15 Misguided Information

Tinka knocked on the door to her mother's house. She wondered why the door was not being answered. She had packed up her load with the aim of going directly to Raymond's house but she had decided to get some real advice from someone that loves her unconditionally – her mother. She had been standing there for more than three minutes and the door didn't portray the fact that it might be opened. Suddenly, the door opened and she stared at the sleepy face of her mother. She had known that her mother would be at home because she passed by her shop and met the sales girl there.

"Tinka oligye (are you well)?" her mother called, surprised.

"Good evening ma" she knelt halfway, embracing her mum.

"You did not tell me you are coming, come inside." She entered with her mother following behind.

"Oh… mummy, I am sooo thirsty" she proceeded to the kitchen and pulled out a pack of juice. She returned with a full glass of juice in one hand and the remaining pack of juice in the other.

"What is with the luggage? Where are you going?"

She sat on the chair opposite her mum. "I was

going to Ray's house but I decided to stop by your place."

Her mother laughed. "The route to his place is

different from mine, so get another excuse."

Tinka smiled but the smile soon faded out.

"Mum, I need your advice. Ray wants to replace me."

"What?" her mum exclaimed. "Don't joke with

something so serious."

"I am not joking mum. For the past few days, I have been calling him but he has refused to pick my calls. I tried using another number but immediately he heard my voice, he hung up. I am tired mum."

Bewildered, her mom replied, "And you are telling me just now?"

"I am sorry mum. Do you know the most ridiculous part of all this? The other lady is his maid. Can you believe it? A stupid maid" she hissed.

Mrs. Besigye could not believe her ears. "Don't just fold your arms while your husband is being taken from you; this is not how I ended up in your father's house." She almost yelled.

"Then what do I do mum, that is why I came here."

"Ok… here is what you would do…."

Sleeping while Luciana is missing was obviously

an impossible task for Deo. He left the room

after he had called Caleb. Caleb had told him

that the police was out, searching for Fred. The

pictures of Fred now graced every corner of the

nation with the promise of a handsome reward for

anyone who would lead them to Fred. He hadn't taken anything since morning and his stomach was

beginning to complain but he had no appetite. He sat on the chair in the sitting room with his thoughts scattered. He took out his phone and

started going through all the pictures again. His

album was filled with pictures of Lucy. You can

never get tired of looking at her pictures; the

more you looked, the more attractive they became.

Tears threatened to break free and he quickly

blinked them away.

"What is this? My son is getting emotional, right

here in my sitting room?"

Deo looked up and saw his father. He smiled and gave him a huge hug. 'At least, he would have his best friend to talk to', he thought.

"Good evening dad."

"Good evening my boy. I don't need to ask how you

are doing because it is obvious that you are not

yourself. I would bet my fortune that the problem has to do with a woman" he sat beside his son. "She is a beautiful one" his eyes were fixed on Deo's phone which was displaying Luciana's picture.

Deo had heard it said before that men love their mothers more while women love their fathers more. That logic did not apply to him.

The love he had for his father was great and even

though he still loved his mum; it was not as much

as he loved his dad. Though his dad chastised him

at times, he was still his closest friend. No problem

brought before him could leave the same way it came. Although, in this case, he seriously doubted that anything would happen to his problem this time.

"She is a rare gem dad" he responded, dropping

the phone on the table.

"I can see that" he looked at Deo with worry lines on his forehead. "Last time I checked, she was just your friend. Has something changed?"

The question did not quite sound like a question

because the answer was very clear.

"That status changed four days ago" it seemed

more like an eternity ago.

"Hmmmmm" his father grunted, waiting for him to proceed.

Deo stood up and started pacing. "But what is that when she is nowhere to be found?"

"What are you saying?"

Deo exhaled slowly. "Lucy is missing dad."

"What?" He exclaimed. "Are you sure she didn't

travel or… Or run away with someone."

"No. None of that happened. All her things are in

the apartment, including her phone" he exhaled

again and proceeded to explain everything to

his father: Mrs. Mbabazi's dream; the empty house;

Fred's disappearance and all the efforts they had

put in finding Lucy.

Mr. Mwesigwa just stayed there, listening without

interrupting his son. When Deo finally landed,

silence prevailed for the next couple of minutes.

"What if he is not in Ajumani?" Deo raised his eyes to his father.

"Yes. If I killed someone which is impossible, I

would flee. If I am running away from the cops, it would be stupid of me to tell someone where I am running off to when information can easily be coerced from that person. The only way I would do that is if the information I am passing on is wrong."

Deo stood with his eyes fixed on his dad. There was always an added advantage when you talked to him. His ways of looking at things were always

superb.

"I never thought of that… I will search the whole planet if I have to. I must see Lucy and that bastard will pay."

"And if the dreams are true, then your girl is in

danger. She must still be in Kampala. We need to

start a thorough search for her here. Go to every

hospital and mor-"

"Don't even mention it dad" Deo cut in, alarmed. "She is not dead."

"OK son."