# ~Truths_of_the_Heart
5~ ❤️
Naomi was doing her grade 12 when she and Mwamba met. Walking home one day, he st©pped her to ask for directions. She saw him a few more times before realising that his being around was more than just a coincidence.
“Are you stalking me?”
“It depends.”
“On what?”
“On your definition of stalking. Besides what makes you think it’s you I’m so called stalking? ”
Naomi smiled. “Ok then. Having fun stalking.”
“Actually I’m done for the day. Let me give you a lift home.”
“I’m sorry I don’t talk to strangers” Naomi walked away leaving Mwamba laughing. The next day she found him waiting for her in the same sp©t.
“I’m talking you home today.” He told her blocking her way.
“My father will not approve of seeing me with a strange man.”
“Your father is a wise man. I wouldn’t approve either. So lets go meet your father!”
“You are crazy.” Naomi told him as she walked past him. She had no plans of getting involved with anyone. Naomi had spent a year out of school after falling pregnant for a clas-smate. Her father had not spoken to her in months, with them only getting back into good terms. Besides Mwamba seemed alot older than her. But the man did not relent, waiting for Naomi every single day.
“You dont give up easily do you?” Naomi asked after several weeks.
“Nope. I’m Mwamba by the way.”
“Naomi.”
“I alre-ady know your name. Your friends told me.”
“Did they also tell you I have child?” Naomi blurted out, hoping to dispel any interest ye might have.
“No they didn’t. Boy or girl?”
She looked him straight in the eye. “Boy.”
“How old?”
“8 months.”
“What’s his name?”
“Peter, after my father.”
“And where is his dad?”
“I have no idea. He denied the pregnancy, wrote his exams last year and I haven’t seen him since.”
Mwamba saw the clearness in her eyes. “You are serious aren’t you?”
“Dead serious.”
“Wow! I would never have guessed. So now that we’re gotten to know each other can I take you home?”
“No! I’m not interested. Right now all I want is to concentrate on my future. Men are a distraction. So plea-se leave me alone.” With that said Naomi walked away.
Mwamba tried to do as she asked but he just couldn’t keep himself from thinking about her. So after a week of trying to stay away, he decided to go back to his usual point. Unfortunately for him Naomi was not to be seen that day, or the days that followed. Curious as to whether she had just changed her route, he st©pped one of the girls that he’d seen walking with her before. She told him that Naomi had not been to school for over a week. Mwamba managed to find out where she lived and decided to go check on her.
“What are you doing here? How did you even find me?” Naomi asked soon as she saw him parked across the street from her house. They had a shru-b fence and so the street was in plain sight.
“I wanted to see how you are?” Mwamba noticed the fear in her eyes. “Are you ok?”
“I’m fine. But I wont be if my father sees her with you. plea-se leave.”
“Ok then let me take you for a drink atleast. I just want to get to know you better.”
“I told you I’m not interested.”
“Ok. I un-derstand. But tell me, why havent you been going to school?”
“That’s really none of your business.” Naomi cli-cked at her ton-gue at him and went back into the house.
Mwamba smiled as he watched her leave. She excited him. And her feisty demeanor made her that much more attrac-tive. He would find a way to get her to relax around him on way or another.
***********
Naomi sang to the baby on her back as she took clothes down from the line. It was going into 3 weeks since she had last been in clas-s. The situation at home was going from bad to worse. Her father, retired miner now worked as a security guard to make ends meet. Her mother was a clerk at a ministerial office and she too was slowly nearing her retirement.
Naomi was the second born in a family of four. Her elder brother and only male had joined their father as a miner after completing his grade 12. Naomi had dreams to go beyond their life in Kalulushi. She wanted move out and life in one of the big cities. Her two younger sisters Dorica doing her grade 10 and Sally in grade 7, were also out of school.
Naomi tried to help out at home by ma-king and selling fritters at the roadside. Having a baby so young helped her gain perspective on life. Being responsible for another life was not easy. She saluted her parents for taking care of the four of them. Not that she had ever complained when things bec@m£ rou-gh. But now she appreciated their sacrifices even more.
“Ba Naomi, bad is calling you.” Sally called out to her.
