The Good Wife

Themba loves Zandile, but she’d failed to give him a child so he takes his father’s advice and marries again . . .

- Khayelihle Khumalo

SO TELL me, my son, when are you planning to have children?” Themba’s father asked as they sat under the big tree in the yard.

“I mean you’re not getting any younger and who knows how much time you have left.”

“Maybe it’s just not our time yet,” Themba tried to counter his father’s inquiries. “It will happen when it’s supposed to – we just have to keep on trying.”

“But it’s been seven years. How much more time do you need? Open your eyes, son. It’s never going to happen. She’s not going to give you a child.”

“What do you mean it’s never going to happen?”

“Hmm, you young people of today with your so-called education, you can’t even figure out the simple things. Do I have to spell it out for you? I can see you really love this girl but you need to consider other options. Your wife is barren.”

“No, you can’t say that about your daughter-in-law,” Themba stepped in to defend his wife.

And yet he silently admitted to himself that the thought had crossed his mind.

“You’ll need to take a second wife. This tradition has helped a lot of people in situations like this,” his father concluded.

Themba couldn’t believe it’d been seven years since he’d married his high-school sweetheart, Zandile, in a beautiful wedding that people talked about for years after. It felt like yesterday.

A teacher by profession, Themba was a well-respected, mild-mannered man who deeply loved his wife and couldn’t imagine living with anyone else. But he really wanted a child.