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She waited until he fell asleep, his arm flung over her, his snoring loud through parted lips, before she got up to call Kainene. She had to make sure that Richard had said nothing to Kainene. She didn't really think that Odenigbo's shouting would have rattled him into confessing but she could not be entirely sure.
"Kainene, it's me," she said, when Kainene picked up the phone.
"Ejima m," Kainene said. Ola
"I wanted to say kedu" Ola
"I'm well. Do you know what time it is?"
"I didn't realize it was so late."
"Are you back with the revolutionary lover?"
"Yes."
"You should have heard Mum talking about him. He's given her perfect ammunition this time."
"He made a mistake," Ola
"Isn't it against the tenets of socialism, though, impregnating people of the lower classes?" Kainene asked.
"I'll let you sleep."
There was a slight pause, before Kainene said, with an amused tone, "Ngwanu. Good night."
Ola
Amala had a baby girl. It was a Saturday and Ola
Odenigbo came to the kitchen door, his hands held behind his back. "O mu nwanyi," he said quietly. "She had a girl. Yesterday"
Ola
"We should go to Enugu this afternoon to see that everything is fine," she said briskly, and stood up. "Ugwu, please finish."
"Yes, mah." Ugwu was watching her; she felt the responsibility of an actress whose family members expected the best performance.
"Thank you, nkem," Odenigbo said. He placed his arm around her, but she shrugged it off.
"Let me take a quick bath."
In the car, they were silent. He looked across at her often, as if he wanted to say something but did not know how to begin. She kept her eyes straight ahead and glanced at him only once, at the tentative way he held the steering wheel. She felt morally superior to him. Perhaps it was unearned and false, to think she was better than he was, but it was the only way she could keep her disparate emotions together, now that his child with a stranger was born.
He finally spoke as he parked in front of the hospital.
"What are you thinking?" he asked.
Ola
Odenigbo said nothing. Mama met them at the entrance of the maternity ward. Ola
"Mama, kedu?" Ola
"I am well," Mama said.
"Where is the baby?"
Mama looked surprised by her briskness. "In the newborn ward."
"Let's see Amala first," Ola
Mama led them to a cubicle. The bed was covered in a yellowed sheet and Amala lay on it with her face to the wall. Ola
"Amala, they have come," Mama said.
"Good afternoon,
"How are you?" Odenigbo and Ola
Amala mumbled a response. Her face was still to the wall. In the silence that followed, Ola
"Let's see the baby," she said. As she and Odenigbo turned to leave, she noticed that Amala did not turn, did not move, did not do anything to show she had heard.
At the newborn ward a nurse asked them to wait on one of the benches that lined the wall. Ola
The nurse made to give Ola
"You know her mother has refused to touch her," the nurse said, as she handed the baby to Odenigbo.
"What?" Ola
"She has not touched her at all. We are using a wet nurse."
Ola
"Mama just told me," Odenigbo said. "She said Amala won't hold the baby."
Ola
"I should go and see to the bill," he said. He sounded apologetic.
She held out her arms and as soon as he handed her the baby, the high-pitched crying began. From across the room, the nurse and the couple watched and Ola
"Shush, shush, o zugo," she said, feeling a little theatrical. But the tiny mouth remained open and twisted, and the crying was so shrill she wondered if it hurt the tiny body. Ola
"Time to take her in," she said. "How many do you have?"
"I don't have children," Ola
Odenigbo came back and they walked to Amala's cubicle, where Mama sat by the bedside, holding a covered enamel bowl. "Amala has refused to eat," she said. "Gwakwaya. Tell her to eat."
Ola
Amala mumbled something. Finally she turned her face toward them and Ola
"Did you hear what my son said?" Mama asked. "He said you should eat."
"I heard, Mama." Amala sat up and took the enamel plate, her eyes focused on the floor. Ola