go back.

“You picked.” Her mother said in a rather low tone.

 “Of course, I did.” She said rolling her eyes. She picks her calls, sometimes.

Her mother was just surprised that her daughter would pick on the first call, she would have to call three to five times for her to consider picking her calls, so this one came as a surprise.

“Why did you call?” she was feeling cold and she just wanted her mother to get straight to the point so that she could get back in the room and be with the man she loved.

“We need to talk.” Her mother’s voice came from the other end.

She shook her head, despite clearly knowing that her mother wouldn’t see her.

“I sent you money the other day.” She knew that was a tone of desperation and her mother always did that when she needed some money.

It was surprising that her mom had run broke after the divorce from her father. About six months after her lover the school principal died, her husband had found out the truth and divorced her. She was a stay at home wife, and since she was the one that had been caught cheating, the court didn’t rule in her favor, she was left with nothing.

Tina moved in with her father, completed high school and joined college almost immediately, she studied psychology and she has been practicing for a year now. Now her mother solely depends on her financially.

She doesn’t mind helping her out, but sometimes she always feels like her mother is too demanding and overspends so much yet she can’t work.

“Sometimes presence is better than money, you do know that?”

Tina shook her head in disbelief, she already knew where her mother was leading with all that talk.

“I’m not coming home, mom.” She said with so much clarity.

Mrs. Duran thought maybe her daughter never wanted to come see her because of the mistakes she made in the past, all the cheating and not being there for her, but Tina knew it was far from that. She knew what she was running from, and when the court asked her to choose the parent she would stay with, she chose her father because he was moving away from that town. After graduation she needed to move out of that town.

“I’m sick.”

Tina rolled her eyes. The same excuse.

“Yea, mom, we both know that’s not going to work on me.” What she didn’t know was that her mother wasn’t lying this time.

The drugs she had been taking for her terminal illness were no longer working and the doctors had said there was no other stronger drug. She was counting her last days and all she wanted was to be with her daughter during her last days, try to make things right.

Get to connect with her daughter for one last moment.

“Fine, I have some news for you then.” She knew her sickness wouldn’t even work.

“What news?” Tina said with a yawn, she was already getting bored and the cold had gotten into her skin.

“Your friends are getting married.”

“Which of my friends?’ She knew her mother didn’t know any of her friends.

“I’m not sure, but I think it’s the one you dated and the other girl, store. An invitation letter for you was sent through the parcel.” Tina’s concentration wasn’t even on the rest that her mother was saying. Her ex-boyfriend was getting married.

There was no way she was going to miss that.

She had her reasons.

“Fine, send me the wedding location.” She said and hang up. Her mother had finally found a way of convincing her into going back home.

“Love?” she heard his voice and on turning she wouldn’t help but smile at the handsome man standing before her.

“Hey handsome?”

“Is everything okay?” He asked and she nodded.

“Yes, just that we have a wedding to attend.”

“Who’s getting married?”

“Pa, that’s one we can’t miss.” She knew it was her pride talking but she had made up her mind on that one.

But the man before her wasn’t happy with that.

He didn’t want anything to do with him, but it seemed like Tina was excited with it, he didn’t have much of a choice, all he wanted for her was happiness.

“That’s fine.” He said as he covered her with his jacket. He never liked it when she was cold.

He didn’t believe that he was going to meet his old friends. They had had a huge fall out when he took Patrick’s girl. But Paul had fallen for her and he didn’t care what his group of friends thought.

She was his girl now, and he had made it official for the whole world to see.

 He pulled her in his arms and kissed her on the forehead.

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