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Nasty Breakup - Part Two
Every December, Josephine and Mark had hiked in the evergreen Mpanga forest in Mpigi District. This resort was 50 kilometres west of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda.
They had always camped here to meditate and relax. This equatorial eco-forest was a clean, serene environment, and was God-given. The beauty and clean air attracted local and international tourists.
They always picked lots of wild mushrooms, fruits, and herbs from the forest. It was one of their favourite hobbies. The forest’s quiet and cool environment reminded her of home in the terraced green, cold-misty hills of Kisoro.
Then, they had found a sickly, hungry cat abandoned by the previous owner. Its orange-striped hair was falling out. The hungrier feline had limped to her and meowed faintly. She feared it at first sight. She thought it was a wild one. The cat licked her right toes and rolled on her back and meowed. He raced back to the blue-and-green hangman tent for food.
They fed her with tinned mackerel fish and maize grits, and they went back to tend to read. It crawled over them, and curled near the tent entrance, and went off to sleep.
For days, it slept and followed them everywhere. Though he was allergic to cats, because of their falling-out hairs, they took her home. For years, Primo was a family member and enjoyed all the attention.
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A year back, Josephine had had a miscarriage after a fever. She blamed him without due reason, and she was never the same. She developed mood swings and was depressed. He had always returned in the evenings to find no meals or washed laundry.
Their three-bedroomed home was messy, and she just watched movies and soaps all day, snuggled in his favourite rocking chair. She chatted on WhatsApp and Facebook the whole day, slept late, and woke up late.
Some mornings, he had prepared Josephine quick breakfasts of omelette, toasted bread slices, and sausages, and coffee. Mark found it untouched on the four-seat dining table every evening.
For months, they quarrelled, hurling insults at each other. They made up and slept together. However, life took an ugly turn. She tried to conceive but failed, then the violent outbursts returned. Often, she tossed cooking utensils at him whenever she was drunk and abused him.
Despite all the unhappiness, he had endured these abuses. He never spanked or barked at her, but he had withdrawn all the alcohol in the house.
Sometimes, he didn't come back and stayed at Robert's house. He was his best man at the wedding. When he grew tired of sleeping on Robert sofa, he returned to his house.
His office work now suffered, he was always late and missed out on important meetings. He delegated critical projects to his juniors who couldn't handle them proficiently.
One morning, his employer called him to his office after a failed project and issued him a final warning. Then, his boss noticed the same clothes he had put on the previous day.
“Tell me, do you have some marital problems?”, he probed whilst frowning.
“No, sir, I have no issues! We had a power outage in our area, I didn't have a power backup to iron my shirt!” He responded timidly, avoiding his boss’s x-ray eyes.
Though he denied it, several unending issues kept him awake. Inside, his heart bled, focusing on office work was like flogging a dead horse.
Mark stayed behind after Sunday prayers and sought the pastor's help. Josephine and Edith, the pastor’s wife were good friends and leaders of Mothers’ Union. This was a Christian fellowship group that aided vulnerable girls and women.
He invited the pastor's home, hoping that some counselling and God’s hand would solve his family stalemate. The pastor had prayed for hours and counselled them. Throughout the prayers, and pep talk, she pretended to be a wonderful and caring wife.
No sooner had the good pastor shared dinner of fried fish and sweet potatoes with them, and departed than she screamed all abuses at him.
Mark squatted back and he was reminiscent of the times they had promised each other never to leave.
Josephine had dressed hastily and slipped out of the house to join her friends at the Kamu Kamu pub. Mark sat in his rocking chair as he nursed an iced fruit drink laced with Jamaican rum. Hot tears ploughed his bearded face, he closed his tired eyes and snored.
The Final Part will be on Wednesday.
© Mwebe Morgan
They had always camped here to meditate and relax. This equatorial eco-forest was a clean, serene environment, and was God-given. The beauty and clean air attracted local and international tourists.
They always picked lots of wild mushrooms, fruits, and herbs from the forest. It was one of their favourite hobbies. The forest’s quiet and cool environment reminded her of home in the terraced green, cold-misty hills of Kisoro.
Then, they had found a sickly, hungry cat abandoned by the previous owner. Its orange-striped hair was falling out. The hungrier feline had limped to her and meowed faintly. She feared it at first sight. She thought it was a wild one. The cat licked her right toes and rolled on her back and meowed. He raced back to the blue-and-green hangman tent for food.
They fed her with tinned mackerel fish and maize grits, and they went back to tend to read. It crawled over them, and curled near the tent entrance, and went off to sleep.
For days, it slept and followed them everywhere. Though he was allergic to cats, because of their falling-out hairs, they took her home. For years, Primo was a family member and enjoyed all the attention.
****************************************************************************************
A year back, Josephine had had a miscarriage after a fever. She blamed him without due reason, and she was never the same. She developed mood swings and was depressed. He had always returned in the evenings to find no meals or washed laundry.
Their three-bedroomed home was messy, and she just watched movies and soaps all day, snuggled in his favourite rocking chair. She chatted on WhatsApp and Facebook the whole day, slept late, and woke up late.
Some mornings, he had prepared Josephine quick breakfasts of omelette, toasted bread slices, and sausages, and coffee. Mark found it untouched on the four-seat dining table every evening.
For months, they quarrelled, hurling insults at each other. They made up and slept together. However, life took an ugly turn. She tried to conceive but failed, then the violent outbursts returned. Often, she tossed cooking utensils at him whenever she was drunk and abused him.
Despite all the unhappiness, he had endured these abuses. He never spanked or barked at her, but he had withdrawn all the alcohol in the house.
Sometimes, he didn't come back and stayed at Robert's house. He was his best man at the wedding. When he grew tired of sleeping on Robert sofa, he returned to his house.
His office work now suffered, he was always late and missed out on important meetings. He delegated critical projects to his juniors who couldn't handle them proficiently.
One morning, his employer called him to his office after a failed project and issued him a final warning. Then, his boss noticed the same clothes he had put on the previous day.
“Tell me, do you have some marital problems?”, he probed whilst frowning.
“No, sir, I have no issues! We had a power outage in our area, I didn't have a power backup to iron my shirt!” He responded timidly, avoiding his boss’s x-ray eyes.
Though he denied it, several unending issues kept him awake. Inside, his heart bled, focusing on office work was like flogging a dead horse.
Mark stayed behind after Sunday prayers and sought the pastor's help. Josephine and Edith, the pastor’s wife were good friends and leaders of Mothers’ Union. This was a Christian fellowship group that aided vulnerable girls and women.
He invited the pastor's home, hoping that some counselling and God’s hand would solve his family stalemate. The pastor had prayed for hours and counselled them. Throughout the prayers, and pep talk, she pretended to be a wonderful and caring wife.
No sooner had the good pastor shared dinner of fried fish and sweet potatoes with them, and departed than she screamed all abuses at him.
Mark squatted back and he was reminiscent of the times they had promised each other never to leave.
Josephine had dressed hastily and slipped out of the house to join her friends at the Kamu Kamu pub. Mark sat in his rocking chair as he nursed an iced fruit drink laced with Jamaican rum. Hot tears ploughed his bearded face, he closed his tired eyes and snored.
The Final Part will be on Wednesday.
© Mwebe Morgan
