It was a hazy evening,
Mom and dad were reclining on the divan,
I was in our bedroom which was quiet except for the whizzing of the fan,
It was some minutes past nine o'clock, time for the evening news,
They were both eager to get an update on the recent bombing that took place in Afghanistan,
The death toll was not a few,
I busied myself with a novel I borrowed from the state Library. A novel by Agatha Christa, 'THE CLOCK HOUSE'.
We heard a loud knock on the door,
It was so loud that could be heard even in a snore,
We've not heard such knock for yores,
Dad went for the door,
As he turned the door knob, there stood a woman,
Haggard and befuddled,
With crisp hair that laid uncombed for weeks,
She clutched her purse as if it carried her yesteryears of felicity,
Her eyes lacked ador,
Quivering she spoke, "can I come in please?
It's parky out here and I haven't got no sweater".
Dad gesticulated with a nod,
She put in her foot and dad led the way,
Mom's eyes were glued to the screen and so,
She didn't notice when dad came back with the stranger closely following.
"Honey we've got a visitor for tonight; dad announced as soon as he rejoined mom in the sitting room."
"Really?" mom queried.
Turning to the stranger. "You're welcome".
Barbara! mom hollered the third time,
Having gotten no reply after the second call,
I leaped out of bed; my arm bruised by my bedside lamp stand,
"Prepare the visitor's room, keep water for her to have her bath" mom said all at once,
Mom went into the kitchen to make food for her.
It's been two weeks now since the stranger came,
Always indoors except at meal times,
Or when everyone was out,
Occasionally skipping family prayers with excuses to fill in for her absence,
Mom and dad have had several arguments bordering on her moving out,
"She has overstayed her welcome", mom emphatically stated one evening over dessert,
"I know and I'm working on that" dad calmly responded in a tone that sounded reassuringly than expected.
One day I came back from school, mom had gone to visit my aunt that just put to birth and was coming back towards evening,
I met the stranger in the kitchen cooking,
Shocked would be an understatement,
I went back to my room after getting a glass of water and drink from the fridge to wash down with the French fries I bought on my way home from school bemused,
How will mom react when she learnt about this,I thought.
Dad came home and she served him,
I was sleeping and hadn't known dad was home,
He ate and bade her "thank you"
Mom came home later than expected,
She checked the warmer she had put dad's food in,it was untouched,
She wasn't pleased that her kitchen had been invaded by a stranger as dad later told her where he had eaten,
Dad replied coyly, "Its nothing honey besides her cooking was nice".
This reply sent mom's eyes aflame,
"Is that all you can say" she implied in a tone that spelt mild indignation.
She walked away...
For weeks mom and dad were sour towards each other,
The atmosphere in our house was taut,
Once known to be gay but now somber,
The appearance of the stranger has brought friction, not small.
Most nights dad slept on the couch after a heated argument with mom about the stranger,
Dad always waved the topic with "she has no place to lay her head, do you want to send her to the streets?"
Mom reported to relatives who tried to talk dad over,
Had dad found a new lover in a stranger?
This was a prodigy they all concluded.
After much debating and arguing without going nowhere, mom blurted out; "she'll either leave or I leave",
"Fine" dad said, "you can have it your way but she goes no where",
The die had been cast.
"So you want to throw away everything we've shared because of a common loafer whose aim is to destroy marriages and wreck havoc?"
mom thundered.
I couldn't believe my ears,
An annulment after all this years,
Of togetherness, bonding and oneness?
Is dad insane or bewitched?
Did we ever commit a crime by taking her in on that chilly night?
I sobbed for days,
The good old days may never return,
The stranger came and....
Everything came crashing apart.