Milkman

While middle sister was still in bed recovering, ma received three significant phone calls. Two were inquiries about middle sister: one from third brother-in-law wanting to know when she would return to running, and the other from maybe-boyfriend, whom ma mistook for milkman and upbraided. The other call was from a friend of ma’s telling her that state forces had mistaken real milkman for milkman and shot him. After checking to make sure middle sister would be alright without her, ma rushed to the hospital where real milkman had been taken. She returned later that night having ascertained that real milkman was stable, and confessed her decades-long love for him to middle sister. In fact, she said, many women in the community had at one point hoped to marry real milkman, but he refused to marry anyone after the girl he himself loved decided to become a nun. This was why people began referring to him as “the man who didn’t love anybody.”

Since the shooting, ma has continued to visit real milkman in the hospital, leaving middle sister to care for wee sisters. Now, as she’s returning home from the chips shop, she stumbles upon