"And if the sky should ever die.
We'd make our own light,
You and I."
~John Mark Green
————
June 7th, 1971
She thought her uncle would hate her. A lot of people would if they were in his shoes. For the past month he's been sending letters and the daffodils she loves so much to her doorstep.
Strange how he'd hated Pierce but was attentive enough to know what kinds of gifts that made her happy.
Every letter held something thoughtful, sometimes they held disappointment and she could imagine him slouched over the kitchen counter writing those letters with the remnants of his anger.
As much as she wants to stay away for a while she couldn't deny the fact that Sade loved her and truth be told she missed him too.
Pierce didn't let her write back though. He was afraid she'd leave or her uncle would lure her and trap her in his home. They weren't on good terms, they weren't friends and he always got in the way.
Sade was all Funmi thought about on most days and sometimes guilt would gnaw at her to the point she was tempted to place a call to his house phone. But she didn't want to make Pierce angry or insecure.
She knows how it feels to be on that end.
Sometimes she wondered how life would've been if she kept being the good girl everyone wanted her to be. But that limits her imagination and young mind, doesn't it.
The soft breeze of spring blows into her face, the faint smell of beautiful flowers drifts into her nostrils. She loves spring because now the sun didn't hide behind dull grey clouds. She could feel the warmth of its glow and it felt nice.
Her hand nestles in Pierce's large palm as he pulled her along the narrow streets leading to his work place. She doesn't like the things she sees on the way and it makes her wonder what changed in the little time she had come here.
Funmi clings to Pierce's arm as they walk by a group of men and Pierce drapes his arm around her shoulder protectively.
She feels she could finally breathe again getting to their destination finally. The scenery made her question her Pierce's safety, how he'd manage to come home to her unharmed, she didn't know but she was glad he decided to let his job go.
"You should've left sooner." She finds herself saying.
They round a corner, stepping into the dimly lit pub. "Why did I agree to come with you again?" Before now the atmosphere wasn't so thick, the scenery before her contrasted greatly to the soothing music and friendly atmosphere of earlier.
"Because you're an adventurer. Or do we need to reenact our meeting?" His jolly attitude makes her frown disperse and she shoos him along.
"Just hurry up."
"I know I know. You know I haven't fixed the telephone yet. I have to quit in person. It'll be quick okay?" Pierce reassures her.
It's not like he liked coming here but the money was enough for bills and every other thing they needed. Some days were close calls, he'd get mugged, sometimes would get threatened but as much he loved Funmi he wouldn't tell her that, she didn't need to worry.
She sits at the bar as Pierce disappears into the back room. She plays with her coat buttons while she waiting patiently.
"You're shitting me Maurice." Alex said gruffly. Pierce folds his arms, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows as he discards his coat on the seat Alex had offered him.
"Look this place isn't for me anymore. I got a house in Brooklyn, a wife and—"
Alex shakes his head, "and what does that have to do with the debt?"
"I've paid it all." Pierce snaps. "Every fucking day is a bargain for my life and it scares the shit out of me. I have someone waiting for me to come home now. Things are different."
Alex tips the glass of whiskey in anger. The sound halts Pierce from saying something further as liquid stains the red carpet in his office. "Just once I tell you to hold out for me just a little longer and you do this. Unbelievable." He mutters.
"The only reason why I'm here is to clear up my dad's shit or what was left of it. I'm done." He exhales. "I didn't go to school to work as a bartender Alex, shit I'm good with numbers and photography, I wouldn't be here if I had a better father."
Alex exhales roughly, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. Pierce slumps in his seat, rubbing his forehead.
"I know it's tight for you right now regarding finances but—"
"But what?" Alex glared.
Pierce lips pulls into a flat line as he watches his friend lose his temper. Could he really call him that?
Alex stuck out like a sore thumb wherever they went together, the tattoos that dragged on from his shoulders to his wrists made people view him in the wrong light.
