The Committed (The Sympathizer #2)

by Viet Thanh Nguyen

You’re all the same. You take us for granted. You assume we’ll cook your food, wash your dishes, launder your clothes, giggle at your dumb jokes, swoon at your poetry or love songs that you love to write until the day you marry us, when you’ll never write us another poem or love song again, since you’ll be writing them to your girlfriends. You think we’ll always be there to make love to you, have your kids, raise them on our own, do the shopping, listen to your complaints, massage your egos, keep the accounts, work for extra money, tolerate your parents, serve your mothers, ignore your mistresses, mend your clothes, find your keys, agree with all your nonsense, walk at least five steps behind you, take care of you when you’re old, and, finally—finally—finally—die after you, just to make sure someone will cry at your funeral, throw you a big wake, tend your shrine and visit your grave, remember you every day, and then, when we die and join you, do the whole goddamned thing all over again forever.