Except at night, they hardly ever have time together. He often sits alone in the house waiting for Julie-Julie to come home. It would be nice to have kids to play with when one comes home from work. But, Oh, the house is too small, Kappy-Pappy dear. We need to save and move to a bigger place before we can start a family.
Kapsak never understands that. What does a big house have to do with having children When he and Eka Udo had children, did they have a big house But they died, didn’t they And the doctor later said something about cramped living conditions making it easy for malaria to virtually wipe out his family. So maybe Julie-Julie has a point. All his children had died because of being cooped up in one room. All except Udo. Udo Kapsak would not ordinarily admit it but the truth is he misses the boy so much. Udo’s full-faced smile. His quirky-chirpy ways. His innocent probing manner. Oh Udo! He’ll be approaching five now. Five! A big baby!
Sighing noisily, Kapsak tries to put thoughts of his son out of his mind. He has not seen the boy in over three years. And maybe he has gone the way his brother and sisters went. No. Not likely. Awadamoto would have told him. Awadamoto. It’s been a long time since Kapsak saw him.
Throwing on a shirt, Kapsak hurries off to the taxi rank in the business district. "Kapsak, Kapsak!" Awadamoto cheers as his childhood friend approaches. "Awadamoto! You have abandoned me!" "Use that word lightly, Kapsak. You know who has done the most abandoning between me and you." "But Awad, we live here in town together." "Blame that wife of yours. I did not go to school and I don’t like going near people who make me remember that all the time." Kapsak has it in mind to say something good about his wife, but something else jumps to his mouth.
"Come Awad, what is Gestapo" "Gestapo" "No, Gestapo." "Man, I don’t know. Where did you hear it" "Eh, I heard it somewhere. How is the village" "Exactly as you left it." "And... " "Eka Udo" "Yes. How is she" "How does it concern you Anyway, I heard some big chief from her mother’s village has taken her for his third wife." "What of my son Is it well with him" "You would have known if you had bothered to go and check on him. Look, it’s my turn. "Bawling out to passengers to climb into his ramshackle taxi, Awadamoto ambles off.
It is pouring heavily when Julie-Julie returns. Outside, it is rain. Inside, it is confusion. Kapsak is at first happy to see her back safely. Then his happiness turns to anger as she carries on about what an exciting time she had. Finally his anger succumbs to her gentle caresses and passion rules their world. Julie-Julie shoots out at first light. "I’ve got to see someone urgently, Kappy-Pappy. "Kappy-Pappy, that is my name now, Kapsak laughs to himself as he shuffles off to the construction site where he manages to earn a few bucks. On his way into the main yard, he ducks out of the way of a fast-moving four-wheel drive vehicle driven by an expatriate. Cursing lightly, he looks back to see the driver locked in a passionate kiss with a woman with luxuriant hair.
"No wonder he nearly killed me!" Kapsak spits out. "Early morning and he’s already..."
His mouth remains open but the words dry up. like the water taps of the city. The woman with the expatriate turns momentarily, perhaps to pick up something from the backseat. In that instant, Kapsak sees clearly the woman for whom he had left his first wife and forsaken his family and people.
But he does not see the earthmover in front of him. Neither does he hear its powerful horns. And the driver of the earthmover does not see Kapsak. By the time someone notices the crushed figure lying by the roadside, a blackening pool of blood has begun to seep into the earth.
The phrase "cooped up" in the second paragraph probably means