EVERYTHING SHE NEVER HAD

08

Things have changed, they both can feel it, but question is, what? What changed.

Tumo continued lazily walking towards their condo. Gogo stopped knitting and watched him kicking invisible rocks, she just looked at him and shook her head smiling, "ao mosimana Waka, gorileng?" (oh my boy, what happened)

"seepe mme" (nothing mother) he said, he sat down on the stoop and exhaled burying his face in his hands. The old woman just looked at her and chuckled. She knows Tumo the back of her hand, she knows when something is bothering him but she doesn't like pressuring him into talking, when he's ready to talk, he knows where to find her.

The old woman continue with her knitting and humming a gospel song, Tumo seemingly lost in his thoughts manages to hum also. He wants to understand what is going on with him but he doesn't understand. What could have happened? What went wrong, what is going on, he feels overwhelmed he doesn't know what to do with himself. Since it's almost dawn, he decides to go cook, he managed to get some change nyana and bought maize and a pack of potatoes and some veggies, he decides that he's going to cook cabbage, that's gogos' favourite anyway. Ena he will just go to bed early.

He starts slicing the cabbage and putting the pots on the paraffin stove, he has to decide which one to cook first because it's only one plate, since already he has started slicing the cabbage, he might as well start with it. He switched the stove on with a matchstick and puts pours a small amount of oil inside the pot before he adds finely chopped onions, once the onion and oil have heated, he adds the cabbage and puts the lid on.

He almost burns the cabbage lost in thought when gogo brings him back to the world of the living.

"Hao Mara Tumo keng na?" (what's wrong)

"seepe" he continues to say.

"Hao

Mosimana Waka, Bua lenna tlheng" (my boy talk to me my boy "

He looks at her and sighs, he bends and stirs the cabbage slightly ignoring gogo. The old woman can see that the boy is not fine so she bends and switch the stove off and pulls him by the hand and goes outside..

" go diragetseng ngwanake?"(what happened my child) feeling overwhelmed and frustrated he brushes his face and pulls nonexistent hair.

"ake itse gore godiragala eng lenna mme, ga ke itse gore ke tlhalose gore kereng kannete" (I dont know what what is happening I don't even know what to say?)

"a keka mosetsana yole?"(is it about that girl)

He looks at her and chuckles, "leina LA gagwe ke Maya Mme, and maybe ake itse" (her name is Maya and maybe, I don't know "

He stands up and leans on the pillar and says nothing. With curious thoughts, the old woman concludes that whatever is going on must be big, but not big enough to cause trouble. Or maybe his little boy is starting to be normal again? What she would actually give for him to live his youth years and not worry about the future, stressing about school work and what they would eat the next day, is her old age, she can't do enough to fend for them because you know old age and painful legs go hand in hand, but she doesn't like the fact that every Friday her child must bunk classes and go look for something to put food on the table. He doest hard work at a young age when his mates are busy playing with girls and all that, not that she wants him to play with girls, but it would be nice to hear him talk about a girl or two.

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Maya walked to her room and laid on her bed facing up. Even she could feel that something is different, the time to take her meds came and reluctantly she stood up and took them, she felt like crying, she doesnt know exactly what she's feeling, but she knows that she just wants to cry so that's what she does, the first tear slipped and the next followed, it was a silent cry and she was fine with it, a few minutes later she wiped her eyes and it was like nothing ever happened, she walked downstairs to have supper with everyone. It was too noisy for her liking but there was nothing she could do, suddenly her thoughts traveled to Tumo, was was he doing, what is he eating. Does he also feel what she's suddenly feeling? Sigh. Those are questions she can never have answers to unless she speaks to Tumo, but how does she do that when he doesn't have a phone, or maybe-

Without thinking twice she ran to her room and grabbed her jacket and went out, it is teh weekend after all so they must all be in their rooms by 10 its still quite early, it's just after seven.

She doesn't know what is happening but she knows one thing, she wants to see him again, and as much as she would like to deny it, she likes him and she's afraid she likes him as more than just a friend.

She ups her pace and walks towards the direction of the condo.

"hey, where you headed to" she looks up at him and her heart rate picks up.

"i-I was coming to you actually" she answers, slightly out of breath.

"okay, what is it?" she looks at him and - and says nothing, she doesn't know what to say, she throws herself on him and just by luck, he catches her. "i wanted to see you" she says feeling overwhelmed again, unknown to her, he also was coming to her, for what? He doesn't know but he knows he just wanted to see her before he could drive himself crazy.