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THE PACT
Me, you, her and him
-CHAPTER 17-
In the midst of eating Pizza and watching a movie, I must have fallen asleep, for I awake with a start as a car door slams outside. Sitting upright, I stare at Caleb who is fast asleep, I sit there for a while and just stare at him slee-ping then I get a fleece blanket and cover him up. As I am sli-pping my feet into my sli-ppers, Lee walks into the be-droom.
‘’Good evening babe!’’ I say but get no reply. He places his bag on the table and starts to undress.
‘’Lee! What is happening? What is going on with you? Is something wrong?’’
‘’Why do you keep bothering me Kristian? Why can’t you leave me alone,’’ he responds coldly.
‘’I have been trying so ha-rd to be patient with you but fv¢k it! Talk to me and tell me what’s happening, you can’t keep acting like a spoiled child, everything was okay between us until yesterday and now you come home late, you are drinking, you don’t pick up my calls and you are rude even to our son? For God’s sake what is happening Lee, talk to me plea-se!’’
‘’I am just tired Kristian, I am tired of this marriage, I am tired of you, I am tired of everything happening. Caleb, the pregnancy, it’s all too much for me, I just can’t do this anymore,’’ he says. Tears fill my eyes as his words tear throu-gh my heart.
‘’What are you saying Lee?’’ My voice chokes with emotion. ‘’I thought you loved me.’’
He shrugs, ‘’well, love alone is not enough.’’
‘’You want to divorce me?’’
‘’You love to exaggerate things, I didn’t say anything about a divorce.’’
‘’I don’t un-derstand where this is coming from, one day we were okay and the next you just started acting up.’’
‘’I can’t explain what happened but this whole marriage thing is suffocating.’’
I stare at him, my heart breaking and the tears that I have been keeping finally spill down my cheeks.
‘’St©p pla-ying the victim, your tears will not move me.’’
‘’You are hurting me Lee.’’
‘’You should not ask me questions if you are not re-ady to hear the responses,’’ he says before marching off to the bathroom.
Sitting on the be-d, a million thoughts run throu-gh my mind. It is quite strange that Lee could suddenly change and be tired of our marriage, where did I go wrong? I have tried to be a good wife over the last month, I have been submissive and I have respected him as my husband. An ache settles in my che-st at the thought of losing Lee for the second time.
I kneel beside the be-d, ‘’Dear Lord, plea-se help me.’’
I head out of the be-droom after that and check on what Stella has cooked. I told her to prepare supper tonight. She has prepared Nshima, chicken and a variety of vegetables. I am more interested in the vegetables so I dish-up for myself and start eating.
‘’Kristian!’’ he yells, startling me.
‘’Babe,’’ I look up at him.
‘’Your child! Come and take your child off the be-d, I want to sleep.’’
‘’My child? Caleb is suddenly just my child now?’’
‘’He is your child, what do you want me to say?’’
I open my mouth to respond but instead vomit all over him, a torrent of half-digested Nshima, cabbage and chicken.
Lee backs away, his eyes wi-de with surprise and disgust, ‘’Kristian!’’ he yells.
‘’I am sorry bab—,’’ before I finish, I sink to the ground and vomit heavily on the ground feeling a mixture of food poisoning, car sickness and a roller-coaster ride all in one. After a couple of minutes of empty heaving, I head to the bathroom, fill my mouth with water, gargle and spit into the sink. I honestly feel so sick, I never experienced such with Caleb.
After leaving the bathroom I head back to the living room and clean up my mess. Getting into the be-droom, I hear the water running in the bathroom. Climbing onto the be-d, I get un-der the covers and pu-ll Caleb to me. I don’t even have the strength to lift him and take him back to his room- If Lee doesn’t want our son in our be-d he will take him back to his room himself.
‘’Aren’t you taking him back to his room,’’ Lee asks when he walks out of the bathroom.
‘’I don’t have the strength to lift him, you can do it yourself.’’
