Joe helped himself to a drink in the fridge and watched how Melissa worked in the kitchen.

‘I wish I could help.’

‘yes. It would be more useful than standing there and drinking soda from a can.

‘hey! That’s totally unfair!’

‘I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry, ilo siento!’

‘apology accepted.’ He smiled at the woman and moved to the counter to get her the bowl she pointed to.

‘gracias!’ she greeted

‘so, what are you preparing today?’

‘I’m making some soup I can carry over to Maria’s place and I’ll check on the girls.’pozole’

‘ummh…, isn’t that the soup that consists of vegetable and pork?’

‘si’

‘so, I’m starting to learn Spanish. This is good.’

‘I thought I should also make some enchiladas for you before leaving. Don’t worry I won’t take too much time.’

‘don’t worry, take your time. I can drop you over.’

‘gracias!’ her hands were still engaged. ‘those girls are beautiful senor Joe and they look strong like you. the last time I checked on them, one of them held unto my finger like some diamond and I could only laugh. She looked so cute and confused and wanted to laugh. I could see it in her face but she started crying and Maria had to breastfeed her. I can tell they’re going to be some playful and vibrant girls. Emanuella and Magaret. Such beautiful names.’

‘yes, I guess.’ Joe smiled to himself remembering how Maria had named one of the girls after his late mother and he could tell she still had a place in her heart for him. he was glad he could drop Melissa off at her place even though he had seen her yesterday. At least it would give him another opportunity to see her and the kids.

Not long after, he was driving off to her place and was whistling to himself as Melissa could tell he was still in love with his ex-wife. They got down from the car and headed to the door behind Melissa. The door opened before him and his smile died down. It wasn’t Maria who had answered the door, it was a man. Different thoughts began racing in his mind as Melissa entered also surprised but she hid it well.

‘hi…, you must be Joe.’ The young man greeted. He was young and good looking, no doubt and he had a little Spanish accent. This couldn’t be her cousin or a next of kin. It didn’t seem so. The atmosphere even felt tensed to give such assumptions.

‘’yes…, and you are?’

Maria came out to the living room and saw them.

‘hey Joe, I didn’t know you were coming over.’

‘it was impromptu.’

‘come in. I see you’ve met Carlos. A good friend of mine since high school. Carlos, meet Joe Brandon.’

‘we’ve met.’ Joe nodded and suddenly felt left out. Had he been imagining things. Was she really moving on without him with this guy she’d known since high school, probably her high school sweetheart.

‘the girl are asleep.’ She tried to hide her embarrassment at the look on Joe’s face. It was like he was ready to kick the man out of her house and it was so palpable. Carlos on the other hand made himself more comfortable and ignored the look on joe’s face.

Melissa on the other hand strolled into the kitchen to see what she could do to get herself busy and stay away from the tension in the room.

‘I just thought I could say hi and see the kids.’ He swallowed. ‘as I remembered you said they were asleep so I’d better be finding my way.’

Maria nodded and bit her lip watching him leave the house. She wished she could run after him and tell him that he just came to visit but pride made her stand her ground and receive full satisfaction that he was actually receiving a taste of his ‘own’ medicine. How he’d humiliated her before Tiffany at the airport and introducing her as his new fiancée.

‘you okay?’ Carlos broke into her thoughts.

‘yes.., my mind wasn’t here.’

‘it was on Joe, I suppose.’

Maria turned to look at him fully in the face. ‘what do you mean?’

‘it’s on your face honey. It was so transparent and you couldn’t hide one bit of it. You love him but you’re working extra hard to fight it.’

Maria went weak and sank into the cushion. ‘you’re right.’

He settled down beside her. ‘and do you want to keep fighting it or you want to release yourself into it?’

When she didn’t reply, he continued. ‘I love you Maria, I still do’ he held her hands and touched the finger containing the ring Joe had given her and her heart broke. He had actually proposed to her again and she had said yes, but now, it felt strange.

‘I’m not sure.’

