Chapter 25: Chapter 25
"Nwunye Engineer."
Kamsi raised her head from the game she had been playing on her phone . It was Ireti, one of the co-workers.
"Good morning, " She greeted the older woman.
"How you dey na? This one you are not talking today."
Kamsi briefly wondered if she had ever joined their conversation which comprises almost everything and nothing in particular.
" I just wan observe today," She said with a smile then returned her attention to her phone to dismiss the woman.
She did not like that nobody in the office ever called her name. It was 'Mrs Nwoko ' or 'Nwunye Engineer ' In the beginning of her marriage, she made it a point to correct people who called her, "Mrs Nwoko" by reminding them of her own name. It was wasted effort at the end.
A time like this, she was trying to have a name of her own and not just be known as the wife to a man. She believed she was more than that, she was more than just a wife. It was all funny. Who really was she then? Her office was a crowd of people, most of them barely finished secondary school even. That was who she was, a woman who worked in a place below her qualification.
A young man carried in a pile of files into the office. He went to Ireti to drop it, her table was closest to the door.
"Mba, mba. Find someone else," She protested, waving him off.
Everyone in the office had excuses to give.
"I'm going now sef," someone said even though it was just past twelve in the afternoon.
"I'm not well. I'm taking drugs, biko," someone else said.
One of the religious women they had in the office shouted, "Nye ya Mrs Nwoko. Onweghi ihe ona aru" - Give it to Mrs Nwoko. She doesn't do anything.
Kamsi, who had been quiet since the young man entered, stretched her hands towards him.
"Bring it, " She said.
The young man handed her the files and left. The room fell quiet. It was unusual. There were no chatterings. It was as if they had expected her to give an excuse so the young man would leave with the files but she disappointed them. She kept the files on her legs and began to work. It was their usual behavior - Pushing their work to the other unit because they felt the other unit which was the next office did not work. She always sat on the bench close to the window so she had no table. There were only two tables in the office and a very long one which people sat on and a part of it was even used to display homemade dettol, air freshener, bleach and liquid soup for sale.
After work, she strolled down to the gate to get a bike man. Bike men were not allowed to enter the headquarters. It was then Joseph called.
"Dede good evening, " She greeted holding the phone to her ear.
"Kamsi, how are you doing? It's been a while " He said.
"I'm well. It's work o. Work has been busy. "
He laughed, "I can understand. Working class woman. "
"Dede, how are you doing kwanu ?" She asked, laughing at what he said.
"I'm well o. Junior is now crawling so I'm happy he will soon be washing the car, " He said.
Kamsi laughed, " It's not like that na," She said.
"It's o. What's happening , Have you started the painting ?"
"Yes," She replied excitedly as she stood outside the gate and watched as bikes sped past her without calling any.
" I have something I worked on two days ago . Dede, it's beautiful. " she said.
" I'm buying it," he said firmly .
"I'll not sell it to you. I'll give it to you. "
"I want to buy it. I want to be your first customer. You can give me another one. "
" Okay. Let me call you when I get home. I'm on the road now," She said, tired of arguing with him.
"Alright ma'am, " he replied.
Kamsi flagged down a bike immediately the call ended. The bike stopped her just outside the gate. After paying the bike man she turned to knock on the gate but noticed the small gate was open. She pushed it and went in. She noticed the extra car in the garage. It was the White 'Honda Accord ' her husband's parents owned. Mark was making a call close to the garage when she entered and Papa's driver, Nnamdi was sitting on a seat under the shade of the garage.
" Madam welcome o! " He shouted.
" Yes. Good evening, " she greeted him all smiles in contrast to the rage she was feeling.
She walked faster to where Mark was now seated on the front stairs. Without greetings or pleasantries, she asked,
" You could not inform me that Mama and Papa were coming ?"
" Please this drama can wait. Go and greet them. They are inside, " he said, looking at the closed gate.
" I did not cook. What are we going to serve them? " she asked in a low tone.
" Woman, please just leave me be. For no reason, you have been ignoring me for the past two days and you want to form couple now. " he said. He looked at her briefly then stood as the gate opened and Timothy came in with a big black nylon.
