– and I’m trying my best not to be happy. Naturally, one would expect me to be jumping up and down and kissing her as if she had been lost. But none of that happened! You see, if there is anything I dislike more than dishonest people it has to be short-lived happiness, I just cannot stand that – being let down!
Have you seen how quick a smile can turn into a frown? I’m trying to limit my joy, just as my mother usually warns. If you were in my shoes I’m sure you’d do the same. Imagine this: you spend a lot of sleepless nights trying to convince yourself that fate knows best – that you and your BFF are better far from each other. And then, suddenly they turn up on your doorstep… with tears in their eyes! This is not a happy re-union.
By ‘suddenly’ I mean even I, myself, didn’t know she was coming! And seeing her cry… Now, I’m sure by now you know that it takes more than a storm to break Tee. And besides I’m not one who can comfort a crying person. The only thing I could offer her was a hug. I just didn’t know what to say.
Definitely not “Hush dear! Everything will be okay!” If I’m the one crying and you don’t know what I’m going through, please don’t tell me that things will be okay. So I just hugged my friend and held her body close to mine. I had thought she came to fetch her belongings and say her last goo-byes, but it turns out I was wrong.
“It’s all a risky business Zee. The old man might just drive down here and drag me there,”
“What – doesn’t he know you are here?”
No, he doesn’t know. So, there it is, the reason why I don’t want to be happy: she left without her father’s consent. Now, what she did is the modern equivalent of eloping. Apparently back in the days’ lovers ran away with their sweethearts that their parents didn’t approve of. Just like in the story Merchant of Venice (which, I believe, some high schools are doing as part of their syllabus) where Jessica runs away with Lorenzo.
A classmate of mine in P.E. once took his mother’s money to come look for his father here in Cape Town. His mother upon finding out waited only to read the contents of his departure letter – more like a suicide note – and she died after that.
I hope you see what a risky business it is. In the meantime, her uncle would be paying for everything she needs. That’s the least good news. Her mother, after failing to convince her father, managed to ask help from her brother. So, it’s really not something to be happy about. Things could go wrong. He might come and take her away.
“You know Zee, the worst thing is, although I feel that he is being unreasonable and stuff: I still love him. I just hope he will find it in his heart to forgive me.”
This got me thinking about my own dad.
ZZ xxx
Dish it: Do you think it was stupid for Tee to leave without her father’s consent?
I’m also on Facebook: The Diary of Zinzi Zwane