Elizabeth, my invisible friend
Elizabeth, my coworker, is not a happy woman. She's a kind one and even quite friendly. But she's not happy. She immigrated here with her husband and children 4 years ago and is heading home to Guyana for the first time since sometime in April. That makes her somewhat happy. She's 50 years old, with two young teenagers who are forgetting how to listen to her and a husband who forgot years ago. I know he cheats on her because she knows and has known for many years.
Sometimes she'll talk about why. Well, she'll talk about how she'll never understand why because they were so happy. "We were so happy," she tells me. "Everyone was always smiling at us holding hands and telling me how jealous they were of my relationship." She'll tell me how lucky she was. Well, how lucky she thought she was until she took her husband one day to buy beans.
You see, she always went to this one particular woman to buy beans back home because her beans were fresh. And though she went there for years, her husband had never accompanied her until that one day. So, she took him, for no good reason, and the woman who sold her her beans every week asked, "Oh, is that your husband?" And Elizabeth's loving husband laughed and said that he was her brother. Elizabeth corrected him after laughing herself thinking it was a joke. The next week she went alone to buy beans for her family and the woman pulled her aside. She said, "Do you know where I live?" She described the area to her and asked Elizabeth to walk there the next day, at around 4 PM.
And that's where it is today. Elizabeth saw her husband, who held hands with her, with his arm around another woman and she walked away. She walked back home. And now she's here, unhappy. She tells her husband she wants to go back to school, but he doesn't want to work a full-time job so she has to. Her daughter is sweet, but at that age when the last thing a daughter wants to hear is her mother's advice, even if the daughter is quiet with a sweet disposition. You can be rebellious with a sweet disposition. Her son used to be sweet and oh so considerate. She tells me how he used to make her breakfast. Now he's in love with the neighbor's daughter who comes knocking at the door way past the time when it's okay to come knocking at the door.
Sometimes she'll talk about why. Well, she'll talk about how she'll never understand why because they were so happy. "We were so happy," she tells me. "Everyone was always smiling at us holding hands and telling me how jealous they were of my relationship." She'll tell me how lucky she was. Well, how lucky she thought she was until she took her husband one day to buy beans.
You see, she always went to this one particular woman to buy beans back home because her beans were fresh. And though she went there for years, her husband had never accompanied her until that one day. So, she took him, for no good reason, and the woman who sold her her beans every week asked, "Oh, is that your husband?" And Elizabeth's loving husband laughed and said that he was her brother. Elizabeth corrected him after laughing herself thinking it was a joke. The next week she went alone to buy beans for her family and the woman pulled her aside. She said, "Do you know where I live?" She described the area to her and asked Elizabeth to walk there the next day, at around 4 PM.
And that's where it is today. Elizabeth saw her husband, who held hands with her, with his arm around another woman and she walked away. She walked back home. And now she's here, unhappy. She tells her husband she wants to go back to school, but he doesn't want to work a full-time job so she has to. Her daughter is sweet, but at that age when the last thing a daughter wants to hear is her mother's advice, even if the daughter is quiet with a sweet disposition. You can be rebellious with a sweet disposition. Her son used to be sweet and oh so considerate. She tells me how he used to make her breakfast. Now he's in love with the neighbor's daughter who comes knocking at the door way past the time when it's okay to come knocking at the door.