Bosom on Fire

III - Drowning in Your Pool

"Akamba I'm almost home. I'm close," Bassey asserts to her boyfriend before plopping her phone on her lap.

5:19 pm.

She grunts at the digital clock beneath the speedometer of her refurbished Audi 200 as she steers the black car from Marina road into Rose Garden Estate.

Bassey already loathes the next one hour forty-one minutes she will be spending with Akamba before her housewarming party goes into full swing. She had decided on a whim to attend the Radiate Glory Service in cue to Akamba's I am in Eket text. She had hoped to cut the hours of alone time but the service had been ridiculously short. Even the extra time she took to speak to pastor Lawrence didn't do much.

Bassey can see Akamba's white Innoson G6 glistening in the orange rays of the setting sun as she drives towards her house at the corner of the estate. The old white duplex, fenced by thick bushes of West Indian Jasmine comes into her full view seconds later.

Bassey subconsciously mutters a prayer before exiting her car. She tries, for the first time in a while to believe that God is with her—like pastor Lawrence had exhorted about an hour ago.

Akamba's oud cologne hits Bassey as she saunters into her living room. She dumps her Jumz alte bag beside his chocolate Telfer shopping bag neatly placed on the mahogany center table.

Bassey eyes the red gift box with I love you inscribed ribbons sitting beside Akamba's bag. He knows I hate red.

Sinking into the white convertible sofa facing her TV, Bassey shuts her eyes, blurring out the view of seven withering white hibiscuses opposite her. Butter pads into the living room, jumping on the couch to sit beside her.

"Do you know I was worried about you babe?" Akamba's voice booms from the dining area.

Bassey ignores him until she can feel him towering above her.

"I'm sorry. I was in church," Bassey answers opening her eyes.

Confused he mocks, "Since when?"

"Last Sunday."

"And you didn't care to tell me? Babe, you cannot opt for an unnecessarily long-distance relationship and disregard the most important thing, which is communication. I cannot believe I have to drive TWO hours from Uyo to Eket whenever I want to see you," Akamba gestures the 'two' with his fingers like Bassey has no idea it is one plus one, "now, from the look of things, I am to travel the same distance for the tiny details. How rich of you!"

"I'm sorry. It just happened. I drove around on Sunday and found myself in church. I would have told you but I wasn't sure yet. I'm still not sure."

"Bassey, that's the problem. Why I'm I in your life if you have to be sure all the time? Our relationship is not a freaking movie plot. We do not need the suspense and the build-up."

"Akamba..." Bassey starts.

"Bassey," Akamba cuts, "you recently dumped your plan to move all the way back to Eket on me only a week prior and I sucked it up. I do not think..."

"Akamba, you definitely didn't suck it up. You threw an entire panic party. You called Colette, Ben, your mother, my boss, you name them. You believe strongly that you know what's best for me. It's so unhealthy."

"Babe, babe, babe, babe..."

"Tell me you wouldn't have stopped me if I had let you on earlier," Bassey asks, her voice stern.

"Bassey what are you saying? All I have ever done is support you. We've been together for SEVEN years and I have lived for you. I cannot say the same about you."

Blinking, Bassey fails at hiding her disdain, "You want me to live for you AK? Why would you want that?"

Akamba is quiet for a while. He rubs his full beard with both palms over and over, his hands shaking.

"Bassey, that is what love means to me," he avers. Looking away from her brown eyes, he adds, "It is my fault after all. You have constantly proven that loving is above you."

A pang hits Bassey's chest. She takes a deep breath, willing the hurt away. Bassey can tell that what she feels for Akamba is far from what love should be, but her loyalty to him over the years makes her blood pound in her ears.

Bassey gingerly strokes the brown fur on Butter's back, seeking support for her next move.

Looking away now from the grey of Butter's eyes to the glistering black of Akamba's, Bassey says firmly, "Akamba, I think everything in the universe including God is behind me when I say it is time we pull out the root of this toxic thing that we've passed as a relationship."

Months ago, the line Bassey is drawing would have been thin, almost invisible. Today, in a space she has created for herself, it is bold. Bold enough for her to hold onto.

"Babe, what do you mean?" Akamba begins to pace around the couch.

"What I mean is, when you leave my house tomorrow, you can never call yourself my man again."