Nadir

‘Babe would you like some garlic sauce?’ Joshua yells from the kitchen.

‘Yes please.’

I woke up quite early, did all the chores and took a long relaxing bath. By 11am Joshua was here and immediately started preparing lunch.

‘I don’t know what I would do without garlic sauce.’ He says walking into the living room.

I have not seen him eat anything without garlic sauce. I am not sure if it’s just an obsession or he genuinely loves it. After saying grace he hands me my plate.

‘This looks nice.’ I say looking at the baked potato wedges smeared with cheese, pork ribs and a green salad.

‘I bet it tastes even better.’ He says.

One of the things that Joshua and I have in common is that we have a short concentration span and this means we can’t sit through a movie. When we discovered this common trait, we told ourselves we would be listening to music instead and he always has a good playlist.

‘Babe I had an idea.’

‘What’s up?’

‘You know how you haven’t seen your sister in a while right?’

‘Yeah.’

‘How about you invite her so that the two of you do something together.’

‘Like what?’

‘I don’t know what you both enjoy doing.’

I think through it for a while.

‘Well when we were much younger our mum would always give us money to go to the salon. She would drive us there and leave us then assign someone to watch over us. She always said it was good for our bonding and boy was she right.’

I smile reminiscing.

‘And then we would have our nails cleaned and filed and painted in a clear color because of course we were young. Then we would go for ice cream. We used to look forward to that time of the month.’

‘But why did you stop?’

‘When our parents died it’s like they took with them so many things. We tried doing it once but it just didn’t feel the same you know, knowing that the money was coming from mum or that she had sent someone to watch over us as we did our errands just made it off.’

He rubs my right hand with his softly.

‘How about you try to revive that memory?’

‘I don’t know babe.’

‘You will never know until you try, invite her and see how it goes. Have you thought of the possibility that maybe she is doing all this just to get your attention?’

‘Honestly I didn’t think that far, I have just been too depressed about this whole thing.’

‘Well, I advise you make some time and see her.’

‘I will.’

There is a small knock at the door before it opens and Martha walks in. She is clad in a long black bodycon dress that is hugging her figure.

‘You bought couches.’

‘I stole them.’

She rolls her eyes and walks past us.

‘I believe that is Martha right.’

‘The one and only.’

‘You need to be the bigger person.’

‘Babe did you just hear the first thing that came out of her mouth? No greeting, no nothing. How am I supposed to be a bigger person to a person like that?’

‘It won’t hurt.’

‘Fine.’

‘Is there food in this house? I am starving.’

‘There is some in the kitchen.’ Joshua responds.

‘I wasn’t talking to you.’ She says before walking to the kitchen.

‘You see what I am talking about? And you want me to be the bigger person?’

‘She is a child.’

She walks back in with a plate and comes to sit on the chair opposite us.

‘Are you ready for the week?’ I ask Joshua ignoring her.

‘I am not, I have so much that is pending and mum will be in town so it’s a bit hectic.’

His mother still resides at their family house in Chipata. He mentioned that she has a doctor’s appointment this coming Wednesday in Lusaka, so she will be staying with him. I have seen photos of her and she seems really nice plus she and Joshua are very close. They talk on the phone every week and I wouldn’t be shocked to find out that they text every other day.

‘Do you have to drive her around though?’

‘She has her own driver but always wants me present at her appointments but the one thing I am looking forward to is how she brings lunch to the office.’

‘She does that?’

‘Has always done it. Each place I work and my work mates have always loved her because she includes them in meals.’

‘Wow.’

‘When she gets to Lusaka, the first thing she does is buy a lot of Tupperware to carry the food in and she bakes so imagine the amount of weight I put on when she is around.’

‘She does sound adorable.’

He stands up and gets our empty plates.

‘She is and she will love you.’ He says kissing my forehead.

He walks to the kitchen leaving Martha and I alone.

‘You bagged yourself a handsome one didn’t you? I hope you don’t leave him when you see how close he is to his mother.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘You and I are both broken and don’t operate well around people who have good relationships with their mothers. He seems like a good man but I am afraid you will get chocked with all the good he shares with his mother that you will walk away or mess it up.’

‘Because you know me so well huh?’

‘I don’t have to answer that, you and I both know we are broken.’

‘By virtue of something being broken, it means it can be fixed.’ Joshua responds.

‘Right.’ Martha says.

‘I dare you to make one more disrespectful comment.’ I say my motherly instincts kicking in.

‘Good.’ I respond when there is silence.

…

Kwenje’s Girl

Winnie

🙇🏾‍♀️