The talkative Wife

Anoma did not know she was so talkative. She was a non-stop yarn spinner. But her husband knew it. He was at times repelled by this habit of hers. But he did not want to indicate the fact that he knew it.

Can’t you be silent? Can’t you be moderate in your talk? It was the uppermost question he wanted to ask Anoma. But he feared the consequences for some unknown reason.

How can I indicate my feelings, he wondered. If I am to reveal openly what I feel, she would get angry. So he kept silent. Honestly some things she said were interesting. Only thing was that she would repeat the same story over and over again in many ways.

“Why don’t you write what you talk?” He once asked.

He tried to recollect the most recent event. He had to accompany Anoma to a gathering of friends.

Please don’t talk too much, he wanted to advise Anoma. But he could not get himself to do so. Then it came to a moment when Anoma opened one of her favourite episodes from the past to those seated around her.

“You know that place where I used to work before marriage... My god such a fantastic place...” she initiated the talk. The others were all ears around her. Anoma’s husband felt a little shy. But he was listening too.

“There was an interview... I went to the interview with all smiles. You know that was the best qualification I had from birth.”

They all laughed.

“True, a smile itself is a good qualification,’ a young man stressed her opinion.

“Exactly,” Anoma adder her bit.

“But aren’t you a graduate?” a response from a young lady.

“Yes, yes I am... Wait will you till I’m done with my story,” Anoma was itching to finish off her story.

“So they asked me so many questions. I was lucky I could answer them all like a piece of cake. So finally they declared they picked me for the job.”

“So what was your position?” the gathering burst into a laugh for some reason.

“I was the boss’ private secretary. It was a very high up business firm.”

As the laughter rose again, Anoma’s husband felt shy a little more this time. Why can’t she just keep herself quiet, he silently wondered.

“Know what happened next? Some girls developed a jealousy for me. They hated my smile. My boss once asked me a question openly. Do you know why we chose you? I said no.

Then he said: it’s your smile, we love it so much. You will never imagine how happy I was to hear that remark. He said I would have been posted in the reception.”

Anoma’s husband felt it’s getting too much. Shut up, he felt like commanding, they are well off without your nonsense. But he felt feeble to put anything to action. Instead, he tried to diver the subject. Someone emerged from nowhere and asked him to join for a drink.

But he was reluctant to have a drink. He was scared it would cause another problem. Anyway he left Anoma with her friends, but full of worries in his head.

“Here, I’ve got another interesting story for you guys,” Anoma was getting into another conversation, as her husband was leaving.

“Oh my god,” said Anoma, “they were the women! They started gossiping about the boss and I. At first I didn’t take it seriously. But later it was getting out of hand. They were completely jealous about me. My boss knew this and one day he told me: ‘Anoma, they are jealous about you. They don’t like me talking good about you.’”

Anoma’s husband could not put up with this talk any more. Now she would start another, he was concerned.

“I’ll fill my glass and come back,” saying so, he joined the male company. The males were also, Anoma’s husband noted to his own dismay, drinking, cracking jokes and nothing else. There was so much noise, so aloud like empty vessels. He found the situation ill at ease.

“I am neither here nor there,” he thought.

“I must go home and rest,” he thought. Coming back to Anoma, he found her munch another tale.

The dinner was served, luckily.

Anoma’s husband felt relieved so he could leave the place soon.

“Anoma, it’s time to go home,” he said.

“Are you in a hurry? We are enjoying your wife’s tales,” one lady quipped.

“Why, has she not finished yet?” He asked, noting his own tone irritating.

“Oh no,” said another lady.

On the return, Anoma felt a certain sense of aloofness in her husband. He was silent for the most part.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked.

“Let’s go home, I’ll tell you.”

She repeated the question.

“Nothing, I’m bored.”

“Why?”

“You must not have come out with those harangues.”

Anoma’s husband then focused his eyes on the road. There was no talk throughout the journey.