“Ok. Tell him I’ll be coming.” Naomi quic-kly finished collecting the clothes and picked up her basket. When she entered the house she could hear her father laughing. Her mother walked into the kitchen just as she was about to enter the corridor.
“Naomi, put that basket down and come.” She pu-ll-ed her hand leading her to the living room.
Naomi’s eyes fell into their guest who stood up immediately they walked in. “Dad, you called for me.” She knelt down next to his seat, confused as to what could be happening.
“Yes. Sit.” Her father instructed. “Do you know this man.”
“No.” She answered quic-kly, scared of what was to follow.
“Are you sure? Because he says he knows you.”
“Dad, I swear to you I dont know him. I have just seen him near school that’s all.”
“This is Mwamba Chiti. He says he wants to court you.” Peter Kunda explained.
“He wants to what?”
“Court you.” Mwamba responded.
“What does that even mean?” Naomi stills confused looked from her father to the man who seemed to have gotten into her father’s good books.
“It means he wants to have a relationsh!pwith you that will eventually lead to marriage.” Mrs Kunda told her.
“But I’m only 17. I cant get married now?” Naomi thought her father had finally decided to just sale her off by getting her married. “Dad plea-se I’m sorry for getting pregnant. plea-se dont marry me off. plea-se.” She begged, almost forgetting the baby on her back.
“Naomi you said you were getting married now?” Her father asked.
“I asked your father if he would allow me to pay for your school so that you complete your grade 12. In that time we can start getting to know each other better.” Mwamba explained.
“And what if I dont want to marry you after you do that for me?”
“I only want to help that’s all, no strings attached. If things dont work out for us then so be it. I will not hold you to ransom. I promise you.”
“Can I think about it?”
“Sure thing.” Mwamba stood up. “Sir it has been a plea-sure meeting and talking to you. I will be on my way now.”
“Naomi, esc-rt him out will you.” Mrs Kunda told her.
Naomi handed her the baby and walked out with Mwamba.
“What game are you pla-ying?” She quizzed.
“I’m not pla-ying any game. I genuinely like you. But you seemed scared the last time we spoke. And I didnt want to put you in trouble. So I spoke to dad about you and he told me if I was serious enough, then I introduce myself to your father and make my intentions known.”
“You are crazy. Besides you seem to old for me anyway.”
“You will be 18years old in a month right?”
“How did you know that?”
Mwamba laughed. “So you are tec6an adult. I am 23years old. So that’s what, 7 year different. Which I think is ok if you think about it.”
“And you’re working right? And I’m only in grade 12.”
“Will you be in grade 12 for ever? I dont think so.”
“You think you have thought everything out huh? Besides I dont even like you. So what makes you think I want to court you as you put it?”
“Because you and I are soul mates. Trust me, you’ll fall in love of me as ha-rd as I have with you?”
Naomi laughed. “Love? You dont know me yet you claim to love me.”
“Love is someone we will never be able to un-derstand. I dont know how to explain it to you but when I see you I feel at home, at peace. I only pray that you feel the same with me at some point. But you dont have to go out with me if you really do not want to. I have alre-ady paid your fees for the year. You can get back to school on monday.” Mwamba entered his car. “I will be waiting for you on Monday when you get out of school. I dont want to pl@ygames with you. I’m not the type. So think about it till then and let me know.”
He drove off before she could respond. Naomi watched him leave before getting back into the house. Her father was still in the living room while her mother was in the kitchen with her sisters preparing supper.
“By the way, he’s paid your sisters school feels as well, in full. I hope you havent given him your b©dy in exchange for everything.” Mrs Kunda did not even look up as she spoke.
“I swear to you mum, this is the closed I have been with him.”
“Good! I have never seen a man of your generation do something like this before. He has earned your father’s respect. I just hope he is sincere in his dealings.”
#TRUTHS_OF_THE_HEART
6
“Where have you been?” Naomi scolded, giving Mwamba a small shove on the shoulder.
“You missed me” Mwamba’s eyes fluttered.
“No!” She responded quic-kly taking a step back.
“So why the quizzing?”
“You said you would me here waiting for me when I returned to school but I haven’t seen you for a month.”
