MISSING PIECE (18)
“My love, you’re still awake?, Jacinta asked as she entered the house. She was extremely tired and wasn’t expecting anyone up.
“I was waiting for you”, he replied, standing up to hug her. “How was your day?”
“Fine”, she replied, yawning. He waited till she had her bath and ate. “What’s wrong?”
“I just saw the trouser you helped me wash.”
“And?”
“There was a particular paper Sunday gave me. It’s a note to someone I’d see for a job opportunity. The paper is torn”, he lamented.
“Ohh baby, I’m so sorry. I should have checked”, she apologized, holding his hand.
“It’s not your fault. That’s by the way. This afternoon I was bored and decided to go to your fashion house. I saw it’s now a supermarket. What happened? Did you move to a different location?”
She sat up, shifting uneasily in her seat. “I….uhhh….I sold it.”
“You what? Since when?”
“It was part of what we sold to get you out of prison.”
Silence reigned for a while. “So where have you been going? You leave early in the morning and come back late in the night, exhausted.” She looked away. “Tell me the truth, JayCee.”
“I sell food in a canteen…..” She saw the disapproving look on his face. “It’s my own place. I used to hawk it then when my tomatoes business didn’t go well because I was continuously harassed by the officials there.
“But now, I have my own place. Fully mine. It’s not too big, but I’m making it.”
“My wife, a food seller? How come I didn’t know about it?”
“I didn’t want you to feel bad. I know how you feel seeing women hawking, not to talk of your wife. I don’t hawk anymore. I was just looking for a way to tell you.”
Armstrong shook his head, not knowing what else to say. She squeezed his hand. “Relax, my love. It’s just temporary. Everything will be fine.”
“I pray it does.”
He turned to face her, holding her hands, “Thank you for standing by me through it all. You are the best wife ever. If there is an after life, I’d love that you be my wife over and over again.”
She laughed. “Well, that’s good to know. It’s late, hon. Let’s go to bed.”
**************
“You’re sure you saw them?”, she asked on the phone.
“Yes. They had a family dinner, giggling and all”, the person from the other line replied.
“When?”
“About a week ago.”
“You fool!”, she yelled, “Why didn’t you report ever since?”
“I tried tour numbers, wasn’t going through.”
She calmed down a bit. “Yes. We had to change it, security reasons. Let me know if anything comes up.” She ended the call.
“Well?”, her boyfriend asked, taking two quick gulps from the bottle of beer in front of him.
“That idiot is going about with his family. I will so deal with him”, she said, fuming.
“Chill! We’ll still get him. There’s a plan on ground for that”, he said.
“I’d like to know that plan.” Her enemy must not go unpunished.
(To Be Continued)
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