6

 CHAPTER SIX

As promised the man got her a four carat diamond ring. The most beautiful her eyes had ever seen. She blushed as she wore it and by the end of the week they were married.

Their relationship was moving at the speed  of light. They spent a month in Greece as a honeymoon. Celine shopped and learnt how to interact with the wealthy. She learnt how to recognize brands and labels. Her wardrobe was updated, her hairstyle transformed and the makeup became classy. In quite a short time, she became Celine Kavuma.

Eventually they decided to go to Kenya so that Celine could introduce her husband to the most important person in her life, her mother. Her mother wasn't impressed. She didn't fail to mention the age difference between the couple. She felt that her daughter had lost her mind.

'You can't marry a man you barely know. What has gotten into you?' Celina's mother asked.

Even Ellen was outraged. She had expected Celina to come back with bags of clothes, jewelry and perfumes like she had but not a husband. Ellen had anticipated a bag or sack of money maybe a gold bar anything would have been better than this.

'I can and I did, mother. His my husband so the sooner you accept it the better for all of us.'

Celina said as she watched her mother who was chopping vegetable angrily. How could her mother not wish her to stay in this new world. She didn't want to go back to that miserable debt filled life. Where she was always in luck watching her mother struggle to make ends meet just to keep her in Law School.

'Well I forbid it.'

'I am an adult. What do you think  you can do?' they faced each other ready for battle.

Ellen who was munching on a cookie thought it better to intervene before matters got out of hand and the mother and daughter said things to each other that were unforgivable.

'Celina, I think your Mum is only as worried as I am. We don't want you getting in trouble all because of a bad decision. Do you think Henry loves you? And do you love him too?'

'Yes he loves me. Besides we can barely afford my tuition anymore and we've failed to clear our mortgage. Besides, Mum was fired, so I think this is help from heaven and I am not going to turn it down.'

Her mother could not believe that her once hopeful daughter had turned into this person that wanted to take advantage of the generosity of another.

'When things go wrong, don't say I didn't warn you.' Her mother said even though she knew that that was the last thing that could ever happen.

One of the things Celina had always hated was failure and that alone made her try all possible angles before accepting that she had failed. A small dinner was prepared by Celina and her mother. Henry who was staying at a hotel nearby was invited and welcomed to the family. Malik, a paternal uncle was also present. The man was initially outraged that bride price of numerous cows had not been paid. 

 Then he met the man Celina had married. The man looked good. He smelled of money. The man's eloquence set him apart from the men Malik had known all his life.

Malik saw dollar signs as he talked to Henry. The mother tried to be as hospitable as possible so that the dinner could be a success. Celina and Ellen were impressed by how relaxed Henry was.

Henry was accustomed to such situations. He regularly met such men and women who wanted to hate him but his charm put them on his side.

By the end of the evening, Ellen was impressed as well as Malik. Maybe this Henry Kavuma was not so bad after all.

 All they saw when they talked to Henry was dollar signs. The only person that was not moved was Celina's mother. She had dealt with Henry's kind before and could see through him. She did not trust him. But Celina seemed blinded by his charms, his money and her lust. No matter what Henry said the mother responded with unconcealed loathing earning shots of daggers from Celina's eyes. Nevertheless, she gave the couple her blessing praying that her daughter would make the best of the situation.

Within two weeks after her marriage Celina had relocated to Uganda residing in Mbuya, a Kampala suburb. She was the mistress of a ten-bedroom mansion. Henry helped enroll her into school so that she could attain her law degree. She had a lovely car and maids to do her every bidding. If someone had told her earlier that year that she would be able to live in such luxury,  she would have thought that it was a lie. Or called that person crazy. Celine embraced her new life with  gusto. No one would have suspected that she was the same person.

The first three years were blissful. The marriage to Henry was just as beautiful as she had anticipated. He dotted on her. He took her for trips. She went to Europe. Travelled to Egypt, Dubai, China and India. Not for medical treatment like most Africans would but because she could. To Celina, air travel became the way of life. She attended prestigious events and was introduced to many powerful individuals by her husband. Henry wanted to show her off to every one. She slept in five star hotels, the kind she had only seen in magazines.

The romance between them was wild. They made long passionate love that her body spent the next days paining. She mostly loved it when he pulled her hair or slapped her behind. She thrived on his aggression and glowed because of his tenderness. All the main rooms in their home including the kitchen were not spared from their lustful acts. She missed him when he travelled and found herself craving his touches and kisses. Its like Henry had a spell over her. He was everything that she had ever wanted in a man.

Unfortunately there was a side of him that really scared her. His arrogance. His selfishness. He wanted her to be his satellite especially at social events. He wanted her to use her charm to attract everybody's attention to him. He was demanding too, sexually. Henry's appetite seemed consuming. Nothing could calm his appetites. He wanted it everyday. In strange places and awkward timing. He wanted it long and hard pounding her for hours till she got sore. In the beginning it was a dream come true. A man interested in her body for hours but with time it became scary. Henry didn't want to hear words like 'I am tired' or 'I am not in the mood'. He got angry that and he would get his jacket and leave not to be seen till the next day or two.

'Henry, can't you understand like any other man would that I am not in the mood for sex! Honey, I had a long day and I am still sore from last evening,' Celina pleaded thinking that for once they should address this issue instead of pretending that she could keep up with his appetites.

A deathly silence only associated with the presence of evil followed. Henry looked at her, almost squinting that his eyes were almost closed. She couldn't read his eyes and started second-guessing the decision she had made with a lot of pride.

'I married you to satisfy me sexually not to have unnecessary discussions with me. I told you in the beginning that I wanted your body and by God I'll have it when I crave it.' with those words he stood up and left her standing in the bedroom that still smelt of their previous night's sex.

Celina sat on the big bed covered in a smooth silk white duvet. The bedroom was covered in brown and red colors. On a good day when Henry was not in a sexually frustrated and generally bad mood, it was her favorite room in the big house but in that moment she hated it.

Celina failed to understand her husband. He seemed complex, prone to violent outbursts that would scare any individual. He didn't beat her or hurt her but he scared her. He punched walls and yelled. He broke glasses and gadgets during such outbursts. Nevertheless, the love from him was always there. It was in the way he looked at her. The way he touched her. The way his voice softened when he was talking to her. Anyone that knew the judge noticed this. It is a strange kind of love they all agreed. But Celina didn't agree. She barely noticed the love in her husband's eyes unlike the outsiders. This was because she saw the side that Henry managed to conceal from the outsiders.

 Their relationship got trickier when she started practicing as an associate of Randle, Lukwago and associates. A job her husband made sure she got because that's where she desired. It wasn't the late working hours that stressed the relationship. Neither was it the hectic schedule. No. It was when she was placed at the Daily Tribunal.