CATALYST - CHAPTER NINE I could hear voices talking from far away, and after a while there was someone holding my hand. I was lying on my back and was groggy and sore, but I struggled to get out of the abyss of sleep, teetering on the brink of wakefulness and the welcome cocoon of sleep. As I came round, everything came back and my mother’s words came clearly to me: ‘Isala kutshelwa sibona ngomopho’, and I cried. What had I done? My baby. I clutched my stomach. No pain there, hopefully it was still there. My face felt stiff and my head hurt like hell. I moved my hand over it and I encountered a mass of bandages. They ran across my forehead and beneath my chin. I tried to open my eyes, but they were almost glued shut. “She’s awake!” Someone shouted. I tried to open my eyes and identify the person who had spoken. I could only peer through slits and everything was hazy. “Lilly?” It was Nqobile’s voice. “How are you feeling?” “What’s wrong with my eyes?” I asked. “They are swollen sweetheart. I’m sorry,” he choked as if he was crying. “Nqo?” All I heard was a stifled cry and a snuffle. Trying to open my eyes was too much effort. I groped for his hand and found it. He squeezed me affectionately. Words were not necessary. ‘I must look a sight for sore eyes” I tried to laugh it off. He only grunted. I moved my head so I could see him. Hazy. “Lilly, I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into her. I still can’t believe she did this to you” “It’s all right. She had a right. The perfect woman scorned” “No! She had no right to beat you like that. I will never forgive her for this. She embarrassed me” So it was his ego that was hurt more than anything else. “Nqobile, Nqobile. Your wife’s behavior is perfectly justified. What would you have done if it were you?” “She could have killed you for God’s sake! Why couldn’t she…she…” If she didn’t get me, she probably got my baby. But I couldn’t say this aloud. This was not the time. “She what? Asked to see me in private and discuss the issue?” Unlikely. I think I would have done exactly the same thing. I’m alive aren’t I?” “Barely,” he mumbled. I chuckled. Strangely enough, I didn’t feel any animosity towards her, just plain pity. I was levelheaded about all this. “How long have I been unconscious?” “Ages” I chuckled again at his obvious incensed tone. “Honestly Nqobile, you should forget about it. She had a ri…” “Don’t you dare tell me that she had a right. She had none. No right at all. Where, if it written, that physical abuse is legal? After all, I am a man. I can marry as many wives as I damn please. God, if it were not for these damned casts, I’d have killed her” “You don’t really mean that, now do you?” “I don’t understand. The Nomvelo I know is the gentlest person I know. The most docile. I’ve never heard her raise her voice or see her strike someone for that matter. It really shows I didn’t know her at all” “What is there to understand? She is the injured party in this case and to add fuel to fire, you tell her that you’re going to marry me, coupled with the anxiety of the last few days thinking that you were dead. I’d have gone berserk too if it were me, and besides, people change” “Bullshit” “Anyway, what are you doing here yourself? Shouldn’t you be in bed? What happened to all those tubes and stuff?” “The tubes were for feeding and…eh…Anyway, I had them wheel me over here. I wanted to be here when you woke up” “How sweet. And you, how are you feeling?” “Like I’ve been through a minefield” “Then you should be resting. I also happen to need my rest. I feel sore” “You’re right. I got carried away. I’ll be back later. Oh! I called your mother” I was aghast. “What did you tell her?” She had warned me. “Nothing that would give her unnecessary heart palpitations,” he said. We were silent for a moment while I was thinking of my mother and her wise words. Too late. “So, where is she?” He knew who I was referring to. “Home. At her brother’s place” Pause. “Lilly, there is something you should know” My heart sank. “Id rather you tell me later, whatever it is, if that’s all right with you” I didn’t want to hear something what would make my blood pressure plummet. “Sleep well” “I’ll try” He rang the bell for the orderly to come and collect him and left. I fell asleep instantly. When I woke up, the swelling of my eyes had gone down considerably and I could now see. It was dark outside and the lights were on. The pain was dreadful. A nurse came in pushing a medicine trolley. “You’re awake. Good. How are you feeling?” “Lousy” She laughed. “Don’t worry. You’ll be right as rain soon” “And my face?” I asked petulantly. “You’ll mend, I promise and the baby is fine too. Thank God. Now be a good girl and take some medication” I grimaced. The bandages holding my jaw immobile gave me a hard time when I struggled to swallow the tablets. I slugged them with a mouthful of water and an injection followed. “How long was I unconscious?” “Two