The Wife ESCAPED!

Feeling hungry or having lunch was certainly not on Timmy’s mind any longer. He’d gladly forgo dinner too just to make sure that Caro was well settled with everything and that today’s meeting would not end in a disaster like the very first they had. As he led her to Stan’s area, he could not help but try to keep track of her from the corner of his eye. He was praying, wishing and hoping that she wouldn’t change her mind all of a sudden or get angry at the speed of his movement. He wouldn’t dare change his speed though. The fact that she had not yet complained could perhaps mean that there was nothing to complain about. Aha, finally. Stan’s area and Stan himself. Only one more hoop to jump through.

“Any issues, boss?”, the young man asked as his eyes moved from Timmy to the familiar Caro and back again. He had just accosted them outside his area of operation; the quiet hallway and the walls the only witnesses to their conversation.

“I’d like you to attend to his dear lady. She’s bringing a wealth of experience and passion into our realm.”

“You mean you want me to hire her?”

“I… already did,” Timmy said, choosing his words carefully. “I offered her a place here and she was gracious enough to accept. So… make sure she is comfortable and in the right position.”

Stan’s eyebrows shot up as he noticed that his boss was fighting to please a girl not older than his youngest sister back at home. Nevertheless, he nodded, “Okay, boss. Wildo.”

“Great. Um… Karow, this is Stan. He’s directly in charge of the design and tailoring operations. He’ll take care of everything for you. If there’s any problem, you can come to my office – they’ll show you where it is, just around the corner – or you can call me.”

This time, Caro accepted the proferred card and Timmy almost jumped in joy, but he managed to restrain himself.

“So um… I’ll take my leave now. See you around. Thank you for coming.”

Caro responded with a barely perceptible nod, further baffling Stan. He watched his boss’ retreat in surprise for a few seconds before he remembered that he had a guest to attend to.

“Oh. Um… please follow me, madam.” She was no longer just any girl to him.

He opened the door and ushered Caro into a world she had missed so much – the world of many sewing machines and tailors hard at work.

By the time Caro returned home, it was late afternoon. But she found Mary inside the house watching TV. Constant power was still the Nigerian Dream, and they hardly received power supply at such time of day, so it was quite a surprise. Caro joined her mother on the couch and was greeted with a “Welcome.”

“Thank you, ma,” she sighed in response.

“So how was work? Did he misbehave?”, Mary asked.

“Who?”

“Your b… I mean, Timothy.”

She managed just in time to avoid saying ‘boss’.

“No, he did not misbehave.”

“I told you. He is sorry and he has learned his lesson.”

“Or maybe he has decided to turn his attention to other girls,” Caro spat with unexpected displeasure.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing ma,” Caro sighed. “Just thinking out loud.”

She just could not understand why she couldn’t stop thinking about Timmy chasing after other girls. What business was it of hers? She leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes as the standing fan rotated in their direction, washing over her with a blast of cool refreshing breeze.

“Go and eat. Food dey kitchen,” Mary said.

And Caro got up to her feet and started making her way to the kitchen.

“Chidinma came to look for you o,” Mary called after her.

“Chidinma?”

“She said you people have match in the evening or something like that.”

“Okay,” she replied and went off to her destination.

She knew why Chidinma had wanted to see her. It was to collect her contribution to the funds meant for purchasing a new ball since the old one had gotten punctured. But she would not be making any such contribution. Instead, she had a little surprise for her friends.

***

Caro stalked like the leader that she was as she strode into the midst of friends who were gathered in the little field where they played their games. As usual, she was dressed for the occasion. Everything from her customized yellow jersey to her blue boots and shin guards set her apart from the rest – something they all envied her for. But today, their attention was on something else.

“Ah. New ball,” Chidinma, the team treasurer said, as Caro let the ball fall down from underneath her jersey.

“Caro, when did you buy it?”, Joy asked as she picked it up and began joggling it with her fists.

“Today,” Caro replied with a shrug. She had actually bought it on her way home from Tim&Olly with the advance Timmy had asked Stan to pay her.

“Oya Chidinma, come and give us our money o,” the rest of the girls demanded. But Chidinma acted like she was deaf and quickly went after Joy to wrestle the ball from her.

“Chidinma!”, Sarah shouted in frustration.

“What?”, came the harsh retort.

“Don’t you see that Caro has bought new ball? Come and give us our money na.”

“Ehh I’ll give you later.”

“When is later?”

“I don’t know,” the treasurer hissed in annoyance.

“Caro, you see what Chidinma is doing now o,” Sarah complained to the captain.

