Hiding in Plain Sight (13 page)

Dahaba, a bit slow, says, “What visitor?”

But Bella sees where he is going with this joke and berates him for not keeping the promise he'd made regarding his treatment of his sister. Where does he get this macho thing, which is nothing like Aar? Helping Salif to grow into a young man who treats women with due respect is going to be work, Bella can see. She puts the leftovers away in plastic containers and says to Salif and Dahaba, “Help yourselves whenever you wish.”

They wish each other good night without referring to the guest who did not show up or call, and they head back to their respective rooms.

—

Bella sits up in a stupor, woozily unsure where she is and whether she is dreaming or awake. She hears a girl loudly weeping and a man's voice comforting her. She puts on her nightgown and goes out to check. She stands in the doorway of her bedroom, trying to determine where the sounds are coming from and who is making them. She can see that the doors to the two rooms opposite are ajar. She finds the first room empty, but when she taps on the door of the second, the speakers fall silent and she pushes in without waiting to be invited.

Dahaba is sitting on the bed and Salif is sitting on a chair next to her, holding her hand, although he drops it when he sees Bella.

“What time is it?” Dahaba asks.

Bella has no idea; she is barely aware of where on earth she is.

Dahaba says, “Are you alright, Auntie?”

Salif gets to his feet and, as if he were dealing with a child who has awoken from a nightmare, takes her hand and leads her back to her bedroom, where he sits on the edge of the bed. “It is only ten o'clock at night,” he says, looking at the clock. “You're in Nairobi, and you're jet-lagged still. You've just awoken from a brief sleep. It's been a long day. So please take it easy and get some rest.”

He offers her a glass of water, but she takes his hand to stop him from leaving. She doesn't think she can bear being alone, what with this cocktail of troubling ingredients that she is gradually remembering roiling in her—Aar's death, so much travel and dislocation, this sudden new role, Valerie and her lover hovering with probable malicious intent just outside the frame, and even the children not entirely to be counted on, as surely they will want to see where things stand for them before they throw in their lot with one side or the other. It is not in Bella's nature to give up at the first obstacle, but she also knows there is no point in forcing children against the grain. Or maybe this is an early indication, if she needs one, that she is not ready to assume the role of mother all of a sudden.

Dahaba joins them, and Bella taps the mattress on either side of her, indicating that they should sit. “What woke me?” she asks.

Dahaba says, “Salif and I were arguing, and we raised our voices. We are sorry.”

“I upset her and she was mad at me,” says Salif.

Dahaba says, “You see, I'm easily upset.”

“Were you crying?” says Bella.

“Yes, she's a drama queen,” says Salif. “But I admit I had a go at her.”

Just talking like this about a mundane sibling squabble is calming Bella down. She goes into the bathroom to throw cold water on her
face, although this time she does not dare to look at her face in the mirror. She whispers a line from Robert Benchley to herself: “Tell us your phobias and we will tell you what you are afraid of.” She stands with her back to the mirror and feels how fragile she is. In her current mental state, she can't even tell what she is afraid of. But she has no desire to free herself of her new responsibilities either.

She flushes the toilet for effect and runs the tap again, washing her face and her hands with cold water once more. And when she comes back to the bed, she discovers that she is once again the adult and they the children.

Dahaba expresses her unhappiness with her mother for not showing up for dinner, and Salif condemns Valerie's “unpardonable rudeness,” which he sees as of a piece with her generally undignified attitude toward others. Bella does her best to comfort Dahaba and reasons with Salif, reminding him that Valerie has other worries on her mind. They don't know the whole story, she reminds him. They just have to wait.

Bella wonders how much of Valerie's jerrybuilt maneuverings are in store for her. Shoddy as they are, they can be difficult to dismantle. How can she keep Salif's and Dahaba's allegiance and also protect Aar's honor and interests?

