Chapter 44: Chapter 44

Okechuku's hospital was repainted. The change was not obvious except for the three blue lines that were painted at the centre of the wall to run from one end of the building to another end. In the reception, Christmas decorations of  red and green glittery ropes still hung from a pillar to different ends of the hall. As always, people sat with their tallies in the reception waiting for their turn or for a nurse to call them.

There were obvious changes in Okechuku's office. Kamsi noted that the framed picture of him and his daughter had changed to one where he was carrying the little girl who was on a Christmas cap. There were also felicitation cards arranged neatly on the Couch in his office. She noticed for the first time, the carton of teddy bear and toys at one corner of the room and also the color of the curtain which was white, nothing different from the paint.

Other times, she would not have noticed but unlike other times, she knitted her fingers and looked around the office, to note another observation as Okechukwu wrote on the white paper in front of him. She was uncomfortable and covered with little dust of shame after what he had witnessed in the village.

"Do you have pain anywhere? " he asked. He quickly glanced up at her and began searching for something in his drawer.

"No," She replied.

"You would go for ultrasound and  these other screening tests I wrote down here, " He said, handing over the paper he wrote on to her. "It's up to you if you want to know your baby's gender but these tests I recommended are very important. "

Kamsi nodded, looking at him trying to know if it was the right time to apologize  for the embarrassment Mark caused him or rather, the one she had deliberately started.

"Do you feel  pain anywhere? "He asked again, maybe because she was supposed to be standing up but she was still seated.

"No, I'm alright, " She replied.

"Alright, you can find your way to the lab, yeah? "

Kamsi nodded then sighed. His attitude was the same as it had always been but she felt there was something hanging in the air - words that needed to be said. She sighed again and let it out.

"My husband said I should apologize to you on his behalf. He is sorry. "

Okechukwu gave out a small laugh while accessing her. Kamsi understood . It was only ridiculous that the apology  was not coming  straight from the offender and also, it was a lie.

"It's alright. It's just one of those things." He said.

"And I'm  also sorry," Kamsi added and she meant it. Afterall, she was the one who added gasoline to the fire.

He gave out a small laugh again and Kamsi knew it was not because he found anything amusing but because he lacked words.

"It's okay, " He said, then tore out a sheet from a little note pad on the desk. After writing on it, he handed it to Kamsi. "Give this to whoever is in charge  so you don't have to queue up."

The small sheet of paper worked the same as a fifty naira note in a roadside Police officer's palm. While most people sat around waiting for their turn and some even loitered around the terrace, she was ushered into a room to be attended to.

Kamsi lay on the hospital cot then the lab scientist began to run the machine round her tummy that was wet with lube.  The wetness reminded her of the water  she had poured on Mark's face. It was from the bucket in the bathroom. She had done it without thoughts but she loved the way he closed his eyes as the water ran down from his face.

"We are going back home now," he said. It was the first words he spoke after he wiped his face with his hands.

It had all started with a question that came from  pit of trust issues in their marriage. "Why are you intent on insulting my person? "

Kamsi blinked her eyes and stared at the man that was sitting on a stool  while  slowly, moving a machine round her tummy. When he was done, she sat up and cleaned herself with the roll of toilet paper  another man in the room handed to her with a piece of paper which she allowed to fall.

She was directed to the other tests which the doctor had recommended then she found herself walking back to Okechuku's office when she was done. She reached the office but passed and proceeded downstairs and to where her car  was parked.

In the one week she had spent in Okigwe since they returned from the village, she had made calls that would later determine what the year would be like. If she had leave, she had to have plans.

She drove to her work place and signed off before driving to a restaurant close by. She was not hungry for food but for  more hours of fresh air which was free from Mark's scent. She ordered a can of yoghurt and poured it in a glass cup bit by bit with her eyes on the door each time it opened on sensing an approaching body.

She thought of the words she should have said instead on that day or the silence she should have given in response. It was the first day of the year which had started properly. She should have remembered but instead she asked after his question , "Have they started manipulating you this year?"

" I'll just be candid with you. That rubbish you are doing with Okechukwu, it has to stop," He had replied instead , with his authority displaying in his stance.

It was  after then that the water landed on his face and she had waited for his response. Oddly praying that he would hit her  but only greeted with disappointment when he said, "We're going back home now "

"You are not mad! " She had shouted, "Don't allow the devil to start with you this year."

