Kupakwashe looks at her face in the mirror. Her lips are the most attractive feature on her face; big and always glossed up. She has learnt to love them, they are the first thing people notice anyway.
She smiles, a smile that reaches her fairly small eyes with the thick lashes. She looks good. Her hair, natural and long, is coiled at the top of her head, secured with a bow tie. Puckering up her lips, she nods, satisfied that she looks more than decent. She grabs her bag and leaves for her youth meeting.
A few minutes later, Gogo matwins gets back from her house. She had taken to going back once every four days to check on her husband and a distance male relative that is staying with him. Each visit is characterised by her complaints about how both men are slowly destroying her house with their carelessness.
Tanya hears her mother’s voice, but she is not paying enough attention to catch that he is looking particularly frail and has become slower on his feet. She will later wish she had listened. Her mind is still going over her mother’s situation fifteen years earlier and she is increasingly realizing how damaged her mother must be from the abuse.
It’s not too long before Dylan gets home as well, announcing that Annie should be arriving in a few minutes. Nervous at remembering how the subject of Annie has caused friction, Tanya sets about arranging snacks in the lounge. Annie arrives and there is an awkward stretch of silence that no one dares to disturb.
Dylan then shifts and sits on the edge of his couch, supporting his arms on his laps, before he speaks.
‘Ehh so as agreed I had a meeting with your erh…Tapiwa. I hope that we would talk and come to a reasonable understanding but the meeting did not go as I expected at all.’ He shakes his head before proceeding.
‘Tapiwa showed me a level of disrespect and arrogance that I still am failing to grasp. This is not behaviour that I expected from him and he has made it clear abusing you is something you will need to get used to if you were to marry him.’
Seeing Annie’s emotions on her face, Dylan tries to pacify the situation.
‘Of course matters of the heart are not that black and white but I would really implore that you pray about this more. Am I wrong Tanya?’
Tanya is taken by surprise, not having expected Dylan to seek for her opinion.
‘Yeah,’ she croaks, clears her voice and tries again. ‘Yes, choosing who you will marry is a very important decision that will affect the rest of your life. You don’t want to regret that. At all.’
Annie does not say anything for a while, her face is hidden under a tuft of hair as she looks down.
‘We don’t want to make a decision for you, we are just here to guide you, Annie.’
She finally speaks ‘But the lobola is this weekend.’
Just then, Gogo matwins wobbles in.
‘Hello Annie, mwanangu.’
‘Makadii gogo.’
‘I am listening to your story mwanangu, you now just want to get married hey?’ The older woman chuckles, Dylan and Tanya exchange horrified looks.
Gogo matwins, who has taken to chewing the insides of her cheeks , slowly takes a seat, huffing and puffing.
‘Just yesterday we argued in here. I have gone through what you will go through if you decide to go ahead with this marriage. It starts as slaps here and there when he is really angry until he starts throwing tables at you just for the fun of seeing you cowering. It’s not easy mwanangu. Maybe yesterday I would have said something different, told you that a wife fights and toughs it out but mhmm… I’ve been thinking since we argued yesterday. That man that is my husband destroyed my life and that of Tanya here, that is the truth. That is not a life. How do you help someone like that? Do you even know what ails their mind?’
At this point, Annie starts crying softly.
‘No no, it’s okay. Don’t cry mwanangu, we will figure this out and whatever decision you make will be the best for you.’ Tanya chokes back her tears at the tenderness her mother is displaying.
‘I am scared, I don’t know if I love Tapiwa. I am just scared’, Annie keeps crying.
‘You do know what to do mwanangu, there will come a young strong man that loves you so much his blood will boil at the thought of you feeling any pain. There is no hurry at all, handi ndizvo?’
Annie nods, wiping at her tears.
Dylan is not sure if he should believe that his difficult and scandalous mother-in-law has just convinced Annie not to marry Tapiwa. He needs confirmation.
‘Sooo….I don’t know how you will proceed Annie…’
‘I am telling tete to cancel everything, I can’t do it. Not now. Maybe we still need time.’ These words open the flood gates and Annie wails uncontrollably.
While the company of three is gathered around consoling Annie, five kilometers away Kupakwashe is getting seriously desperate for help. A different Tapiwa, one she thought she liked, is pinning her to the wall and she is convinced the evening will not end well if she does not scream, and loudly.
‘You think you are fancy?’ The words are spat in her face.
‘I will give you a night you will never forget, stop resisting, you will like it.’
One of Tapiwa’s hands moved from where he is pinning Kupa’s arm to her bosom. He is fumbling with her buttons when she lets out a terrible scream.
Tapiwa looks stunned for a moment before he slaps her hard on the face. In the same moment both of them hear voices raised in concern, asking where the screaming is coming from. Hurriedly letting her loose, Tapiwa disappears into the darkness. Kupa does not wait a second, she gathers herself up and runs off in the direction of home.
