CHAPTER 3: A SIMPLE NO WOULD HAVE DONE IT
While everyone is busy at work, Anna is home being a wife to Ernest, her husband.
Her mother, always running away from the old age home, was in the house doing nothing but Giving Anna tough time just sitting eating her food and watching TV.
Anna is busy doing laundry while baby sitting her daughter, who is in a stroller crying and not even carrying with the rattle the mother is shaking, while she is busy on the phone with her husband Ernest.
Ndapanda, Anna's mother, for a couple of days, she booked herself out of the old age home, claiming that she is coming to help Anna, but isn't doing anything instead just busy watching TV and laughing out loud startling Aishe, Anna's Baby, resulting in the baby crying more and then catching Anna's attention.
"Hold up baby!" Said Anna telling Ernest over the phone and took the phone off of her ear and looked at her mother, holding an unfolded shirt on one hand.
"Momma, can you at least help me with either folding clothes or at least take care of Aishe? you can see she is crying, and Its like you're adding more to the crying ma, you might as well go back to the old age home, if you're not going to help me." Said Anna discouraged, and looking at her mother.
"I've told you to marry a white man baby but you married the love of your life mos, he could at least afford a nanny and a house maid if he was white, and a much nicer house baby, I came to help you out, not to baby sit or do your laundry." Said Mrs Ndapanda continuing to watch her TV and drinking her beer, then rocking her granddaughter's stroller in an attempt to help out.
"Mom, Ernest is doing fine financially, we don't need a baby sitter Momma, you said you are here to help me, and we like our house the way it is." Said Anna looking at her mother and putting the phone back on her ear.
"Hold on Anna, is your momma up in our house?" Asked Ernest on the other side of the phone, shocked and kind of annoyed that his mother in-law is in his house.
Mrs Ndapanda for some reason never approved of her daughter marrying Ernest, she is one woman allergic to poverty and wanted her daughter to marry a white man as in her mind she believed only white men head money, and she doesn't even hide it from Ernest.
"Yeah baby, you know how momma is, she said apparently the old age home nurses are beating her and will stay for few days, so she apparently forged my signature to book herself out, and she is telling me that she missed Aishe, but it seems like that is the name she has for our TV, babe." Said Anna and continued folding her clothes holding her phone with her shoulder.
"But baby you know that when your mother says that, she stays for a week more and she hates me even more, why you got to allow her to stay up in our house, we can book her another old age home babe, and we know who is beating who in that old age home." Said Ernest on the other side of the call.
"I know baby, I'll drive her back before my meeting with the girls tonight, ain't no way I'm going to let her stay here, baby just has to be back in time to ensure he stays with the kids. And don't worry she doesn't hate you, probably just old age." Said Anna, picking up her daughter and wiping her dirty clothes.
"Yeah I hate him." Said Mrs Ndapanda looking at Anna.
"Ma!" said Anna looking at the mother, and removing the phone from her ear holding the mic hoping for Ernest to not hear.
"The Deacon told me to not lie, so I ain't gone do it, much less if it includes me liking your husband, I don't like your husband!" Said Mrs Ndapanda.
"Let me call you back baby." Said Anna and hung up the phone, and carrying Aishe, looks at her mother disappointed.
"Mom, you can't be saying you hate my husband in front of his face, or while he can hear you over the phone, that is not a nice thing to say." Said Anna looking at her mother.
"I only wanted you to marry white baby, is that so wrong, for a mother to just want what is best for her daughter?" Said Ndapanda, looking back to her daughter.
"Mom, you married a white man after my dad died, why are you here crashing on my couch then? or better yet Ernest's Couch yet you say you hate him that much?" Asked Anna busy making formula for her baby.
"That one died and he had a pre nuptial agreement, so his family got everything." Said Ndapanda picking up Aishe's plates of biscuits and the eating them.
"And then you went ahead and married another white man ma." Said Anna, taking the plate back from the mom and placing it on the counter, then continued with her formula milk.
"Well, he too died, but the problem was, he was married already back in his country so my marriage was nullified and the first wife got everything, that stingy old b*tch." Said Ndapanda angry that she didn't get the inheritance as she hoped.
"I'm done with you." Said Anna Shaking her baby's formula and testing on her forearm to see if its still hot.
Paulina in her Nissan Magnite pulled up at her publisher's company, for a while they have been having few disagreements over the content of Paulina's book. The publishing company wanted a different genre, from the one she was focusing on, they wanted her to write a romantic comedy or something in that range, but she was experiencing writers block in that area, so she was going to pitch her idea that she has anyways.
She pulled out of her car and walks into the publishing house. She walked into the office and found the CEO of the publishing company, Vicky who wasn't looking so pleasing to have her come in, because she wasn't liking the content Paulina is delivering.
"Miss Iipumbu, as I've already communicated to you in the E-Mail, there was no need for you to actually come to my office my love." Said Vicky putting down her telephone and then looking at Paulina.
"There must be something you can do, I thought it would be better for me to come see you face to face, maybe you can pull some strings for old time sake, I've made this company money at its beginning, you can't throw me out now." Said Paulina sitting down looking at Vicky expecting sympathy.
"I really would have preferred if you didn't come in in person, and don't get us wrong Paulina, no one is throwing you away, what we are saying is that it is so hard for us to get to fund your book at this current moment due to differences in what we are looking for and what you have to offer." said the publisher looking at Paulina and clarifying the situation to her, so that she doesn't feel thrown out.
"But I am your customer, I have been your customer for longest Vicky, I usually publish with you guys, why is it all different now?" Asked Paulina, concerned, slaying and wearing her long nails and lashes.
"The market is now different Paulina and you know, no matter how we market your genre people just seem to have shifted from that for a while, you know very well, we funded you last time, took a leap of faith as you asked us to and up to now, you still owe the business money, your royalties aren't enough to even cover the costs we incurred from promoting your book, let alone printing." Said Victoria defending her publishing company.
"We all know why my last book didn't do good, its not because it wasn't good, but we all know that it's because y'all overshadowed my book with that crappy ass revenge book by Hashili Hafeni." Said Paulina angrily, and pointing trying to remember the name of the author.
"That is because 20 Years of Karma had the content we actually needed, that is why we are currently about to release the second version to that story, it sold and made us money, your book on the other hand, isn't making us any money and yet you want us to print another one? I'm sorry we can't run business on favours." Said Victoria looking apologetic.
"A simple no would just have done it, no need to say I'm a terrible writer, and that my book isn't good enough." Said Paulina and took her purse, her copy of the unpublished book and walked out of the office.