days” “Umm…I’m hungry” ‘Good. That means you are getting well. I’ll have the kitchen bring you something light. You had scared us back there when you wouldn’t come out of unconsciousness. The doctors feared you had had a concussion, but a CAT scan came out clean. Thank God. And if the swelling continues to go down at this speed, you’ll be discharged sooner than you think” She prattled on in a lilting voice, busying herself with fluffing the pillows and adjusting the bed rest. She seemed to like doing the talking, so I let her. “That woman should be arrested. She could have killed you or the baby” “It won’t be necessary. I’m not pressing charges” “Ah! But it is. With the publicity this story got, it’s only right that she should be arrested” “What publicity? What are you talking about?” “Oh! Sorry. I thought you knew. The story came out in the paper. Apparently a reporter, who’d been following the story of the plane crash, was in time for the whole action” She blushed furiously as she said this. “Oh... My…God” The implication of her words was too much for me to bear. Now probably everyone by who knew me was aware that I had had a hiding. I could have died of shame. I bet the headline of that story said: “Wife Snatcher Of Plane Crash Victim Beaten To A Pulp” When Nqobile was wheeled later, he found me in a tetchy mood. His eyes looked brighter, the brightness of feeling better. He smiled when he saw I was awake. “What’s wrong honey?” “Why didn’t you tell me?” I accused belligerently. “Tell you what dear?” “That…that the press got hold of our story,” I cried indignantly. “That is why I said earlier I had something to tell you. I wanted to break it to you gently. Anyway, who told you?” “The nurse who came in here earlier” “She’s a terrible gossip. Don’t worry your pretty head about it. We didn’t make the headlines, just a small caption on the second page, if that’s what you’re worried about” “You’re just saying that to make me feel better. I’m so ashamed” “Don’t be” “It’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one who was beaten up or the one to face humiliation” “Take it easy, love, take it easy,” he implored. We both kept quiet for a moment, I, still fuming inside. “I have some good news though” “What good could possibly come out of this whole fiasco?” I retorted. “Well, for starters, Nomvelo came to visit earlier this evening” “So?” “So, she came to tell me that she wants out. She said that she could not live with the arrangement I proposed. It’s just as good as polygamy. She said that she still had her pride to be stamped up by amateurs. She’s transferring to Bulawayo and taking the kids and the furniture with her” “Couldn’t she wait until you got out of hospital at least? How insensitive. Anyway, how is the news supposed to be good to me?” I asked sarcastically. “Honey, don’t you see?” “See what?” “Now we don’t have to feel guilty about the whole thing. We can now even get married. I told you once that everything will be all right” “You’re serious?” “I’ve never been more serious with anything in my life. The only painful part is that I won’t get to see my kids as often as I would have liked. I’ll miss them terribly” There was longing in his voice. “I’m sorry. Maybe it’s not a good idea. Maybe you should persuade her to stay and we can break up. I don’t mind, really” “Don’t talk nonsense. Lose you? I’d rather lose my life. Not after the happiness that you’ve given me over that past few years. I wouldn’t trade that for anything” “That’s very sweet” “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do” “Would it console you if I told you that…eh…I’m…eh…” “What? Lilly, stop hedging and tell me whatever it is you want to tell me” “I’m pregnant” “You don’t say? When did this happen? I mean, Lilly, why didn’t you tell me before? I could have died without knowing?” “I wasn’t sure about it until a couple of days ago after the accident. Remember, about two weeks back I told you I was feeling queasy and tired a lot. Well, I went to a doctor and he ran some tests. I collected the results on my way back from Plumtree” “Christ. And to think that I could be dead without ever knowing” “And I couldn’t even have gone to your relatives to report, unless of course, if the baby came out a replica of you” “Of course, all my babies look like me” “And your wife could have caused me to miscarry, you know?” “Are you certain she didn’t do any harm? Considering that she was straddling you. God, I could murder her” “No she didn’t. The nurse confirmed that I’m still intacta” “Thank God for that. Oh! Lilly, you don’t know how happy that makes me. I’m so proud of you” He squeezed my hand. “Thank you for everything” “I thank you madam, now hurry up and get well. We’ve got a wedding to see to” “You don’t waste time, do you?” “Why would I do that for? I can’t wait to make a decent woman of you” “At last” “At long last” He squeezed my and again. “Are we going to have a wedding with all the works