Episode 5

THE RICH MAN'S DAUGHTER

(Based on a true story)

By Luke, Prim and Jackline

EPISODE 5

Upon seeing that the cyclist had died at the instant; because his body lay motionless after the motorcycle was hit causing it to overturn, Edgar drove off immediately. A crowd gathered, as it always does when there’s accident and an ambulance was called. Before it arrived, people checked out the victims and found that it was Emerald that needed medical attention because, though covered in blood, she was still alive but gasping for breath and had broken limbs: both arms and one leg. The cyclist was already with the maker so he was taken to a mortuary. 

It hit me hard when I learnt of the accident from a status Emerald had been tagged in by a friend of hers. I wept incessantly and asked God to heal her utterly. It felt like my world was crumbling down and I had no reason to live if she wouldn’t make it out alive or if she would refuse me after that. I blamed myself for everything. I wished to see her but I had no way out.

She took about six weeks in the hospital and when she was discharged, her parents did their best to secretly resolve the scandal that Edgar had put them through; knocking down their daughter and never showing up and his parents claiming that she hurt him first. They regretted their choice of suitor for their daughter and so decided to take her abroad for further treatment that would enable her have a normal life again. But before they did, they called me and invited me to their home in Kenya. I froze for a moment because I wouldn’t believe they had actually called and I even slapped myself to wake up from a dream I wasn’t in. I was so perplexed. I didn’t know whether to be happy or anxious. A million questions competitively and repetitively raced through my mind; how they had learnt about me or if it were just a prank and if it were true, what would become of me. I wondered if they had agreed to our relationship or they wanted to end it. While I pondered everything, they assured me of my safety and promised to cater for all my travel costs. It was the beginning of another academic year so instead of going straight to campus, I travelled to Kenya to meet the bigwig.

I was so uneasy every time I thought of what Emerald's Parents would tell me but I also felt a little excited to travel outside Uganda for the first time. It was also awkward an experience because I had never imagined my girlfriend’s dad paying my travel costs just for me to go meet him. It kept running through my mind that Emerald's parents took those costs on themselves because they knew how poor I was and so I feared they would never accept me to have their daughter's hand in marriage.

At around six in the evening, I reached Nairobi. I called Emerald's dad and he sent his driver who picked me up and drove me to his home. Filled with trepidation, I found myself so terrified that all I thought about was how I wasn't good enough for Emerald's Family. Their home alone was a palace and I couldn’t imagine what Emerald could have possibly seen in me that made her happier than the opulence she lived in. I even wondered why she took a motorcycle in the first place when she could have had someone drive her.

I was ushered into the sumptuous house and when I entered, my eyes met Emerald’s as she was being rolled in a wheelchair to come meet me. I couldn’t hold back my tears nor the guilt that she was in that state just because of me. I imagined the price she had paid just for love. I wished I could take her place and have her pains but it was impossible. She looked so vulnerable. Her smile was frail and I wished I would run to her, hold her tight and never let go but I saved that for a time I wouldn’t have to stealthily do it.

The maid, who had rolled Emerald to the sitting room, left us alone and I had a moment with her. The moment lasted but a short while and in it I cried bitterly. She drew close to me and held my hand with tears ballooning in her eyes. I apologized to her for putting her through that agony and looking into her eyes, I told her I still loved her. She smiled with tears running down her cheeks and softly told me she loved me too, more than words could explicate.

The moment was cut when Emerald’s mother walked in shaking her head, as if to sympathize or disapprove. Emerald tearfully told her mother, “Mum please, don’t do this to me.” I wondered what she meant by that but I didn’t have to take long figuring that out. I got an idea but I waited to confirm it. Anyway, her mum told me my room was ready and I needed a rest after my long journey. Dinner would be served in the room and the main reason why I had been called would be discussed the following day. The dinner was the best I had ever had. It seemed a little foreign but I just had enough to satisfy my hunger besides, I had to have some eating manners.

That night I couldn't sleep. I was dreadfully uncomfortable in bed. The room smelt of luxury and I couldn’t bear the fact that the soft sheets and duvet still felt prickly as if they knew, from the taste of my skin, I didn’t belong to any well off family. The experience was awful when it shouldn’t have been. Everything around me was posh and I was even afraid to leave the shower running while I scrubbed myself. Sleep evaded me and I couldn’t wait for morning to come. 

When it finally dawned, I wore the best shirt and pants I had for just the occasion and practiced the tone I would use with Emerald’s parents. After breakfast, a maid came for me to go and meet the rest of the family. She wore a look that suggested, ‘this guy is in so much trouble’ but she dared not to say a word. As she led me up some stairs, I made a prayer that I could have some confidence to face them. 

