IN THE DEEP END

Chapter 2

Lwande looked around the dimly lit room. Xhanti behind was leaning on the door dreadfully waiting for his reaction... He wasn't sure what he feared most, him deciding to leave or him staying.

"What did I tell you about taking your clothes off on the couch."

From what Janse had told him Lwande had deduced that Xhanti was depressed so he didn't want to make him feel bad about his home being messy. So he smiled and teased him about something they used to fight about when they were still together.

"You know I've never been good at following instructions." Xhanti smiled, scratching the back of his neck in shame. "Can I offer you anything. A drink, maybe?"

"Yes please. Preferably something with alcohol in it."

Maybe a drink would calm his nerves. During the drive to Xhanti's house all he had done was talk about how cute and big JJ had gotten. Now it was just the two of them. There was no one else to ease the tension.

A rumble of thunder prompted the rain to pour heavily. Lwande had reverted back to the way he was when they first met, he could feel it in his heart. He could barely control his limbs. He awkwardly walked towards the couch.

Xhanti walked to the kitchen to get the strongest liquor he had. He too was scared. He feared what his ex lover thought of him.

"I didn't say try to knock me out."

Lwande laughed as Xhanti walked towards him with some whiskey. Guilt gnawed at Xhanti as he saw the clothing articles he had left on the couch earlier neatly folded on the coach. Lwande's mild OCD must have been acting up. He had planned on spring cleaning but he hadn't gotten around to it.

"Sorry about the mess."

"No, it's ok. I understand."

"I could take you back to Jansen's house but we'd have to wait for the rain to subside."

"No, I want to be here.. .. with you."

Xhanti sat down at the other end of the couch. He poured the alcohol on both their glasses. They then took a swig in awkward silence. Xhanti occasionally stole glances at the now quiet man.

"I'm going to turn on the heater."

Lwande wished he had slept over at Jansen's house as he had originally planned. He let his curiosity get the best of him. He wanted a peak into the man's life after not seeing him for three years.

"I remember I promised you we would watch the first Chucky movie." He heard Xhanti say as he walked away.

Lwande remembers he had said that after he had his second Savanna at Janse's house. They had a couple of drinks after dinner. Those two ciders might have influenced his decision to come here. He could feel the room become warmer as he looked at rain flow down the window panes.

" Here's a blanket, please turn the TV on while I get us some snacks."

"Does netflix have it?"

"I don't know but we could just watch it off of a site." He shrugged as he walked towards the kitchen area. Lwande put the blanket over himself.

Soon after Xhanti sat on the opposite side of the couch. He had found the Chucky movie like he knew he would, off the grid. Lwande took another swallow of the whiskey as they watched Chucky hunt out Andy.

"Liyo once cr...." He caught himself and looked at Lwande apologetically. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok, you can talk about him."

"Uhh, he..." He searched for any sign of uncertainty before he continued. " He once threw a tantrum because he wanted to watch this movie. He thought that because it starred a doll it would be kid friendly."