Retarded Emotions
by
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“Taffy my niece, is everything alright?” He looked down and I could tell he was fighting back some tears.
“Taffy, talk to me please.”
“Aunty, this is so difficult for me.” Finally overwhelmed by his own feelings he bowed down and cried. The lady looked towards me and I in turn bowed my head.
“My child what on earth happened to you? Were you in an accident with Taffy, please tell me?” Before I opened my mouth to speak a gentlemen in his early 50’s walked in and before he sat down the lady spoke again.
“Baba, it is good that you came, your son here seems to have something bothering him. Maybe he will open up to you. I seem to have failed.” The man sat himself down and cleared his throat and looked long and hard at Tafadzwa then at me. Taffy lifted his head and apologized for his emotions.
“Forgive me Uncle and Aunt, let me greet you.” He stood up and gave them the traditional handshake before I did the same.
“Please forgive me but this is an awfully challenging time for me, that is why I have come to you in the dead of the night like this. It is your advice and guidance that I seek.” There was silence and Tafadzwa went on.
“This is my girlfriend, Rumbidzai Dande. Ru (as she was called for short) this is my fathers’ brother and his good wife. He is the third born in my fathers’ family and the father I have known since the death of my own father when I was 10.”
“I am glad to meet you.” I said looking down. After that Taffy began his story.
“Do you love her my son?” She asked him frankly.
“Aunty, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t but this situation has become too heavy for me to deal with on my own. Ru is hurt and If I take her to hospital they are going to want a police report. Could she possibly report her own father? That is not the channel we want to use. I have a friend, a doctor, but he is on a temporary transfer in Chinhoyi. I have thought of all avenues and this is where it has brought me, to you, my parents.”
His uncle was quite the whole time, listening attentively. He looked at me again before he spoke.
“Taffy, I’ve been listening to what you’ve been saying and I’m a bit disappointed in you my son. Firstly, looking at this girl I need not be told that she is still very young. Am I right to say she is still in school, is she not? There is no justification for what you children have done. None at all, and at the same time the beating in itself was wrong but as a parent, Mr. ….. you said ‘Dande’. Yes, Mr. Dande, was trying to instill some discipline in his daughter. I am a father I know where he is coming from. This is his daughter, his baby. It is okay that you my son are claiming responsibility and at the same time have confirmed to us, your parents that you love this young woman. Believe me that is all we need to hear. With that you have our blessing and our wishes for good luck. However, I want you to be aware of the full implications and consequences this whole issue entails. Taking someone’s daughter my son in the manner in which you did can be considered a crime in this society. I would advise you seek counsel with one of the elders from this girl’s family as soon as possible. Tafadzwa answered.
“Uncle, I am not a child, I am a grown man if he can beat her up and leave her for dead it shows he does not love her. I love her with all my heart and I will take good care of her. I thank you for your advice and guidance, I will do as you say.” By the time the deliberations were almost through I made my own conclusions. After we had supper, which Taffy and I hardly ate, we said our goodbyes and left. My body had lost the numbness, the pain was settling in and it was intense. My face, now swollen, had also begun to ache but it was my sides that hurt the most.
Taffy was quite the whole way home, seemingly lost in his thoughts.
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About the Book
Ru had battled with her own emotions since she was a little girl. Living in a household where the only time she was noticed was when she had done something wrong, she found that life was more complicated after losing the people she loved.
Love found her a little too late than she had found love of her own, or at least she thought. Torn between the men who desperately loved her and the one who would never let go, she embarked a roller coaster to find some answers in the past to try and change the rapidly ill-fated future.
This was not her only battle though given that everything she swept under the carpet, seemed to find its way back on the surface.
About the Author
Born in a village in Africa Spiwe grew up in an extended family of ten children. This was a blessing as there was always someone to relate to and ideas from others. Her family was of a strong Christian background. Life was full of surprises and had its complications yet not without love and laughter. She started writing at the age of 14, mostly poetry and short stories. At the age of 19 she met and settled with a man whom she later married at 23. They had two lovely children together, both under the age of 5 at the time of writing.
Upon getting married she concentrated on the children. As well as being a housewife and mother, she tried a lot of other professions but she would always be drawn back to her writing, which she terms her destiny. After a lot of experiments, some disastrous, she picked up her pen and paper and started writing again, presenting this as her first novel. However as the children were still young and she was also working, time to write was limited. She says about writing: “I love and live writing, it is my destiny, my unquenchable passion. One day that is all I’ll ever want to be doing: Writing.”