August Affliction

Chapter 8: Painful Revelation

By Benson Langat.

A fork on melamine, a knife on sausage, and a fork on the sausage. A turn on an omelette, a slice on it, and prongs tear into it. There was some silence on the breakfast table, a little tension between Augustine and his uncle, but no love lost with his aunt Malia. "August, I seem to recall that you had two visitors yesterday, but we didn't quite get a chance to talk about it."

Augustine ate on and quaffed pints of the fresh mango juice, before raising his head to look at Malia. "What is there to talk about, Auntie?"

"Well, for starters, the fact that one of them is David Hanif's daughter."

"You mean, Ida"
"Yea, Adelaida, right?"
"Well...?"

"As you know, Mr. Hanif is not really a man you should want to be messing around with his daughter"

"You mean, I should stop seeing Ida?"

She almost spat out the food in her mouth, so she gulped them down with a glass of water and asked to be excused. "Wait, what?" She processed, "you're seeing Hanif's daughter!"

"Yea, have been for months."

She kept quiet for a while and while she was at it, contemplating and thinking of the right words to use, Gus took the weight off her shoulder. "But don't worry Auntie. I was planning on giving us a break"

"Good news."
"You really don't like that guy, do you?"

"Well, I can't say I like him." Realizing that she spoke in a manner that suggested otherwise and uncontrollably smiled, she turned looking guiltily at her husband. "Okay guys. Thanks for breakfast. I should be heading out." He said getting up from the table, grabbing his coat hang on the dining room wall and heading towards the living room to take his bag. "Okay, Gus. Take care. We love you."

"Goodbye, Augustine." Joe spoke in a 'whatever' kind of tone.

* * *
Augustine Mambo was a guy who knew what he wanted, and he would work towards it no matter the odds. Patiently, he would wait and with a chance, he would take it. On this particular day, he planned on going over to Ida's place to check up on her. He remembered the address she had scribbled to him the previous day with the clear instructions never to go there without her prior knowledge. So, he dialed her number as soon as he boarded the taxi.

"The Hanif Residence, off Bamboo Road." He told the taxi driver. Within 30 minutes, the taxi was already parked in front the huge gate. "This is as far as I go, son." The driver mumbled. He counted a few notes and handed the old man who grabbed them in a hurry then stuffed them in his pockets. "Thanks sir." He alighted.

This place looked haunted from the way it was deserted, no farms no neighbors. It got creepier since it was situated in a forested area, and the way their walls were high-built, the castle-like home was not a place to walk into smiling. A dark man of good build, an AK riffle hanging across his chest and with his hands rested on the automatic weapon, came up to Augustine. His heart skipped a beat at the mere sight of the riffle. But he braved himself up, composed and looked on. "Are you lost, boy?"

"Not really. I am Augustine, here for Miss Hanif Ida. I mean, Adelaida, she's expecting me."

The man stared right at Gus' face and seeing no harm in the innocent look, he shook his head, shrugged then pressed on the receiver in his ear saying, "Open up, an Augustine boy here for Miss Hanif. Let her know"

It almost felt like the large steel gate was staring down at August as he approached it, with the imagination of a kind of a simper at the middle. He held his breath as sweat started trickling down. Gus looked like a tiny little ant walking into a lion's den.