With Love, Elena

26

Osam sat in Elena's house, watching her from across the room as she prepared them some food. She hadn't said a word to him since they left Charles beside the car and hid Osam's car behind some dense trees, hiding themselves in the bushes while Tommy and Charles Senior looked about the car wreck.

After their satisfaction that Charles was indeed dead, the men had called someone who had come and taken Charles away, Elena silently weeping beside Osam.

He had tried to console her but she wouldn't even let him touch her. After Tommy and his father left, she had simply turned towards Osam's car and got into the driver's seat. He knew that he couldn't go back home especially after Tommy knew that he had defected back to Charles side. His family had been safely hidden, hopefully by now oceans away, leaving only him behind.

He got into the car with Elena and didn't ask questions as she drove.

Now here they were, a few days later, in the middle of nowhere with this lonely cabin that looked like a hidden shelter stockpiled with food and drinks and all things necessary for survival.

He had been in awe but knew that even if he asked, Elena would not answer him. She was quiet and never cried again after they left the wreckage.

She cooked, washed and did everything for him silently with him helping out now and then but staying out of her way most of the time. Frankly, he was more afraid of Elena than any man with a gun. She was a force to be reckoned with, especially when she was angry. She went from being the sweetest nurse and human she had ever met to a full raging killer within the time he had known her.

He had never expected it.

Elena put the plate of boiled potatoes and grilled fish with roasted vegetables before him, the smell assaulting his senses and making his mouth water. He thanked her and immediately dug in.

She watched him from her end of the table silently.

He stopped eating and looked at her. "Are you not going to eat?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"You haven't eaten anything today. You need the energy, Elena." He stood up and plated some food for her but she simply looked at the food. "Please eat up," Osam pleaded. "Charles would not-"

"You have no right to talk about him," Elena interrupted. "You betrayed him for Tommy's false promises. Look at you now, running away with me with nothing to your name. You can never go back to the city as long as Tommy is there. You put your family in danger."

"My family is safe overseas," Osam said.

"My family-"

"Is safe too. Charles took care of it before he...I mean he took care of it. They are far away from here and no one but me, Charles and his lawyer know where they are."

"What did you gain from betraying Charles? The last time I saw you years ago when you came on behalf of Tommy, you seemed to hate Tommy's guts. What happened?"

"I still did but I owed him. He was the one that helped me move out of Vaal City and assimilate into his community. So I was paying back my debt to him. I befriended Charlie but not as payback to Tommy. I really liked Charlie and he was a great friend. I regret betraying him like that-"

"Isn't it a little too late?"

"It is. But I have done everything he asked me to do for your family. He asked me to keep you safe just before he died in the car wreck. But you're the one that's keeping me safe. You are really stronger than I gave you credit for, Elena."

"Flattery will not get you anywhere with me, Osam." She speared some vegetables on her fork. "The universe always has a way of making people pay and you will pay back for what you have done." She bit into her vegetables.

Osam stared at her. She was not an easy woman and now he knew why Charles had been hooked. "You know...after your letter, you were the only thing Charles could talk about. You had that man head over heels in love with you."

"I know."

Osam chuckled. "Feisty. Independent. A woman of her own kind. That's how he described you." Osam pulled a letter from his pants and unfolded it. He handed it to her with a smile. "If ever we make it out alive, he wanted you to have that."

Elena read the letter. Then she frowned. "It is a will."

"Copy of a will. Charles wanted you to have something of his before he died. He told me about the engagement and he wanted to leave you with something."

"But Tommy has taken his identity which means the will is void because technically, Charles is still alive and we can't prove otherwise."

Osam realised that she was right.

"You know, I thought it would be people against interracial relationships after me and Charles but it turns out to be his own family. And they are not even after the negro...they were after the wealth. Just like my own relative, Ram. Anyway, as I hear it from my source-"

"Ah! That's who you've been communicating on the phone with, huh?"

"As I hear from my source, the city has been told that Thomas Francis is dead. Tommy has taken Charles' identity and he's even married that harlot, Beatrice. How did she even pull this off? She was so nice and sweet."

"Oh! Beatrice. She was nice and sweet and innocent. Until that day that you got shot. I don't know what happened between you and Charles that day but when she came to my office looking for Tommy, she had changed. She was cold...unsmiling...and she blurted out how much she wanted to hurt you and Charles. I think it was heartbreak."

Elena nodded. She knew the feeling all too well. To want to kill someone because they stole your man. "Why did she take care of me and Charles after the shooting?"

"She was remorseful for a while especially after you helped her with the baby but when I announced the news about your engagement, she went crazy again. It was the heartbreak all over again. I guess she was just trying to fix things with Charles."

"I understand," Elena said. "Charles was one in a million." She smiled to herself. "He had a good heart. He loved me even after the fake letter saga." Elena felt her tears fall and Osam rubbed her shoulders.

"It's ok. We'll find a way to make this work, don't worry. We'll prove that Tommy is an imposter and we'll make sure that you get what Charles left you."

"I don't care about that," Elena cried. She really didn't care.

Osam took her face in his hands and looked at her. Then he smiled. "Even if you don't care, I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that Tommy pays. If I'm going down, I'm taking him with me. My family is safe...I have nothing to lose anymore. I owe Charles this and I'm going to make sure that I pay him back. Now eat your food."

Elena cried harder. "I can't," she whispered.

"I know you can. You have to take care of that little one in there." Osam glanced at her belly then at her and grinned.

Elena went wide eyed. "How did you know-"

"I've heard you throwing up everyday since we got here. And you won't eat anything except those horrendous burned buns you make every morning. Those are signs enough."