The silence was broken by a sudden knock at the door. I had just returned from work and was putting my jacket on the hanger. The children were all in the kitchen. Maidei was doing her homework. I wanted to check if Marita and Marwadzo had homework. The other time, Marita’s teacher had complained that she was not doing her homework. From that time, I started supervising her homework daily.
When I went to the door, a strange woman I had never seen before was waiting with a young girl of about four years. She had a worn out travelling bag.
“I heard Chiedza lives here?” Chiedza was the name of Mai VaMaidei. Not many people knew of her name.
I nodded my head. She looked haggard. The little girl tried to get past me into the house.
“Stop it Prim, come back,” the woman said. She was stern. The little girl came back reluctantly. She had seen my children and wanted to join them.
“Mai VaMaidei is still at the market. She’ll come back soon,” I said.
She looked disappointed. Who was she? She had called Mai VaMaidei by her first name. Not many people around knew her forename. She must belong to Mai VaMaidei’s past. She turned to go away.
“Who are you by the way?” I asked.
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She looked like she had nowhere to go.
She shifted her bag from one hand to the other. She wanted to say something, but never came out with the words. The little child rushed forward. I was confused. “What should I tell Mai VaMaidei?” I quizzed.
“Maybe I will come back,” she replied over her shoulders. It was already getting dark. It was going to rain by nightfall.
I was sure this strange woman had nowhere to spend the night. I was in a sort of panic. The strange woman looked destitute.
The woman disappeared shortly in the crowd. I should have invited her in the house. When I entered the house, Maidei was quick to say, “Why did you let her go. Look, it’s about to rain.”
I began to feel more guilty. I went to the bedroom. After about an hour, Mai VaMaidei arrived back from the market. The children rushed to meet her.
“Someone was looking for you mum,” Marita said.
“Who?”
“Dad knows,” Marita replied.
“Who was the person looking for me?” Mai VaMaidei asked.
“She did not announce her name. She seemed too reluctant to reveal her name,” I said.
“What did she look like?” Mai VaMaidei said. I tried to give the description of the woman. Mai VaMaidei was puzzled. Its either I was poor at description or she had not seen the woman for a very long time to recall her.
“She seems to know you very well,” I said. Mai VaMaidei shrugged her shoulders. The strange woman was mysterious.
Soon after, it started to rain. The large oval raindrops pounded the metal sheets that made up the roof. It was like someone was beating several drums at the same time.
And then there was a knock at the door. When I opened the door, the mysterious woman was standing at the door, drenched to the skin. She had come back. The little girl rushed into the house dripping water.
“Come in, come in,” I said. She walked in slowly, dripping water. Her bag was leaking water.
Mai VaMaidei came from the bedroom. They looked at each other. For one split second, they continued to look at each other, then Mai VaMaidei rushed and gave the woman a bear hug. They all started crying. I stood there with the children watching the spectacle.
“This is my long lost sister Mary, I talked to you about before,” Mai VaMaidei said.
I was puzzled.
“I thought you said she had died,” I said.
“That’s what the family thought, she disappeared a long time ago,” Mai VaMaidei said. She was in tears and could not hold them back. Now I remembered the story. She had eloped with a strange man who had passed through their village. It was said that the man had taken her to Mozambique. Others said that the man had murdered her on the way for rituals. For over twenty years, the family had agonised over her disappearance.
She looked exhausted. I wanted to hear the full story but this was not the time yet.
*Onie Ndoro
X@Onie90396982/[email protected]
