The Wife ESCAPED!

In the days after the incident of chasing off Timmy, Caro noticed a marked change in the way her guardian behaved towards her. The woman was more withdrawn and solemn and Caro was sure that she was still angry with her over that incident. She could not bear for her guardian to be angry with her for too long. So one evening, she approached the woman while she was enjoying blasts of fresh air outside on the verandah, something she did more frequently nowadays.

“Mummy, I want to talk to you o,” she murmured as she stood beside her.

“Talk. I’m listening,” Mary replied, without even glancing at her.

“Are you still angry with me because of what I did the other day?”

“Hmm,” the woman sighed. “You surprised me o, Caro. In fact, you shocked me. They say you can never truly know someone. I thought I knew you, but I was wrong.”

Caro squatted beside her and placed both hands on her knee.

“But it has not come to that na. That guy is a very stupid person, that’s why I drove him away. I’m sorry, I did not mean to make you angry.”

“Even if he’s a stupid person, can’t you, out of respect for me, treat him like a human being? You saw him talking to me and you had the guts to chase him away! By the way, how did you know that he is a stupid person?”

“Ah. The idiot came to the shop… that time when we were still selling in the market. He wanted me to call him… abi come and meet him somewhere or whatever, saying that he likes me and all sort of rubbish.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Caro had no answer. She simply looked down, embarrassed.

“Look here,” Mary said, jerking her chin up. “This should be the first and last time you ever insult me like that. Don’t ever try it again. Do you hear me?”

Caro nodded eagerly, kneeling with both knees on the ground. Mary let go of her chin, got up and walked back inside, signaling the end of her anger. Caro breathed a big sigh of relief and gave the finger and an outstretched tongue to an imaginary Timmy in the dark before going inside.

The next day, first thing in the morning, Caro marched to Millicent’s house. She found her pregnant friend sweeping the front of her parents’ house.

“Ah, Caro. Good Morning o. How was your night?”, the older girl greeted with a smile.

“What is good about the morning?”, Caro shot back, assuming a battle stance. “I’m asking you, what is good about the morning, you this stupid girl!”

“Ah! Caro, have you come to insult me in my house this early morning?”

“Insult you? You are lucky that it’s only insult. If not that you were pregnant eh, I would have beaten you black and blue this morning.”

“Ah ah, for what na? What did I do to you?”, Millicent asked, perplexed and worried.

“Who gave that Tim&Olly guy my address?”

Silence. Millicent swallowed. She had expected such a boomerang, but since it had not come earlier, she thought it had passed from her friend’s mind. Clearly, she was wrong.

“Look, Caro…”

“Don’t tell me to look at anything! You say you are my friend, but in fact, you are just my worst enemy in disguise. You sent that idiot to my house to destroy my relationship with my mother, abi? Let me give you breaking news. It did not work. You hear me? Your plan did not work! And as from today, I don’t ever want to have anything to do with you… ever again!”

“But Caro…”

“Don’t Caro me o! I have told you, I don’t want to have anything to do with you again. Don’t come to my house and me too, I will not come to your house. Don’t call my line and I will not call your line. Don’t talk to me and I will not talk to you. I hope you have heard? If you think I’m joking, try me. I swear, you will hate the day you were born. Rubbish.”

She dusted the sand from the soles of her slippers and went back the way she had come.

Millicent sighed as she watched her leave. As bad and sad as she felt, she couldn’t help but notice and envy the large globes of her friend’s buttocks as they bounced and shook behind their angry owner.

*****

Mary was seated outside on the verandah, picking melon seeds when she saw a familiar car drive in and park just a stone-throw away from her. In less than a minute, Timmy had stepped out of the vehicle and began walking towards her. She quickly put her tray aside and got to her feet. He was about to greet her when she stopped him, “Young man, you’re not welcome here. My daughter has told me what you tried to do with her at the market. So I want you to leave immediately. And don’t come back.”

Timmy was shell shocked! But he quickly recovered himself.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I’ll leave, but all I ask is half a second to explain myself.”

“I’m listening,” the woman said guardedly.

