내 첫 사랑 che cha sarang by Varaidzo Melissa Chidzuu (beach read book TXT) 📕

“SUICIDE!” the word screamed in capital letters in Monica’s mind. “What did you say?” she asked the question out loud. “Excuse me Miss but is there something wrong?” Joseph was staggered by the sudden outburst. “Tell me Joseph, which paper is this story they are discussing in?” she tried not to sound so shaken but her efforts were in vain. “All the papers I’m afraid,” he answered quietly. “Say, Joseph, can I borrow your newspaper for a second,” her hand shook as she reached out for the paper which almost dropped when it was placed in her hand. There they were, the main headlines in bold.

The Afternoon Star

Estranged Barbers boy commits suicide

By Philip Tapfumaneyi

When a concerned friend went upstairs to check on her upset friend who had allegedly gone to lie down a bit, she got the shock of her life when she found him lying on the floor clutching his stomach. Foam was oozing out of mouth as if he had drunk a whole load of washing powder. Bewildered; she stared in horror before finally dialling the emergency number. The girl who was crying held the helpless Barbers boy in her arms when a handful of tablets dropped out of his pockets. As expected, the ambulance arrived five minutes later but most of the tablets had done their work by then. With the help of the bottle the girl supplied, the paramedics tried pumping some of the toxics out of his body to sustain him before they got to the hospital but as they got closer he was quickly fading away. In the emergency room, a highly qualified team was waiting for him but before they could do anything he was gone. They tried shock therapy and there was an ounce of hope when his heart beat strongly for two minutes but the inevitable could not be stopped and finally the straight line. At exactly twenty-three past ten in the morning, Jessie Barbers took his last long breath, never to see the sun again…

At the mean time, Grandma Barbers is to be notified of the…

Tears were already streaming down Monica’s eyes when she realized the deep sharp pain in her heart. It was so unbelievable that her eyes were glued onto the paper. This could not be true; no it was not the Jessie Barbers she loved.

“When you left that day; you got me wondering about something, what’s with this whole che cha sarang thing?” August smiled at Nyarai when she sat down beside him on Friday afternoon. “I’ve been living in South Korea for two years so I’m very familiar with the language. I can speak Mandarin Chinese, as well as French, Spanish, Arabic. In fact I can speak seven languages fluently excluding Shona and Ndebele,” she spoke freely as if a fresh breeze was blowing over her face. “Wow, you must have been up to a lot of beautiful things ever since we parted. I’ve lived my life in fear, looking over my shoulder because I did not know what else was going to pounce on me. Even though I now know that my mother didn’t try to kill me, I can’t help hating her for what’s she’s done. I even find myself getting angry at the fact that I was born blind because she did not know that she had Gonorrhea,” he admitted the pain he felt inside. “She was young and innocent. All she ever had was fear and couldn’t even face her parents even though she knew that it wasn’t her fault. The only compensation she had was you; she never stopped loving you,” Nyarai placed her hands on his shoulders. “I know; and for that reason she’s always made choices for me. But all the same Nyarai, I never stopped thinking about you and I wished that I could call you but I was too scared to even pick up the receiver. I wanted to hear your voice; especially your laughter and I had to fight the urge to hold you close because you were nowhere,” he said with a tear streaming down his cheek. “I’m here now,” Nyarai wiped off the tear with her fingers.

“I once thought of jumping off a building because without you I felt lost. But I didn’t because something deep inside of me wouldn’t let me. I guess deep inside my soul knew that you were alive. I don’t ever want to live without you anymore August; never do I want to go through what I went through again. Promise me August, promise…”

“I’m sorry, really I am. I can’t promise you anything Nyarai,” August whispered in a hurt voice as tears flowed down his light brown eyes. “I don’t understand…”

“Look at me, don’t tell me that you can’t see because it’s clear that I can’t give you anything. You shouldn’t have found me in the first place, that way things could have been better. Jonathan is a great guy. I’m sure he can do a lot for you that I can’t and he seems to be a caring and kind man. He’s a plastic surgeon and…”

Nyarai kissed him all of a sudden, the passion evident in the tears that slid down from both pair of eyes. “I love you,” Nyarai whispered in a shaken voice. “I love you and that’s what matters!” she shook him hard. August quickly pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. “I promise Nyarai, I promise,” he comforted her.

