Lance and Maggy, Chap 1
1
“There is a cousin of mine coming tomorrow”. Lance says to Maggy. She doesn’t budge on her chair watching her movie. It’s a romantic movie. You know everything is predictable. There is no soundtrack to dramatize or romanticize anything. It’s there. She tripped, he grabbed her before she reached the ground, and they’ll live happily ever after. Whatever that happens in the middle. Might as well skip that. Some sort of argument over nothing that leads to reconciliation. That’s the kind of movie she has been watching for the last hour without fast-forwarding a bit. Maggy is a hopeless romantic. To have married Lance was not entirely her decision. Her mother persuaded her to take him. “He’ll offer you security. He is serious. His job is stable, bla bla bla”. The moment Maggy met Lance, she knew it’ll be hard to have a laugh with him. For sure, her mother was telling her the truth. He has a decent job; got master’s degree in civil engineering and other certificates he earned along the way. In other words, he’ll always be employable as long as he lives. And that’s the security her mother was talking about.
Maggy had another contestant though. But he was not as consistent as Lance, and not as educated as him. Never talked about the future apart saying that he’ll offer her the world and many children. “Well as long you are fertile, anyone can offer you many children” Her mother said to her when she told her about James. Old dreamer James. Very charming and excessively romantic. Hence the reason she’s probably glued to those romantic movies. She’s trying to find something missing at home.
Maggy didn’t ask why his husband is bringing his cousin home tomorrow because two of his nephews moved in two months after their wedding without her knowing. He waited for her to ask something, shifting from tv channels. Uneased of her silence. But still, she sat there quiet. Eventually after a couple of minutes, he got tired and walked into their bedroom, turned on the radio and laid on the bed listening to today’s news. “It’s all politics” mumbling at every word the journalist says. Commenting and shaking his head disagreeing on what’s being reported. “All the same thing every day. No wonder the whole world is corrupted” He murmured.
“How was your day?” Lance suddenly asked at the dining table. “Same as yesterday. Nothing new” Maggy replied, and the food got cold all of a sudden. “Why didn’t you come to the appointment?” She asks “I told you. I had meetings after meetings. If you changed the date, I could have made it tomorrow”. Lance says. “One always finds time for what’s important. But in case you were wondering. The doctor said everything is good”. She was 7 months pregnant. 7 months from their wedding day. Some things are just fast. Her friend told her. “You are the lucky one. Getting pregnant on the first try”. However, that didn’t seem to please her. She wanted to wait a couple of years before having children. She wanted to study and work before she embarks on the motherhood journey. But things took the west turn for her from the very beginning.
Remember how Maggy’s mother said that Lance is a serious man. He confused it to strongheaded based on Maggy. He is a man of few words. Some being the most painful ones. He also is a man of decision making without Maggy in the picture. Fewer words were spoken before the two leaves the table for the nephews’ turn to eat. They don’t eat together. Maggy had refused. The nephews were siblings, but they had nothing in common. The oldest was as tall as the height of a doorknob and the other could barely touch the ceiling. They made their way to the table while Maggy dragged her feet to the bedroom. Since all Lance and the nephews talked about was about their family affairs, Maggy felt like an outcast seating amongst them. So the bedroom seemed like the best option for her to relax. Laid on the bed, she glanced at the dark wooden ceiling and touched her belly. “My baby” she felt comfort in knowing that she is doing something right. Carrying her baby and protecting her from toxic gossip. Before she knew it, she was long gone.
The next morning Lance’s cousin arrived before the rooster crows. Talk about surprises. Maggy was shocked when she saw a figure of a girl sitting in the living room with worn-off shoes and red hair. Not that she had natural red hair. But the dust she walked through did enough magic to temporarily bleach into another colour. Does it suit her? Let’s find an answer to that question another time. “Are you Judith?” Maggy asked. She got up and hurried to hug Maggy. Grinning and trying to breathe at the same time, Maggy tapped her back and welcome her in their home. She asked how the journey was and the latter described the details of all the ups and downs she encountered. As patient as she can be, Maggy listened, nodded and welcomed her again. She excused herself and told her that her uncle or cousin, at this point she didn’t remember what the girl was to Lance will be with her shortly. Lance was grooming himself before going to work when Maggy warned of the arrival of her niece or cousin.
“Not really” is the answer Judith gave to Maggy when she came back asking if she is hungry. If she didn’t go through poverty herself, she might have believed her. But from looking at her dry lips and pale skin, Maggy knew she was lying. To each their choices though. She nodded and asked her to follow her. “I’ll show you your room” Judith walked behind Maggy. “There is a crib for the baby for now. Once she is born, we’ll bring her in our bedroom. So don’t worry about it.” As gentle as people used to tell Lance about her. She was. 5’7, curly hair and round eyes that made many guys turn their heads. Even to this day. Maggy talked smoothly, sometimes you would think she is whispering.
Judith settled in her room, took a bath and looked half decent than she was an hour ago. With her hair combed and skin patted with lotion, you could see that there was still hope.