Going up the staircases felt like I was ascending to heaven because with every step, my eyes wouldn’t get enough of what I was seeing. The house was indeed a paradise and its decor was worth the money. We got to the rooftop and there they were, the Anyonje family. I tried my best to put on a brave character but I got butterflies at the instant and nearly choked on my own saliva. I was showed where to sit and I sat down, not making myself too comfortable. From left to right were Emerald’s dad, mum, a cousin of Emerald’s that stayed with them and Emerald herself. It looked like a small courtroom and I was my own barrister. 

Emerald’s dad greeted me in a deep voice that left me searching surreptitiously for a place I could hide my face because it carried a magnitude of authority more than it had on the phone and the detailed introductions that followed flashed my status down the drain. He spoke a lot about the family which gave me self pity on the inside but I wore a steadfast character on the outside as I truthfully spoke about my humble background.

Emerald's dad then told me of how he had learnt about me. When Emerald got the accident, her medical insurance didn’t cater for some ointments needed to apply to the wounds so her dad used her credit card to purchase them only to find that a huge amount of money had been withdrawn with no stated expenditure (Emerald had withdrawn it to cater for my hostel fees for the rest of the time till my course would be done and also to pay my hospital bills after the kidnap since I wasn’t at the university hospital where my health insurance was valid). He confronted her about it and she had to come clean about the money’s whereabouts and the reason he had called me was to formally tell me to end the relationship between me and his daughter given that it almost took her life. To make matters worse, Emerald's mother also told me that she could never allow her daughter to get married to a Luo man. She explained that her sister had been killed by a Luo husband in a domestic violence. 

With tears bulging in my eyes, I knelt down and asked her for a benefit of the doubt since I wasn’t the other man and also I was a Luo from Uganda but she said all Luo men were brutal. Her dad added that, with the course I was studying at the University, I would never amount to anything that would be good enough for his daughter. I cried and begged them but they told me that they had made their final decision. If death would heed to my call, that was the perfect time but still in the afterlife, I wanted Emerald by my side. I looked at her and she was more helpless than I was. She cried too and begged her parents not to do that to us but her plea went unheard. A decision had been reached and there was no going back. They offered me some money to start off a life without Emerald but I turned down the offer. My love for Emerald wasn't that cheap to be bought. It was my loss, they said but I did not want to settle for less than the love of my life.

That marked the end of my stay so a security guard escorted me out of the home to the bus terminal. The bus return ticket was to expire the next day so I had to travel back to Uganda. I felt so bad leaving without saying goodbye. They never wanted me anywhere near Emerald again. I regretted having not run to her the first time we met in the living room.

The walls of my world tore down and I didn’t think I would survive the journey. My head raced in thoughts, some very fatal, that I felt I was running mad. The thought of being without my ‘Emy’ snatched life out of me.  I couldn't communicate with her because her arms were in slings making her unable to hold a phone to chat or call. Besides, her parents had taken away her phone.

I reached Kampala safely and proceeded to my hostel but honestly, I was losing my mind. I couldn't think straight and it felt like nothing was important anymore. My heart was torn into fragments and surely I couldn't hold myself together. That evening, I didn’t think I would make it through the night. I thought of suicide countless times but another thought of going to church struck me and at around 8:00pm, I went to church. I feared that if I stayed in my room I would surely take my own life.

I found my pastor was just getting into his car to leave but I requested him to give me just a few minutes. I explained my turmoil to him and he told me to get on the car with him and he drove me to his home. He talked to me for hours and in the end I was a bit relieved. We prayed together and I recommitted my life to Christ. He told me to stay at his place for as long as I would want to till when I would be able to stay alone again. My life started getting less sorrowful as the Pastor prayed with me continually. His family gave me the company that I needed the most and eventually I got my head clear and went back to my hostel.

I missed lectures for about three weeks but what mattered the most was getting my life back together. I looked for all possible ways to reach Emerald and find out how she was doing but I was unable so I gave it up and gave my life to a cause that gave me life.

I became more committed to church activities and these kept me busy besides my academic schedules. Moving on was the hardest thing but I tried my best to keep myself busy so that I couldn't have time to think about it.

(To be continued in Episode 6)

Catch us again next Thursday with Episode 6.

The Rich Man's Daughter.

Written by:

Luke Davis

lookndavis@gmail.com

+256 770391771

Edited by:

Prim Nabwire

primnabwire95@gmail.com

+256 786852800

Jackline W.Kabura Adams

jackykabura@gmail.com

Tel: + 254 742386914

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have been blessed by this story, and also in case of any question.