Tanya sits alone in her parent’s spare bedroom too consumed by her thoughts to mind the funeral hymns being sung one after the other. Depression seems to be rearing its head back into Tanya’s life as in the days Mhamha had tried to kill herself. She wonders if the old woman will try it again now. Mbuya Kupa does not look well. She keeps yowling as if in immense pain and then faints right after. She has cried so much that her voice has gone hoarse. Tanya has since ceased trying to console her mother.
She also loved her father but fails to see how Mhamha can be so upset. Maybe the toxicity of their marriage had just turned to pure poison. Maybe as much as the marriage hadn’t worked, Mhamha hadn’t left for fear of being alone. Maybe she is more bitter now that Baba is gone and she will never get an apology for all those years he broke her.
Her mind turns for a moment to her children. Kupa had been visibly sad at the news of their grandfather’s death. Tadiwa couldn’t quite grasp the notion of death but was extremely upset when he saw his mother crying. Dylan had consoled the children and then had since been occupied with the funeral arrangements. The twins have mostly been with Rudo. She makes a half-hearted mental note to check on all of them.
Chido walks in with a plate of food,
“Eat Tan, you need the strength. The boys need you to be healthy.”
Chido has been a pillar ever since she heard of Baba’s passing. She’s the only one Tanya really listens to. Dylan has been busy going up and down planning the funeral.
Tanya takes the plate but immediately starts sobbing into it,
“Chido, my father is gone. Just when I got the father I always wanted.”
“Shhh Tanya you can’t keep crying like this..”
She makes an effort to calm down and eat the sadza and muriwo in her plate. She’s trying to process why God would take him now. He had changed, she was going to convince him and Mhamha to go to therapy. She was trying to reconcile her grief and God’s will.
She makes a decision right then. She will mourn for the man her father had become; unassuming and silent. For the rock he had become, never making her feel anything other than his support.
There’s a knock and Dylan walks in.
“Hi Chido, could we have a moment?”
Chido gets up and says she’ll be with Rudo tending to the twins.
Dylan hugs his wife and notices how she has dark circles around her eyes.
“Hi Dee..did you get the flowers for the burial tomorrow?”
Dylan sighs, he must tell his wife the truth.
“ Tanya,I have to tell you something.”
She looks confused but he knows if he stops he wont go through with it.
“We couldn’t get the casket you wanted and most of the money has gone to groceries. As it is Mari yemombe handisati ndabhadhara (I haven’t paid for the cow yet).”
Tanya is confused,
“Shouldn’t our funeral policy cover that? I hope havasi kutivhara vanhu ivavo ( they are not conning us). We’ve been paying haven’t we?”
Dylan looks distraught, something Tanya is not used to.
“I’m sorry, I should have told you. The hospital bills were too much for us to handle. I’ve been paying those off for months. In order to stay afloat I got behind on our funeral policy payments. With the twins and you on unpaid leave, I had to make some concessions.”
He holds his head in his hands,
“I asked for my father for some money. He sent me the little he could without my sister noticing. But it’s not enough…The policy can only cover the basics.”
There is complete silence as Tanya takes this in. She wants to shout, revert to her old self who lets her insecurities show at every crisis. But she decides not to. This is her husband and he’s shown his love every step of the way. She hasn’t the strength nor the desire to be angry with him right now.
She reaches for his hand, “Its ok Dee, we’ll figure it out. I’ll pay for the rest…”
Dylan looks up, shocked and relieved that his wife has taken this in stride. He is also confused; where will she get that kind of money?
“I have some money saved up….”