or we’ll just go to court?” “What would you prefer, my sweet?” “Something quiet, yeah, the court will do” “Fine by me. As long as you are happy” “I’m perfectly happy, thank you. Now, one last question” “What now, woman?,” he said in mock annoyance. “What about Nomvelo? Didn’t you love her at all to just accept her ultimatum like that, without a fight?” “Why should I? She made her choice. I loved her once, but ask yourself this: why was I having an affair in the first place if I was happily married?” “Well, I don’t know. It’s a general assumption that all men, okay, not all but most men love to have a fling every now and then” “This is not a ‘fling’ for me Lilly. I was serious when I asked you to marry me in front of Nomvelo. I love you. Lilly, not all marriages are as rosy as they seem. A lot goes on under the roofs. You know, sometimes in a marriage you reach a point of no return, where the thought of divorce or separation is unthinkable for various reasons; religion, family bonds etcetera, and you just stay together because of the kids, because of accomplishments you’ve made as a family, because its difficult to start all over again, or maybe because the woman is too dependant on the man and can’t pull it off on her own, or she doesn’t have anywhere to go because her parents are both dead and her brothers and sisters are married; the list is endless. So, what do you do? You grin and bear it even though you know in your heart of hearts that it’s not what you wanted married life to be like. A situation like this is hard to break or let go. So you just stay, and if you’re lucky like me, have a fulfilling relationship with someone who you wish you had met earlier than your wife” “Was it really that bad?” “If the truth be known, I’m relieved” “Quiet a speech. But back there, you said you loved both of us?” “I was trying to placate her,” and we burst out laughing, laughs that came out like croaks because of the bandages. “Don’t worry about Nomvelo. She’ll be fine. She has her profession to fall back on. There is no need for her to go back to her parents’ house if she doesn’t want to” “It seems so…ruthless, so clinical” “That is life, my dear. Something just happens in life that creates a chain reaction. Events unfold and you find yourself where you never dreamt, even in a thousand years” “Catalyst” “Right, that’s the word. My accident started events that have led us here, today, now. Sometimes you wonder why, but then, God always has a reason for everything he does. If you tell yourself that, you won’t have any guilt to feel. Tell yourself that God had a reason” “Speaking of which. Something happened on the day I learned about your crash” “What?” “I won the lottery” “And the Pope has children. Seriously Lilly, no jokes please” “But I’m not joking. I won the lottery” “For real?” “For real. You know I always buy scratch cards, right? On that fateful day, after I’d confirmed your death through your maid, I was going to the bank to cash a check I’d just been loaned by the company for travel expenses. I’d made up my mind to attend your funeral, you see. So I passed through Icons, to see Raheema, then I passed through the Bookshop, then Ngoni was persistent that I come in and scratch. I went in reluctantly because it just didn’t seem right but then I had no reason to refuse Ngoni, so I went in and bought the scratch cards and to my utter amazement, I won $300 000. Can you imagine?” “Wow!” “You can say that again” “Wow!” “I didn’t mean it literally, silly” “But wow all the same. All because you received a message of my death. Then you changed the course of your usual routine and by happenstance, you landed right smack on top of thousands of dollars. See, this is the chain reaction I was talking about. If you hadn’t heard about the accident, you wouldn’t have had reason to go to the bank at that particular time, no reason to go see Raheema that particular time no reasons to…” “…pass through the bookshop, at that particular time” I finished for him. “Right, and someone would have won instead of you” “The right place, at the right time” “Something like that” “God does sure move in mysterious ways” “That’s true. Now, I drive and I bought myself a cell phone. The same cell phone Felix called me on at the funeral. If it weren’t for the cell phone, maybe it would have taken me longer to know that you were alive and even longer to reach here” “Incredible. I told you it was a sign” “Yeah, yeah” “Don’t make fun of me Lilly. I mean it” “I know. Sorry” “Now you and Junior must get some rest. I need it too. It’s been a harrowing day and exciting too. I’ll see you in the morning and we can talk some more. We make a mighty funny pair though” “How do you mean?” “All covered up in bandages” “Quite a sight, I’m sure, now go!” “I love you” “I love you too, good night” “Good night”
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 07:09:12 +0000
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