Nadir

When my assistant tells me that my boss wants to see me a few minutes after Sheena has left I know it couldn’t be anything good. I put away the work I was doing and go to his office, his assistant tells me to go in without knocking as he is expecting me.

‘You wanted to see me.’ I say once inside.

He is standing close to the window watching the view outside with a glass of juice in his hands.

‘Juice?’

‘I am fine.’

Tom is more like a brother than a boss to me. We have come a long way and have both invested so much to make sure the company is where it is today but I still respect him because at the end of the day he is my boss.

‘You wanted to see me?’

Tom and I have always been brutally honest with each other so there is no need for him to beat around the bush.

‘You need to take leave.’

‘What? If it’s about the incident in my office...’

He lifts a hand cutting me off even before I can finish.

‘Joshua I spoke to you strongly two years ago that you needed time off work but you said you were okay and that you were going to manage.’

He pauses for effect.

‘You are good at your job but if your heart and mind are not in it the results won’t be as good.’

‘Are you saying that I have been lagging behind?’

‘I am saying that you need to rest. It’s high time you get away from this place and deal with the pain the best way that you should. Work is not the right way.’

I want to argue but then I realise that there is no point in doing that. If he has decided that I take leave of absence, I will do that but if he thinks that will stop me from working from home then he has another thing coming.

Without saying a word to him, I go back to my office and on my desk I find a letter has been dropped for the leave.

‘Three months.’ I say with a deep sigh after opening it.

I pack up and finish off the work I was supposed to do then drive home.

The drive is quick, when I get there I find that Martha is at work. She graduated last year and was lucky enough to find work almost immediately. She has refused to move out because she doesn’t know if she would be okay with living apart with her sister and I totally understand her.

I am shocked to find mum home, and more shocked to see that she is in the garden with Nandy.

‘Mother.’ I say walking up to them.

She is painting Nandy’s toe nails.

‘Hey you.’ She says.

I kiss her on the forehead then go and do the same to Nandy who is non responsive.

‘You didn’t tell me that you were coming.’

‘I wanted to surprise the both of you.’

I lift an eyebrow, my mother is many things but she would never surprise me. I am always the first to know when she is coming into town so this is a bit strange.

‘What do you want here?’

She removes an envelope from her bag and hands it to me.

‘What’s this?’

‘Open it.’

I do as told and hand it back to her.

‘You have to.’

‘Mother we talked about this, she is not crazy. I can’t commit her and if anything you and I talked about this.’

‘I know we did. But I also did a lot of thinking. It’s high time we accept that she needs professional help.’

‘And if she never gets better?’

‘We need to brace ourselves for that too.’

I swallow hard.

‘I asked Emmanuel to look for good hospitals and that is the one that came highly recommended.’

‘You asked Emmanuel?’

‘It’s high time the two of you buried the hatchet and realised that at the end of the day you will always be brothers.’

‘Mother.’

‘Haven’t you learnt anything the past two years? Look at what you have lost, isn’t it enough? Don’t you want to move past this?’

I look away.

‘Joshua you need to be the bigger person, you need to let go.’

Nandy turns to look at me and for the first time in two years it looks like I can see her but then the same shadow befalls her and the light is dimmed.

‘I will think about it.’

‘You do.’

‘Have you guys eaten? Can I cook something for you?’

‘How about you stay with your wife and I prepare something for you both?’

‘Thank you mother.’

I loosen my tie and continue painting Nandy’s toe nails even though I have no idea how to do it. How I wish things could be better, how I wish she could come out of all this but at the end of the day I guess there isn’t much I can do. So I dial the doctor’s number and tell her that I am ready to have her committed. God knows I have tried everything humanly possible.

..

Kwenje’s Girl

Winnie

🙇🏾‍♀️