First thing tomorrow, she'll confirm her appointment with Gunilla. And with that in mind, she gets out of bed. Dahaba and Salif go back to their rooms, and Bella begins to gather the documents she will need for tomorrow's meeting with Gunilla—her passport, her Italian ID, her driver's license, her birth certificate, and the most recent copy she has of Aar's will. Bella puts all these in a satchel, locks it, and places it under the bed. She pictures Valerie using the upstairs bathroom, making an unsuspected entry into the room and ghosting out with this booty in
her possession. It is not beyond Valerie to plan this sort of stunt. In the past, she has helped herself to Aar's credit card, forging his signature until she got caught. Greed coupled with opportunity can make a thief of the best of us, Bella thinks.

Her preparations done, she takes an enjoyably long shower and gets under the sheets with a mystery novel by Philip Kerr that she has discovered on Aar's shelves.

—

Bella has been reading for about an hour and, having grown pleasantly sleepy, is just about to turn out the lights when she hears the dull sound of the doorbell ringing downstairs. She throws on her nightgown again and a robe as well. Outside of her bedroom, the hallway is dark, and the children's doors are closed. She tiptoes down the stairway, but there is no peephole so she calls through the door, “Who is there?”

And sure enough, Valerie answers. “Bella, it's us, Padmini and I.”

Bella turns on the entryway light and opens the door. Valerie walks right past her. “Not bad at all,” she says, taking in the house.

“We should've called,” Padmini says to Bella. Valerie continues to take a measure of the house, as if imagining what it would be like to live in it and hold big parties. She paces back and forth, now staring at the parquet floor, as if she were inspecting it for dirt. She turns to Padmini. “Not bad at all, eh?” she says again.

Bella almost laughs.

Padmini says, “We ran into some friends. We only meant to have a drink with them, but somehow . . . Our sincere apologies for disturbing you.”

Not knowing what else to say, Bella asks, “What would you like to have?”

Padmini says to Valerie. “What are we having?”

But before Valerie can answer, they hear a squeal of joy, and Dahaba runs down the stairs, shouting “Mummy!”—a word she somehow stretches to three syllables—and throws herself into Valerie's arms, just as she had done with Bella at the Kariukis'. She is still dressed, Bella sees.

“My condolences, my sweet,” says Valerie, softly maternal now. “I am so sorry.”

Watching as Dahaba wraps her young body around her mother's middle-aged girth, Bella is touched despite herself.

Dahaba says, “How many years has it been?”

Valerie says, “Well, let's see—how many years?”

Then they hear Salif's baritone from the top of the stairs. “When you say you'll come, you must come,” he says, the man of the house.

“It's hard to explain, so we won't try,” Valerie says. “Anyway, my sincere condolences for your loss. We may not have got on, your father and I, but he was at heart a good man.”

Salif doesn't acknowledge her words of sympathy. “And if you don't come when you say you will, then you must ring to say you'll be late.”

Now Bella sees the Aar in Salif, and she can see that Valerie sees it too.

“Look at you, all grown and full of blame!” cries Valerie, but there is a touch of pride in her voice. She turns to Padmini. “My son. Isn't he handsome?”

Salif looks from his mother to Padmini, as if meeting her for the first time—which in a sense he is. He looks her over, taking her measure. “And who is this?” he says.

Valerie says, “You know Padmini. This is your auntie.”

“No, but who is she really?” says Salif.

“She is like a sister to me,” Valerie says.

Dahaba is standing next to her mother, their flanks touching. She says, “She is lovely, Mummy.”

“That's my girl,” Valerie says encouragingly.

Salif takes his time descending. He hugs his mother briefly then offers his outstretched hand for Padmini to shake with a look that challenges her to do anything but take it. “How would you like me to address you?” he says.

“Address her as Auntie,” Valerie says.

“Mum, please, I am talking to her, not to you.”

“She and I are as close as sisters,” says Valerie.

“Mummy, you said that before,” says Dahaba.

“And we are, in addition, business partners.”

Salif lapses into Somali, addressing his words to Bella, but Dahaba dutifully translates for the benefit of Valerie and Padmini: “That's cool, I've just acquired myself an auntie, how wonderful.”

Bella can see that Valerie is torn between irritation at her son's discourteous behavior and admiration for his ability to speak Somali so fluidly—not that she can understand him.

Dahaba is playing peacemaker. “He doesn't mean ill.”

