Not A Stranger to Pain

Chapter 8

Like a glutton she was she feasted on the candy and the chocolate the only evidence left were the sticky fingers . Go and wash your hands sweetling I will be back I have to see what your mother is up-to.

Philip soon found his wife nestled in the comforts of her kitchen for she had just about finished with her cooking . "How is my lovely wife today "he enquired , "I am okay Philip why don't you go and change your clothes and sit down and I will bring your food shortly ."

That was the welcome he got not even an embrace of passion, feeling him up or words that could melt his heart or a sign that she had missed him he thought dejectedly now he was sounding like a recluse . "Oh well " atleast one of my girls is happy that I am back he pondered.

Philip went to his room and showered he sure did need this, for he had been sweating under the nasty heat of the day. Maybe that's why his wife had not embraced him he reasoned.

It has been long since she gave him one anyway but one could hope "one could hope".

As soon as he was done , he went down to eat ,for he was thoroughly famished.

At the sight of food both he and his daughter dug in , he ate with ease whilst his daughter ate with intensive rigor.

The food she ate was large sum for her age , yet she kept her  slim physique he at times wondered where the food went. She never gained weight, nor those cute chubby cheeks that people love to pinch.

She was as straight as a fiddle, and strong too.

Another thing that worried him was the tomboyish behavior that sneaked out once in a blue moon. Maybe it was due to no female companion on her part.

At times he could catch her in the act of climbing a tree in pursuit of a squirrel or dissecting a lizard now the latter made him shudder.

Liz stared at the two and began eating the only sound amongst the three was the scraping of the plate. If it were not for table manners Philip would have consumed every grain on his plate like his beloved daughter had done. He was thankful that today's food was well cooked.

Not that Liz was a bad cook but accidents do happen occasionally and when they do there would be too much salt in the gravy or meat or the food would be as tasteless as death.

For a brief moment he stared at his wife as he knew that her time was up ,tomorrow she would be going back College. These are consequences of early pregnancies, it wasn't a teen pregnancy no but she had conceived at the age of 20.

This put a dent in her plans to study ,she had in turn vowed to go back to school as soon as her child had grown a bit. She once left Joy when she had grown to be a 5 months old baby in the care of a nanny .

This resulted in her daughter hospitalized due to gross negligence on the nanny's part. It was a nerve wrecking experience indeed because her daughter was restless and pale she was diagnosed with intussusception or what they call intestinal-blockages .

So her plans for school were derailed until her daughter was a year and a half years old.

Years ago, in the African community women were told not to work but to raise their children , but that time has lapsed and in came the new era where women can dare dream and make it happen.

So she wanted to be part of those dreamers even if it meant being apart from her family ,she wanted financial independence though her husband catered to her every need.

Another thing that didn't consist with her hard exterior was that she loved praying or prayers. No one really wanted to judge about her religion so they let it go. All they could say was that this woman is hard.