She read me like a book and could tell when I was broke and dejected or when something personal bothered me.

“You don’t look Ok. What’s the matter?” She would ask.

“Nothing.” I replied.

When she guessed it had something to do with money, she slipped a note into my hand when no one was watching and would buy food for me that day.

Everyone thought she was a monster. I never knew she had a human side to her machine heart.

Sometimes she was lonely and she came to my place in the evenings. At the workplace she was an iron lady with an iron fist but in my room, she was a child – vulnerable, longing for companionship, longing to be touched, longing for a playmate.

She would ask if she still looked pretty or if her workers liked her or if they gossiped behind her back. She wanted to know what they said and how she could change for the better.

She would try fighting my attempts to cuddle and kiss her but her resistance was weak.

After the day she discovered that some bond was developing between me and Brenda, I knew that something was coming.

It began with her no longer giving me money whenever I was broke, even if I told her. I was no longer her baby. I was a grown man now and in love with someone else. She was no longer a fool. I would not use her money to impress another girl. My salary was all I would get and whether it was enough for my survival or not, would be my business.

She began demanding rigorous accounting of the sales of her sugarcane and many petty transactions she initially never bothered to look into. Now every cent was being accounted for. I and Brenda would not run away with her money.

Calitus was the company’s driver. I realized of late, Mrs. Stella has been teasing Brenda that she’s Calitus’ wife. Initially, it never bothered me since I knew Brenda had no feelings for Calitus. But after she started sending Brenda and Calitus on errands with the company’s truck, it dawned on me I had underrated what Mrs. Stella was up to.

Calitus would be called to help with some task at her residence and Brenda would be held there too with some house chores. Then she pretended to be busy and left the two alone in the dark balcony. She thought I wasn’t aware of what happened at her home but Brenda told me everything the following day.

She was rearing an alligator that would eat Brenda’s love for me and if I wasn’t satisfied, she cooked up lies to cover what she was doing: I was running her business and I need not be distracted with love.

When she was at the centre of that love, it was no distraction. And when Calitus falls in love with Brenda, the company’s truck would be safer in his hands I guess.

At first, I found all this amusing. But the comedy began to wear off as I saw Brenda brightening up each time she saw Calitus. She told me how they intend going out for a drink in a bar nearby after work. The name Calitus was growing larger in her daily vocabulary and I looked on with concern.

Each time Calitus came to the office to pick up the truck keys, Brenda watched my face and teased me later, saying, “You are jealous.” I tried to dissuade her from having such thoughts but the scent of envy was so heavy on my facial expression that it was ridiculous to claim I wasn’t jealous.

What Mrs. Stella didn’t realize was that she was awakening a sleeping dragon and war wasn’t far away…