“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.”
Valerie receives this news with haughty indifference. Bella thinks that maybe in this partnership it is Padmini who organizes all the pedestrian details. Just as Aar did when he and Valerie were together.
Bella gets bedding and even a spare pair of pajamas for Valerie, who receives them with the insouciance of someone who can’t be bothered. Bella stifles her annoyance — not tonight, she thinks, definitely not tonight.
They say their good nights. Dahaba is the last to go upstairs to bed.
10
Today Bella does not wake with that lovely open-ended feeling. She wakes with a start and instantly remembers where she is, who is in the house, and what the day ahead holds. She slept fitfully, dimly aware of movement downstairs and up and down the stairs during the night, the sound of the refrigerator opening and water running. Not wanting to intrude, she resisted the urge to go down and see that the food was put away or even to get herself a glass of water. When she slept, she had an exhausting dream in which a man instructed her to sit in one side of an industrial scale while he placed a heap of stones in the other. They repeated the process several times, but somehow no one could tell if the stones were heavier or if she was, or whether the experiment merited the attention they gave it. In the end, she threatened to walk away, no longer caring what might be done to her by way of punishment.
She is too thirsty to stay in bed any longer, so she goes down to get herself a glass of water, soft-footedly cautious. She holds her breath as her right foot touches the creaky lowest step, anxious lest she disturb Padmini on the sofa bed in the living room. But the sofa bed is empty of Padmini.
Now she has a new worry: What will Dahaba think when she discovers that their mother and Padmini are more than business partners? Will she find her mother’s “business partner” still so “lovely”? Bella suspects that Salif has a better idea of what is going on. The guest room door is closed, so Bella switches on the kitchen light. She pours herself a glass of water and then notices that there are crumbs all about. Opening the fridge, she sees that someone has helped themselves to a portion of a hamburger, and the uneaten portion is unwrapped and smeared with ketchup, which is also on the refrigerator shelf. Bella uses a wet cloth to wipe off the ketchup and finds the box near the trash bin with a couple of chips in it. She places the uneaten burger in it and returns it to the fridge then, glass of water in hand, calls to one of the security guards at the gate and asks him if they can please get a packet of fresh eggs and sliced bread. She gives him more money than he needs to purchase these two items and then returns to the house more emboldened than before.