Valerie says, “It's good that you too speak it.”

“Our best friends are Somali,” says Dahaba.

Valerie says, “I hope your Somali friends here do not teach you to use guns and stuff!”

Bella recoils at the stereotype, but Dahaba says only, “Actually, they're very nice.”

“What's this world coming to, knives and guns?” says Valerie. A long, awkward silence ensues. It is Salif who breaks it, surprisingly enough. It's as if, having made his point, he decides to make amends. He turns on more lights and gestures the guests to the couch. He sits beside Padmini and engages her in conversation, leaning graciously toward
her. Valerie relaxes, and she and Padmini exchange a smile, which Bella catches in the net of her wandering gaze.

Dahaba says, “Mummy, you know Salif is always difficult.”

“Yes,” says Valerie. “But he is my son and I'll always love him.”

Everybody falls silent again. Then Bella offers drinks again. Valerie opts for a gin and tonic, and Padmini asks for a double shot of vodka with ice. Bella locates a tray and a bucket for ice, and brings the gin and vodka and tonic. For herself, she pours only a glass of water, and the children get themselves soda.

“So, in a word, what have you been up to, Mum?” Salif asks. He sounds as if he is on the attack again. Actually, Bella realizes, he sounds like his mother at dinner last night. “Where have you been all this time, and why haven't we heard from you? And why are we hearing from you now?”

Valerie says, “I've been in India. You know that.”

Salif looks from her to Padmini and back again. “I like that phrase, ‘business partners.' It has an all-inclusive feel to it, rather more accommodating than, say, ‘sexual partners.' You know what I mean?”

Valerie's discomfort is obvious and this makes Bella ill at ease too. She grabs one of her digital cameras, which is on the coffee table. “A photograph of the three of you,” she says, “just the way you are. Salif on one side, Dahaba on the other, Valerie in between.” She looks at Padmini, and hesitates. “Oh, wait. You too.” Padmini flashes her a look of gratitude and joins the tableau.

Dahaba says, “Like a family for the first time.”

Valerie says, “My loving children.”

Salif says nothing, but he allows himself to be photographed.

Bella brings down more of her cameras and poses everyone in different combinations. They are more relaxed now. Valerie and Padmini
want the photos sent to their e-mail and there is a pause while they all get their phones and enter addresses. Dahaba is the most excited of all.

Only Salif remains cool. “I don't want them,” he says. Bella upbraids him in Somali, and Dahaba says, “Why must you be a party pooper?”

Stealing a glance at her wristwatch, Bella sees that it is long past midnight. It will be impossible to get them a taxi back to the hotel, she realizes, unless they have made prior arrangements with the driver who brought them here. Knowing Valerie, this is unlikely. And as reluctant as she is to have them stay overnight, Bella is not about to drive them back to their hotel; it is simply too dangerous.

Valerie is deep in conversation with Dahaba, who is eagerly telling her about a recent incident at school—a classmate with pimples all over her face had used her soap, and Dahaba has been scared to use it since. But Padmini seems to be reading Bella's mind.

“It's late, Val,” she interrupts.

Bella looks around with a level gaze, waiting.

“What's the plan?” Valerie says.

Bella pauses a beat before asking, “Did you arrange a taxi to take you back?”

Padmini says, “I'm afraid we didn't.”

“Not to worry,” Bella says, because what else can she say? “I don't think you can get a taxi at this hour, and it's too late for me to drive you. But there is a spare bedroom down here, with a shower next to it. You're welcome to stay.”

“Are you sure?” Padmini asks.

Bella says, “There is plenty of space.”

Dahaba wedges her body between Valerie and Padmini, and takes their hands, delighted with the new situation. “Please stay,” she begs. “Pretty please!”

Salif watches from nearby, looking amused.

A discreet nod from Padmini confirms her firm acceptance of the offer. And that settles it all. Dahaba issues a joyous call to order, announcing to the room that Mummy and Auntie Padmini are staying in the spare bedroom for the night.

Padmini corrects her. “One of us will stay in the spare room, the other here in the living room if Bella gives us some bedding for it.”