"I'm just trying to be a good guy. I have a family— responsibilities." Pierce sighs. "I can't grow up just to be like my old man."
"It goes beyond paying the debt Maurice. We're friends and you're telling me you're trying to do the right thing." He pauses. "By leaving." He said blankly.
Picking up his coat and draping it over his shoulder, Pierce shrugs. "I'm sorry."
"Did she put you up to it?" He nudges his head at the direction of the door.
Pierce shakes his head, he hated when he made a decision they'd assume Funmi put him up to it. He had a brain of his own and he was using it.
"I'll see you around." He says instead. He dashes out the door with Funmi beside him.
He feels free, he's finally moving forward and becoming a better person for himself. He didn't hate his former job but he didn't enjoy it either.
"Are we still going to move out today?" He felt her fingers stroke his skin in a gentle manner. Electricity shoots up his arms and tingles his skin down to his bones.
"Of course. You'll be seeing more of me now that I'm no longer working." He kisses her temple, butterflies erupting in her stomach at the action.
"I like that." She smiled up at him.
The white bungalow slowly came to view. They step inside, seeing their boxes littered all over the living room. They would finally get their own place and the privacy that came with it.
Edmund lifts the phone, smiling over to Funmi with a naughty glint in his eyes. "You guys were... loud."
"Really." Pierce says unamused as heat engulfs.
"These walls aren't sound proof but what do I know." He laughs loudly.
"I hate you." Funmi whines.
The moving van comes by and Pierce begins taking out their boxes. She moves around, memorising the house even when she'd only been here for two months.
Pierce rests his head on her shoulder, a soft exhale leaving him. "You ready to go?"
She nods, looking to Edmund. "I'll miss you."
He stands at the door, his eyes lighting up as Funmi approached. She hugs him so tightly and for a second he forgot to breathe.
"I'll miss you too but I'm just twenty minutes away." He looks at Pierce, giving him a manly hug.
Funmi ruffles his hair as she passed him, a soft chuckle vibrates through his chest as he sees them off. Smoke clouds Edmund's senses as he stands on the curb, watching the van speed off towards the city.
Their home was absolutely beautiful and everything Funmi ever wanted. But she wondered how they'd cover the mortgage payments, bills and other necessities without Pierce having a job. She pursed her lips watching him scale through newspapers on the coffee table.
Days of searching, he had found nothing he would be able to call a better working place. Raking his hands through his hair in frustration, he puts down the papers, closing his eyes momentarily to ease the irritation in them.
She strolls into the living room in her cotton night gown. He looks at her and a small smile spreads across his lips. "It's late." She says.
Pierce looks at her attire and then out the window. It was indeed dark outside and he began to wonder how long he sat there searching.
"I'll be right there." He murmurs and rubs his eyes. There's a child like glint beneath his heavy gaze, mischief swirling in the depths of platinum.
"Okay." She plants a kiss on the side of his mouth as he stretches his sore limbs.
"Come here." He says huskily before taking a hold of her waist and pulling her down to meet his body. Funmi takes hold of Pierce's lips in a warm kiss, fireworks going off behind her eyelids as he slips his tongue into the heat of her mouth.
Her hands pull softly at the strands of silky hair, Pierce sighs into her as they pull apart for air. "We need to talk." Funmi hums, playing with his hair as he spoke. "You've been absolutely everything and I don't know if you're just oblivious or you really are naive or too good for me..." He assesses her as she sends him a look of confusion.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. I just want to apologise..." He adverts his gaze almost in shame. "I know you've wanted to reply to your uncle's letters for a while and visit and I've denied you that. And I'm sorry." Her gaze softens and his mouth runs dry. "Married or not I shouldn't keep you from the only family that lives so close to you. I shouldn't control you— it's extremely wrong, after all you will always have your freewill."
She blinked, "Thank you."
"The world is your oyster."
"The world is the ocean and I am a dolphin."
