Page 91 of Cursed Daughters
“Monife, talk to your cousin na. She must confess who this man is. Even if he is married, the child should bear his name. A child should know who their father is. It is not good what she is doing.”
“Who is he, Ebun?”
“He doesn’t matter.”
“He doesn’t? He mattered enough for you to open your legs,” Monife said casually, biting into a spring roll.
“Why do you have to be so crude?” snapped Bunmi.
Mo shrugged. “Well, I tried.” She left them to it and wondered what Golden Boy was doing. Did he remember today was her birthday?
—
When they arrived home, she rushed over to listen to the answering machine. He wouldn’t leave a message. The mothers still didn’t know she was seeing him. But there was a part of her that hoped. Maybe he would have left some sort of code. Perhaps he would have played a record.
The machine blinked at her. No new messages.
VII
“I didn’t mean for this to happen, Mo.”
“What fucking difference is that supposed to make?”
He was beginning to crack. This was their eleventh rendezvous, over the course of two months or so, and they were starting to fill their silences with conversation, and the conversations were leading to conflict. It was clear the guilt was eating him up inside. He was, after all, the married one.
“I’m not a bad guy. I’m just—”
“Kalu. It’s just you and me here. You and me. There isn’t an audience. You don’t have to perform goodness for anybody. I accept you. All of you.”
He rubbed his forehead and raised himselfup.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just that I hate that I have turned you into a side chick.”
She bit her lip. “I hadn’t realised that’s what I was.”
“That’s…I didn’t mean to insinuate…”
“Mistress sounds more romantic.”
“But there’s a permanence to it…and you deserve so much more, Mo. You deserve to be happy.”
“I am happy.”
“You couldn’t possibly be.”
“Speak for yourself. Don’t speak for me.”
He ran a hand over his head. “You’re a nutcase. You know that? Loony. You’d give it all up for a guy who’s not worth half what you’re worth.”
“You’re talking too much. It’s you and me. That’s all I know.”
“I don’t think we should keep doing this, Mo.”
“So you’ve had your fill?”
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
“I think it is what you’re saying.”
