With her swollen belly, my wife continued her daily activities. Even this early, she had already brewed coffee and joined me while I drank it. Afterward, she boiled some eggplants freshly picked from behind the chicken coop. There were also boiled spinach and tender cassava leaves.
“Is there still no money for the baby’s clothes, dear?” she asked simply.
That one question immediately stirred my instincts as a husband. We had planned to go shopping for the baby’s arrival weeks ago, but our finances were constantly drained, causing those plans to vanish like the steam from her freshly brewed coffee.
I could only respond with empty promises.
“Once Mr. Ateng pays for the stones, I’ll take you to the market right away,” I said.
She nodded and moved around the kitchen, gathering spices, pounding them in a pestle that had already lost one of its edges. I took another sip of my coffee, trying to enjoy the morning.
After breakfast, I headed to the stone quarry—the place where we earned our bread, sweating and toiling under the sun to keep life going.
“Im! Time to head home!” a voice shouted from across the hill.
It was Suji, my neighbor and fellow stone gatherer. He always left before me, working half-heartedly. Being an old bachelor, he had no family to provide for. If he didn’t work for a day, no one would complain about a lack of food. Rumor had it his money was spent on women and other men’s wives.
“You go ahead, Ji!” I called back and returned to my hammer, smashing the rocks. The hill was growing quiet, with swallows and bats filling the evening sky, and fatigue began to settle over me.