Pinks roses, baby's
breath and yellow carnations in a cute little bow peep basket,
hand delivered by
Jjuuko's Flower shop on Monday morning.
There's a tiny note
attached from ever persistant Charles
'Mama' Helen the
elderly receptionist smiles at Martha.
"Beauuuuuuuutiful!"
she chuckles as she hands the basket over.
You don't seem
excited?" she prys;
Twenty five year
old Martha dashes up the polished marble stairs of the accounting firm,
balancing herself as
best as she can in her purple pumps and a sleek black dress.
She is pleading with
the universe to allow her safe passage to her desk unnoticed.
But the universe duly denies
her request.
She bumps into Agnes
on the second floor.
"Have you seen
Kirabo, I need her input for these PSA messages? Oooooo... those look lovely,
Bambi enjoy it,"
She romantically sighs, "once you are married
those things stop
happening."
At her desk, Martha quickly glances at the
note, before hiding the flowers
in the cabinet.
Charles must have
copied a line from brainyquote.com
He calls at lunch
time.
On their first date he
told her,
“When I see something
I want, I just have to get it!”
He never beats around the bush.
"Did you get the
flowers? You're not replying my whatsapp messages."
"Oh sorry, been
busy all morning, not had time to check my phone" she lies.
There is a long pause
She can feel his stifled
disappointment through the phone.
"Thank you!"
She says, trying to sound upbeat.
Her eyes quickly run
through his fifteen unread messages on her phone.
The skin around her
nails is pink and distressed from her picking them throughout the morning
A teeny bubble of
dried blood has formed at the base of her middle finger nail.
"Listen...I'll
call you in the evening. Thank you so much once again," she hangs up.
"Shouldn't I feel
something for Charles?" She wonders.
But she feels nothing
There is nothing in
the pit of her stomach.
If she marries Charles
their lives are set.
Jobs, money, houses,
their off spring in the right schools etc...
Her Ssenga introduced him to her in January at a kwanjula.
The son of her wealthy
connected best friend.
"A match made in
heaven for you Martha,
He may not be
handsome,
but he's responsible and reliable and that is what counts in marriage these days.
Don't be like me Child...
For the fifth night in
a row your father isn't home,
I am alone,
scrambling for school fees for your brother in this God-forsaken economy. "
scrambling for school fees for your brother in this God-forsaken economy. "
Her mother reminds her
on her return home in the evening.
“Martha, are you going
to have tea? The flask is on the table.”
“No…Let me go shower.”
Martha leaves the
flowers on the kitchen table.
On Tuesday she asks
Ben to give her a lift home.
She is too
exhausted to struggle with public transport this evening
He cheerfully waits in
the parking lot in a turquoise Hipsum
As she enters the car
from the passenger side,
He grabs his tattered
dairy and a stack of old newspapers from the seat,
then stuffs them in the
back.
“Wait!” he panics
while dusting off some crumbs from yesterday’s meat pie
“Okay…..now sit.”
“But Ben, why is it so
hard for you clean your car?” Martha teases.
A friend since her
university days, she trusts him with her whole self.
He is book smart, with
a heart of gold, a very rare combination for an african male, according Martha’s youthful opinion
Last Sunday morning after church service he
surprised her by making it clear that he wants more.
As they drive, he sings
along and taps his hands on the steering wheel in time to the music,
After one hour
of crawling through Kampala traffic, bumper to bumper,
He gives her a mars
bar from a Shoprite shopping bag.
Ben’s sweet tooth
never lets him move anywhere without a treat nearby.
"What are you
doing on Saturday? Come with us to Entebbe.
A friend of mind is
opening a new restaurant."
"Maybe...I'll let
you know." She says while scanning through her messages.
Another hour passes before
they finally reach her home.
She is saddened
by her relief to see the gate.
The lighthearted
friendly banter between them
forever changed by that Sunday morning
conversation.
"I'll text
you." he says
"okay...thanks
for the lift, safe journey home" she replies.
But there is nothing
there for him too.
Nothing in the
pit of her stomach.
Her Mother is peering
from the window
"You'll have to
choose soon, you can't keep stringing them along."
