4.12AM,
SATURDAY 16/05/2005
UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
The studio apartment looked like something out of a clearance sale. It had an eerie presence about it that reminded one of early nineties horror movies. It was too small for a living room yet too large for a walk-in closet, just the right size of claustrophobic. The air was heavy with the stench of weed and urine that had overstayed its welcome. Clothes were strewn about the room making a trail leading to a wide open, almost empty closet. A small travel bag, passport and several letters were the only things in some kind of pattern across the bed. The entire apartment looked like what one would expect the inside of a vacuum cleaner to look like – dirty, crowded, misfit. In a corner was a lump as equally messy as everything in the room. That’s where she sat, dramatically as if she had recently been posing for Vogue. Her hair was still damp, the result of which was a shudder every now and then. She stared at everything and nothing as she relived the events of the previous night. She had done this a hundred times so it wasn’t supposed to faze her. However, this time perhaps she wanted to stay. The thrill that an adventure like this brings wasn’t quite as intense as the trauma.
She shifted from discomfort on the cold marble floor. She checked the time on her small nokia phone from who knows what era. It was the only thing she still had from her mother. She made a quick call. It was drawing close to dawn. She had to hurry if she was going to make it on time. Her legs were so numb she struggled to stand. After the numbness had subsided she finally ambled her way to the bathroom for a quick shower. She walked out of the shower feeling just as tired as when she got in. She dried her hair, put fresh bandages on her cuts and put on her make up. Her passport, letters, money and make up, she shoved into a small handbag. She took one last look at the pitiful sight of the closet and closed it. A wave of sadness hit her for a moment but she quickly brushed it off. She took one last drag of her cigarette and placed it on a paper on the kitchen counter. A fire was inevitable. She took one last look at the room and satisfied everything was in order, strutted out of the house. The click-clack of her high heels was the only sound discernable in the eerie silence of dawn.
***
7:00AM
Friday, 15/05/05
MADOKERO
“Honey, I’m leaving for work now” Eli said as he softly kissed his wife on the forehead. She rubbed her eyes.
“Mmm bye baby” she murmured before turning the other way and drifting off to sleep once again. Eli smiled and reluctantly left for work. He never thought a day would come when he would rather stay snuggled up in bed than go to work. He had always been quite the workaholic, a bad habit that paid off very well when he made partner at the firm in his early thirties. He was the pride of his mother, the envy of his subordinates. Great job, beautiful wife, happy life. He had planned every bit of his life to the last detail. He had always had a knack for schedules, more so sticking to them. A gameplan for fulfillment, one might say. So far, he was right on schedule. One more year and the last bit would be fulfilled. He had always planned to be married for exactly two years before having kids. It had been a year of bliss already, meaning Eva had passed the successful lawyer’s wife exam with flying colors. She was a smart, accomplished chef, compliant and the closest thing to perfect he had seen in a woman. They were made for each other. She was terrified of him, a quality he had always deemed a priority in a marriage. He was the head after all. Eli hadn’t even had his usual compulsive need to mould her to fit his standard. She was so darn perfect. Today was their wedding anniversary and she had promised something special would be waiting for him when he got home. There was no way he would be working late today, even that mere nine to five would be insufferable knowing what awaits him at home.
Eva woke up about an hour after her husband left. She was feeling particularly excited. It was their first wedding anniversary. Today was the day. She had more tricks up her sleeve than a circus clown. This was undeniably her favourite part about marriage. This moment alone made all the time invested in sparking the interest of an extremely fastidious husband well worth it. She was feeling giddy with excitement and anticipation. Everything had to be perfect. Perfection for an OCD ridden husband equals satisfaction for a people-pleasing wife. It was only logical. This is what long lasting marriages are made of, she thought to herself before bursting into laughter. Eva started making preparations for the blissful evening ahead. Every surface she scrubbed and left sparkling clean. Music blasted from the speaker set Eli had recently purchased. Today she was playing all her father’s favourites in his memory. She had promised Eli her grandmother’s famous recipe for apple pie and as the mantra for the day was, it had to be perfect.
Eva softly hummed to Kenny Roger’s ‘Gambler’. She looked like something out of a dishwashing liquid commercial. Country music was blasting from the speakers and her, dirty apron and duster in hand dancing to the music, leaving a trail of clean surfaces behind her. This is peace, she thought to herself. She dusted their wedding picture on the lampstand by the couch. She thought about the day she met her husband. She was in such a dark place in her life then. Right on the edge of giving up everything. It was one of those days where the weather behaves like an underpaid civil servant. Just the bare minimum. No rain, no sunshine, an overcast sky and, well that’s it. The kind of weather one would only appreciate if they had been a pirate in a previous life. She had been sitting in a place that barely passed as a café, but so called because it served coffee and there really was no better noun to round off to. She had ran from home, right after failing the bar exam. Failing wouldn’t have been so bad if she hadn’t done it all after her father had warned her that this was a career that would lower the probability of her securing a husband. That arguments were reserved for spiteful women, who even after becoming rich would drink wine in an empty mansion. Women who, even after a thriftful life would end up being buried beside a rat as culture dictates of a single woman. So she had ran from a conversation she knew too well and here she was. Eva had sat there drinking her cheap coffee. She hadn’t eaten in days and she only had enough money to buy coffee so they would let her sit there the whole day. Her hands trembled as she picked the coffee mug. Her anxiety was creeping in, ready to set up camp. She felt hot and dizzy and cold all at the same time. The cup fell to the floor and the last thing she heard were gasps from the few people in the coffee shop. Everything suddenly went black and just as quickly the voices got louder and louder. Eva felt someone holding her head up. She slowly opened her eyes to see brown eyes staring back at her.