"That's not a saying Funmi!" He laughs and she pitches his nose. "Your uncle wants to see us- have dinner." Pierce informs her, stroking her dark skin softly to rid away the tense nature in her muscles.
He could sense her uneasiness as he reaches out to touch her, stroking his slender fingers against her skin.
"Two months is enough hiding, don't you think?" Pierce didn't like the idea either but he didn't want to be rude by turning down the old man.
She places a chaste kiss on his lips, straddling his sides. "It won't be like last time." He reassures against her lips.
She didn't want to think about her uncle now. She wanted this, to be alone in the privacy of their home, this moment, the serenity of the silence, the music they create under the covers.
She had plenty time to worry about family but now she just wanted Pierce in all possible ways. She was his and he was hers.
She bit her lip, she didn't know how to ask for things and it upset her. "Is this a good time to have children?" She asks quietly as his eyebrows perked.
Hands coming down on her backside as he squeezed with a devious smile. "I thought there was no baby talk till later?"
"Answer me!"
He squints his eyes, "Are you putting holes in the condoms?"
"You don't even use them." She looks away.
"Look at me." He urged as she looked away from his intense stare. Pierce found himself smiling at her shyness. "I did not expect that in the slightest."
Her heart drops and heat floods her entire body. She's contradicting herself she knows but she thinks she's ready.
"Look at me." He kisses her jaw. Funmi shakes her head, he was just going to laugh. Pierce trails his hands upwards, gliding his callous fingers against her rich skin. He stops at her hips squeezing the soft flesh, the contact making her jolt.
Smacking Pierce's arm playfully, she looks up. She didn't know that much on family planning, how he only wanted two children maximum or none at all. Pierce nods with a small smile on his face.
"Two things." He says suddenly. "One, as soon as I get a job, we can and Two, just not as many as your father."
"Scared of a challenge?" She teases with a wolffish smile.
"He has seven!" He exhales. "Seven!"
She hummed as the laughter dies down, she moves to straddle him. A level of confidence causing her to take the initiative, she want to dance on the cosmos with him. Her skin feels on fire as his tongue ran across her neck.
Her eyes flutter shut but soon sprung open by the blaring of their house phone. She looks over to him in confusion, his face also contorts with a slight crease in his eyebrows.
He sets her down, walking over to the phone as he spared his wife one last glance. "Hello?"
"Pierce Wilson? This is Miss. Beckam calling from Grand Tech. for the job application you filled out."
His eyebrows quirked as his heart did little somersaults in his chest. "Yes, this is Pierce Wilson."
"Sorry for the rather late feedback and such a call at the unexpected time. But I'll be happy to inform you, you've exceeded the requirements and you got the job." What? "Congratulations."
"Thank you, thank you." He said breathlessly. He couldn't believe it, the fresh start he always wanted came from a phone call on a dim evening.
"Do well to drop your account details before Monday. We'll be expecting you in the media section."
"I will, take care of yourself!" He couldn't contain his excitement and as his boss hung up, he looked towards Funmi.
"I got the job as a photographer for that Grandtech company I told you about." He beams as Funmi's confusion morphed into one of pure joy.
"I'm so proud of you." She held his face in her delicate hands as he neared.
"You should. It's nothing with numbers like what I'm used to but the pay's good." He says smugly. "Now to show you a little something that'll make both our toes curl." He pushes her down on the sofa as they laugh softly.
Hours went by in the noisy town, evidence of Pierce being home with her the night before showed in the ruffled sheets, the purple patches on her skin and the dull ache between her legs.
Funmi sat up, draping the covers over her bare body, streams of sunlight shone through the window as she groggily got out bed. "Pierce?" She called.
Today they'd be having dinner with her uncle and she still wasn't sure how she'd feel seeing him again.
She heard the front door slam shut, heavy footsteps making its way to their bedroom. His chocolate hair grazed his cheeks and he uses his hand to comb them out the way.
"I forgot you start today." She says, wrapping a towel around her torso. "How was your first day?"