Her mother secretly
likes Ben, but Ssenga persuaded her Charles is best.
"Sure"
Martha's says as she scampers up the stairs to avoid another lecture.
“You’re not having tea
today as well? You children think I just buy milk and sugar like decorations
for the house.”
"I have finally
seen more land I want to buy." Moses proudly announces.
Sharing a double
Chocolate Fudge Obsession desert with Martha at Java's Cafe Kampala Road
It's Friday evening. Every
young person of age is looking for the ultimate party plot.
Moses knows and has
access to all of them.
His mobile
phones are neatly laid out on the table as they eat.
Every now and then one
buzzes and he interrupts himself to pick up and close a deal.
They interned in the
same law firm two years ago.
Both assigned to
record keeping,
They would laugh &
joke their way through the long hours of strenuous paperwork.
Martha is wearing ruby woo mac lipstick which complements her
complexion,
Because Moses has
always liked shinny things.
An inside joke
between them.
She stuffs her mouth
with dessert so he won't expect much talk from her.
But he never has, a
peacock in a flashy suit that loves the sound of his own voice.
"I have a brother
coming from the States, would you like anything?
How about a new phone?
An iphone would be good for you."
She starts to reply,
but the sticky fudge has caught her tongue
and all the words she
had, are jumbled up stuck at the ceiling of her mouth
Last month he casually
informed her that it made logically sense for them to date.
"You're not fussy
and needy like other women, I need someone level headed like you,
it can work out
well for us. Just think about it."
The fudge loosens it's grip on her tongue.
But the words have all
gone.
She feels nothing
for him.
Nothing in the pit of
her stomach
He drops her home in
his silver Benz at midnight.
She doesn't want to go
to the new Snap vodka launch at Club Rouge.
As usual, her Mother
is waiting for her in the sitting room.
"Where did he get
the money to buy that swanky car?" she asks.
"I don't
know." Martha replies the smell of sweet fudge tangled in her breath.
"Those are the
dangerous ones, the Police will come in the night
and snatch him away as
you breastfeed your newborn.
Is that the life you
want for yourself?"
At 1.00 am Martha is
seated on the edge of her bed
The house is quiet,
everyone has gone to sleep
She welcomes the silence
She knows where her
heart is.
It's six feet
under concrete, buried with the body of Alan.
Her eyes glazed she
remembers,
the first time they
met at Malcolm's .
It is where all the
students went on Fridays after lectures.
His hair was freshly
cut
His beard was neatly
shaven
Tanya her university
room mate introduced them.
Their eyes locked
She was whooped, and
pleasantly annoyed by the cliche of love at first sight
"Oh my God, it's
true!" she thought.
The intensity of his
stare made her shy, as if naked
and deep down in the
pit of her stomach
a spark ignited,
sending warmth all over her body.
Afterwards on their
many dates & shallow lovers' tiffs,
delirious and isolated
in the magic bubble of infatuation
They planned their
lives together
What careers they'd
create..
The home they would
build together...
The number of kids
they'd bear...
"Five!" He'd
tease her "Maybe even seven!"
"We cannot afford
that much school fees!" she'd huff and fold her arms,
pretending she didn't
want to be touched.
But her body would
always betray her.
A year and half later
from the day they met, his sister Anne called at 1.00 am.
Rubbing sleep from her
eyes " Hi Lover", she joyfully answered,
thinking it was Alan
calling to wish her goodnight.
If he didn't have
credit on his phone, he used his sibling's .
Expecting his smooth
tenor voice, she was startled into sitting upright in bed by squealing.
Was he still at the
club?
Had Anne pocket dialed
her by mistake?
Then she recognized
the animal like squeals were cries of shock, grief and denial
All mixed in one.
And the bubble was
burst.
Stark reality came
flooding through...
In between Anne's
uncontrolled sobs, Martha heard words her heart refused to swallow
"He's
dead....He's gone....
knocked....knocked
off a boda boda
Why did he take one
Martha?
We told him not too...
We told him NOT TOO.
His body is cold
Martha,
His body is so
cold!"