‘’Krist–,’’
‘’I am not feeling okay Lee, plea-se,’’ I plead, tears running down my face.
He stares at me, ‘’I am sorry,’’ he says before walking out.
That night, Lee doesn’t come back to be-d and I cry myself to sleep, pressing myself into the pillow to muffle the sounds so as not to wake Caleb up. The next morning when I wake up, I throw up again all over the floor of my shower then again an hour later in the kitchen while waiting for breakfast.
‘’Are you okay mummy?’’ Caleb asks.
‘’I feel sick but I will be fine.’’
‘’What is going on with you?’’ Lee asks.
‘’I don’t know, maybe it’s the pregnancy.’’
‘’Well, find a way to control your nausea, you can’t be vomiting anyhow.’’
‘’It’s not like I am deliberately doing this.’’
‘’Whatever, I am off for work.’’
‘’Can you drop Caleb off at school?’’
‘’Okay.’’
He waits for Caleb to eat his breakfast before they leave the house. I spend a few minutes trying to decide if I should go to work or not but when I realize I feel better, I get dressed and start off. As I drive myself I feel sick again and I am f0rç£d to pu-ll over and wait for the nausea to wear off, while waiting I call my mother.
‘’Baby girl!’’
‘’Hey mummy.’’
‘’You don’t sound fine, are you okay?’’
‘’I haven’t been feeling well the last couple of days.’’
‘’What’s wrong?’’
‘’Vomiting.’’
‘’Morning sickness?’’
‘’This is more than morning sickness, I feel so drained I don’t know what’s happening.’’
‘’Sickness is a normal p@rt of pregnancy, you will be okay.’’
‘’But it wasn’t like this with Caleb.’’
‘’Different pregnancies come with different challenges, try eating ginger biscuits,’’ she advises.
‘’Okay, I will do that.’’
‘’Where are you?’’
‘’Driving for work, I just pu-ll-ed over so I could get some fresh air.’’
‘’You should have called in sick.’’
‘’I don’t want to just be home and do nothing.’’
‘’Stubborn as always, how is my grandchild?’’
‘’He is okay.’’
‘’And your husband? I hope he is treating you well.’’
‘’Yes, he is,’’ I lie.
‘’Great.’’
‘’Let me get to work mummy, I will call you.’’
‘’Alright baby, I love you.’’
‘’I love you too.’’
THE PACT
Me, you, her and him
-CHAPTER 18-
Unedited
I am lying in be-d with a weak, tired feeling. I have had such a bad day, I left work at 14 because I couldn’t st©p throwing up. I feel horrible because I somehow can’t get rid of this nausea. I feel so weak and hungry but I don’t want to eat because I haven’t been able to keep any food down. I keep vomiting out everything I eat or drink.
What makes this even more frustrating is that Lee is nowhere to be seen. I have tried to call him all day but I can’t seem to get throu-gh to him. Maybe he has blocked my number or something. I don’t know what’s happening with that man but this situation is getting out of hand and it’s draining me. I am a mess right now, tears are falling down my face and I can’t st©p them.
I told mum to pick Caleb from school and keep her at her place because I don’t want him to see me in this state.
I watched my mother cry herself to sleep so many nights and that $h!t scarred me, I don’t want my son going throu-gh the same thing. You know this is the p@rt of love that I despise, being vulnerable and crying over a person who doesn’t even seem to care. Maybe I should have just stayed alone, maybe I should have been with Dante because at least I was sure he loved me.
‘’Kristian!’’ Jada yanks my be-droom door open and walks in.
‘’’Jada!’’ I quic-kly wipe my face with the palm of my hand.
‘’What’s going on with you? You look terrible.’’
‘’What are you doing here?’’
‘’Your maid called me, she said you haven’t been well.’’
‘’Why do I always get the wrong maids?’’
‘’’She is just worried about you, what’s going on? Where is Lee?’’
