Bright didn’t come back as he had said he would. He had to stay for a month, doing auditing. Lovemore was more happy now that he had Jessica all to himself. Lovemore kept sleeping in his brother bedroom. They behaved like two fools who didn’t care about the future. Jessica was so careful to be caught with Lovemore in public.

One morning, Jessica woke up feeling nauseous. She kept vomiting in a bucket.

“Are you OK Jessy? These days you are weak and your belly seems to grow.” Lovemore looked concerned.

Jessica looked at her stomach, she couldn’t be pregnant. She wasn’t ready yet. When she went to cook, she smelt the beef and wanted to vomit.

No, it can’t be. It will be Lovemore’s child, she thought.

She ran to her bedroom and took the calendar to check her ovulation dates. She really was pregnant.

The next day she refused to allow Lovemore into her bedroom. He begged, but she had locked the door and Lovemore slept in the spare room. The next morning she woke up very early to clean the kitchen and yard. She took a bath and dressed neatly. She had to go to
the clinic to test if she really was pregnant. She knew Lovemore hated waking up early so he would not catch her.

She walked only two kilometres to the clinic. It was near Mutare Primary School. She started to get nervous, but wanted the truth.

“Hi, young lady. How can I help you?” a sister in white uniform asked.

“I want to get a pregnancy test,” she replied.

She was given a small bottle to pee in so they could test it.

“You can also get tested for HIV too, so that we can help you quickly,” the nurse persuaded her, after giving the small bottle with her urine.

Jessica nodded. She met a counsellor who asked questions before being tested. She kept walking up and down in the waiting area. She was scared of the worst. The results only took a few minutes for the HIV test, but the pregnancy results would take an hour. A nurse came back and called her name. She followed her into a room.

She sat and was informed that she was HIV positive. Her blood raced as if she was dying. Her marriage was over. The pregnancy test came out positive too. She was given two weeks to come back to receive her ARV’s.
When she reached home, she shouted at Lovemore but said nothing about the test results.

In the kitchen she cut vegetables and looked sorrowful. Lovemore sat and stared at her but she looked serious.
“I am pregnant with your child and you infected me with HIV.” she said loudly.

“It’s not my child. So you and Bright are HIV positive?” he asked, surprised.

“You are the one who infected me,” she shouted.

“Please leave,” she continued.

Lovemore sat there. She stood up and went inside their three roomed house and took Lovemore’s belongings outside.

“You have destroyed my marriage,” she hissed. Lovemore took his belongings and left.

When Bight came back, her stomach was starting to show. She was 5 weeks pregnant. Bright would dance, thinking it was a gift and blessing from above. She was sad to lie about her secrets to the man who always loved her. It was affecting her emotionally. She had to pretend
everything was fine when Melody and her daughters entered the room with baby gifts. She had a guilty conscience. She had to tell Bright.

When they were alone. She wanted peace and therefore had to tell her husband the truth.

“Baby, a lot had been happening when you were away. I don’t want secrets, please believe me,” she begged, holding his hands.

She told him all that had happened when he wasn’t home. Bright was angry and outraged. He stood up, furious at what he had heard.

“I am sorry baby,” she cried onto him.

He walked away. Jessica sat and cried non-stop. She was in pain, as if her heart was being crushed.
She sat in the lounge and heard people by door. To her surprise, it was her parents-in-law with Bright. She greeted them and sat down.

“Bright, your wife is carrying your blood, don’t worry about Lovemore. Keep your marriage, don’t leave your wife,” Gerald, her father-in-law, said. “It’s a secret we must keep, not even Martha and must know. Only Melody and our sons,” Gerald said.

“This was a bad secret. Now my marriage will never be the same again.” She mused.

Bright didn’t divorce Jessica but their relationship was never easy. Lovemore was banned from Bright’s home. There was no more joy and happiness in the family. Jessica felt terrible sleeping in bed with someone who didn’t trust her.

Bright would always be staring at walls, as if he had lost hope. He remembered what he had done to Shamiso when she was young. God was really punishing him. He had expected his parents to chase Jessica away. The relationship with Lovemore was scattered. Bright and Lovemore were no longer on good terms.

Jessica wished she could turn back time and make the right decision when Lovemore started to touch her. She could have said no. She was only here so she could bear her husband a child.

***

Tell us what you think: What do you think of the family’s decision for Bright not to divorce Jessica?