Chapter 16: Chapter 16

A knock on the door woke Kamsi up. She opened her eyes and stared at the window waiting for another knock. As soon as she pulled up the duvet to cover herself properly, another knock came. She turned the table clock to check time before she swung her legs off the bed and into her flip-flops. It was still noon. She was not expecting anyone . Mark seldom returned home at noon and he loved to use the bell.

She walked down in her blue checkered pyjamas. She got to the front door and peeped through the small window beside the door. It was useless if the guest was short but the guest was tall, very tall. It was her brother in-law, Joseph . She pulled off her hair net  and tried tying her braids with a single braid. She thought of what he would think of her, if he would understand those lies she planned to tell.

"Dede. Good afternoon, " she said as soon as she opened the door.

"Kamsi," he replied, "How are you doing? "

"I'm fine, sir. Please come inside. "

"I'm not staying for long . I came to know how you are doing. Your line has been switched off."

"Yes, my phone is having problems, " she replied, smiling more than she needed to.

He looked at her for a while before he asked, "Can I come inside? "

"Umm, yeah. Sure"

He sat in the parlor while she ran and hurriedly cleared the dining table which she had not done since after breakfast. She had been tired and all she wanted then was to sleep.

" I'm not really a fan of repairing phones but I have someone who can look into it. If it's a repairable fault, he'll fix it. If not, we would buy you another phone, " Joseph said.

Kamsi placed her hands on the cushion backing the dining as she thought of what to reply. It was still a surprise to her. Joseph  had always talked to her from a distance like a sister in-law but her business had never been his business.

"It's nothing too big. I think it's just that it fell on the ground, " she propelled her mouth to say.

"Can I see the phone? "

"No, I have been... It is with my husband," she stammered, her lips broad in a smile to support her statement.

Joseph saw beneath the facade, he did not want to push the curtains of her pretense. He smiled, nodding his head then he stood. His eyes moved round the room then back to Kamsi.

"I got you a job. You did not care to let me know you would not be going there," he said.

With her silence, he continued, "It was your boss that called me to let me know you did not report to work."

He seemed angry. Kamsi had never seen him angry. All lies she had planned, fled her mouth.

"I'm sorry, " she said.

"It's fine. I only came to see that you are alright."

" I'm sorry. I should have called you, " she replied, her head bent and fingers intertwined.

He nodded then started walking to the door. Kamsi followed, wishing his legs were shorter then his pace could be slower. It would give her time to decide if she should let him know all or not.

'No it's my home," she thought, " No third parties."

"I told you if you need anything, you let me know, " he said before he stepped outside to the stairs outside the front door.

She nodded then stood at the front door and watched him walk to his car which was parked outside the garage .

"Kamsi, call Michelle. She has been worried ! " he shouted.

"Okay. I will !" she shouted back.

Her heart waited for his car to leave the compound before welcoming a different kind of heaviness. At that moment, she was not sure anymore if her decisions could be ranked in any place close to wise.

She walked back into the house thinking of all the decisions she had been making.

"Did any of it help me ? " She asked in her solitude .

She knew the painful reply the empty room could not give. She knew the reply, spoken or not because she was wearing her pyjamas at home on a working day. She was just a wife with alot of dreams that were never pursued .

She scratched her head wildly . Different things were running through her head. She could not stop wondering what her step mother would do in her situation. Her step mother was a strong woman, a different woman. She was nothing like her.

Her thoughts could not stop the fish she had been craving. She had not been one who preferred fish, but lately, it seemed she was addicted to it. She stood up from the cushion she had collapsed on after Joseph left and walked to the kitchen.

Dried fish was still in the oven. She didn't bother getting a plate, she just sat on a seat in the kitchen eating from the oven.

She showered quickly before coming back to the parlor .

Once she lay on the cushion in the parlor, her eyelids closed in sleep . She was still sleeping when a knock sounded on the door followed by the bell.

She turned on the sofa, annoyed. The knocks always came when she was enjoying the sleep. She knew that it was Mark at the door.

"It's like you and your brother planned to disturb my sleep today," she muttered as she walked to the door.

She opened the door to Mark who pecked her on the side of her head then dimmed his eyes while accessing her.

" You have not had a bath today? " he asked.

She took his suitcase instead and dragged him from the door so she could lock it. He was not to be blamed. She was wearing the same pyjamas she wore in the morning.

"I have had my bath, " she said.

" Not true. I perceived you from outside the gate, " he said, covering his nose.

"Will you stop !" she scolded going upstairs.

She stood close to the window in the room and watched him undress. She turned the words she wanted to say to him over and over in her head.

" What? Do you want me? " he asked.

He walked close to her in just his briefs and her eyes could not resist greedily taking in his body in all its magnificence. She knew that body, it was hers any day but not at that time.

" What about the work? " she asked.

He  pinned her to the window with his body and traced a finger around her neck down to her chest through the open collar of her pyjamas shirt.

"Let's talk about work later okay? " he whispered. She shivered involuntarily.

"I want to know now. " she tried pushing him off. He was unyielding and she could feel the bulge in between his legs pressing through her trouser.

His lips claimed hers and she still was not giving in. It did not stop him from groping her butt and hungrily biting her lips down to her neck.

"Mark, please stop. I'm not in the mood," she cried.

"Babe, please. "

He groped her butt and began to grind against her.

"Please," he pleaded again, "please."

"Stop, stop,  stop." she said, exhausted.

"Stop what? You are my wife. Is it now a crime to make love to my wife? "

He pulled away, his eyes on her and she also looked at him thinking that was the moment he wanted to reason.

"I'm not in the mood. Please, " she said.

His mouth claimed hers again more fiercely than before. Tears streamed down her eyes as she thought of all the things she could do to free herself but she could not. He was her husband.

"Wait, wait," she breathed out, " I'm in my period."

She mentally slapped her forehead. It was a poor attempt for a pregnant woman. It was a lie that had worked for her in times like this, she did not want to succumb.

" Just small. Is that why you are now lying? Just small.. small" he begged. It was only times like this that humbled the man.

Her legs left the ground as he carried her to the bed. She still struggled underneath him. He held her hands caging her to the bed.

"Kamsi, it's me. Stop," He scolded.

She managed to push him off her because he carelessly thought she wanted to be on  of him.

She scrambled off the bed and ran closer to the door. She did not ever know how to deal with an urge driven Mark.

"What's wrong with you naa. I will easily let you go if you don't want it. Why are you running? " he said, laughing like he found her childish.

"I have so many things on my head and no! Sex won't solve any of it," She replied.

She held the door handle ready to run if it came to it. He had never beat her before but he had forcefully had sex with her in the past. She did not like to think of it as rape because people had made her believe  that a husband could not rape his wife. Forcefully or not, it was his right.

"It's been a week. Tell me what is going on about the job," she asked, her eyes watery as she stared  at him.

He was sitting on the bed with a pillow in between his legs. He stared at her in his usual of questioning her sanity with his eyes. It always made Kamsi uncomfortable and she bent her head unable to withstand his gaze anymore. She found the floor and her bare toes more appealing at that point.

"You will work after you put to bed. Now is not a good time for the baby, " he said, watching her for her reaction. When all he got was a woman whose head was bent to the floor, he lay, hurdled on the bed with his back to her.

Kamsi walked out of the room but not without a plan . She realized with a pain that caused her whole being to convulse in tears, that it was wrong to ever hope on him.