‘I’ve known you to be a strong woman Maria and I would love to spend the rest of my life with you, but as fate would have it, this ‘Joe’ of a man seemed to have gotten to your heart first and I can’t go further. I wished I never left and I wished I met you again before you got married but I can’t do anything about it. I missed my chance in high school, but that won’t stop me from still loving you.’

Maria wanted to cry but she appreciated self control.

‘I know I’m the last person that should be telling you this but I think you need to let go and forgive anyone whom you’re still bitter against. It would do you a lot of good.’

Maria sat petrified as those words pierced through her soul like a dagger and that was when she knew she had not forgiven Joe and that was why she was still holding out on Joe, and reluctant to move on with him because of how he had treated her in the past.

And her late father, how could she forgive him, she had been living in bitterness against him and never imagined forgiving him, how could she. It was then the bible passage of the two debtors. Jesus had given the illustration about a debtor who owed more and had been forgiven but refused to forgive his fellow brethren who owed him less than he owed the master. He finally ended up in jail due to his lack of forgiveness till he could pay every dime he owed. This was ensured by the master. She had been reading it yesterday but she never imagined it to be speaking to her and now she was getting a clear vision of what she needed to do.

She embraced carlos as the tears came freely. She loved him but she couldn’t see herself spending the rest of her life with him. her heart belonged to Joe. It had always been.

‘thank you Carlos’ she managed to tell him. ‘and thank you God.’
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Salma raised her hands in relief when she saw Joe driving towards her as she stood before his house. He came out looking confused.

‘I got your message, is something wrong?’

‘we need to talk, I was thinking we should get to the coffee shop and have a little conversation. Something that could help you in the way you approach Maria.’

‘she’s decided to move on, I hope you’re happy now.’

‘excuse me, don’t make me look like some home crumbler when it was all your fault in the beginning.’ She calmed down.

‘look, all I want to do is to help you and the only way I can is if you listen to me.’

Joe relented. ‘I’ll drive.’

yummypie: Help me tell maria that she shld go 4 carlos cos me I want joe.

hahahahaha....yummypie!! ure funny oo

emsheddy:
bros u want another state of emergency for nairaland state? Babe abeg no bomb oh. Just glow. Dats all.

LMAOOOOOO!!!!

Smallwoman: I want to say thank you for this beautiful story and for writing it in a christian manner. I stopped reading novels on nairaland for some times now because the writers always put in all the unnecessary details mostly sexual which i consider unedifying but your novel has entertained and refreshed me in a Godly manner. keep it up and pls don't delay the next post.

am glad it could do that for you

Lysian: Bless you Glow #hugs#

hugging u right back sweetie!!!

emsheddy:
Only u wan take all the hug abi. Abeg e don do jor. Reserve small for others

hahahahahah...em oooooo,,,oya come and take ur own hug

Eneze1: Glow u are always a Darling, keep it up dear

thanks love

Rukitop: Oh I love love! can't help it but comment,this is a beautiful story @glow,keep glowing sweetheart . Lots of love

right back @ u babes....muahhhhh

Joe dug his fork into the last slice of cheese cake and allowed the sweet substance to melt in his mouth. He sipped his coffee and clasped his hands together waiting for what Salma had to tell him.

‘I’m sorry.’

He raised an eyebrow. ‘for what?’

‘for trying to separate you and Maria in the first place and for everything.’ She sighed. ‘but how could I give you a chance when you never trusted Maria. You believed every single lie and you wouldn’t even give her a chance.’

‘I had my faults. I can’t deny the fact that I was a terrible father and a poor husband.’

‘your words hurt Maria Joe. How do you think she survived those years with those words making a mark on her. she loved you and would have sacrificed anything for you. for you to have thought she would have cheated on you?’

‘what was I to believe, after the phone calls and the mails and the pictures. Do you know how humiliated I felt, how terrible I felt that I went out to work and my wife was cheating on me?’ how would a normal man react?’

Salma shook her head as her eyes began to mist. ‘she wasn’t cheating on you Joe, Maria was raped. She was threatened and sold for money. Our father was a big time debtor and he was dealing drugs. He became a heavy drinker when our mum died and he was owing the neighborhood gangsters lots of money. Money he definitely couldn’t pay back. Maria was still in high school then, almost through and I was just beginning.

