Lovemore entered and found her sleeping. He looked at her then he began to touch her. Jessica was asleep and was now tucked away in dream land. Lovemore removed the blankets and kissed Jessica on her mouth. Jessica thought she was dreaming and pulled Lovemore. He was on top of her, touching her body. She thought it was her husband and never bothered to open her eyes too afraid to come out of her dream.

Lovemore had sex with her and still she never opened her eyes. He lay by her side and slept. The next morning, she awoke to find Lovemore on her bed, naked and she was also naked.

“What happened here?!” she screamed and Lovemore began to touch her again. She was weak and allowed him to kiss her and she had sex again with her husband’s brother.

“This mustn’t happen again.” she instructed, as Lovemore looked at her in surprise.

“Now you see I love you. I can attend to your needs when my brother is away,” he said, coming closer to her.

“What if he finds out?” she asked, trembling.

“We won’t tell him,” he answered.

“So you love me?” she asked and touched his chest while she went on top of him.

Lovemore smiled and they made love again. It was already 9 a.m. and they were still in bed. They heard footsteps outside and Jessica jumped out of bed. She grabbed anything to wear and unlocked the door. She went outside to find Melody and Martha.

“Mother-in-law! How are you? And you Martha?” she asked, trying to fix her clothes.

They stared at her and Jessica felt shy, thinking they could see her in bed with Lovemore.

“Why are you still sleeping at this time? Did Lovemore come here? I am worried,” Melody asked with a shriek.

“Yes. He slept here. He will be staying here for a while,” she answered shyly and looked at the ground. She unlocked the hut so that they could sit as she wanted to do the house chores before going to the gardens.

Jessica took the plates and pots outside to wash them. Martha followed her, wanting to help.

“You can sweep the kitchen and cook tea for Ma. There is some bread in the basin,” she said holding a plate. As Jessica washed the pots, suddenly Lovemore came out to where she was.

“You are a delicate woman. I love what we had just this morning,” he said in a low voice.

She was beginning to fall for Lovemore and giggled at his comments. He then left so that he wouldn’t see his mother and walked to the store. After all the dishes were clean, she put them in the kitchen and sat on the ground. It was formal for woman to sit on the floor while the man sat on benches in their culture.

“Was that Lovemore? I heard you giggling. Where is he?” Melody asked as she sipped on the tea.

“No. He went to the shop, he is not here right now. You must have heard the cat from next door,” Jessica lied and chuckled.

“You are lucky, there will be no rats around your home,” Martha said jokingly.

“Yes, that’s true. The rats had been eating our harvest,” Melody put the cup down.

“Thank you for the veggies and nuts. I like them very much.” Jessica said and clapped her hands without making a sound. It was a way to thank their elders.

“You are family, my daughter,” Melody said and stood up.

“If Lovemore comes back, please tell him to come see me,” she said and walked away.

Martha stood up and joined her mother. Jessica sat and thought about what would happen if her secret came out. What would become of her? Her marriage would be over. Lovemore was a boring man except with his romances. She compared her husband and Lovemores’ romances. Lovemore was better. She wanted to fornicate with him. She took all the plates and washed them.

***

Tell us: Do you think Jessica and Lovemore will be found out?