Chapter 04: The letter

By the time Elida was walking into the urban modern decorated lounge, Leonard had already changed into his gym clothes and was heading out; gym bag slung over his shoulder.

'Are you going to the gym or is this an excuse to see that woman?'

'I am an adult mom. I don't need to sneak around like a teenager to see the woman I love.'

'Fair enough. Will you take long or will that woman monopolize your time again? Since you got back, we hardly see you around here. It would be nice if you spared us a few minutes of your time.'

'Why mom? So I can spend the whole evening listening to you bitch about Taz?'

Elida walked over to the bar, grabbed a glass and poured herself a glass of wine from the crystal decanter.' Well, you already know what you have to do if you don't want me to keep 'bitching' about her.'

Leo turned to leave then turned back to face his mother.' What am I to you?'

'What type of a stupid question is that?'

'Sometimes I wonder you know. If I were your son, would you still do all these things you do to make me unhappy?'

Elida placed the glass down.' I will pretend this conversation did not happen. When you have reflected on your hurtful words, I will be waiting for your apology.'

'What do I need to apologize for? Have you once considered how much your schemes hurt me? I bet you have and you wouldn't care.'

'You will not disrespect me because of that woman. I am your mother!'

'Then act like it and stop trying to undermine my relationship with Taz. And that woman as you like to refer to her, she is the woman I chose to love and care for. She is the one I have chosen to spend the rest of my life with but you won't stop until she is no longer by my side. I thought after the whole Bruce incident, you would back off.'

'Bruce? Who the hell is that?'

'Really? Mom? You are going to pretend you don't know who Bruce is? What type of twisted love is this mom? Does seeing me hurting make you happy?'

'I don't know what that slu...'

'Her name is Taz, Taziona," he cut her off, his voicing dropping down a few decibels, "And no she didn't tell me anything. Aunt Felida did. She saw through your plan a mile away. How could my mother who claims to love me, scheme to have my woman in a compromising situation with another man?'

'As I said, I don't know what you are talking about," she replied chugging down her drink.

'Of course, you don't.' he murmured and turned to leave.

'Leo! Leo come back here. Leo!!'

Turning on his wireless Powerbeats Pro headsets, he drowned out her voice. On his way out, he met Grace. The two subtly acknowledged each other with nods.

'Mrs. Nkhoma, this came for you earlier.' Grace a slim woman in her late twenties handed her boss an unmarked envelope.

Elida roughly grabbed the envelope from her.' I hope your sister is happy. In her selfish desire to get married to my son and live like a Queen; she is turning him against me.'

Grace's hands by her side tightly clenched the hems of her apron. Her fingernails dug into her soft palms and if Elida noticed the subtle expression of anger, she didn't care.

Grace gave her a tight, apologetic smile.' I am sorry ma'am. I will try to talk to her and see if I can dissuade her.'

'You are all like leeches, do you honestly think your words will sway her? If she had any integrity, she would have already left my son five years ago. But you go tell this to that gold-digging slut, it will be a cold day in hell before she can ever be part of my family. If she thought I was mean and unfair to her, she hasn't seen anything yet. Now get the hell out of my sight, you bunch of blood-sucking leeches mxxxm. There is no place for filth in my family.'

Grace excused herself and walked away with all the dignity that she could master while struggling to keep her emotions in check. Since Taziona had started dating Leonard and Elida had mercilessly persecuted her family, the sister's relationship was strained.

Elida walked to her study, grabbed the letter opener and slid it through the envelope. Seconds later, she clenched the three paged letter as bile rose from the pits of her stomach. Her breath became raspy and ragged as her heart thumped wildly against its ribcage threatening to crush it. Suddenly, she was no longer the formidable forty-five-year-old who ruled the family and town with an iron hand but a scared twenty-one-year-old who had woken up in a pool of her husband's blood.

Elida reached for the phone but her now jelly-like fingers wouldn't grasp the damned thing making her panic to escalate. Hot tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her face.

Frustrated, she let out an animal like a growl as she swept everything off the table in one sweep, sending papers and files fluttering in the air.

'Elida, Elida!' Felida called pushing the doors to the study.' Elida, what did you do now? I just saw your son storm out of here mad and poor Grace...no that's not important now, what I want to know is what the hell did you mean by trump card? What are you up to this time?'

Elida looked up at her with glazed eyes instantly making Felida panic just as she noticed the mess on the floor for the first.

'Elida? What's wrong?'

Felida walked over to the tranced woman who sat slumped in the chair, clenching pieces of paper. Grabbing the letters, she quickly skimmed through them, shaking her head in disbelief with each word she read.

'Oh my god!' she exclaimed and turned to look at Elida with worry.' Are you okay?'

'Do I look okay to you?'

'I am sorry that was a stupid question. Forgive me. But why after all these years? What does she want?'

'Why are you asking me? You tell me; she is your friend.'

'No, don't say that. You can't call her my friend after what she did to Jonathan.'

Delirious laughter escaped Elida's mouth. 'Why not? It won't change the fact you brought her into our lives. Jonathan died because you championed her on just like you keep doing with that ghetto slut.'

'Oh my god, Elida. One thing has got nothing to do with the other. How can you compare innocent and sweet Taziona to that monster?"

Elida looked up at her with eyes that lacked any emotions.' Because they are both scums cut from the same filthy cloth.'

'You are tired, maybe you should go in and rest. I will hold onto this.'

'If not for you, I wouldn't have been widowed on my wedding night. I wouldn't have had to raise Leo and Tapiwa all alone. But because of you, I lost it all. All because you failed to see the true colours of that monster. I will not let the same fate fall on my son. I will leave no stone unturned to make that woman leave him alone.'