Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Miriam sat on the bed with a long face; her hands folded across her breasts. The anger in her eyes was apparent as it meshed with the dimly lit room. And with soulful eyes, she stared at Frank who had snuggled under the duvet and was snoring in gay abandon. Frank’s annoying sleep, snoring and insouciance was almost a ritual now. They were the things she had not forced herself to accept. Frank did not care about her feelings anymore. It had been ages now since he even touched her. And to rub salt in the wound, the harmattan winds of the past months have been pitiless. The months were really cold and lonely for her. She was still beautiful and charming, and a lot of young men still looked her way, especially when she was in one of her several clingy dresses. Yet she would return home to lie beside a man that didn’t care about her bodily needs.

Miriam turned clumsily on the bed and sighed. She had complained severally about Frank’s continuous negligence of her, and it now appeared like her constant whingeing was turning her into a bad-tempered wife. She was now the petulant and irritating grouch! She was tired of complaining. It was crystal clear what the problem was. Frank’s sudden change of behavior was not unconnected to her inability to bear him another child; a male-child which was his utmost desire. How was that her fault? She had borne him two beautiful daughters before now. Why she had not conceived again after ten solid years was a mystery to everyone. They have consulted several doctors and gynecologists, and she had received different treatments and done several tests at home and abroad. Yet the results were the same. She was always declared medically fit to conceive again, just as Frank was. Still, why she had not conceived again in all these years was bizarre.

Miriam reclined on the bed’s frame, and stared at Frank longingly. She was feeling utterly horny that night. She wondered if it was really true that she had unrestrained right to Frank’s body, and if it was also true that it was his obligation to satisfy her in bed no matter the situation. If all that was true, then tonight, she had settled in her mind she would not let him ignore her without a fight. She exhaled and moved closer to Frank. She placed her hand on his chest and studied his reaction. Frank remained absorbed in his sleep. Emboldened by his silence, she drew closer and placed her breasts on Frank’s chest, and began to fondle him hungrily. Frank was still sleeping when he felt Miriam’s hand running on his body. Miriam’s fondling and raspy breath stirred Frank from sleep; he opened his sleepy eyes and stared at her vacantly. Miriam was half human, half beast. He reached out and held her hand and glided it towards the edge of the bed. Miriam scowled at him. It was not the first time he was making her look like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie’s jar. She sat straight on the bed and arched her eyes. She had had enough of his torture, and her heart could not stand it. She rose from the bed with tears in her eyes.

‘You’re a beast, Frank!’ she lashed out at him. ‘You make me look like am a whore, and all because of what?! Because you want a male-child you think I cannot bear?! I am your wife for Christ’s sake! I am not some piece of chinaware!’ She barked; her voice rumbling in the quiet room.

‘I don’t remember saying you’re not my wife. It’s you who is saying you are not,’ Frank said insouciantly. ‘When a farmer labors to plant corn in his farm, does he not expect to see it grow? Of what use are his labors and the farmland if he cannot feed his household? Everyone knows the answer to that.’ Miriam felt scandalized. She shook her head despondently. There were the most hurtful words he had ever said to her. They were like daggers pierced through her heart. His words charred her spirit.

‘So it’s that bad? You called me a farmland that does not grow corn?’ she asked him, sobbing, as she placed a hand on her head in disbelief. It was utterly incredible he had used those words so flippantly, after she had borne him two beautiful daughters. ‘My God, where are you? Are you up there listening to this? Frank said I am barren; he said I cannot bear him a son.’ Miriam groaned and collapsed on the bed in tears.

Frank remained silent on the bed, untroubled by Miriam’s groaning. For all he cared, her groaning was nothing more than a charade. He watched her indifferently as Miriam’s high-pitched voice rose higher and higher, rattling the silent night air.

‘I beg your pardon, woman. Why are you making a scene and a mountain out of a molehill?’ Frank asked her. ‘I’ve not said you’re barren. I only said I would rather not plant my corn where I am not sure it would grow. If a hen refuses to lay eggs, does she not end up in the cooking pot?’

‘What other way do you want to say it? That I am the dead tree that does not bear fruits? I am finished,’ Miriam said, yelping. ‘Now I know you’re a selfish and self-centered man!’ Miriam fumed, as tears streamed on her face. Frank stared at her, unhurt by her offensive words. To him, Miriam was being dramatic and throwing up tantrums. Her raving was laughable. He shook his head and crawled back into the duvet. Miriam continued her raving and sobbing, cutting a really frustrated figure.

‘You’re an ingrate, Frank! You’re not a real man. Real men make their wives pregnant! Look at your brother; are you not older than him? He has three sons and his wife is pregnant with the fourth. Yet, because you have a tiny rope dangling between your legs, you crow like a cock and call yourself a man. You blame me for your misfortune. You’re not a man. I said you’re not a man!’ Miriam ranted all night, barking like a mad dog that had turned on its master.