“Crazy city,” I murmured to myself.
“Nah so sistah,” the driver responded.
I had forgotten I was not alone. He’d startled me for a second.
“Nah the boundary clashes cause am o,” the driver continued in broken English, craning his neck to look in the rear-view mirror.
“I know. These greedy politicians acquire large parcels of land that belong to the masses and build all these structures without proper planning and approval.”
“Nah true talk be dat.”
I nodded, and he returned his attention to the road.
Slum city would be a better moniker for these environs, I thought. Maybe Albert will address this if he becomes king. Albert. I completely forgot. The sights on the road had consumed me. I sighed as I thought of what I would say to Albert. Not at this meeting, only when the path was clear for me to pursue my relationship with Okem. I also dreamt of being far away, where Albert couldn’t hurt me when I finally say those things to him. I would make sure he regretted ever meeting me, asking me to be his wife and daring to lay his dirty hands on me. I pictured the look on his face when that opportunity finally came, and I smiled. I could see it so clearly—the growl, the pain, the confusion, and the bitterness of a man whose only show of strength lay in terrorizing women who were weaker than him. As we rounded a bend that put us on the straight road that led to the palace, I tried to divert my mind to happier thoughts to avoid sinking into depression. At the gate, I forced a smile to appear on my face to avoid raising suspicion. The rain had stopped suddenly too, without warning.
* * *
I met Albert in his study. He seemed unusually distracted, but he managed to get up and kiss me on the cheek. Moving from place to place with a look of confusion in his eyes, he peered into shelves, searching for something.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
“A contract. I kept it right here,” he said, pointing at the desk.”
“Have you checked those drawers?” I asked, pointing at the antique chest on the wall. “What does it look like? I can help you look for it.”
“Oh, never mind. Here it is,” he said, pulling a folder from his suitcase.
I heaved a sigh of relief and tried to relax on the settee. I struggled to keep my joy out of his view as we sat down to eat in the study after a uniformed servant brought us fufu and vegetable soup.
“Why aren’t you eating?” Albert asked, staring at the morsel I placed on my plate.
“I’m eating,” I protested. “I had a bit too much last night, so I’m still full.”
I was full with Okem. How could I eat when Okem was back, waiting for me at the Palisir hotel?
“That’s disappointing,” Albert said, cutting through my reverie. “I asked the chef to make your favorite soup. He’ll be disappointed you hardly touched any of it.”
If Albert knew that I’d seen Okem the night before, I would be sorry. He hadn’t laid his hand on me since his father died, but I knew he could reignite that monster. I had blamed myself the times he hit me. After each episode, he would remind me it was something I had done or something I had said that had triggered him. For a while, I struggled with my self-esteem, especially as he claimed he had never hit another woman besides me. Borrowing my grandmother’s words, that was adding insult on top of an already painful injury. What was it about me that made him want to hit me? I asked myself often. What, about me, infuriated him so much, yet he claimed to love me so much, more than any woman he’d ever met? I no longer struggled with my sense of worth. I have long since figured out that it was never about me. It was always all about him. He was sick. More so, he was a coward and a loser. He would never have done what he did if he didn’t think he could get away with it. That phase of my life was over. I knew there was only one way to go, and I felt sorry for the entire city and the tax money that was spent on my queenly training. I vowed to repay every penny when I could. But at that moment, I had other things to worry about. I had to hide all indications that I was seeing Okem that afternoon because if Albert knew, he would do everything in his power to make sure I never set my eyes on him again. I needed to protect Okem.
* * *
I left to see Okem after Albert’s driver drove me home. Luckily, Albert wasn’t due back for two days, so I didn’t need to worry about stumbling into him. Okem was stunned when he saw me at his door. My disguise—a short wig and fake reading glasses—had worked magic. The moment he closed the door of his suite behind us, he held my waist and kissed me passionately with my back against the door. I was breathless by the time he released me.
“There seemed to be something urgent you wanted