“ Are you okay?” the owner of the brown eyes said.
“yeah, just a clumsy little fall, ” she replied slightly embarrassed.
“ Do you want some water?” She nodded.
“Bring the lady water, please” He shouted to no one in particular. Almost instantly one of the waiters brought water as if this was the order he had been training for his whole life. Eva stood up, avoiding the eyes of the small crowd that had gathered around her. She awkwardly sat back down by her table. Brown eyes held out his hand, offering the water.
“I’m fine really” she insisted. She took the water anyway and took large gulps. He laughed.
He sat opposite her.
“Eli” he said extending his hand, this time for a handshake.
“Eva” she said shaking his hand. They talked for so long that day that she wondered if he even had a job. She soon found he was indeed, employed. He told her about his plans for the future. She told him about her lack of the aforementioned plans. He made everything she had failed to achieve seem easy. She was so engaged in the conversation that she felt like his accomplishments were hers to be proud of too. He was so young and successful. She was young and somewhere between a breakdown and a wrong turn. They were both immensely intrigued. He was exactly what she was looking for; assertive, successful, unapologetic. They had kept in touch after that, talking for hours on the phone. He loved how perfect she was for him. She was happy to please him. He was ready to be impressed. He was giving her the opportunity to excel at something. The opportunity to make somebody proud of her. They got married. Eli suggested she study something useful. She decided on culinary arts because he liked home cooked meals. Eli became partner at his law firm and suggested she stay at home and take care of the house. She did. It made sense, didn’t it? The money he was making was enough for both of them. He made more suggestions. She folded. Eva folded and folded until she was a small little 2D piece of ‘wife material’. They were happy. On days when they weren’t, then one of them had to turn black and blue and nurse some wounds at the hands of the breadwinner. It was fair though, wasn’t it?
Oh but they were happy , so much so a year passed by so fast. Eva knew her husband more than herself at that point. After all, one grasps a concept faster after several punishments. Eli had no friends and suggested she should do the same, so they kept to themselves in their happy little world. A match so perfect, perhaps Cupid had overdone it this time.
Eva snapped out of her thoughts, and quickly remembered the pie in the oven. She ran to the kitchen. What a shame it would be to have a pie ruin such a well planned night.
***
Eli pulled up in the driveway. On the passenger seat was a beautiful bouquet of roses he had bought his wife for their second wedding anniversary. He had contemplated buying a stroller to indicate he wanted to start planning for kids, but decided to postpone it for another time. He opened the door to find his nostrils cradled by the glorious smell of a home cooked meal. A smile escaped his lips. He really had picked a winner in Eva. Everything seemed to be in order. The house was spotless and everything neatly arranged just the way Eli liked. He went to their bedroom and dropped his briefcase gently on the bed. Eva must be in the pool already, he thought. She had done the same last year, big meal set on the table as she waits obediently in the pool. Man, this was the perfect anniversary! No chit-chat during dinner, just the way he liked it. He loosened his tie and sat down to eat.
Dessert was the best part. Eva had promised she would make him apple pie using her grandmother’s secret recipe one day and she had finally done so. A satisfied Eli gulped another glass of wine and sat for a while before walking towards the pool. He noticed a note stuck onto the French doors leading to the pool area and snatched it. His eyes widened in horror as he read the note.
Eli ran frantically for the pool looking for Eva. He saw faint little drops of blood by the side of the pool. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The water at one area of the pool was discoloured, almost a pink-red colour. Eli started feeling lightheaded, the earth seemed to spin around him. He tried to reach for one of the chairs but fell pitifully to the ground with the note in his hand.
***
03:00PM
SATURDAY 16/05/2005
Eli woke up in a small uncomfortable bed. A figure he could not discern stood up and opened the curtains and Eli cursed under his breath. He tried to raise his hand to cover his eyes only to realize it was chained to the bed. A man walked towards him.
“ Good afternoon Mr. Sigauke. I’m glad you are awake. I am a detective from the Zimbabwe Republic Police and I have a couple of questions to ask you regarding your deceased wife and the events leading to her death ”
***
09:00AM
SUNDAY 17/05/2005
MAPUTO
At a small coffee shop in the busy city of Maputo sat a distraught looking young woman. She was visibly shaking despite the warm weather. She held her coffee cup as if it was her life support machine. A middle-aged man walked up to her table. She looked up and gave him a small smile. He was exactly the man she had been waiting for. The man whose previous wife had died due to complications after he punched her in the stomach multiple times. Just like her own mother had.
“Do you mind if I join you?” He said.
She felt her heart bubbling with the excitement a new mission brings. This one is for you, mom.
“ Not at all. “ She gave him another weak smile typical of a damsel in distress.
“ I’m Eva, and you are?”
Twenty Fever 