Chapter
4
Mari Village, Kenya
Amid the round, thatched huts of the native village, Luke Spencer walked slowly
with a look of sadness on his face. The natives stared at him in confusion as
one by one he passed them in total silence. They did not need to be told that
something was wrong with their friend. Ever since he came to their village,
five years ago, he had never failed to say a kind word to each person he
passed. Now he walked by as if he didn't even see them.
At the end of the long row of huts, stood one as large as three of the others
put together. Before entering the hut, Luke stopped to look at the handpainted
sign which hung next to the door.
Much of the beauty of the sign had disappeared over the last five years, as the
paint became more and more faded by the sun. Reaching out with one hand, he ran
his fingers over it, watching the paint chips fall to the ground. What memories
this old painting held for him.
After hesitating for a moment, Luke gathered his courage and entered the hut.
Robert Scorpio sat in an old rocking chair at the far end of the room. He
watched as Luke took a sheet of paper from his coat pocket. Luke stared at the
paper for a moment and shook his head in disbelief. A tear fell from his eye
and blurred the ink as it hit the paper. Robert cleared his throat to alert
Luke to his presense. Luke jumped at the unexpected sound.
"Hello Robert," he said trying to keep his voice from showing any
trace of the pain he felt.
"Luke, welcome back. How was your trip to London?" asked Robert in charming
Austrailian accent.
"Ok."
"Ok? You spend three weeks in London with that beautiful wife of yours
and all you can say is that the trip was ok? By the way, how is Jennifer?"
Luke turned to face Robert and said slowly, "She's fine, but I need to
tell you something. Robert, Jennifer and I are no longer married."
"What?"
"That was why she asked me to come to London to see her. She wanted me to sign
the divorce papers. It's over, Robert."
"But the two of you were so much in love. I know she went back to London because she couldn't stand African
climate, but to divorce you us something else. I didn't know the two of you
were having trouble with your marriage. Why didn't you tell me?" Robert
asked with concern.
"Because I didn't know either. I knew that she was not happy here and that
she wanted me to return to London with her, even though she knew I
couldn't. But the last time I spoke to her, she sounded like she understood. I
guess I was wrong."
"But what reason did she give for the divorce? I mean she had to give the
judge a good reason for divorcing you or else he wouldn't have granted it. She
couldn't just ask for a divorce because she didn't like where you worked."
"She filed on the grounds of abandonment," said Luke.
"Abandonment?" Robert said with disbelief. "That is total
nonsense. You never abandoned her. In fact, she is the one who left you."
"Jennifer said that it was because I refused to go back to London with her. She knew perfectly well
that I had a ten year contract to work here for Mr Quartermaine. She knew tht I
couldn't just pack my bags and leave whenever I felt like it. She told the
judge that since I wouldn't accompany her back to London, that I loved my job more than
her. So she claims that I abandoned her for my job."
"That is ridiculous," said Robert. "Why weren't you notified
that she had filed for divorce? You had a right to know."
"I was notified, but I didn't know about it until it was too late. I was
off leading a safari when it arrived. The paper I got said that if I didn't
respond by the specified date then the divorce would be considered to be
uncontested. By the time I received it, the date had passed. So the judge
decided that I also wanted the divorce."
"When did you receive the notice?"
"A few months ago, but when Jennifer called and said that she wanted to
see me, I thought she had changed her mind. I thought she wanted me to come so
that we could reconcile our differences and save our marriage. But when I got
there, she refused to even speak to me."
"That doesn't sound like the Jennifer I knew," said Robert.
"I know," Luke said. "She has really changed since she left here
last summer."
"Changed? How?"
"I'm not sure. She just acts differently. Her clothes, her moods and even
her whole attitude seemed different. She is not the same Jennifer Smith I married."
"Luke, I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do for you? You were such a
great comfort to me when my beloved Anna died two years ago. Now I would like
to repay your kindness," Robert said.
"There is one thing," Luke said.
"Just name it and consider it done."
"I want you to get rid of all the things she left here. You can send them
back to her. You can give them to the villagers. You can even burn them for all
I care. I just want them out of here, today if possible. I don't want anything
to remind me of her. I'm going to take a walk and try to clear my head. I'll be
back in about an hour."
"All right Luke."
On his way out the door, Luke stopped to look at the faded sign again.
Everything on the sign, from the careful painting of the jungle animals to the
beautiful calligraphy forming the word 'Office,' reminded him of the day
Jennifer had given it to him after weeks of working on it in secret. He had
always treasured it, because she had made it just for him. Now all it held was
painful memories of a love that was dead.
He stuck his head back into the hut. "Robert, you can start by burning
this sign. We need a new one anyway." Taking one last look at the sign, he
walked away.
