CHAPTER 80

Tere turned behind her only to find out that it was Purist. Did Purist hate her that much? 

Tere put the knife and forcefully put it on Purist's arm. She removed the apron and put it on Purist. 

" Do it then since it will make you a less maiden" said Tere who left angrily.

Ruth took off the apron and threw the knife in the sink. She indeed felt bad at the way her mother had spoken to her. Ruth followed her mother to her room where she was already nursing the baby whom she doubtfully felt she was a girl. 

" I am sorry at how I offended you Mama. I shouldn't have spoken to you the way I did since you are my mother and I love you very much" said Ruth smiling. 

Tere was silent for a while but since she loved Purist so much, she handed over the child to Purist. She wanted to go and use the washroom. 

As soon as she left, Purist quickly removed the clothes from the baby just to confirm if indeed it was true that the baby was a girl. She found out that it was indeed true . Unluckily, Martin entered at the same time and saw the fact that the baby was indeed a girl. 

" What! This child is not a boy rather than a girl .This means that Haggai and I have been cheated all this while. I can't believe it" said Martin as he sat on the couch angrily. 

Tere came out from the washroom as soon as Martin had finished talking. Luckily, Purist had finished dressing up the child once again. 

" Give the baby to Tere and come and sit beside me" Martin ordered Purist. 

Purist obidiently gave the baby to Tere who sat on top of the bed leaving the baby to play with some of her toys. 

" Tere! What is the gender of this child who came out as a result of your affair?" Asked Martin even though he had already known the truth .

Martin wanted to find out if there was still ant good left in Tere and then try to sympathize with her. Maybe if she told the truth, then she would get a second chance to be with the family. 

" Why Martin? Is that what you can ask me right now? I can't believe that you are asking me for the gender of my child. I am totally depressed by you. Of course the baby is a girl .Who does not know that? " Said Tere .

What!

Did Tere just confess that the baby was a girl? 

It was possible that it was not what she wanted to say but the look on Martin's face did not give her a chance to defend herself. Tere had known Martin too well because she had stayed in the marriage for more than five years.

" Why Tere? Why did you fear to say that the baby was a girl ? Tell me why" Martin shouted at Tere still seated at the couch. 

Tere had never seen Martin filled with lots of fury like that before. She did not utter any word but kept looking at Purist as tears welled down her eyes. Anyway, she still knew that she had to speak out since the whole world was waiting for her to give a proper explanation. 

" Because I knew that you would not have liked it Martin. All you ever wanted was a baby boy and you never understood that a woman could give birth to girls only . That's why I felt that you wouldn't give my baby the kind of love that you gave Purist" said Tere as tears welled down her eyes .

" Who told you so? Did I ever tell you that I would never accept a girlchild into my life? This is like mocking God since he is the one who created that life inside of you. Why ? Have I ever told that I would not accept a girl for a baby? You are mentally sick woman and I think you need to be taken to the mental asylum. Women like you who cheat in the worst kind of ways deserves to die" Martin said as he open the door of his room and pushed Tere away. 

She therefore locked the room and remained with his own daughter Purist inside . Tere sat on the staircase since she had no choice.

" Papa! I did want your to find out the truth about that baby like that. That baby is my sibling. I just hope that Mama will get back and apologize" said Purist hugging Martin. 

" I had to know the truth about Tere and the baby. Marriages are built on trust and friendship but not pain and suffering. Once secrets starts being kept between two mutual partners, then it simply means that that marriage was never meant to be" said Martin filled with lots of pain.

Purist had never seen Martin sad like that before. Martin switched on the room ace. He therefore begged Purist to leave the room since he needed sometime to be alone. Purist gladly left the room without resistance since she felt that it was indeed true the fact that Martin needed sometime to be alone. She passed by the stairs and did not catch a glimpse on Tere only to be surprised that she was swinging on Magdalene's chair.

" Mama! What are you doing in my own grandmother's pride? This chair belongs to my grandma Magdalene and it's even written her name on it. Please look for another chair and sit on it Mama before I do my worst and kick you out of this chair" said Purist. 

This proved that Purist still considered Magdalene as her family .She had spent more of her days researching and finding out why Ruth's family left town filled with lots of fear. Purist never told anyone about the letter that was left for her.

Tere moved from the chair and sat down. She was indeed stressed out by the situation. She was still imagining how everyone at the closer gates would laugh at her once they knew the whole truth. All her pride as a mother would have been shattered.

" Why did you do it? Why did you have to look at the baby deeply well and came out with the idea that the baby was indeed a girl?" Asked Tere filled with lots of confusion. 

" Because I wanted to know the truth Tere. I wanted to know if it was indeed true that the baby was a girl or Ruth just lied to me. I did not know that Papa would find me in the middle of the investigation and realize the whole truth" said Purist who felt that she had done wrong. 

" You still did it. You still hurt me by what you have done. Couldn't you have asked me first to explain to you the whole truth?"

" And what if I asked you? Would you have been determined to tell me the truth? I am a hundred percent sure that you could have hidden it since you never wanted your secret to be known to the public. I am highly dissapointed in you mama. I don't even understand when you will ever be a good example to me the same way some other mothers train their daughters to be good people in future. The only thing that you teach me is the fact that being a thief and hurting other people is still a good thing. You make it clear to me that there is nothing wrong with that" said Purist as Tere slapped her. 

Martin slapped Tere in return. 

" You do not have to do that when all she is saying is the truth. You will never be a good mother Tere" said Martin angrily. 

 Tere stood and silently looked at both of them angrily. She felt that her pride as a woman had been insulted and no one wanted to understand her .

" If I am not a good mother. What makes you a good father? You married a little girl at the age of sixteen because of your own selfish gains. It's like you bought her because you paid a lot of money for her bride price" said Tere laughing annoyingly. 

" Shut up! You do not know what you are talking about and the main reason why I married Ruth. You were busy at that time at the closer gates enjoying your sentence" said Martin. 

As much as Purist felt that she needed not to interfere with the matter, she still interfered with the matter. 

" I am the reason why Papa married Ruth. I wanted Ruth to be my mother because I felt she would have loved me just like you did. I did not know that someday you would threaten life for her to run away and never come back" shouted Purist at Tere who immediately ran to her room. 

Tere nodded her head in disbelief. She was filled with sorrow in her heart. She wondered how Purist knew the whole truth about the fact that Ruth left town because of the fear she had for Tere. 

This matter truly devastated  and depressed her  .

MARRIED AT SIXTEEN.