NKEM 26
"Leave my husband alone for me", she heard the woman say, dragging the said man towards herself. She knew the man belonged to her too and so would not let him go easily like that. She dragged him towards herself and watched as the man dissolved from her grip. She woke up and stared blankly at the darkness in the room. There has been a power-cut that accounted for the sweat on her body and the bed.
She wondered why she was having this kind of dream. But I am no longer in the village, she wondered. Why would she be fighting over Nkem? She knew the woman in the dream was Adaora.
Nkem's disappearance from her grip frightened her. She hoped it had nothing to do with death! Was Nkem lost to her forever? Her leaving the village didn't mean that she was done loving him. It was just to save herself from the pain and shame.
She felt pressed and would have trampled on Sarah and Ben. She quickly remembered they were sleeping on the mat below. But then, there was an almost inaudible groan entering her ears from below. Was Sarah snoring? She is very good at that. Could it be Ben? She listened more intently. The noise didn't sound like a snore, it was something else!
As her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, she saw the rapid shadowy movements of Ben's waist jamming itself in between Sarah's opened legs.
"What!", She heard herself say aloud.
There was a quick scramble on the floor and everything went silent.
"What is it, Gladys? Are you having bad dreams? "That was Sarah with her head raised.
"No," retorted Gladys. I couldn't sleep with your loud snore. You should consider other people the way you…."
She said the statement deliberately slow so that Sarah would know she was aware of their dirty games.
She wondered how Sarah could be so shameless. Anywhere was convenient for her to have sex.
"I'm very sorry. I didn't know I was snoring very loud".
She stood up from the bed, groped for the flashlight and headed out to ease herself. She heard the two burst out laughing when she was out of the door.
It was Sarah's idea for them to have sex. Ben was fast asleep beside her when Sarah, who couldn't sleep for long, began rubbing his genitals until he became hard and wide awake. She sat on top of him, preparing to give him a wild ride but he refused at first, afraid that the noise would wake Gladys from sleep. When he saw that he couldn't convince her otherwise, he obliged her but insisted their position be reversed.
What nonsense is this that Sarah is doing in her room? This nonsense must stop immediately! I can't be living in a room where sex is the order of the day! No wonder the landlady complained about her. When she told her about ejecting Ben from the house, Sarah pleaded, asking he be given a little time to secure for himself an accommodation. But she wondered why he had no place else to go. Where was he staying before he and Sarah met? Surely, he must have been staying somewhere before now! Couldn't he at least go back there?
When she got back into the room, the lovers had disengaged, their backs turned to each other and even Sarah was already snoring. She wondered how she could find sleep so soon after that shameless rump? Was she trying to fool her to make her believe she was truly asleep? She climbed the bed and it occured to her that Sarah's refusal to sleep beside her as always was because she wanted to be close to Ben. She closed her eyes and tried to force herself back to sleep but she couldn't. Instead, her mind kept rummaging through the image of Nkem as if it were a bag containing expensive clothing.
What would Nkem be doing by this time she wondered? Perhaps, he would be at one of his performances singing away his throat, trying to forget his pains? Could he be cuddling his new baby, who would not stop crying, back to sleep or holding Adaora in an intimate embrace? The thought of it dug a deep wound in her heart. Instantly, the tears were in her eyes. Falling ceaselessly. She covered her mouth with one end of her wrapper to muffle her sobs. She remained this way until she drifted to sleep.
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