"Tiring." He sighed, taking off his shoes. It was four in the afternoon and Funmi wondered how she'd managed to sleep for so long. His hands snakes round her waist as she breathes in his coffee scented skin and something else—
"You smell." She wrinkled her nose. The smell of strong perfume hits her senses and it immediately feels suffocating.
"What smell?" He narrows his eyes. His heart sped up, as he slowly let her go.
"I don't know but it's too strong. Let's go shower." She lifted his shirt over his head, pushing him towards the bathroom.
Pierce notices the change in his wife's body, too conspicuous to pass his eyes. She seemed a lot more weighty, her cheeks were rounder, her lady parts becoming even more pronounced. He'd have to talk to Funmi about her eating habits later. Not that it didn't suit her, she looked adorable plus sized.
He pulls on a grey t-shirt with blue jeans and black boots while she pulled a simple floral gown over her head and sandals.
They needed a car even though Funmi didn't say anything about getting to places faster. Funmi was used to walking, she enjoyed the beauty of the place she now lived so getting a chance to see it all the time was appealing.
They enjoyed the silence as they neared her former neighbourhood, all the houses looking identical. The black gate she'd been so used to comes to her view, the paint gradually chipping off the white walls of the house. She breathed in deeply, rubbing circles on Pierce's hand in a comforting manner.
She rings the doorbell, the only noise from the inside came from the television. The knob jiggles as Sade opens the door.
A million things run through them both, he looked okay, his hair had grown a bit into a soft mixture of snow stained in soot. His brown eyes are vibrant and immediately softens on seeing his niece.
"My Funmi." He stretches his arms out and she doesn't hesitate to fall into them, the impact of their embrace almost knocking him over.
Pierce greets Sade with glee despite the uncomfortable feeling that ate away his stomach.
Sade decided to serve salad because that was the only thing he really knew how to make. Pierce stays absolutely quiet during dinner as Funmi chats with her uncle. The times of initiating conversation to lighten his spirits and impress him were gone with the wind.
He plays with his meal, guilt settling in his abdomen, blocking his appetite. Blood rushes to the surface of his skin, he hates himself for what he did but sometimes he just had to make sacrifices. He concluded he was doing it for Funmi and no one else.
"When are you resuming school?" Sade asked his niece. Pierce's ears perked, he had totally forgotten about getting her supplies for school.
Sade loved the chubbiness of her cheeks if they weren't for a different reason entirely.
"Next week Tuesday." She answered.
"Ah. Can I have a word with you?" Sade directs it towards Pierce. He leaves no room for argument as he quickly gets up and enters the next room. He bites the inside of his cheek as he stands slowly. He wondered if her uncle could see through him- see what he had done.
"I'll be right back. Just stay here and don't interfere." He mutters before following Sade.
Sade stands in his study, his back facing Pierce as he looks out the window, the light showers of rain patter down on the glass.
"Our family sent a letter to me, two weeks ago." His voice spoke. He didn't bother to look at the boy his niece had betrayed him with. Pierce stood in the middle of room, listening intently to what he had to say. "They want to move to New York as soon as possible. Lagos has become a jungle, no where in Nigeria is safe." He folded his palms together behind his back, his head hung low. "You do realise they would need money for such a plan."
Pierce didn't understand where he was going with this and although the last sentence he spoke was a statement, he answered with a 'yes' waiting for Sade to continue.
"Why is Funmi just starting school now?" He asks.
"I have no control over resumption of colleges." Pierce answers sharply. He was aware her uncle didn't like him but he knew when someone was just being unfair, trying to pin problems on him he had no control over.
Sade's gaze met his, his neck angled in a way he could fully give Pierce a spine chilling glare. "But you have control over how many times you make love to her." He spits, turning around fully to face Pierce. "Just look at her or are you now blind? You think she's just growing fat?"
Pierce's heart rate speeds up. Funmi never complained about raising a child and going to school at the same time but the way her uncle had put everything together made it seem like the most absurd thing.