"Just go inside and greet them. If you like, you can return to your room. "
Kamsi watched him walk to meet Timothy then shook her head in disbelief before walking into the house. She met her mother in-law and father in-law sitting on the long sofa backing the dining. The old woman's smile was enough to brighten her dampened mood. She stood up as Kamsi came in and enveloped her in a long hug.
" I told your husband that we would not leave until you return, " she said.
" Mama, " Kamsi laughed.
She bent down and greeted her father in-law who patted her back.
"Nkemjika, " he said pointing to her protruded stomach.
"Eh? " Kamsi asked, confused.
"Your son, his name is Nkemjika," The old man said.
Mama laughed. "Please allow God to decide. You and naming children that are in the womb."
"God knows my heart desires," The old man said. He began to clean his teeth with a toothpick.
Kamsi sat on a sofa and kicked off her flat shoes. She noticed the empty rice plates and the bones of chicken in a tray on the centre table with glasses that still had wine in them.
" I have been telling your husband to let me come and take care of you and he said Munachi comes to visit often."
Kamsi laughed covering her mouth wondering if it was Munachi - Michelle , the same one Mark had banned her from going to their house, the same one he pushed her to the floor for and left her to suffer alone.
" What is on your mind ?" Mama asked in her usual way of being able to detect the heaviness of a person's thought.
" There's nothing on my mind, " She replied with a smile.
"I don't believe you. I mentioned it the last time I saw you, " Mama persisted.
"Leave her alone. She is pregnant. That is what is on her mind, " Papa said.
Kamsi laughed and Mama laughed too watching her.
" Be calling me at times kwanu. You know I'm an old woman. I need all the loving I can get, " she said.
Mark came into the parlor with a tray containing a plate of snails and pepper sauce .
" Ah, look at your husband, he wants to kill us with food o," Mama complained looking at Kamsi who just smiled and shrugged.
"What we said is that we missed the snails and sauce Kamsiriochukwu makes. It is not this one you bought outside, " Papa said.
Mark sat on his favorite sofa and watched his parents without saying a word.
" Nwanyi, How is work treating you? " Papa asked.
"Odimma sir," She replied.
"Ngwanu, you people should eat. I warmed it . It's best now it's hot," Mark said.
" It's not the one we want. Kamsi why did you not do it this time? " Mama said.
"He did not tell me you people were coming, " She replied.
Mark relaxed into the seat and wiped his open palms on his face. Mama looked at him and shook her head. Knowing how hard headed he was, she wondered what could be going on in his marriage.
"We told him two days ago, " Papa said, looking at his wife for an affirmation. Mama nodded.
"I forgot. We have both been busy, " Mark said, obviously dreading the moment.
Two days ago was when she saw a woman in her husband's car and he had ignored her on the road.
Kamsi stood up carrying her shoes in hand. "I'm coming. Let me ease myself," she said.
"Go, please. It comes with your condition, " Mama said.
After Kamsi knew that in her absence, the older ones would admonish the stupidity out of Mark who would take up the role of a respectful son. She tiptoed to the kitchen.
"Marriage is not an office you are elected to where you make all the decisions. It's two people that are elected in. You work together to grow," Papa said.
"What happened? " Mama asked with concern, looking at her son.
"Don't ask. Whatever happened, learn to act Mature. You people are almost three years in this marriage, " Papa said. She could imagine his forehead creased in annoyance.
On hearing the last part she remembered that their anniversary was in November, just a week away. She looked round the kitchen. The plates Mark had emptied the snails from were still on the cupboard. In the dustbin she saw the rubber plates he used to buy the rice from a restaurant.
She shook her head at the thought that her husband felt he could substitute her importance. It was even funny to her that he decided to get food outside for his parents just because of pride. He was too proud to let her know that his parents were coming. He was celebrating his infantile wisdom.
Mark's parents stayed till Six in the evening before they left. Kamsi sat in the parlor for a while with Mark in silence. He made calls, laughing into the phone and other times his concentration was on the television with a very mean face on.
She did not bother clearing the uneaten snails or the cups from the table. She just walked up to her room. She brought out the T-shirt she had bought to give him on their anniversary. She took it to her bathroom and placed it on the floor where she would match on it each time she stepped out from the bathtub. It gave her a satisfactory feeling as she went down stairs to the guest room to paint again.