We needed money since the rent was even hard to pay and we had no place else to stay. She was between jobs trying to make ends meet and trying to make life a little manageable. She worked so hard and read so hard that I thought she was going to collapse but she kept on, but everything shattered when father came home one night and demanded we were wanted, I was wanted because he felt I was the petite and pretty one. So many nights, he threatened to kill me and he hurt me so bad and Maria took all of the blows for me.

He would hurt her and beat her so much she’d be too weak to work the next day or read for the coming test. And then, she came home one night and didn’t see me at home. She suspected what had gone wrong and so she came heading to the mafia’s house and she saw that my mouth had been taped but they had not laid a finger on me. They were giving her an option due to our father’s debt. He had given one of us in exchange for his debt till he could pay back but he was never going to pay back.

Maria saw me and she told them to take her instead. She sacrificed herself for me and I could remember myself screaming and crying and telling her we could pay back some other way but the mafias were not ready to listen. They wanted one of us and they thought Maria was a good choice.

Joe was dumbstruck but she continued.

‘and so, Maria lived with them for four good years, forfeiting school and everything because of me and serving them. I couldn’t imagine what she went through in their hands and how she survived their evil and cruel desires. She never wanted to talk about it and she tried so hard to shut it out. She was treated like something bought, not really having value, except for the fact that Damon took her to his terrible parties and made her pose like a prostitute but what could she do? For a while, I did all I could to make some money, talked to some people and was finally through with high school, ready for college and so I started making plans on where we could live together and how she could escape. She had some savings and I went round looking for the grandmother our mom told us about and we found out she was alive after all these years. It was a miracle, I mean, we were finally going to have a place to live.’

‘some months later, our grandmother died, leaving us with her restaurant in Des plaines and Maria in charge. She worked diligently and didn’t have a love life till she met you. and then she met you and i couldn’t stop wondering who you were, I mean she wouldn’t even stop talking about you. she said you were so nice, lovely and caring, and when I saw you, I thought she had met prince charming. Someone who could help her overcome her past and understand what she had been through. She was so scared to tell you about everything because she had started falling for you and she didn’t want you to leave, but her past came back to haunt you after you two got married and you had Amanda.

Damon came back with a new friend telling her to come back to the ‘family business.’ And he had a new proposal for her after all, father never finished paying. I wondered how he even found her and he blackmailed her into having the old affair with him or he’d tell you everything, but she couldn’t. she loved you so much and what kind of person would she be if she cheated on you, she couldn’t bare it, and so, she thought she could explain everything before you got to hear wrongly but it was too late.

‘why didn’t you tell me this?’

‘you were not ready to listen.’

He held himself from cursing and closed his eyes to absorb everything. Maria had actually gone through this and how had he repaid her? he felt so guilty and terrible

‘did I mention that she was raped in your house, as punishment?’

Joe’s eyes widened. ‘what!’

‘she was, when they found her.’ she nodded. ‘I never told her this but do you know what I think?, I think Amanda saw everything that happened but she hid to be safe. I guess that was what led to the shock before the divorce. I would carry the girl and she would look strangely at me and I knew there was something she wanted to tell me. I managed to force some words out of her after the shock while I was alone with her. she talked about a ‘bogeyman’ hurting her momma and she suddenly started crying till Maria came over to carry her. I was too shocked to tell Maria but I linked two and two together and I knew that was what had led to the shock.

She had probably seen her mother get raped and that had led to the shock. Her eyes were raw from beating and there was a little mark of injury on her body we both tried to hide from you so as to avoid any further investigation.

‘and then the whole truth came out like a lie and you went wild and paranoid, you went as far as saying Amanda was probably another man’s child, one of the men she might have been having affair with. Those words hurt her so much because she was faithful to you and she thought you loved her so much you could trust her, but she thought wrong.’ salma was already dabbing her face with her handkerchief as old memories came rushing back. ‘I sometimes wonder why Maria had to be the one going through all these. I would do anything to see her happy again. I feel I owe her so much. She was ready to sacrifice anything for me, even her virginity.’

