Chapter 3

That evening, the television showed a programme about Animals. Kamsi was not interested. The cramps she was feeling kept shooting up from time to time. She felt bored. She had been by herself almost all day. Mark returned home and tried to ruin the mood. She was no more angry with him as she had felt then. They had agreed on no eating outside unless they were together but Mark had gone against that more times than she could count. She still wanted to correct it. 

She went back to watering the plants after that she served herself some fruits from the fridge. She was turning her head wildly until she began to feel dizzy. She had always been that way - When she was bored, she did not know how to spend time with herself. 

She matched upstairs, allowing her flip-flops noisily announce her presence. She opened the door slightly to peek then widely. Mark was lying with his head buried in the pillow. She knew he was not sleeping. He seemed to be covering his facial expression. She walked quietly to the bed then jumped on him, laughing. He turned and managed to push her off then pulled her back almost immediately so she could sit on his crotch. 

"I'm still mad at you, " she said, pushing out her lips in a babyish pout. 

"I know and I'm sorry. I was just hungry at work. It will not happen again. "

She nodded, still pouting. 

"Where did you eat? "

"In the office, " he replied without hesitation. 

"I thought you said you ate on your way home," she countered, raising her tiny voice like a child that was accusing an older one. 

He laughed then pulled down her head to kiss her lips. She was stiff at first but soon she melted in his arms. She now lay on him, kissing him back and grinding against his crotch. He raised the polo she wore and caressed her bare skin. She kissed him on the neck, behind his ear before running her tongue up his ear. 

He took her mouth back in his, kissed her hungrily, kissed her chin, down to her neck till his head went underneath her polo for his mouth to play with her breasts. They later made love that evening , with very loud moans and the sound of the television high enough to cover their sounds of pleasure. 

Kamsi was the first to wake up after they slept off from the tiredness that set in after sex. She hardly slept for long. Mark was still sleeping, probably exhausted from work. She tried getting up to shower but he pulled her back to the bed, snuggling closer to her naked body. 

"Let's go make dinner, " she said. 

He held her for sometime then let her go . He soon joined her in the bathroom, helping her sponge while she also reciprocated. They walked down to the kitchen together after showering.

She cut plantains and potatoes while Mark found some dried meat in the fridge and chewed on it balancing on a kitchen chair. 

"Come, make yourself useful, " she said, pointing the knife at him. 

He dragged his legs across the kitchen floor then hit her on her head. Kamsi shouted in pain and he laughed.He started cutting onions to prepare the sauce.

"You would start eating eba at night if you continue eating out. " She said as he stood beside her. 

"No, please. Swallow makes me too heavy at night. " He whined like a child. 

"That's the only way forward. " Kamsi shrugged. 

They had dinner on the kitchen floor as Kamsi held her phone and looked through the W******p messages from Michelle.

"Was it Maka you were chatting with? " Mark asked as they washed the dishes .

"No," she replied. Maka was her childhood friend, best friend. No, her husband was her best friend. Maka was very close to her, like a sister even. 

"It was Michelle," she said, seeing that he really wanted to know who she was chatting with while they ate. 

He nodded then handed her a pot to keep. 

"Ella has been disturbing her to spend the holiday with us."

"That's not possible, " he said flatly, rinsing off his hands. 

She wrinkled an eyebrow. "How?"

He casually dried his hands on a towel at the window. "It's not possible. That's what I said."

"What is not possible? " She asked calmly. 

"She's not coming here for any holiday. "

He walked out from the kitchen, to the parlor and sat on his favorite seat, a single sofa that was directly in front of the big Plasma television . 

" Why? " Kamsi asked, coming to stand in front of him. "What's wrong with her coming?"

He ignored her and tuned endlessly through the channels without settling for any one then he threw the remote to the glass table in frustration. The remote came sliding from the table to the tiled floor. 

"I asked why," Kamsi said after watching the remote clatter on the floor, its battery already out. 

"I'll not be reduced to playing house with another person's child" he said, still maintaining his assumed calmness.

That was a strange utterance. She was shocked. It was written all over her face. What was suddenly wrong with the man. It was like when her step mother wanted to visit and he asked, " Why, doesn't she have a husband to take care of?" That was a bit understandable but then it was a little girl that was the issue. It was not understandable . It did not make sense at all.

"It's your brother's little girl we're talking about, " She managed to say calmly even though the outburst had somehow reminded her: look, you don't have a child. 

"I know that. " he said. 

He picked the remote and started to arrange it. Frustrated, he left it unfinished, dropped it back on the table and left the parlor. 

Kamsi settled on a seat. She felt wounded. The blow had been indirect but it still hit as hard as a direct aim. She knew people that stayed five years and had a child, some stayed ten years and still had hope. Three years. She still had faith. She knew she was not infertile. She could not be. 

Maybe if she had her own child, it might have convinced Mark that her own child needed company. It might have been different. Might.

She heard the sound of Mark's slippers on the stairs and then he bust out through the front door. She didn't even as much as turn to look at the door. Soon, she heard the sound of the car and the gate opening. Once again, a stray tear strolled down her face as she stared into space. 

She gathered herself up and spread out her legs in the cushion. Her mind travelled round, wondering how a conversation that was so harmless had gone South.