Fateful Journey (Fiction)

FICTION

FATEFUL JOURNEY

By Maxwell Perkins Kanemanyanga

“Mwanangu wofamba zvakanaka asi hona imi amai wako ndangomirira rangu zuva . Kuti unodzoka ndichimupenyu hamheno mwari wacho. Asi ziva kuti ava vana varipano ndiwe baba uye mai wavo , ini hapana chandichagonawo. {“My sons, have a nice journey; as for me your mother I am just waiting for my day. I am not sure you will come and see me alive here, but remember you are the father and mother of these children here”) So the matriarch said stolidly. Tendai the son had no courage to say anything to his mother. He just stood there open-mouthed, and the dimples that used to charm ladies became perfect streams for his tears.

Tendai Dombo was born in a family of three, one girl and two boys. His father was a teacher based in the city of Bulawayo. Mr Dombo was a caring, loving father and husband till the day he met Dorothy the woman who hypnotized him and made him forget his family. His family was still in High fields, the oldest location in Harare. Whereas he used to send $500 to his family every month, now he was just sending $150 or nothing at all. This was really a shock to amai Dombo. She was married to her husband for nearly twenty years now but she had never experienced this heartbreaking scenario.

One day she visited her husband in Bulawayo without informing him like always. This was the day it came to her comprehension that she had lost her husband for good. She was forced to sleep on the floor while her husband slept on the bed with his Dorothy. The following morning she took the first bus back to Harare. She had heard stories of husbands who abandoned their families for mistresses but now it was not a story anymore but harsh, ruthless reality. Mai Dombo was a hard working woman. Now she had no choice but to work harder and support her family alone. She borrowed money from her friends, bought vegetables, tomatoes and onions from the market which she sold to earn a living. With this money she managed to send all her kids to school.

Presently, Simbarashe the first born passed his Ordinary level but there was no money to send him further. Mai Dombo gave him money to go to a driving school and he later got a license. Simbarashe got a job to drive taxes from Mbare to the city centre. He was a careless boy and his mother was worried about him. He could not take his eyes away from dresses. As a driver he had money always and spent dollops on women, one lady in particular. Fortunately for the lady he agreed to marry her. However even though he was a ladies’ man he never forgot his mother, brother and sister. He helped his mother with the money for food and school fees.

Mr. Dombo never felt sympathy for his wife. His dear Dorothy was always there to give him solace. He gave her money to get emergency passport and more cash to cross the border to South Africa and Botswana to buy goods which she sold in Bulawayo. Dorothy was a clever woman with a very cold heart. However this was one aspect that Mr. Dombo never realized. For him Dorothy was pretty, caring and sexy as compared to his aging and no longer attractive mother of three. Across the border Dorothy was selling her body to truck drivers. She always traveled free. On the other hand poor Dombo never suspected anything.

But he began to panic when he developed pimples all over the face and his private parts. He had been drinking and smoking since his teen ages but he never coughed like he was doing now. His friends advised him to go to Mpilo hospital to be tested for T.B. He did as his friends said and what he heard there was really bad news, he was HIV positive. This was really a bitter pill to swallow.

As if this was not enough Dorothy his sweet darling deserted him in his hour of need. This is how she repaid all what he did to her. Poor Dombo thought of his wife since the day he abandoned her and the children. He felt shame for what he did. He imagined how his kids looked now and tears started to flow down his weary face. Even though he ill treated his family he could not bear the thought of dying far away from them. So with the help of his friend he took the long, painful and shameful journey of his life. Mai Dombo was angry with her husband for all these years but she could not help it but only feel pity for the lifeless body of the man who fathered her beautiful kids. Dombo spent only two days at his home and he was gone for good.

It was never raining but pouring for amai Dombo. Whilst she was still licking the wounds of losing her husband she also lost her first born Simbarashe again to the same disease. Her only daughter dropped out from school. Her only hope now was the last born Tendai. Tendai was obedient and hard working just like his mother. He passed his Ordinary levels and went on to study for a diploma in accounting. Unfortunately for the poor boy, his country was hard hit by credit crunch, there were no job opportunities. Unemployment rate was at a high 80% and they had the highest inflation in the world. The poor boy decided to cross Limpopo in search of greener pastures. He took a haulage truck that dropped him at Beitbridge Border Post. With no money to bribe the officers, his only option was to cross illegally. On the way he saw other guys going the same direction and he accompanied them. His wish was to go Johannesburg but he had no money hence he looked for a job in Mesina. He worked there to make bricks till he raised money that could take him to Johannesburg.

He arrived in Johannesburg but he had nowhere to go. He phoned his friend whom he was communicating with since he was in Mesina but on this day the number was not available. Luckily he heard some guys speaking his language and introduced himself to them. Tendai explained his story and the guys assured him that was the usual story in the city. Fortunately the guys agreed to go with him. The young man was expecting to see a well furnished house but what he saw was a room in a basement at a service station. Each person paid R5 to go inside. Inside the room there was a pile of blankets and card board boxes. One of the guys joked that they were sleeping on the floor, but at least they can eat a full chicken - something they could not afford in their own country.

Tendai realized that the grass was only greener on the other side till you get there. Early in the morning the guard woke them up, they went into the toilet to wash their faces because there was nowhere to bath. It was very early in the morning but there was nowhere to go on this chilly and breezy day. The guard was leaving hence he wanted them out because his authorities could see them. The rest of the guys went to their usual chores of selling juice in the streets and dodging the police.

Tendai went to the city to look for a job. He met a Chinese guy who offered him a job for only R130 a week because he knew Tendai had no papers. Every day was a rendezvous with the police. Sometimes he was lucky, sometimes he was not. He was not used to living without washing his body, so the day he got his first pay he went to Alexandria to look for a place. H e got the place and stayed peacefully. After two months he heard rumors that foreigners were no longer welcome. The poor boy was determined to work hard for his mother and children left by his brother, so he dismissed these rumors.

One day he was coming from work when he saw a group of people singing with big pangas as if they were going to hunt for elephants. It was too late when he realized that he was the elephant! A horrific, painful end awaited him. He could not believe human beings could be so cruel. All he could say was “oh my brother my enemy” and he was gone.
Maxwell Perkins Kanemanyanga is a Zimbabwean journalist based in South Africa. He is a 2006 and 2007 nominee of the Lorenzo Natalie Prize.
mkanemanyanga@yahoo.com