TEXT A 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 mid 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 lo 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 best title for the passage would probably be ______.
A.Kapask and Julie. B.Death of Kapask. C.Love Affairs. D.Kapask’s Children.