“Have I told you how grateful I am? If only men could read minds, you will see just how grateful I and my family are to you for this job.”
Mabel leaned forward to smile at Mr. Richards across the expanse of his wide desk. He turned away with a nervous air, avoiding her eyes as he fidgeted in his seat. She drew back, allowing her back rest against the stiff chair. For the life of her, she found it difficult to understand why Richards would be nervous around her. They moved in the same circles, attended the same church and even their children were close friends.
Her heart fluttered like a bird released from confinement. Anxiety and fear could do that. SinceDan lost his job, they had taken the place of her husband at her bedside. They filled her waking moment and accompanied her to the farm every afternoon.
She shook her head. “I thought we were hopeless when Dan lost his job. Truly it’s a bad idea for a woman to be a housewife.”
Richards grunted.
Mabel laughed. “You don’t have to be shy around me. We’ve known each other for too long.”
He coughed and ran a hand down the front buttons of his shirt. “You’re a very beautiful woman.”
Mabel frowned, then her expression cleared. “I-- ah, thank you, I guess. Well, I’ve always wanted you to talk to me as freely as you do our other friends. I guess this is a start.” She shrugged.
He gave a light, rattling cough and shifted in his seat. With his eyes aimed to the left of her, he avoided her eyes with practiced ease. When he said nothing in reply, Mabel rose.
“I just wanted to let you know how grateful we are. I will be in class. I have the first per--”
“Sit down!”
Mabel blinked. A sliver of foreboding wiggled its way up her spine. She gave him a forced smile and sat.
Mr. Richards swallowed so loud Mabel heard the gulp and watched the muscles of his throat contract and release like two fighters in an evenly matched brawl.
“Is something wrong?” Mabel asked in a soft tone, smoothing the soft material of her skirt over her legs.
“You’re a beautiful woman,” he said.
Cold fingers of dread danced their way down Mabel’s spine and she shivered. “Mr--”
“We never needed an English teacher,” he scratched his head, “I-- ermm, faked the position so--”
Relief, quick and heady streaked through her. “Oh, I’m so grateful you were thoughtful enough to do that for us. But there’s no need. We can manage my farm produce until Dan gets another--”
“Sleep with me.”
Mabel stared.
“Just once,” he leaned forward, all traces of nervousness gone, “only once and you have the job.”
Mabel drew back, shock and anger settling like a traveler after a long journey on her shoulders. She stared at Mr. Richards feverish eyes and slightly parted lips, and shuddered.
With one powerful lunge, she rose, toppling the chair behind her with a loud crash. “I’m disappointed. I love my husband and I thought you loved your wife!”
He stood. His potbellied, six feet tall frame causing fear to take the place of her shock. His office was located closer to the gate than the main school building. Too far for anyone to hear her cry out.
“And you think he loves you?” he asked.
Mabel didn’t wait to hear more. She ran to the door.
“What are you doing back so soon?”
Mabel gaped at her teenage daughter. “I should be asking you that. You should be in school. What are you doing back home?” She took a quick glance around their compound. “Where’s your brother, Gloria?”
Gloria caught Mabel’s hand and tried to turn her towards the road. Mabel jerked her hand back. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Her daughter squirmed, shifting from one foot to the other. Mabel looked up at Gloria, marveled anew at her children's growth spurt. And she was out of a job.
“You asked for Peter, he’s outside.”
Mabel tugged her hand out of Gloria’s desperate hold. “You haven’t told me what you’re doing home.”
“Mum.”
She turned to see Peter striding towards her in quick, long strides. Now, Mabel couldn’t hold back her flash of anger.
“I’m going to go inside, change and then we talk.”
She had taken three steps forward when Peter flung his hand over her shoulders, effectively restraining her. “Mum--”
“Take your hands off me.”
Peter removed his hand and exchanged frightened looks with Gloria.
“Yes, you should be afraid. When your father hears you’ve been playing truancy, he will have your hide.”
“He’s too busy to hear anything,” Peter retorted.
Mabel strode to the house, anger dodging her every step. Could today get any worse? In less than thirty minutes she had been dealt two unpleasant surprises. Her children had been the one thing she could count on in her life before now, even more than Dan.
She shoved the door open.
“Mum!” Peter called. “Don’t go in.” He held up two bags. There were bulging with hastily packed clothes.
Their clothes.
Mabel stared in open-mouthed shock. She blinked and shook her head, struggling to make sense out of an odd day.
“What the hell’s wrong with you two today…”
She trailed off when she caught sight of their neighbor, Mrs. Edozie walking at a fast, annoyed clip towards them. To her bemusement, she watched Peter whisper to his sister and Goria ran to meet Mrs Edozie.
Mabel forgot the open door. Gloria said something, stretching entreating hands towards the older woman. But Mrs .Edozie flung her hands away and kept marching to their front door.
“I came for my daughter and tell your useless husband he better be ready to marry her when she falls pregnant."
Mabel dropped her bag. The sound of books and biros hitting the ground echoed the thud of her heart. Through all the confusion one word kept reverberating in her skull like a bad refrain.
When.
When she falls pregnant.
Her daughter was sixteen years old, same as Gloria.
“Mum!” Peter ran a hand over her face. “Are you alright?”
“What’s she talking about?” Mabel asked through stiff lips.
“We need to go--”
“I want to see Dan.” Mabel pressed a hand to her stomach. Her head swam and her chest went so tight she struggled to take in air. “I want to see your father.”
“Come on, Mum--”
She swallowed. “I will see your--”
“Here I am,” Dan said.
By his side stood Mrs. Edozie’s teenage daughter.
“I have already told them to pack your things.”
Mabel’s heart beat faster. Her palms sweated and her legs went boneless beneath her. She licked her lips. “Dan--”
“Get out.” He placed a familiar arm around Mrs. Edozie's young daughter. "And don't ever come back."
