Chapter three
1537 Words
We quickly dressed up.
"You can come in" Jacksonville answered to the knock.
"Sorry sir, your parents came for a visit, They are downstairs." Mrs Angelo said in a flat voice as she opened the door.
On hearing that my in-laws were around, I quickly rushed to my wardrobe to change into a nice dress. I finally wore an off-shoulder Shein gown with a slit at the down hem of the dress. I brushed my hair and applied some pancakes on my face. Jacksonville on the other hand wore a shirt and shorts and we both went downstairs together.
Intense moments were not my thing, I had no idea how to move my hands, how to move my neck or keep my face.
"Awwwwwn, take a look at my beautiful daughter-in-law," Mrs Ben said smiling as she tapped her husband.
"Good evening Mrs Ben," I said as I hugged her.
"You look beautiful" She paused and rubbed my chin and then continued "And please it's Karen dear."
"Good evening Mr. Ben," I said shyly
"Evening my daughter-in-law" he replied reluctantly and temporarily took his eyes away from the television to look at me.
"Jacksonville I have been calling you to let you know we were coming but you weren't picking up," Mrs Ben said.
"Am sorry Mom, my phone was on silent" Jacksonville explained as he embraced her, a warm hug.
I quickly went to the kitchen to help Mrs. Angelo get dinner ready. It was a meal of spaghetti with chopped hot dogs, fried chicken, and freshly squeezed orange juice.
Not too long after, we were done serving the meal on the dining table and we all sat down to have dinner.
Jacksonville's parents were nice to me and I think I liked them. But I still wondered why they married me off to Jacksonville, I mean it was mostly the rich marrying the rich, rich parents forced their daughters to marry the son of a rich man of a higher caliber to attain fame and more wealth. Deep down in thought, I was brought to reality when Mrs. Ben tapped me
"Are you okay dear, I have been calling you" She said as she looked at me with curiosity.
"Yeah am fine," I said as I drank some orange juice.
A few minutes later, we were done eating. I helped Mrs. Angelo clear out the dishes as Jacksonville went to the living room with his parents. It was 9 p.m. when their driver took them back home.
I went upstairs, took my bath, and laid on the bed.
"Oh, what a day!" I exclaimed.
….
Days passed and I gradually adapted to my new home. Every morning, I did my wifely duty; I would wake up prepare breakfast, and do the laundry while Jacksonville was out.
I felt lonely as Valerie Hart had gotten a job, I had no other friends apart from her. This boredom ate my soul and I couldn't even visit my dad. He would probably abuse me or use me as his punching bag, I had nowhere else to run to.
Finally, bored with my stuffy room, I slipped into the balcony and looked outside.
I saw a cute young man who could be in his late 30s on the balcony of a bungalow. He had curly hair, a pointed nose, and nicely carved lips. He must be a visitor of one of Jacksonville's neighbors. I stole glances at him till we had eye contact.
"Hi pretty lady," He said as his eyes pierced into mine.
I was dying of someone to talk to, I mean the boredom was eating me up, Mrs. Angelo had taken a leave (her daughter was sick and rushed to the hospital), and she needed to take care of her.
"Hi!" I replied as I winked my eyelashes.
"Am Derek Harrison and you?"
He used his hands to brush his hair backward.
"Am Claire" I replied.
"It's nice to meet you! You know I was bored, so I decided to come to stare at the flowers, or maybe the birds, and admire nature. I think seeing you is more fascinating than all that. You're so charming " He said as he demonstrated with his hand.
"Lol, thank you". I replied as if words were struggling to come out of my mouth.
Immediately I heard a car horn at the gate, Maybe Jacksonville is back I thought.
"Erm, I need to go," I kept my face blank unwilling to reveal how bad it did sound.
"Okay bye, we will see some other time" he scowled darkly.
I quickly ran downstairs to see who it was.
"Babe! Babe!! Babe!!!" called a voice approaching the sitting room.
"And who is that?" I asked.
"It is me!" replied the voice as it drew closer to the sitting room.
To my greatest surprise, it was Valerie. She was the last person I was expecting, I mean shouldn't she be at work?
"Wow! How are you?, Aren't you supposed to be at work? Hope there is no problem?" I wondered why she had come.
"Aren't you happy to see me?" she said as she stood still.
"Of course, babe, am so happy to see you"I moved towards her.
We climbed the stairs and went to my room. We sat on the bed and immediately Valerie started talking
"Okay, so today is my day off from work and I decided to come to spend some time with my best girl!"
We talked and played fun games until it was time for her to go. I bade her goodbye as she hopped in the Uber. I then went to sleep.
I woke up by 6 a.m. the next morning. I looked around the house and couldn't find Jacksonville. It seems he didn't come back last night.
I was very hungry as I didn't eat last night. I hurried to the kitchen to make a breakfast of Quaker oats and milk garnished with sliced fruits and bread.
I opened the kitchen cabinets only to find out that the groceries had finished. The kitchen has been a mess ever since Mrs. Angelo's absence.
I hurriedly went upstairs, changed from my nightwear, brushed my teeth, took money from Jacksonville's spare wallet, and walked to a nearby mall. I picked the items I needed and headed to the clerk.
"Excuse me, Claire," said a voice from behind.
Astonished, I turned around to see who called me, my eyes lit up in surprise.
"Hi Derek, I could barely recognize you". I brought out my hand for a shake.
"It's nice to talk to you in person Claire" he smiled shaking my hands.
I flipped my hair over my shoulder– an act of nonchalance, or so I hoped. "I came to get some groceries" I paused and then continued, "am actually in a hurry,"
"This is my number. Claire, I would love to be your friend," he said offering me a piece of paper with his number written on it.
"Okay no problem" I took the paper.
I walked back home quickly as my stomach grumbled. I quickly made breakfast and ate to my heart's content. After I was done with chores, I took my phone and dialed the number on the paper.
"Hello," said a voice at the other end of the phone
"Hi, it's Claire"
" Thank goodness you called, I am so happy. How are you?"
"Am very much okay " I replied.
We talked for over 30 minutes before my phone shut down.
Jacksonville came back that evening, walked upstairs, and entered our room. He opened his spare wallet where he usually keeps money and found out that some dollars were missing.
"It seems you have grown wings. How dare you use my money without my permission, you thief" he said in a slurred voice, unsteadily shaking his forefinger at me.
I was about to run as he grabbed me by my sleeveless cotton shirt, pulling it so hard that I heard the buttons snap off in sharp, angry pops.
"I used the money to buy groceries!" I exclaimed trying to pull away from his iron grasp, wishing my taut shirt would simply split into two.
Then his twisted face came to mine and I could smell alcohol emanating from him like a poisonous vapor. I knew this was a bad situation and if I didn't get away fast, it would likely turn worse. If only his grasp would just weaken just for a second, I would have run downstairs like a flash and he would never catch up with me.
I closed my eyes and held my free hand up to protect my face but it was useless to try and duck the blows. The sound of my skull cracking rang in my ears and I was pretty sure that it was all over with right then, although I do remember hitting the floor, too.
I felt just like a limp rag doll as I collapsed onto the hard tile floor. This was the only thing I could remember until the next day when I woke up in the hospital with my best friend at my side, holding my hands gently in hers.
- Writer
