BROKEN

BROKEN EPISODE FOURTEEN

While in my room I got a call from Alice and I knew perfectly well why she was calling me. It must have been about her mum's death. I knew I was going to get a call from her because we somehow were close plus I owed her for the audio she gave me.

I received the call and just like I had expected she broke down on the phone telling me her mum was no more and I kind of felt bad for her especially because she was pregnant and she didn't need the stress at that moment..

Me: I'm so sorry dear, it is well.

Alice: no it's not. she is my mother despite us not getting along. How could Jade kill her just like that?

Me: Jade killed your mum, as in the Jade I know?

Alice: yes... It's been all over the news, you haven't seen?

Me: no. I have been up and down but I'm so sorry for your mum and I will come see you tomorrow dear... You can't afford to be stressed right now, it's not good for your unborn baby..

She told me Michael was home so she needed to get off the phone and I agreed because I didn't know what else I would have to tell her.

I got off the phone and a few minutes later after I was done bathing Ethan and feeding him, Melvin knocked and walked in even before I could allow him to come in because he knew for sure I didn't want to see him.

Melvin: we need to talk Benta.

Me: I have nothing to talk to you about.

Melvin: but I do. I know what you are trying to do.

Me: and what could that be?

Melvin: shutting me out of your life. That's my son you are nursing and I have a right to him too.

I sat up and all my focus was on him. So he had not heard about Jade, see I expected him to run out with his stiff make to go save the love of his life. This was going to be hard for Jade and I just wanted to see how she was going to get her way out of it. Lorna hated her and was only pretending to like her because she hated me more. Was she going to do something now that Jade was going to be in jail.

Me: I have not refrained you from seeing your son, I had to fight for him because you and your wife...

Melvin: ex wife... Jade is not my wife you are.

He cut me short and I had to keep quiet for a bit.

He walked up to me and stood in front of me staring at me for a while then he knelt down and took my hands in his.

Melvin: I know you are hurting right now and it's my fault but allow me to fix that mess Benta. I love you.

He said that looking deep into my eyes and I was not sure if I wanted to trust him though a part of me was considering it.

Was he all sorry because Jade was going to go to jail and he needed to keep fooling me, come to think of it, who would really in their sane mind fall in love with a girl from an orphanage?

No no Benta you can't think that, a girl from an orphanage is as beautiful as any other girl out there. They didn't take you because you were naive, they saw how smart and beautiful you were and they wanted those genes for their baby.

I had to talk myself out of the negative thoughts and I was lost for a moment.

Melvin: Benta please...

My attention shifted back to him and I pulled out my hands from his and got up.

Me: tell me something... Are the marriage certificates real?

Melvin: (hesitantly) no... But I have a reason why they are not.

Me: and the reason is?

Melvin got up from the floor and moved closer to me.

Melvin: after the engagement...

Me: was that real, I mean you prophesying your undying love to me?

Melvin: everything I said that day was true. How you made me feel and how you made me fall in love with you. It was not part of the plan to fall for you but I did, and Melvin found out somehow and she started putting pressure on me with lots of threats as well.

Me: threats...

Melvin: Jade and I separated but we were never divorced. When I was to get married to you, I had two choices... To divorce her and make you my wife legally or to fake the marriage. I would have gone for the first option but it had a catch to it.

Me: what was the catch?

I was curious, I mean if he said he was in love with me during our engagement, what would really stop him from marrying me genuinely?

Melvin: Jade said if I divorced her and married you genuinely, if she ever detected I was in love with you, she was going to take three quarter of my property and that meant taking almost everything I worked hard for. That would basically take me to zero. The deal was to marry you and not fall in love with you. I couldn't go for that option because I already was...

Me: so you went for the easiest way out?

Melvin: I didn't think of it any other way but that does not change how I feel about you. I don't care about her anymore, she can take anything she wants but I won't let you go Benta.

I didn't know what to tell him because I still wasn't over the fact that he lied and made a fool out of me...

Melvin: Benta please.... Let's start over.

