The Zenya Bernard Story by Ausin Mitchell - HTML preview

Chapter One

Dean Bogle couldn’t believe that Zenya Bernard had changed so much in four years. They had been batch mates in college and many

persons speculated that it was more than that. There was a rumor that they had fallen out because he got one of her friends pregnant. He had refused to own up to the pregnancy. One of his friends had stepped forward to claim the child. She was a senior teacher at Mc

Cauley High school in St. Catherine and was along with Karl

Watson. He was a businessman in the village. She was in her middle twenties, wasn’t married, but the mother of a little girl. Dean taught at the nearby Jackson Primary school. He had a woman, Tena Davis

in Norris. His baby mother was Kathy Tulloch and she lived in Portmore. He was also fooling around a teacher at the nearby preparatory school, Britney Rowe. Karl was known to have a lot of

women. He had three baby mothers. His main woman was Carlene Powell and she had two children for him. She lived in Norris two miles away. His other baby mothers were Nelly Ray and Portia Willis, both of whom have one child for him. Portia was with another man, Leroy Jones. Norton was another man who liked Zenya. Karl was in his middle thirties, was married, but separated from his wife. They have two children, a boy and a girl, both pre-teens. They live in Montego Bay with their mother. Zenya had told both Dean and Norton that she was a one-man woman. Norton was a mini-bus operator. Her baby father, Wendel White, was still interested in her and kept on calling and visiting her.

***

Zenya was at her house Friday evening when Carlene called her. Outside the rain was pouring down.

“Why are you along with Karl? Is it his money you’re after? Don’t you make enough as a senior teacher?”

“It was he who looked me, and that’s why I’m along with him. As a matter of fact, I wanted him.”

“My children need their father. Right now, he isn’t coming home because of you. They’re very unhappy when he doesn’t come home. You’re a cold, heartless woman.”

“I’m not that kind of woman. I always encourage him to go home to his children and his baby mothers. Am I the only one of his women that you called?”

“You’re the only one I know about.”

“Obviously, you don’t know anything about him.”

“I know enough to know that you’re fattening your bank account with his money while my children go hungry.”

“If your children are hungry, how is that my fault? Go and look for him and leave me alone,” she told her and ended the call.

***

There was a party being held in Norris that Friday night. Karl came with Zenya. Dean came with Britney. Carlene came alone. Wendel heard about it and came with his woman, Audrey. Carlene was sitting on a bench, drinking a malt beverage when Karl confronted her.

“Leave me alone. Go back to Zenya. You have two children with me and none with her and yet you prefer her to me.”

“It’s the children, I’m asking you about. Are they all right?”

“They should be all right, I left them with my mother.”

“That’s what you do all the time, if it’s not your mother, it’s some neighbor.”

“Leave me alone. You can baby sit them too, instead of being out here partying.”

The man she was dancing with, came back and she went to dance with him. Karl saw Zenya dancing with Wendel and walked out of the party. She went after him.

“You’re too jealous. He’s my baby father. You can’t stop me from dancing with him.”

Dean was dancing with Britney when he spotted Tena dancing with a guy he didn’t know. When the song finished playing, he went over to her.

“Why are you at this party and you didn’t tell me that you were coming?”

“I’m my own big woman. I’m free to do as I please. I’m not telling you what to do or where to go, so why do you want to dictate to me?”

Britney came over.

“Look who you’re partying with, Britney, of all persons. She’s trash, compared to me.”

“You’re no good, Tena. Any man in Keswick who hasn’t sampled you is because he doesn’t want to.”

“Talk about yourself. You know how many stories I’ve heard about you and countless men.”

Dean intervened and took Britney away. Karl and Zenya were

sitting down and arguing.

“Carlene called me, complaining about the amount of money you’re giving her children. She said that it’s not enough.”

“She’s lying, each month I give her a generous amount of money. I can only think that she’s spending it on herself that’s why it finishes so quickly.”

“She’s also complaining that your children hardly see you as most times you’re missing in action. You only spend weekends with me and maybe a day in the week. So where are you the rest of the time?”

“I’m with her when I’m not with you, but she wants me to spend all the time I have with her.”

“You have to choose between me and her. People are passing all kinds of remarks about the situation as it is. I’m tired of women calling to tell me to leave you alone."

Wendel came over and she went to dance with him. Karl made another attempt to walk out of the party, but changed his mind and went to buy a sorrel beer instead. Dean saw all of this and was tempted to ask Zenya for a dance. She had refused all his attempts. He found it strange that she would refuse to dance with him of all persons. It was when he saw Norton dancing with her that he was encouraged and came over. When the song finished playing, he went up to her, but she refused and went into Karl’s arms. When he returned, Britney was nowhere to be found. A man told him that she had gone outside. When he went outside, he saw her getting into a taxi. He shouted at her, but the taxi drove off. Frustrated, he went inside. He was drinking a sorrel beer when he saw a girl he knew. She was Ashley Marsh. He beckoned to her and she came over. He bought a sorrel beer for her.

“What happened between you and Britney? Why did she leave the party so suddenly?”

“She got angry because I was quarrelling with Tena and begged Zenya for a dance.”

“I will dance with you, but no sex, not for tonight.”

“Are you alone at this party?”

“Yes, I came by myself.”

“What about your baby father?”

“He and I broke up about six months ago. He was always watching me. If I talked to a next man, he would quarrel. But I don’t understand men anyway.”

“Maybe, when you get a bit older,” he told her.

“All the young guys are going crazy over Zenya. I know that you wouldn’t mind if it was you who was dancing with her.”