He said nothing but began to remove his clothes from the hanger and carelessly  fling the hangers to a side of the room.

"Listen to me, " Kamsi said, tapping his back. "I'm not a thing, I'm breathing. I have a plan too. You can not try to push me about. I'm supposed to be your wife."

"You seem to be forgetting that, " He said, zipping his box. "Pack your bags, Kamsi before I return. "

"I have said it. You are not mad and I am not. Let's respect ourselves. It's getting late. We can travel tomorrow " Kamsi said, following him as he walked to the door.

"Woman, do not try me this evening. Your sense should let you know that I have made up my mind."

Their voices were rising. Mark was trying to be calm but Kamsi did not want that. She went to him and knotted the collar of his shirt.

"All the times you cheated on me, did I hold it against you? " She shouted, her body pushing against him.

Mark only tried to loosen her grip on his shirt. "Kamsi let go of my shirt," He said, hitting her hand.

"I will let you go. But you should know that what goes around comes around. If thinking that I am cheating on you with no other but your in-law, is what makes you happy, that's fine. You are free to think. "

She finally let him go but stepped back and still stood in front of him, watching his anger boil until it was at hundred and then a slap proved it. She would have kept silent because they were in the village house and she did not want people to be invited into her marriage, but she wailed. She held her cheek and wailed. The slap stung and she even thought that her cheeks tore apart. She kept wailing loudly enough to attract whoever cared. That was her aim.

Mark got back to the wardrobe and began to carelessly throw in her clothes into her box. Just then the door was kicked open with Michelle running in behind Joseph.

"What is it ?" Joseph barked, "What is it ? "

Without words, Michelle went to Kamsi who was now on the floor and held her. "It's okay," She whispered, "It's okay."

Mark said nothing. He kept throwing in the clothes and her shoes into the box without caution.

" Are we calling for a meeting or are we addressing whatever madness that happened here, right now ?" Joseph asked, looking at his brother.

"We are already leaving, " Mark said, forcing the zip of the box to be closed.

"You are not leaving with her,'' Mama said. She knelt beside Kamsi, cleaning Kamsi's tears with her wrapper. She had stopped to cry for the slap but for all the times she had kept silent. Even when she had no job, she could not say it to anyone in the family and the other nights, Mark ignored her and slept outside on those nights.

"Please everyone can leave now," Mark said then sighting Okechukwu who was standing at the door  he walked towards him. Unsuspecting Okechukwu stood thinking he wanted to pass but Mark stopped in his front.

"You have the guts! You have the guts... " He said, restraining himself from  what he wanted to actually do which was to release all the bottled anger inside him with a punch. "Turn around and leave."

"Mark, will you respect yourself? " Michelle asked.

"I will, " He said, then stepped back from Okechukwu who could not still understand what happened. "Please I want to talk to my wife. You all can go."

"You can talk to her downstairs, " Mama said, rising to her feet.

There was silence. Seconds counted by the ticking of the clock. Mark put his hands in his pocket and turned to Okechukwu again. "I said you should get out."

It was then, Okechukwu turned from the door .

"Bia, what did you drink? " Mama asked in anger.

"I have been very understanding and reasonable but I'll not tolerate being insulted, being mocked under my nose" Mark said in the family meeting later that night. "I'm a smart man. I do not go looking for what is not mine and I do not raise dust unnecessarily."

To Kamsi, the meeting was a long and unfruitful one. She chose to say nothing and nobody forced her but Mark spoke for long and gave speeches on his discerning abilities and how he is never wrong .  She chose to say nothing but accepted in silence, how strongly her husband was accusing her of infidelity. She was tired  of  narrating stories. She was tired.

The restaurant was filled with people and more kept coming in. She took another gulp of her yoghurt then swirled the remaining contents of the cup while watching it. She was certain of what would happen in her time at home. She would knock and Mark would open and  return to his favorite Sofa. She would lock the door and pass him without saying a word. She would make dinner for both of them then return  upstairs, to his bedroom and lie very close to the edge of the bed, waiting till she felt his weight. She was not perturbed by the distance between them; she had gotten used to it.

Kamsi was very certain that none of the things that happened since they returned from the village would happen that night because she was not going back home.