“What is it? What did I do?”, Chidinma shouted, bounding towards her in anger. “I said I will give you later. You wan kill me because of hundred naira? Abi are you the only one that contributed money?”

“We want our money too o,” the other girls, Evelyn and Hannah, chorused as if on cue.

“Mtcheeew,” she hissed in contempt as she shot each one of them a nasty glare.

Caro, who was keenly following the drama, chuckled in amusement.

“Rubbish,” Chidinma swore beneath her breath before turning her back on the trio.

“Who is rubbish?”, Sarah quickly fired back.

“Ask me one more time.”

“You are mad.”

“It’s you that’s mad. Stupid girl.”

“Eh? Who is stupid girl?”, Sarah blurted in anger, marching up to meet her.

Chidinma turned to face her, ready for battle. But before they could get physical, Joy sent a well-placed shot that landed the ball just between them.

“You people should stop fighting na,” she called out to them.

As they stood face to face, sizing each other up, the other girls rushed up to snatch the ball from between them. Caro had still not said a word (other than ‘today’ when she was asked about when she had bought the ball) and she had no intention of doing so. Tired of the scene, she turned away and looked towards the abandoned concrete blocks which they used as their ‘bench’. But what she saw there made her blink in surprise.

Seated comfortably and staring back at her was Amaka, her neighbor’s daughter. It was very unusual to see the girl or her younger brother out of the large part of Mary’s house their parents had rented. The little family of four always kept to themselves, so what on earth was she doing here? Caro quickly walked up and stood right in front of her.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Amaka, what are you doing here?”, she asked the petite girl who was only a few years her junior.

“I want to play,” Amaka shrugged.

“Which number do you play? Can you keep?”, Caro questioned eagerly as she took a seat beside her. The absence of Millicent had put the team in dire need of at least one good goalkeeper.

“I don’t know how to do anything. I just want to learn.”

It didn’t come as a surprise to Caro. She had never seen the girl kick a ball before or participate in any kind of sport for that matter. In fact, on second thought, her question was stupid and unnecessary.

“But what about your Mummy and Daddy? Wi…”

“Of course they know I’m here,” Amaka cut her off with a smile.

“Okay. Oya come, let me teach you.”

Both girls got to their feet and Caro scanned the field to see what was currently going on. Joy was in goal while the other girls took turns at taking penalties with much success. Joy was a good goalkeeper, but they liked to take advantage of her height by placing their shots high and diagonal, making it impossible for her to catch the ball or even touch it at all without running the risk of ramming her head into the woodwork. Caro shook her head as yet another shot lobbed past her friend into goal. She could see the frustration on Joy’s face as she jumped and stretched to no avail and Caro could not help but pity her. Perhaps the whole thing had started out as a challenge, but now the other girls were enjoying themselves at her expense, hooting and cheering for one another as they took turns to put the ball out of their friend’s reach. Caro decided to put an end to it.

“Hey! Bring the ball here,” she ordered.

And the penalties came to an abrupt end. Sarah got the ball and delivered it with a long shot to Caro who brought it to a halt with her dominant right foot. She juggled it a few times and the other girls waited patiently, thinking that it was a pre-match warm up. But they were hit by surprise when she passed the ball to Amaka who eventually missed it.

As the ball bounced and rolled away, the girl reached down to grab it with her hands, but Caro stopped her immediately.

“No, no, don’t use your hands. Use only your legs. That’s why they call it football, not handball.”

“Okay,” the girl said and rolled the ball back as best she could with her canvas shoe-clad leg.

“Oya, pass it to me.”

Amaka gave it a toe kick that sent the ball rolling far from Caro and out of her reach.

“Bring it,” she ordered as Joy caught the ball.

At this point, there was already some grumbling from her teammates as they sensed what Caro was intent on doing. They had decided to keep busy by playing penalties until she would be ready to join them. But now that she was ready, it was for something else altogether. Caro could hear their murmurs, but she acted like she didn’t. She continued trading short passes with Amaka, teaching the girl the right way to kick, roll the ball and make measured passes.

Amaka was having a swell time. Even though she was sweating profusely, there was a smile on her face as she saw her passes get better and more accurate.

It was now clear that there would be no match today, so one by one, the grumbling girls went over to take their seats on the bench. They were not happy about the unexpected change of plans and most importantly, Caro and Amaka’s monopoly of the ball, but that was the worst they could do. None could summon up the courage to interrupt the activities of the two youngest people on the grounds, not only because Caro had bought the ball, but also because she was still the undisputed and unrivaled queen.