Joe covered his face in his hands. Maria was so selfless and he had been selfish to her. she had been faithful to him all through and had never stopped loving him but what did he repay her with? Nothing.

She had gone through so much, if only she could receive him and forgive him, forget her past and move on with him and their kids. For the first time in his life he felt proud to be a father to two beautiful girls and he vowed never to let any harm come to them and to love them every way he could.

He would spend any spare time he had with his wife and kids and he would never let the mistake of his past repeat itself

‘I have time…’

‘please don’t let it be too late.’

‘I’ll try’

Awww! My heart goes out to Maria,she's been through so much. I'm still rooting for her and Joe!
Glow babe,you are simply awesome. Reading this has awakened something inside of me, a deep longing to love God more.Walking in that love is sure to produce results. Thank you once again and remain blessed!

God! She really suffered, but her time for peace I believe is very near...God bless you really good

Diz story is wow..........av neva read anytin lyk dz b4,it d best,...thumps up

Tanx madam glow,I can now slip.muah.swit dreams

omg! Sisy glow i missd readin ur update i was ill o, i can c uv bin doin a splufic job as usual n d last episode of chocolates n sushi made me choke on my akara anyways dis lst update of urz has finishd my tisue its so touching,kudos 2 u swty.

. Ooooh,Maria luv.;(

c tears rollin frm my eye cos of Glow. . . 1derful amazin awersome mind-blowin nd repntanc story. Glow u r too much.

Love the story

Mehn, this maria don surfer, so joe sef na monster. Eeya maria, dont worry God s in control now.

I already see light at the end of the tunnel for Maria, Glow keep glowing and may Almighty God keep blessing and inspiring you *hugs*

emsheddy:
Only u wan take all the hug abi. Abeg e don do jor. Reserve small for others

Reserved strictly for ladies ;-)

u r simply mind blowing my darling glow. U too much my dear.

glow,abeg i get que o,y u gree mek maria sofa so much,ehnn,y*sobs*........joe's previous lyf got me tinkin abt all d pple i've judged without hearing their own side of d story...

Glow chai you no go kill person.
Sis Sade's husband is gay!!
You sure have your way with this ink o.

Choca :
Glow chai you no go kill person.
Sis Sade's husband is gay!!
You sure have your way with this ink o.

hahahaha...
haba choca naww...u wan spoil show for the ppl who havent started reading the atory or who havent gotten to that episode yet..lool
im glad ure enjoying the story sha...

jendell: glow,abeg i get que o,y u gree mek maria sofa so much,ehnn,y*sobs*........joe's previous lyf got me tinkin abt all d pple i've judged without hearing their own side of d story...

awwwwwwwwwwwwwww...me too ive judged some ppl in my lifetime without waiting to listen to them..
my story is a lesson though and im glad ure learning from it...
much love...muahhhh

emsheddy: u r simply mind blowing my darling glow. U too much my dear.

ose love

Jiteshell: Love the story

thanks jite!!

talk2b: Tanx madam glow,I can now slip.muah.swit dreams

sweet dreams hun!!!

Eneze1: I already see light at the end of the tunnel for Maria, Glow keep glowing and may Almighty God keep blessing and inspiring you *hugs*

hugs you right back!!! muah!!!

darlynlara: omg! Sisy glow i missd readin ur update i was ill o, i can c uv bin doin a splufic job as usual n d last episode of chocolates n sushi made me choke on my akara anyways dis lst update of urz has finishd my tisue its so touching,kudos 2 u swty.

lara loveeeeeeeeee......u never seize to make me laff..
muahhhhhhh

bongila: Awww! My heart goes out to Maria,she's been through so much. I'm still rooting for her and Joe!
Glow babe,you are simply awesome. Reading this has awakened something inside of me, a deep longing to love God more.Walking in that love is sure to produce results. Thank you once again and remain blessed!

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww......
im happy that my story did that for uu..