All of sudden, there was a round of applause at the foot of the stage. Nyarai recoiled from August’s arms when she saw Jonathan making his way up the podium. “So does this mean that the play is over? You should have told me what time it started so that I wouldn’t have missed a thing,” he mocked but deep inside he was seething and desperate not to lose control. “Jon,” Nyarai walked up to him nervously. “I must have been too busy this morning that I …” Jonathan drew a forceful slap across her face that sent her tumbling to the ground. “So this is what you’ve been up to, telling me to stay away so that you can embarrass me like you’re used to? You can’t go anywhere into the world without me checking up on you!” riotous he proceeded to kick her in the stomach. “No Jon, please don’t hit me! I’m sorry Jon, I’m…”

“Stop it!” August pushed him away from her. “If you hurt her again, I swear you’ll regret it,” he knelt beside her.

“I can’t believe you would cheat on me with this piece of crap. A blind guy to make matters worse and you… who do you think you are anyway? Do you think she really cares about you? She’s just a measly fling, in a month she’ll be out of here and you’ll be heartbroken,” Jonathan mocked. “I’m leaving you Jonathan. I can’t do this anymore,” Nyarai shocked him with her speech all of a sudden. “You must be out of your mind Nyarai. What do you mean? Are you calling off the engagement? You can’t…”

“Yes, I can. I’m sorry things turned out this way,” she took off the diamond ring and threw it at his feet. “All because of this tramp? Who do you think he is? August?” he sounded overwhelmed, the news slowly dawning down on him. “You’re right Jonathan, I found August. And I’m afraid… I can’t lose him again.”

Itai stared at Alan, for a long time he had seemed distant even though she was discussing a grave issue with him. He pretended to write something down, mumbling some ‘vital’ things as he continued but this was no new mask to Itai, she knew him like the back of her hand. “Thunder in paradise?” she began in a soft tone. “What is it that you are saying?” he still pretended to be engrossed in his work. “You don’t have to put on that act with me. Spit it out Alan,” she grasped the writing hand. “I’m okay Itai; it’s this case that I’m very worried about. Yesterday in the papers Mr. Chan was accused of being in a fraudulent scandal. How are we supposed to get ourselves out of such a mess?”

“By being truthful to each other,” she grabbed a file she had been eying for sometime. It had caught her attention because of its distinct yellow color and the paper material, a real alien in a batch of blue leather files. “What are you doing? Give that back to me!” Alan protested but the milk was already spilt and all that was left to do was to explain. “What’s all this?” she threw away the file which went whizzing in the air like a Frisbee. He had been waiting for the question but he was not ready for it.

“It’s my entire fault,” he began looking down in shame. “What happens to Adolph?” Itai asked anxiously. “Only time will tell I guess. He’ll probably move in with…”

“I don’t want to hear it? You’ve always been a fighter and you don’t give up easily. What did you do this time Alan? Can’t it be fixed?” she put on a hopeful face. “No, I’m afraid not? There are so many things to bargain. I’ve outdone myself this time and there’s probably no point of return,” he dampened her blanket of optimism. “I’ve hurt her Itai, that’s all I can tell you. I love her and I don’t want to lose her but I’m…”

“Don’t do the same mistake I did with Yassin. Don’t you dare follow my footsteps because I won’t have a retake of my life! You can’t just throw away your marriage Alan, no; tell Shuvai that you won’t have a divorce,” she said desperately.

“I can’t believe this, I thought you didn’t like her but here you are begging me to stay with her,” Alan was genuinely surprised. “You’re right but I’ve seen the impact of a divorce. I can’t stand Avril asking me about daddy’s whereabouts or whether he loves us or not. I can’t take the agonizing ‘I hate you’ statements and the strength sucking school meetings. I’ve always sucked at being a mother and I’ve known it for all these years wondering how Yassin ignited the sparkle in her. If you sign those papers Alan, you might as well forget about your son. Think about all those children being raised by single parents. The pain that they feel when they assume it’s their entire fault,” she looked him in the eye but he was not moved. “I’m sorry Itai,” he whispered.

“Then you leave me no choice. Even if mom’s condition is failing I’m going to tell her because she’s the only one who can stop this madness,” she stood up and quickly ran out of the office. “Itai wait! Itai…” he went after her.

Chapter twelve

Monica knocked on Jessie’s door for a longtime before anybody answered. She was about to turn to leave when she heard a muffled snivel coming from behind the door. “Dakota,” she placed her hand on the door. “I know you are in there. It’s me Monica, please open the door,” she spoke softly. “What do you want?” Dakota snapped. “I just want to talk to you. I’m really sorry about what happened. I really am…”

“Come in,” she removed the lock and opened the door.

When Monica walked in, the place was tidied up and some bags were on the floor. She was probably waiting for someone to pick her up. Quietly, Dakota disappeared into the kitchen and