Our correspondent narrates a tale of betrayal by a close friend she trusted, proving the adage that your best friend is your worst enemy. The names in the story have been fictionalised, but nothing is made up. Read on …

I HAD a friend whom I trusted, loved and cared for so much. Her name was Mwangala. Mwangala and I were the best of friends, against a background of even closer ties between our two families for a very long time.
Mwangala’s mother and my mother, both widows, were almost inseparable when we lived in the same area in Lusaka and they worked for the same organisation.
After years of work, Mwangala’s mother unfortunately died following an illness that she battled with for some time.
It was such a difficult moment for my friend because she had now become an orphan as her father died earlier while she was quite young. After her father’s demise, Mwangala, her mother and a younger brother were the only survivors in the family, and the loss of the mother as well, (may her soul rest in peace) was unbearable.
At the point of her mother’s death, Mwangala had just completed her O’level studies and was awaiting results to proceed to university.
The funeral period was over; we settled down and moved on with life.
We both graduated from high school, although we attended different schools and qualified to go to university. When she died, Mwangala’s mother left two houses, one in Lusaka’s Chunga Township and the other in PHI area.
Mwangala then moved to Chunga with her grandmother (her mother’s mother) from Lusaka West where she lived with her auntie (her mother’s senior sister).
She raised money for her university education as well as school fees for her younger brother who was in grade five at the time from rentals from the PHI property. This source of income sustained their lives.
Mwangala was accepted at Nkurumah Teaching University in Kabwe. I got a place at one of the universities in Lusaka where I am pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism as I write this story.
It was at this time when I met a man that loved me and I loved him back. We got into a relationship and all was moving on well for us as “love birds.”
We were both happy with each other, we would go out together, visit each other and did all things people in love share and do together.
Being a friend and a sister, as I considered Mwangala, I shared my humble life with her entirely since we were childhood friends. I told her about this man I met, “X” as I would call him and I told X about Mwangala and X was gladly looking forward to meeting her.
When I shared my story of X with my friend, she was so happy for me and happier still that he loved me too as well.
At this time, X was pursuing his master’s degree in Law at another university while lecturing as his full-time job.
As the saying goes, “your best friend is your best enemy.” life continued to flourish between X and me on one hand, and between Mwangala and me, on the other.
We would contact each other to update ourselves on how things were going in our lives. We would call, chat and laugh as good friends — and very good friends at that.
I’d always wished the best for her life, encouraging her a lot on education, advising her on relationships as she always wanted to have a good and perfect man, a man of her dreams. I would always advise her that “if you want a good man, you have to be good yourself to attract such a man. It all starts with you …”
She would always ask me what I did to meet such a man as X as he was that kind of person she had always wanted, according to her. We would interact and laugh especially when she asked me this. I would tell her the plain truth (that I’d done) “nothing, it’s God that gives and Him who takes away, so wait upon God, He will bless you with what you wish for all your life.”
Months later, when her school closed, she decided to come and visit her auntie who lived just next door to my place. One happy day, I knocked off from school and because I had no airtime in my phone, I hadn’t talked to X the whole day and he hadn’t called either.
A day never used to pass without us communicating with each other; we often both made an effort to check on each other. I, therefore, felt so lonely and was terribly missing X and had no choice anymore, but to ask for my friend’s phone so I could call him since she was with me.
I happily called him and we excitedly chatted, feeling so good, love really was driving our lives and since I got “healed” after talking to the man of my life, I gave my friend her phone back and she seemed happy as well, as she watched me grinning, and sounding happy during our phone conversation.
Being my childhood friend, I trusted her beyond all reasonable doubt and, to be honest, thoughts of deleting X’s phone number from her dialed list in her phone did not cross my mind, not even for a second and so I left it like that. What a mistake!
A week later Mwangala left for Chunga where she lived, while X and I continued with our world of bliss, as well as with Mwangala calling, texting and chatting. Time came when I discovered I was pregnant and I told X about it. We discussed and agreed that what had happened had happened; he had no problem with it, life continued as usual.
As we normally did, Mwangala called to check on me and I decided to share my good news with her. “What? So you are seriously willing to get married to him? Hey! You guys are moving fast! But no, on the marriage part Manyozo (me) I wouldn’t advise you to get married now, it’s better you finished school first,” she said.
I felt rather disappointed because she always supported me in most decisions I made and especially that this one was my most important decision. I felt it was my best decision above all decisions I would ever make and she would definitely be overwhelmed immediately I broke the news to her, I was 100 per cent sure of that.
