“Boss, I am back,” Isaac said. “I am at the airport now. I will be at the hotel in thirty minutes time.”“Okay,” I said, watching Neflix. “See you then. I hope you bought the spices I asked you to buy?“Yes, boss. They are here with me.”“Good. See you when you come.”He agreed with my statement and I ended the call.I turned back to the TV, but my mind wasn’t there. I was thinking of Esther. She was the loveliest woman I had seen in recent years, and I was surprise that I was constantly comparing her with Sarah. And the fact that I am thinking about her instead of Sarah leaves me feeling guilty and shameful.Was it the money? Was it the new status? Whatever it is, I felt bad that I am already considering another woman when it’s not up to six months after Sarah’s death.I consider Esther to be the love of my life, but I don’t think of Talatu that way. Maybe if Esther had not come into my life, I would have considered having a relationship with Talatu again. But the coming of Esther ha

I picked her call.“You abandoned me,” Esther said. “You gave me a car and abandoned me. That’s not fair.”“I have been busy,” I said.“Busy doing what? You have money, what’s keeping you busy?”“I have little money,” I said.“But what’s keeping you busy?” she asked, voice serious.“I have one or two things to take care of. But I will be done soon.”“So, I am intruding right now?”“Not really; we can talk.”“When are you coming to see me?” she asked. “Mom also wants to know you better. She wants to know how you got your money.”“I will come one of these days,” I said. “How is the car?”“It’s fantastic. I love every bit of it. You should have seen how a friend of mine in college stared at me when she saw me driving it.”“So, you like it?”“I love it very much. That’s why I want you to come so I can drive you around and take you places.”“But I have already driven it. I know how it drives.”“All the same,” she said. “You have not seen me drive it, have you? I bet I can drive it faster t

It was a month later that I got Deborah’s call. “Paul, you have to find a way to see Esther. She is dying.” “What?” I screamed into the phone. “What do you mean?” Esther had called me two days back, and I had asked if she was feeling well. She had answered vaguely, claiming that she was just tired. “She is dying, Paul,” Deborah said. “What’s wrong with her?” “She has been bleeding. It’s none stop. We have gone to the all the hospitals in town but it hadn’t stopped.” “Did something cut her body?” I asked. “Why is she bleeding?” “Her menstrual cycle,” Deborah said. “It hadn’t stopped for two weeks. Nobody knows what’s going on. The doctors checked and say there was nothing wrong with her that is causing the bleeding, and yet the flow keeps increasing day by day. We don’t know what to do. None of the medications is working.” “Where are you now?” I asked. “Family Private Hospital,” she said. “Do you know where it is?” “Yes.” It’s the most expensive private hospital in town. Mos

I reached Talatu’s village two hours later.It’s a small town with a population of about a hundred people. I parked in the middle of the village, close to the market.I came out of the car to find about half of the people in the market staring at me. I felt like running back to the car and driving away.“Welcome,” someone said from behind me.I turned and saw a young man about my age.“Did you come to see someone here?” he asked.“Yes,” I said. “I want to see the medicine man. The one who can cast spell or something like that.”“You want to cast a spell on someone?” he asked.“No, no,” I said quickly. “I don’t want to cast a spell on anyone; I just want to find out about it. Do you have a medicine man that does it?”He stared at me. “You want to know about it? What for?”I shrugged. “I don’t believe in those things. But a friend of mind is sick and someone said it’s a spell that has been casted on her. I want to know if that’s true.”The man nodded. “I see what you mean. Is this perso

I went back to the hospital to see how Esther was fairing. As soon as I walked into the room, I heard Dorothy’s sobs. She ran to me when she saw me, and she hugged me.My heart fell into my stomach. The thought that Esther had died ran over my mind and I felt my legs buckling under me.“What happened?” I asked in a trembling voice. “Is she okay?”Her mom was sitting beside the bed, while her father was standing by the bed holding Esther’s hand.They all had tears in their eyes.I was too late: Esther had died!“She went into a coma,” Dorothy said. “The doctors said she is going to die.”“So, she is not dead?” I asked.“No,” Dorothy said. “But the doctors have given up hope. She said she is not going to make it.”I gently pushed Dorothy away and walked to the bed. Esther’s eyes were closed, and her breathing came in long gasps.I stared at her and felt my heart melting, my body shaking.I turned around and walked toward the door.“Where are you going to?” Dorothy asked.I turned around