Misplaced Trust

Chapter one

The devil doesn’t bargain they say, I wish I followed this advice but I waited for the ship to sink, till I was drowning in the waters, the waters of his selfish ways only in the name of the tide will change and he somehow will treat me with kindness.

I was certain I would change him, I mean take a look at this trophy, the pretty brown eyes, my olive skin with a butterfly tattoo on my neck. He never would stop complimenting my pear-shaped body, I thought it was the curvy hip and bottom that hooked him but I was only lying to myself.

They say it takes more than beauty to keep a man, I still can't count the many times I prayed and fasted hoping he could change, worked on myself and changed my character to what I thought was best for him, took a leap of faith but the devil doesn’t bargain, he only did me harm and I regret not leaving when the red flags were raised right in my face.

I remember the day when I first saw him, A handsome boy sitting at the school bus stop reading a novel, his hazel eyes met mine and I couldn’t help but smile. He signaled me to sit right next to him and the fool in me excitedly with no hesitation did as wise.

He told me about the book he was reading and how he could predict that the characters would fall in love, we made jokes about it because we all know how it goes, two people find each other and fall in love, a few plot twists here and there and they still end up together.

It wasn’t long before the bus arrived and only to discover that we were heading to the same place. Surprised because I had never seen him before, fast forward I then remembered that he must be our new neighbor. Excitement filled my lungs for I knew that I will be coming back with him every day from school, giving me more time to explore his interests.

I ran to the kitchen and found my mom, preparing my favorite meal, my mouth was already salivating from the smell of the freshly cooked mushrooms, I was about to dip my finger into the pot when my mom shouted, “Sally, stop it!”, she continued “that’s so unhygienic of you plus you could get burnt ".

Obeying my mother, I quickly rushed to the sink and had my hands washed, I quickly stared at the blue walls for a minute, imagining how different home would have been if dad was still alive, I blushed that thought away and slowly made my way back to the table, I met eyes with my mother and I could see the track of tears on her face but I knew even if I asked why she wouldn’t give me an answer or probably just lie that it was the onions that made her cry.

Trying to be a ray of light, I stood up to go fix her curly hair and whispered in her ears,” In another life, I would still choose you as my mother, you are beautiful  kind, honest, and the bravest person I know, I love you lenganji” she looked over her shoulder and smiled at me, “ I love you to salifyanji, now let’s eat before the food gets cold “

The nshima was delicious as usual and I couldn’t stop thanking my mother over n over for the nice meal until she asked, “I saw that you already made the new neighbor's son, not to prejudge but he looks like a spoiled child, I paid a visit earlier to his parents and they got a lot of wealth stacked up so don’t you dare try anything stupid with that boy because they got money something you and me barely get “

Without knowing what to say, I just responded with, “Thanks Mom, I wasn’t even planning on doing something stupid “She instead whispered under her breath saying “Last time I trusted you not to do anything stupid, you got matching butterfly tattoos with some boy “

Offended, I walked out of the table and shut the door to my room, I don’t understand why she always has to visit my past every chance she gets.

Do you think it's wise to bring up someone's past now and then? Leave a comment below and don't forget to star this chapter.