‘’I really don’t know where Lee is, things haven’t been okay between us.’’
‘’Did you two fight?’’
‘’No, he just c@m£ home one day late at night drun!kwith an attitude. Join our telegram page to re-ad and enjoy more exciting stories from there throu-gh ome on+23354. I tried to talk to him but he was rude and cold towards me. Like he has been cold even towards Caleb, he leaves home very early, comes back late, he doesn’t eat the food we cook and he doesn’t t©uçh me either, I don’t even know what to do girl, Isn’t it too early for him to be acting up?’’
‘’Way too early and why didn’t you tell me about this?’’
‘’I didn’t want to bother you.’’
‘’We are like sisters Kristian, I care for you, your wound is mine too.’’
‘’Thank you sister.’’
‘’Have you eaten anything?’’
‘’I can’t keep anything down, I keep throwing up whenever I eat or drink something.’’
‘’But you nee-d to eat something for the sake of the baby.’’
‘’I have thrown up more than ten times today, it’s exhausting.’’
‘’How long has this been going on? The throwing up?’’
‘’Yesterday.’’
‘’Let me just call Able to bring me some medications that I think will help with the vomiting but if the situation doesn’t stabilize by tomorrow, come throu-gh to the hospital so I can run some tests. I suspect it could be a case of–.’’
‘’A case of what?’’ I ask, cutting her off mid-s£ntence.
‘’Anyway never mind, let not worry you, we will run the tests just to be sure.’’
‘’Jada! Am I going to lose this baby?’’
‘’No Kristian,’’ she reaches out for my hand, holds it and squee-zes it gently. ‘’You and the baby will be fine, I will make sure of it.’’
‘’Thank you.’’
‘’You don’t have to thank me, I love and care for you like I would for Jaden.’’
‘’I love you too.’’
‘’Now let me call that husband of yours and see if I can pump some s-en-se into him.’’
‘’Okay.’’
‘’I will also start preparing something for you to eat, some soup perhaps.’’
‘’Thank you.’’
‘’You don’t have to keep saying thank you,’’ she laughs before leaving the room.
*
8 PM, I am sitting at a bar called Raise a Glas-s sipping on my beer and listening to the gibberish escaping out of the crowd drinking in the back lounge bar when a woman clad in a ti-ght short red dress walks up the bartender and orders a double sh0t of Jack Daniels and an Amstel light before sitting next to me. She drinks the sh0t, stares at me and says, ‘’hey handsome.’’
I shoot her a serious look, I am just here to drink and not to entertain women.
‘’What’s a handsome man like you doing here all by yourself?’’
‘’I am married,’’ I wave my hand in her face.
She laughs, ‘’I can show you a good time, your wife doesn’t even nee-d to know.’’
‘’I am not interested,’’ I snap.
‘’Your loss,’’ she angrily responds before she stands up and starts looking around for her next target. Gulping down the last of my beer, I stand up and decide to head back home, I hope Kristian and Caleb are slee-ping, I don’t know what’s happening to me but the mare sight of those two infuriates me these days, It’s like the love I had towards them has suddenly disappeared, I have even been contemplating a divorce but what would people think of us, we have only been married for a month. Maybe we should try counselling before deciding to take the divorce route.
I am about to get into my car when my phone rings and I answer without looking at the caller I.D.
‘’Hello?’’
‘’Where are you?’’ The familiar voice says on the other side of the line.
‘’Jada!’’
‘Don’t Jada me, where are you?’’
‘’Why are you interrogating me?’’
‘’Your wife is home alone sick and you are out gallivanting at this time of the night?’’
‘’What I do is none of your business.’’
‘’Get your as-s home in the next thirty minutes or you will have my father to deal with,’’ she says before cutting the line.
‘’What now?’’ I mumble un-der my breath as I get into my car and drive home. If there’s someone I am scared of, it’s daddy P. I never want to cross paths with that man, I will deal with Kristian for involving Jada in our issues.
*
Tbc