BECCA
Written by Jennifer Azubuike Kai slipped his backpack onto his arm and looked at his wife again. She was still in the same position on the floor where he had left her to dress up for his interview. Her shoulder was hunched forward, one hand supporting her head full of scruffy hair. When was the last time she went to the hair salon to get her hair looking as lovely as it used to? He couldn’t recall, but he knew that going to the hair salon wasn’t the problem since Becca could make her hair look nice without a beautician’s help. The problem was that she had been sad for a while. He bit the corner of his lip as the same sadness permeated his being. He had promised to take care of her. “B, I am ready to leave.” “Bye.” She replied nonchalantly. Her reply was uninviting, but Kai wanted to let out the thought in his mind since he woke up that day. “Will you go see him later today?” Becca lifted her head without looking at him. “Who?” “Mr Johnson. Remember, his invitation is still standing.” She hissed. “No.” “B, please.” “I said, no!” Kai frowned and swallowed. He understood her reluctance, but he wished she would see that the creep was their hope of completing the month’s rent and paying bills. “What, then, do you suggest we do?” “You are going for an interview. Aren’t you? Let’s hope it clicks this time.” “Right…even if I am offered the job today, it will at least take two weeks to get the first paycheck.” She didn’t reply to him. “What do we do in the meantime?” She sighed and sat up. “I will use the last fund I have earmarked for groceries to trade instead. Purchasing fairly used household items and reselling them online, as I did last time, should make us some profit.” Kai relaxed. He knew whatever profit she made would not be enough to cover their growing needs, but he also knew it would be unwise to argue. He heard the cry of their 9-month-old son coming from the bedroom and decided to slip away before he was delayed any further. * * * When Kai returned, Becca sat on the couch with her crying baby. He lowered his bag to the floor and watched his wife rock back and forth, not exactly tending to the baby in her arms. “B?” He called, but she didn’t respond. He moved closer and collected the baby from her. As soon as he did, the whiff of his full diaper greeted his nostrils, and he immediately felt the long, tiring day he had had, culminating in anger. “Why is our son in a dirty diaper? Did we run out of clean ones?” She shook her head. There! At least she can still hear me. He thought to himself and took his son away to clean him up. The child was soothed when he returned with him. “Becca, the house is a mess. Did you even do anything today?” The words just left his lips when he heard her sniff and wipe her cheeks. He lowered himself in front of her. “Have you been crying? Why? What happened?” “I lost it.” She said, almost whispering. “What did you lose?” “The money. All of it. I lost everything.” “How? What happened?” She wiped her face again and cleared her throat. “Someone online advertised a moving sale. He was moving out of town and said he had much to sell. I bargained with him, and he agreed to sell me some items. It was a good deal. He also offered to bring them to me, and I thought that would be convenient since you took the car and I have the baby, so I paid him, but he never showed up.” “You paid him before receiving the goods?” “He insisted that he would only reserve them if I paid him first. He was convincing.” “You could have paid 50% if paying him upfront looked reasonable. Uh! So stupid!” “Yeah, I know I was stupid.” “Not you. It was stupid of that fraudster to take advantage of you.” She sighed. “I’m sorry I made a bad situation worse. I’ll sell the baby stroller.” “Our baby stroller? Why the stroller?” “It was an expensive gift. It will fetch money for groceries.” “And how do you intend to carry the baby when we go out?” “Strap him.” He took his seat beside her and adjusted their son comfortably on his lap. “No, B. Enough of the buying and selling. We need a better solution.” Both sat in silence for a few minutes. Becca was still rid of guilt but relieved that her husband was not as furious as she had imagined. Kai considered using his wife’s remorseful state to bring up Mr. Johnson again, but was unsure if it would yield the desired result. “I was wondering about contacting the church welfare.” Becca finally broke the silence. “No. I don’t want us to be a topic next Sunday. Besides, we have not exhausted our options.” “What other option do we have? Did you get the job?” “No. They said they will get back to me, but you know how that goes.” Kai paused and looked at his wife. “Babe, please go see Mr Johnson.” Becca shook her head. “He is not the kind-hearted man you think he is.” “I know, but he likes you. You can ask him for a favor, like a position in his company.” “He would do it, but will ask for a favor in return. The kind you will not like.” “What if you’re overthinking it?“ “No, I don’t think I’m overthinking it.” Kai rubbed his head, feeling defeated. He watched his son suck on his pacifier as he
