Cold At Dusk

Chapter Thirty Eight

When Mark came to Kamsi in Abuja, she had thought she wanted to return home. She had felt then she wanted to fight for her home and the first step was to return to it. On returning home, all that elegantly sat in her mind were the pains she had gone through in that house, the hurt she felt while she packed up her things, cloth after cloth with eyes that bled in tears. She had forgiven but she could not forget.

The Reverend's voice still resounded in her head. He had spoken to her the evening after Mark left. He had said in his usual manner of speaking like a sage,

"Divorce is not an option. Marriage is, till death do us part. Things get broken but they can be fixed. God never sleeps, when you call on him, he'll not allow you to be put to shame "

She believed things he said not just because he was the one father he knew but because he was also a servant of God. He had to be right.

It was her first day at work after she returned home. She was met with hugs from few of her colleagues. Someone did not come to work that day so she graced one of the leather padded back seats. She did not want to be there, listening to their incessant talks but she had no choice. She wanted to be at home, maybe lazily loitering about or searching through the stations for what to feed her eyes.

She bent her head on the desk infront of her and searched for her phone in her hand bag. It had since been on flight mode. She used it just for games these days. She turned off the mode and messages began to flood in, SMS and Whatssap messages then immediately, Michelle's call came in. She pressed her mute button on and stared at the phone's screen as it continued to ring. It stopped to ring and Michelle called again. She had to pick up because she must have realized that Michelle wouldn't give up.

"You had me on auto dial" She said, attempting a joke.

"I'm not even in that mood now" Michelle replied not joining her joke. "Where are you? "

"At work " She replied, tracing circles on the wooden table before her. Her eyes noting everyone in the office who seemed to be minding their business. Some were chatting away loudly while some were sleeping amidst the noise.

There was silence on the other end before she heard Michelle sigh heavily.

"Have you been in this town for up to a week and you did not bother telling me? "

"I just told you now" she replied, burying her head in an open palm, suddenly regretting allowing calls into her phone. She did not even bother asking how she knew how long she had been in the town.

"Can you come over after work? I can come and pick you " Michelle said.

Now, she tapped the table and stared out through the window.

"I'm driving home after work. I'm not feeling too well " she replied.

"You know what? Fuck this. I'm coming to your office " Came Michelle's reply before the line went dead.

Nobody ever stopped Michelle or Maka, she knew that. She sat staring out through the window knowing that Michelle's car would pull up in an empty space infront of her office anytime. She realized then that she was not like her friends, they pursued whatever they wanted with vigour  but she was someone that her will was dead. That was why sometimes, she hated being in their presence, they reminded her of her weakness.

In the past she had seen people fight but they only got drained and ended up with nothing. She felt that her friends were that strong because they never felt the amount of pain she felt before. She was familiar with that road of people walking away and she knew that when someone chooses to leave, there was no stopping them. It scared her even though she hated to admit it to herself.
What if one day, things get so bad and Mark doesn't return home?