I sat back on the bed and buried my face in my hands not sure what to do..

Jade was at the police station worried because she had been locked up already waiting for the senior police to show up for interrogation. She had not been allowed to call anyone yet despite her demanding to call her lawyer. She knew her rights but that had to wait.

She quietly sat in the empty room tapping her long nails on the table then she took a deep breath and folded a fist.

Jade: this time you went too far Benta.

She said sitting back and shaking her head, what did she think, that she was the master planner of evil,she hadn't met me and she has no idea that this poor orphanage girl could get wicked just as much

Jade: I will not allow you to win this war Benta, you managed to get me here but this is my war and you.... You...

She didn't finish that as the door flew open and in walked an officer. Slim, tall and harsh looking man and for a moment, Jade's body froze.

The officer pulled a chair that was close to the wall and sat in front of her. He didn't have a book or a pen so it was not like he was taking her statement or anything, the other officers already did.

Officer: so you are the one who owns ilegal guns and goes around killing innocent people.

Jade didn't know how to answer that as the officer started with accusing her without getting the foundation of everything. These officers....it's like they are all trained to be rude and provoke people so that people can overreact then they add you extra charges on top of whatever you have been accused of.

Officer: you don't answer questions?

Jade: you didn't ask a question..

Officer: right..What's your name?

Jade: Jade...

Officer: two names..I need two names

Jade: Jade Mlonzi.

Officer: why do you have a gun?

Jade: that's not my gun.

Officer: of cause it's not yours but where did you get the gun?

Jade: there's a woman who knocked me out and planted the gun in my hand after killing Magdalene. I didn't do it..

The officer laughed.

Officer: I have heard that before. I'm an officer not an i***t.

Jade maintained her calm though she was beginning to get upset. He seemed to know more than she did. It was late and she was hoping to be released so that she could spend the night in the comfort of her bed.

Officer: what had you gone to do at the deceased place?..

Jade: she was my friend and she had invited me over.

Officer: do you have proof of that, maybe a phone call to show you had a conversation?..

Jade shook her head. She could not lie because she never actually told Magdalene she was going. It was more of a pop in than an invite..

Officer: you see, this case is not as light as you take it. This is murder and everything points to you. We are running fingerprint test on the gun and if you say there was someone else handling the gun, we will know..

He got up and started to walk away..

Jade: wait, you are just going to leave me here?

Officer: no. Not here...you will be taken to the women's cell.

He left her there and walked out.

Michael found Alice all messed up and he hadn't gotten the news of his mother in law beeing dead until he got home and Alice was all emotional and stuff. First he thought it was the pregnancy because Alice cried alot. She cried when Michael was leaving her alone, she cried when she wanted something she couldn't have in the middle of the night and all that was blamed on the pregnancy.

Michael: what happened to her?

Alice: she was shot dead in her house by Jade. That witch killed my mother.

Michael: what motive did she have to do that, they seemed like friends..

Alice: I don't know...

She said sitting on the bed and resting her back on the pillow.

Alice: my mum wasn't a good person and I know that but she didn't deserve to die like that.

Michael: where is she now?

Alice: she has been taken to the city morgue.

Michael got on the bed and hugged her tight and rubbed her back...

Michael: we will get to the bottom of that I promise. There has to be a reason why she did that..

Larry got to his house and dropped his keys on the table as he loosened his tie.

Terry, his girlfriend was in the house, she came around every weekend and they both had been planning to move in together for sometime but Tina was waiting for him to propose first. Lenny wasn't ready for that kind of commitment yet because he still had alot of baggage he needed to get rid of.

Tina: babe are you okay?

She asked putting down the remote and getting up from the seat where she was seated. She took his arm and made him seat right where she was seated.

Tina: what's wrong?..

Larry: I met up with a friend, Leo... You know him?

Tina: yeah..

Larry: talking to him kind or reminded me of my sister. He said he has a client he wants me to defend in court. Her name is Benta...

Tina: and your sister was called Benta too.