“Um… when I met your daughter, I admired her confidence and high level of efficiency. I mean, it’s not very common nowadays to find young women who are focused and dedicated to anything other than frivolous fashion. So I asked for her name. I didn’t mean any harm. I was only fascinated by her maturity. But she wasn’t interested in giving her name, so I gave her my card. Again, I meant no harm. At the time, ahem… we were co-sponsoring a free training and mentorship programme for small and micro business owners. I sincerely thought she would benefit immensely from it.”

“Did you or did you not tell her that she is beautiful?”

“I did, ma’am,” Timmy replied, looking unfazed, “and I will do it again if the opportunity presents itself. I believe in complimenting and encouraging young women who choose their natural selves over artificial ad-ons.”

“Hmm,” Mary sighed, convinced of his harmlessness. “My daughter does not take anything for granted. You have to mind the things you tell her and the way you tell her. She may be stubborn, but she’s also quite sensitive, especially when it comes to her pride.”

“So I’ve found out, ma’am. So I’ve found out,” Timmy nodded.

“So what do you want now?”, Mary demanded.

“Well, um… I came to see if I could convince you to prevail on her to accept our offer. We’ve heard from multiple sources that she has quite a huge talent for designs and you know, we can always use more talent.”

“In order words, you want to make money from my daughter by taking advantage of her talent, hmm?”

“Putting it bluntly, yes,” Timmy replied without blinking. “But she’ll also be a big beneficiary of the money that would be made.”

Mary sat down on her bench and sighed yet again. “I don’t have a problem with my daughter working for you, provided you will not mistreat her. But Caro does not like you. She hates you more than her love for sewing and I don’t know why. I know she doesn’t like most boys, but your case is different. The hatred is very strong and has lasted for a very long time. Are you sure you haven’t done something very bad to her, maybe unintentionally?”

“I really do not think so. My meeting her at the market earlier this year was the first time I’ve ever seen her. And according to her friend, same is the case with her. I really don’t know where the hatred comes from. It baffles me too, you know.”

“Well,” Mary shrugged. “I’ll talk to her and see what she says. If you are ready to make an apology…”

“I have absolutely no problem with that. In fact, I think I owe her that.”

“Well, just wait till I talk to her and hear what she has to say.”

Timmy nodded in agreement and then suddenly rushed to his car. The surprised Mary thought it was one hell of a way to take his leave and she was about to go back to her melon picking when it occurred to her that he might be running because of Caro. She quickly looked up, only to find him coming back with a plastic bag.

“This, to help you remember. To talk to her, I mean,” he said, handing the bag to her.

“What is this?”, she asked as she pulled the nylon-covered content from it. “So you’re bribing me, abi?”, she scoffed as she inspected the luxurious gown.

“Well,” Timmy smiled, “that wasn’t my original intent, but bribing wouldn’t be that bad, I guess.”

She shot him a ‘what did you just say’ look and he quickly added, “We… well, the truth is that um… I just… wanted you to have something to remember me by.”

“Or something that would induce Caro to accept your offer,” Mary shot back.

“That wasn’t the real motive, I assure you. But I… I… I’d like her to accept our offer, of course.”

Mary focused intently on his face for almost a minute and to his credit, he managed to keep a calm and confident expression, though his heart was beating wildly behind his chest. Then she sighed and turned her attention back to the dress.

“It’s fine sha,” she shrugged as she folded it and put it back into the bag.

“Thank you. I’m glad you like it,” Timmy bowed, all smiles.

“But I don’t think Caro will be happy that I received anything from you, at least not until she has forgiven you.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“B… b… but you don’t have to tell her it was from me. You could say you bought it or something like that.”

“Look here, young man. I will never betray my daughter because she has never betrayed me,” Mary scolded, casting him a withering glance.

“I… I’m sorry, ma’am. Truly sorry, ma’am. I didn’t mean to offend. This is just a gift, certainly not something to influence you in any way. Even if you were to kick my ass out of here, I would still like you to keep the dress, as a token of a short-lived friendship. I think I’ve taken enough of your time already. If you don’t mind, I’ll like to take my leave now, with your permission of course. I… Well,… Good day, ma’am.”

With that, he turned around, got into his car and drove off. Mary sighed as his car went out of sight. Then she walked to her kiosk to prepare for the day’s business. It was Sunday afternoon and most people would have returned from church by now.