My face pales. My hands go stiff against her face. The cold seeping into my bones. I clench my jaw so tight I can feel my molars hurting.
Anything for my wife.
“Tell us what?” My mom asks, and we turn to look at her.
She keeps the plate of snacks on the table, andMaalooks at us with a knowing look.
Anything for my wife.
The words repeat in my mind on a loop.
“Aisha and I are thinking about divorce.”
“Correction—I want a divorce. From Reyansh.”
The silence that follows is enough to deafen a person.
“Aisha,” her mom speaks up after a while. Her voice is stiff and cold. “Go change and come out. We are going to have a conversation.”
Aisha looks at her confused but doesn’t argue.
“Reyansh,” she looks at me finally, and I stiffen in my place. “Sit down. It’s time we have this conversation.”
* * *
Aisha fidgets with her fingers beside me as we sit still in front of both of our mothers. Their eyes scrutinize us with so much detail that it is hard not to sweat. My hand itches to hold onto hers to comfort her, but the way we dropped the bomb on them, I would rather not take any risks.
It is not like they didn’t know it, so I don’t get the whole mysterious, suspenseful vibes they are setting up right now.
“Aisha, Reyansh,”Maaspeaks up. “Since when did you guys start giving up on each other? Why do you guys want a divorce after such a long relationship?”
Aisha looks at me from the corner of her eyes, but I am not the one who wanted to tell them this news all of a sudden, so if anything, this is her arrow to take.
“Maa,I just—we just think it is best for the both of us to just part ways.”
She says that, and I hold back the urge to throw a tantrum. Bullshit. It is not for the best of both of us.
“Do you agree, Reyansh?”Maaquestions, and Aisha gives me a look.
No, not a look. She glares at me to say yes. The joke’s on her; I don’t play when it comes to her.
“No,” I say, plain and simple. “I won’t lie to you,Maa. There have been problems within our marriage. I haven’t been as present as I should have been. I haven’t been the best husband. But that does not change the fact of how in love with Aisha I am. I have never stopped loving her. But I did a shitty job at showing it to her. So, no. I don’t want a divorce. I won’t give her a divorce.”
“You can’t keep me in this marriage if I don’t fucking want to stay, Reyansh,” she lashes out at me, and my eyes zero in on her.
“Language, Aisha,”Maawarns.
“I want a divorce. That’s it.”
“I don’t want a divorce. That’s it.”
Before we can start bickering, my mom interrupts. She had been sitting quietly all this while. Quietly observing, and that was very unlike her.
“You both have to stop treating this like a game,” she says, disappointed. “It is not about your ego. It is about your entire lives. Both of you need to be on the same page about it.”
I look at Aisha, hoping she understands what she is saying. She won’t agree if I say it, but maybe if they do, she will come to a healthy conclusion.
“Mom,” she says, tired. “I know what you are saying is true. But we have already given it all that we had. I have done enough. I can’t do more.”
