Coffee Break

Chapter Twelve

  Richard was gone by the time I had finished dismantling the decor. I watched him as he greeted and exchanged light conversations with people. They surely did love him. Why was I even concerned about him? I carried the decor baskets outside, as I waited for Grandma and Grandpa to finish talking to people.
'Hey you, you ready to go? 'Grandma asked. We drove back home and thirty minutes later, some young adults from church started arriving to help with the braaii. I saw Richard walk in with Faith. Oh wow, this was happening quicker than I thought.
'Are you worried about them? 'Sandra, from the church office asked me as she passed by.
'What.. Who? '
'Richard and Faith? '
'No... Never, 'I lied.
I went into the kitchen to bring out more meat from the fridge.
'Need any help with that? 'I turned and Richard was standing by the door.
'I thought you.. you'
'I'll take that as a yes'
He came up to me and took the bucket of meat from me. For the two hours that proceeded, I watched as people interacted with one another.Maybe,Jason was right. I didn't belong here. Why spend my time trying to get to know people when they'd probably abandon me in the end
'Happy Valentine's Day,'Grandpa came by with a rose
'Aaaw, thank you. 'I took the rose from his hand and smiled at him.
'How are you doing? '
'Apart from the subtle sting in my leg, I'm okay. '
'I know you might not believe this but... we're going to miss you when you're gone 'He put his arm around my shoulder
'We've missed you for seventeen years my dear. So, when you do go.. remember what I told you about the house metaphor. '
'Yes I will.'
'Good, now get up and go talk to people. '
'I know no one, well apart from Sandra and Richard, Lameck, Tina.. not helping my case now am I. '
'Just go my dear. 'I did as he said, and walked into the crowd to find someone to talk to. All I could do was wave at the people huddled together, until I heard a tap on my shoulder. I turned and saw Thandie
'Hi,you made it,'I said.
'Yes,how are you?'
'I'm fine.'
'Could we sit down and talk?'Thandie pointed at two empty seats at one end of the house.I saw Jason headed in our direction.
'I'm kind of busy right now,maybe later,'I headed into the house before she could even respond.I walked into my room and found a Valentine's card on my bed.I opened it and it read 'Before I formed you in the womb of your mother,I knew you,Jeremiah 1 verse 5....Happy Valentine's Day,Love Grandma'.
I heard a gentle knock on the door before Thandie opened and walked in.
'Hey,I really need to talk to you.'She stood at the edge of the bed and I signaled for her to sit.  

'So, when are you really leaving? I'm hearing three weeks, four weeks; two weeks?'Thandie asked

'You're that anxious to get rid of me huh?'

'That's not the point. Could we at least have a decent conversation for once?'

'We have nothing in common!' I replied. Except for the fact that we fell for the same guy, the sentence ended so in my head.

Thandie let out a deep breath and straightened the creases on her skirt.

'I used to be so jealous of you Maya, growing up. You got all the attention from the guys back in school. You're intelligent...It took me some time to find confidence in my own skin.'

'Why are you telling me this?'

'Because you think I'm the special one in this family. I have my skeletons too!'

I laughed and found myself smiling at Thandie for the first time in a long while.

'You know, Grandma didn't like the idea of me getting married to Jason.'

'Why is that?' I cringed

'She said I didn't know him that well. We dated for five years. It was a long distance relationship I know but I trusted him.'

'Trust is such a strong word,' I whispered.

'I know...maybe it wasn't trust.'

'What was it then?'

'Fear...of being alone.....Any who, I got to get going now.' Thandie wrapped me in an embrace.

'Please don't forget to let me know when you're leaving.'She said.

'Yeah...I won't. 'I wiped a tear off my cheek.

'Why are you crying?'

'It's complicated. Maybe one day I'll have the guts to say it.'

Thandie patted my back and left. I got up from my bed and peeped through the curtains. I watched as the guests outside interacted. I then saw Thandie and Jason bid farewell to Grandma and Grandpa.

I came out of my room as soon as the last set of guests had cleared. Grandma was seated on one of the couches in the sitting room, looking through some old photos from a photo album.

'I heard you had a talk with Thandie, 'she looked up at me as I turned on the TV and sat down, three seats away

'I wouldn't call it a talk. It was nothing.'

'Well, it's a start, 'she smiled. 'Look what I found in this old collection. 'She waved a photo at me

I got up hesitantly and took the picture from her. It was a picture of a baby girl, being held by what seemed to be a little boy aged three or four.

'Who's this?'

'That's you of course...and Richard.'

'Richard?'

'Yes, Richard from church.'

'Why was he holding me in his arms?'

'You two grew up together. Well for the first five years of your life before your mother ran away with you.'

'How come I don't remember him?'

'You were young...Richard on the other hand, never forgot you. He would come to the house once every two weeks, just to ask if Maya is back. He later went on to high school, but every time he came home for the holidays, he would ask about you. And that is why, when I heard he was sent to Juvenile prison, I followed up on him. The little boy who remembered my granddaughter.'