Lenny: yeah, I feel like I failed her, I don't know if she is alive, I don't know how to start looking for her, I don't know what to do.

Tina: I can only imagine how you are feeling baby and I really pray your sister is alive. She has to be. What are your people saying?..

Larry: last time I was there no one had heard from her, rumors had it that she ran away from where she was living because the guy attempted to r**e her and the woman was furious because of the exposure she had brought to her husband. Benta ran away and no one knows where she went to.

Tina rubbed his arm and leaned on his shoulder.

Tina: maybe you should meet the Benta Leo is talking about. It could be a good coincidence...

Leo was exited about the new deal he had with Larry. When Leo met Larry, He was homeless and was being rained on in some corner on the block. It was in the evening and Larry stopped Leo's car to ask him for some pocket change so that he could buy some coffee from the random coffee venders who walked around.

That was like five years back and so when Leo stopped his car, he talked to Larry and realized he really needed help not just coffee so without knowing him too well, he asked him to get into his car and he drove Larry to his house. Leo didn't have a big mansion like Melvin did but his house had a servant quarter that he allowed Larry to stay in as he figured out what to do with him.

Leo not knowing the type of a person Larry was, he put him up for an honesty test just so that he could see if he was someone he could trust.

Two weeks down the line Leo left for Uganda for some business and he gave Larry some money for upkeep and told him he could stay in the main house while he was away.

Leo knew if Larry was staying in the house there are certain things he would do maybe stuff like a bit of cleaning and cooking so before he left, Leo stuffed fifteen thousand shillings under a cushion and left the edges peeping then put the small pillow by the same edge so that it wouldn't be so obvious that there was money they. When he was done setting up his trap,he left for his trip.

Larry had everything he needed in Leo's house, food was not a problem and so was clothing because Leo surrendered some of his clothes to him since they were about the same height and had a similar body structure.

Larry went round looking for construction jobs to do since he wasn't the type to sit at home and watch movies or play video games. He knew what it meant to be hungry and he knew where he had come from..

Larry had lived in the streets, he tried sniffing glue and doing all the stuff the street children were doing but he could not. He would stop cars in traffic, wipe their windows the kind guys would give him money that he saved and later enrolled for his final exams in primary school. Larry was a bright kid and though he slept under shades he was very focused on what he wanted.

He did his exams and passed, then when he told his story to the head teacher of the school, the guy found him scholarship and someone offered to pay for his high school education and he did.

When Larry got to 3rd year, the sponsor died and his scholarship was cut shot after family wrangles then he was back to the streets but this time he would hawk stuff but the business was not doing well most of the time and then one time the city counsel caught up with most of them and threw them in the back of their vehicles. The good thing about that is that they were thrown in with goons who found a loophole in the vehicle and helped each other pull the torn metal and they jumped out including Larry. That's how he ended up being rained on and meeting up with Leo.

The following morning was on a Sunday so there was no construction jobs to be done so Larry decided to stay at home do some cleaning and watch a movie or something.

While resting on the couch, the remote control slipped and disappeared on the seat so he pulled the pillow and felt the edges of the seat with his hand and he felt something. He pulled the cushion and there was a bunch of cash.

He took the cash, counted it then kept it in a safe place and didn't use a dime. When Leo came and he told him about the money, he knew immediately he was trustworthy so Leo hooked him up with a job in a law farm as a Clark then what he became after that was his choice...

Through out the night, Melvin talked me into us going back to our matrimonial home and I said I would go back in one condition. If he kicked his mother out and the following morning he made the call as I listened and said he was sending Leo to pick her up and drop her at the airport for her flight back home. Martin told her he had chosen me...his wife and son and obviously his mother was not excited about it.

That morning as I was preparing breakfast, there was a knock on the door and when I opened, two police officers with a handcuff in one of their hands were standing there..

Officer: Benta?

Me: yes,

Officer: you need to come with us to the station to answer a few questions based on the murder of one Mrs. Magdalene wero...

Damn, what had just happened?..