THANDI
"Given?"
"Hey, sorry for just dropping by"
"Uh, it's okay. Come in" I move from the door to let him in the house "Is everything okay?" I ask because I have seen him in over a month now
"Everything is good"
"Okay... Did he send you to come check on me?"
"No, he didn't but Gwen did. She says she's worried about you and her being in Venda only makes her worry more"
"I'm okay. I'm not dying over here, you shouldn't let her make you run around"
"It's not a biggie, besides I've also been meaning to come see you, I just wasn't sure when the right time would be with everything going on between you and Gundo"
"Our issues have nothing to do with the rest of the family, you're always welcome here. Come, I was about to make tea" I walk to the kitchen and he follows
"So, how is everyone?" I ask plugging on the kettle
"They are okay..."
"And Emmé?"
"What about Emmé?" he asks and I wonder what it is I really want to ask about her
"She must be relieved with me out of the house" I say and he grows uncomfortable making me sigh "You could just say you'd rather not talk about her"
"I'd rather not talk about her" He quickly repeats after me
"Understood, plus you're not much of a talker anyway" I tease him and he gets a little shy
"We could talk about you... What your plan is, for how long will you be gone"
"Honestly, at this point... It just feels like we are done, I don't see a way back to what we were before"
"But you're still his wife..." he looks at my wedding ring, I've never dared to take it off
"On paper yes, but what marriage is left there Given? Somehow I feel like I always knew this day would come from the moment Jerome entered our lives, I kept fighting but I knew that I'm not built for polygamy... I'm too selfish for that, I can't share my husband, live in the same house as another wife... I just never wanted to face the truth"
"And now you have?" he asks
"I don't know... But each day, I feel like my fate is becoming clearer and clearer... I love Gundo, I won't lie but love isn't supposed to hurt this much"
"He loves you too" Given says and I give him his cup of tea
"Did you come here to depress me, Given? Because I'm starting to feel it now"
"Me? No... That's the last thing I'd want to do, I actually just came to check on you as I said earlier... And the other thing"
"What other thing?"
"Christmas" he says and I raise my brow at him
"What about it?"
"Mom and Grandma will be coming over to spend it with us" he lowly says and I get it now
"He did this, right? He arranged for them to come over?"
"No, gran is the one who insisted on it. As worried as we are about her health, she insisted on coming over... And they kind of don't know that you moved out"
This has Gundo written all over it and I know Given will never admit it, he's too loyal to his brother
"They kind of don't know? So now I must go play happy families because he chose not to tell them what's going on?"