But now that she said and suggested the opposite, I felt so low and demoralised. I kept quiet for a second, thinking through, and I told her my heart out and especially that I was already carrying his child. Above all, I truly loved X with every fibre of my body, heart and soul and nothing could have hindered me from marrying him.
A few days later after I’d dropped the ‘bombshell’ to Mwangala, I noticed X started behaving strange. All of a sudden, he stopped calling me. When I made an effort to call him he would either keep the phone ringing, or pick up the call, but tell me “I’m busy call me back later or I will call you back” but to no avail.
I would send him text messages, but he wouldn’t respond. All of a sudden. As usual, I’d call my friend Mwangala and try to confide in her and seek her thought. Surprisingly, I thought she would sound as worried and concerned as I was, but to my horror, she would just laugh!
“Get serious. Why are you laughing? I am so worried by X’s attitude and you seem not to be bothered!”
“Ha-ha-ha-ha! You worry yourself too much. It will be well I’m sure he’s just busy,” she would say.
But I was so worried because such a thing had never happened ever since we met and no matter how busy he was, he would at least call me. It was close to five days now without our usual communication. So, I asked Mwangala to talk to X for me to find out what the problem could be or if perhaps at some point I said something unintentionally and he was offended.
I really was anxious to know what really the problem was. She agreed while still laughing that she would do that for me. And since they had never met before, I told her to just introduce herself because I had at one point told X about her and was very sure he would remember that, but I was surprised when she told me that there was no need for me to give her his mobile number because she already had it in her phone, she kept it the day I used her phone to talk to X. I saw nothing seriously wrong with her knowing his number, because I had my trust in her. She was more like a sister to me and I did not think of anything.
With this belief, I was fortified that if she spoke to him, things would get back to normal, but I noticed that his attitude was getting worse and worse till he now started switching off his phone, cutting my calls. But I wasn’t about to relent in my efforts. One weekend, I went to his place because I couldn’t stand the cold shoulder anymore, but unfortunately, I didn’t find him. The challenge was what time to go to his place and what time to find him home as he would be at work up to 17:00 hours every day and sometimes go to the university for his programme.
He was rarely home and I couldn’t visit him after 17:00 hours as he lived in Chilenje and I was in Lusaka West. At this point I only depended on the phone. So, the same day I followed him and did not find him home, while seated reflecting on what really was going on, questioning myself in and out, I received a phone call and when I checked to see who was calling?
It was none other than X! My heart beat, though happy, pleasantly shocked and afraid at the same time, I answered the phone in a calm voice, “Hello,” I said.
“Listen to me, I don’t want to ever see you anywhere close to my life! You’re nothing but a devil! Stay away from me and carry on with your evil ways! You deceived me! You made me believe I found someone when you’re nothing but a demon! You pretended to be decent when you are not? You hypocrite!”
“I thank God that I know the whole truth about you and who you really are! There is nothing you can ever tell me because I already know everything. Your friend Mwangala has told me all about you and your plans! All you want from me is my money and that bustard you are carrying belongs to her step-brother. Don’t dare dispute this because I have evidence he called me himself and commanded me to stay away from you! You should never ever call me or come to my place. If you are not satisfied with what I know go to court.”
I was devastated! The world was crumbling around me. Disappointed and depressed, I rang Mwangala. I did not believe she could stab me in the back as she did. I never thought such a thing would actually happen to me. I never ever knew that such a close friend like Mwangala could do that.
When I called her to ask why she did what she did? Why she ever did this to me? What wrong I ever committed against her to deserve such betrayal for God’s sake? How could she create such lies against me? She responded and said I should stop blaming her for my misfortune because it was not her fault if X decided to withdraw interest in me and that I should stop wasting time pleading for him because there was nothing I would tell him to change his mind.
I couldn’t believe my ears and I asked who I was speaking to: Was it Mwangala, really? She proudly responded that of course, “It’s me, who do you think it is?” And she cut the line!
I collapsed and was hospitalised for a week. I went through the most painful and depressing period of my life till I gave birth to a son. I looked after him and continue doing so with the aid of mum. After he grew up a little bit I returned to the university where I am currently.
Since 2012 when X left me to date, I have never seen him or heard from him; nor have I ever heard from Mwangala, either! He left Chilenje to work out of town. I pulled through the tough moment and vowed never ever to trust a friend again.
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