THERE are times when some men fall in love with women whom they do not marry, but when they find that these women have found love elsewhere, they are filled with jealousy which many times leads to fights and deaths.
There have been a lot of cases in the courts of law where some men have been convicted and jailed for assaulting or killing other men over women.
Three weeks ago, I was in Lusaka’s George Township where I had gone to visit my uncle. When I got at his place, I did not find him, but I found two boys whom I did not know.
When I asked them where the owners of the house were, the boys told me that their grandfather had just left and that their grandmother was at Lilanda/George market where she was selling vegetables.
If the boys were calling my uncle grandfather and my aunt grandmother, then they were my nephews.
But who was their father or mother? I thought I was losing contact with my relatives and this was not good.
I then asked the boys whether they knew Julius, who was my cousin and the nephew to the uncle I had come to see.
The boys told me that they knew him and that his house was just nearby on the same street with my grandfather’s.
The older of the two boys told the younger one, who was called Emma (short for Emmanuel) to direct me to Julius’ place.
Indeed, my cousin’s place was quiet. Fortunately, I found Julius who was pressing his clothes.
After exchanging greetings we sat down to chat.
I did not ask him why he was ironing his clothes, but he told me that he was doing this because his wife was away on some business.
After some time, I told Julius that I was leaving because I wanted to go to Mutendere Township to see a sister and a brother before leaving for Ndola the following day.
Julius told me food was being prepared for me and I had to eat before I left.
Shortly, nshima was served.
While we were eating, there was a knock at the door and Julius asked whoever was knocking to come in. Two elderly women walked in and took seats.
After we had finished eating, Julius introduced me to the women as his cousin and he introduced the women as his sisters-in-law. They were older sisters to his wife.
Then one woman told Julius that they were sorry to interrupt him, but he was urgently needed to escort them to the parents of a woman whose other boyfriend had been assaulted by the son of the older woman.
“Mwana wa Esther anamenya munzake wamene anapeza na girlfriend wake. Amake na tate ba mukazi atifuna,” (Esther’s son beat up a friend whom he found with his girlfriend. The father and mother of the woman have called for us), said one of the women.
Julius scratched his head and asked the women what this had to do with him.
The woman explained that there was no man in their family who could go with them and him being their brother-in-law was the right man to escort them.
“Your nephew assaulted a man who had an affair with his girlfriend. What did this mean?”
Being an eavesdropper, I thought I needed to hear more. But how was I going to get more information since these people were going to the woman’s parents’ home where the discussion was scheduled to take place?
Maybe my cousin was going to ask me to accompany them, but I did not have sufficient time to engage myself in that issue.
It was as if my cousin knew what I was thinking when he asked his sisters-in-law what had really happened.
What transpired the previous night was that, the son to one of the women was found by another man hugging a woman. The woman happened to be the other man’s girlfriend.
Without saying anything the man confronted the two who were hugging and threw a punch. The young man ducked and the blow landed on the woman’s face.
Sensing danger, the young man freed himself from the woman and retaliated hitting the attacker right, left and centre.
When the man fell down, he kicked him ruthlessly until he became powerless.
The youngman then dragged his rival to the woman’s parents and told them he had beaten the man because he had attacked them and assaulted their daughter.
The woman who was explaining this said the woman who was hit on the face had sustained a big cut on top of her eye.
When the woman’s parents saw the injury on their daughter, they grabbed the powerless man and dragged him to the police post.
“The man was shouting that he had caught his wife with your nephew, but your nephew was also claiming that the woman was his wife,” explained the woman.
She said the man who was claiming to have been the first one to have fallen in love with the woman had a child with her, but did not marry the woman.
“Your nephew also has a child with the woman and has not married her,” she explained.
The woman explained that the other man had abandoned the woman after impregnating her until she gave birth.
“That man has not married the woman but has a child with her. Your nephew fell for the woman after she was abandoned and he also has a child with her,” narrated the woman.
She said after the woman’s parents dragged the man to the police, their son took advantage and ran away with the woman.
“It is for this reason that her parents have called for us. I am sure they want your nephew to formalise the marriage,” explained the woman.
The other woman, who was the mother to the man, chipped in, saying she would not allow her son to marry an immoral woman.
“She has so many men and she has another child with another man, meaning she has three children with three different men. How can your nephew marry such a woman?” the woman lamented.
I saw my cousin fidgeting on his seat. Surely, this was not an easy matter to handle.
“But can’t we go there on Saturday when I will be free? As you can see, I have received a visitor and I can’t leave him alone,” my cousin said pointing at me.
As the other woman tried to say something, my cousin’s cell phone rang.
He picked it and answered.
I heard my cousin say: “Yes. It is Potipher. I will come with him soon.”
Then he looked at the women shaking his head.
“You see. It is my uncle who has called. He wants to see this cousin who has just come from Ndola. I am now taking him there. Let’s see those people on Saturday,” he said.
I saw the two women get to their feet and one of them said: “Alright, we will arrange for Saturday.” And they walked out.
After they had gone, my cousin said it was our uncle who had called and wanted to meet me.
It seemed I had served the day for my cousin. For comments:potipher2014@gmail.com. 0955929796/0966278597