"We'll manage." Pierce mutters. Despite her uncle's character, a bubbly feeling settled deep in Pierce's stomach.
"You must not be the brightest bulb on the tree." Uncle says on seeing Pierce's small smile.
Funmi stirs in her seat at their loud voices. She knew Pierce was getting an earful for what he wasn't supposed to. The urge to intervene was bound to make her explode. She tiptoes towards the reading room, making sure to peep before entering.
"Funmi and our baby are my number one priority before anyone or anything else." Pierce was rigid from her view. She rarely saw him angry, and without thinking she stepped into the room.
Sade's eyes travel down her body before settling on her face. Pierce doesn't notice her presence as he folds his arms across his chest. "We'll figure something out. In the meantime, I will take care of my wife and baby before I take care of her whole damn family. College tuition alone is going to drain my income, so don't expect that I ship my salary down to Nigeria while I watch Funmi's dreams be crushed." Pierce bites rather harshly making Funmi flinch.
In all he said, she kept hearing 'baby'. Baby? Was she really pregnant? She brought her hands up to her face to feel her cheeks. Despite the suffocating tension in the room, Funmi smiles lightly.
Uncle shook his head and clapped loudly, getting both their attention, his amusement reaching his brown eyes.
"Shey you wanted to marry. Well you've married into the Nwango family. Consider these requests as the bride price you didn't pay before running off with our daughter."
Pierce frowns. "I've told what you need to know. I'll try my best for my in-laws, but do not pressure me to do the impossible." Pierce tenses. "Especially if it affects my family negatively."
"I could get a job." Funmi suggested softly.
Pierce's head snaps towards his wife. He wants to ask her how long she'd been listening, he wants to scold her for even thinking of working while pregnant, but he holds himself back, not here at least.
Uncle Sade nods in approval. "A job that doesn't affect your schooling." He states. Funmi nods, grabbing Pierce's arm.
"I'll keep in touch, promise." She throws over her shoulder to her uncle as she gathers their things and leaves.
There was no point staying when they had both lost their appetite. They both walk in silence, Funmi occasionally rubbing her hands against the sleeves of her coat. She always liked the steam that left her mouth when she breathed or talked, just not the cold. It reminded her of the black and white cartoons on the television, the way they would get angry and steam would leave their ears.
Pierce didn't need to spell it out before she knew he was angry. What Funmi didn't realize most of his temper was mainly because of her uncle, the situation they both found themselves.
"Pierce?" Funmi called.
His gaze remains solely on the sidewalk, head down as his lips turn into a frown, eyebrows creased. "Pierce?" She tries again, only to be met with silence.
She sighs, feeling annoyed and frustrated at his feeble attempts at ignoring her. She walks faster, stopping right in front of him. Pierce tries to manuveer his way around her, but she keeps blocking his path.
"Look at me." She says softly despite her annoyance.
Pierce blows out a breath and reluctantly lifts his head. She places her hands against his icy cheeks, cradling his head in her palms. "This is a minor issue—"
"Minor issue? Your family is asking for thousands of dollars worth of relocation!" He shouted at the same time she said...
"It will be fine!" Why did they come here to do this all over again with Sade. "When I start working, things would get better. The extra money would be good for us."
"You're pregnant."
"It will be fine."
Pierce shakes his head, he couldn't deal with this right now. There was too much going on at a time, his job, her parents, his fucking boss. Funmi said something Pierce couldn't quite decipher because he wasn't listening.
He grabs her hand, fingers digging into her skin suddenly as he pulls her along with him. She quietly follows, she didn't want to cause a scene in public but she knew when they were behind closed doors, it would be anything but pretty.
A/N;
15 chapters for a book?
Then again it is a short story.
Things are getting sour really fast :/ Do you think what Uncle Sade and Funmi's family are doing is considered fair?
Thoughts? Predictions?
And if you've read this book before this major editing, don't spoil it for anyone yeah?