Mwamba laughed out. “So you did miss me. I thought to give you space since you told me you weren’t interested in my friendsh!p.”
Naomi rolled her eyes and got into the pas-s£nger’s seat. “You owe me a drink.”
Mwamba obliged and took her to nearby restaurant where bought her some food before taking her home. From that day Mwamba took Naomi home after school. If he wanted to see her over the weekend he would visit her home and see her from there. On a few occasions he would take her out for a meal, he would get permission from her father and bring her back as early as possible.
“You are a strange man” Naomi told him one day. They were having a picnic at a botanical garden on the outSk-irts of town.
“Why do you say that?”
“We have been d@t!ngfor months and not once have you k!$$£d me or asked for S-x.”
“Are we d@t!ng?” Mwamba asked mischievously.
“Aren’t we?”
“You never responded when I asked you to be my girlfriend.”
Naomi laughed out, falling to the ground. “Are you kidding me right now? Ok fine. Yes, I’ll be your girlfriend.”
“See that wasn’t so ha-rd now was it. So today we are officially d@t!ng. Mark your calendar we have an anniversary to plan next year.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“Why I haven’t asked you for S-x?”
Naomi nodded. “Isnt that what all guts want?”
“You are missing one vital point. I am not all guys. I’m Mwamba.”
“Is there anything wrong with you? Or are you getting from someone else?”
Mwamba shook his head. “Naomi, I’m not a boy but a man. Would I want to have S-x with you? Hell yeah. But where did that leave you when you did it the first time? Pregnant and the boy bolted. Join our telegram page for more stories throu-gh ome on+233544. Not that I would leave if it ever happened but I would rather it happen in the proper channel. You are an incredible person. I really enjoy your company, love every minute I spend with you. That time is more important to me than a minute of physical plea-sure.”
Naomi hvgged him then. “Thank you. I was just scared you might leave ”
“Time will come for those things. Right now let’s just enjoy our moments and make sure you pas-s with flying colours.”
“Yes sir” Naomi saluted earning herself a pinch on the cheek.
“I love you.” He told her holding her close to him.
“I love you too.”
***********
PREs£nT DAY
“Good morning bashi Milda.”
“Ah, Mrs Banda good morning. How are you today?”
“I’m fine. How are you?”
“I’m well thanks.”
“This is my daughter Tamara.”
“Hello.”
Mwamba wiped his hands on his apron before accepting her handshake. “Nice to meet you Tamara.”
“Same here.” She smiled.
“Tamara has moved back to Lusaka so she’ll be staying with me, hopefully for long. She’s a lecturer at the University of Lusaka.”
“Ok, that’s nice.”
Mrs Banda turned to her daughter. “He lives down the road with his family. You met his daughter Milda yesterday when she c@m£ to pl@ywith Tasila.”
“Oh yes I did.” Tamara broadened her smile. “Milda the pretty girl.”
“Let us not keep you from your work.” Mrs Banda motioned to Tamara to check what was in the next aisle.
Mwamba finished up his shelving then went to find his manager. Today was his first day on the till since starting work three weeks earlier. He had excelled in all his tasks which he admittedly enjoyed doing. The fact that he would have a steady job while still hunting for the optimal one gave him a s-en-se of comfort that things would soon work out.
Mwamba was as-signed till 4. He started out slowly before picking up the pace once he bec@m£ more comfortable with the task.
“Mwamba? Is that really you?”
“Hi Kerry.” Mwamba greeted. She was one of Naomi’s friends.
“It is you? Wow! Naomi didn’t mention things to be this ha-rd for you guys.”
Mwamba ignored her as he scanned her groceries. “That will be k345.68”
Kerry handed him her atm card for the payment. “I told Naomi to give you Oto’s number so you can call him. He should be able to find you something more dignified than this.”
Mwamba completed her transaction and gave her the biggest smile he could master. “I will surely do that. Have a nice day.”
He turned to the next customer as she walked away smiling. Naomi’s friends often left much to be de-sired. He wondered what kind of friendsh!pit was where they were all trying to outdo each other. Only one of her friends had stood out to him to be real.
Tbc