The Golden Frame

She had seen him sitting on his chair, eyes wide open, breathing spasmodically, and unable even to whisper the shortest word possible Nhamo Muchagumisa Hilda was furious. How could a shame like Lyna wish to share her moment of glory? Lyna of all people who had allowed an uncle to steal from her the bloom of early womanhood? Lyna who had to complete her degree programme three years after abandoning her studies to chase the desires of the flesh? Her friends knew what a disgrace Lyna had been to her family and neighborhood, so her presence at the party would be a great embarrassment. Hilda had won a nurse of the year award at the private hospital where she worked, and the province had concurrently run the best hospital contest, and the hospital that employed her had emerged first in the province. In addition to the financial dividends she was paid at the hospital, she also earned two other financial rewards, one from the provincial ministry and the other from the Ministry of Health. The newspapers were full of her pictures in hospital regalia.