Chapter 11- Drama at the house
Standing there, Tanya’s strength leaves her. She almost leans on her father before remembering she is physically stronger. She doubles over in an attempt to clear her head. Gathering her strength, she straightens up, leads her father into the house and onto the couch. She leaves him with her children, who are already fighting for his attention.
‘Mhama come inside, noone is eating in the car,’ she uses her no nonsense voice when she gets back to the car.
‘Fine, I won’t eat then’.
Tanya turns to Dylan, ‘It is fine babe, you can go check on dad.’
Dylan looks relieved as he excuses himself.
‘So you send him off like a little child so you can harass me without shame?’, her voice sounds like a crooked finger pointing at her, blaming.
‘For the sake of dad, please, let’s just be civil.’
Tanya’s mother is quiet for a moment, thinking of how to respond next.
‘Do you think giving them a new surname will make them yours Tanya? They are someone’s kids! You will birth your own, why are you bringing such shame and taboo to us! Chii nhai!’ The last statement is a shouted rhetoric.
Tears well up in Tanyaradzwa’s eyes, her mothers’ words pierce like a hot blade.
‘You won’t control them, I’m looking out for you. Why take another family’s rejects and call them your own?’
‘Enough!’, she is flaring, not unlike a bull ready to charge, ‘You will not sit in my car, inside my house and tear down my family like that! If you want me to still respect you, you will walk into that house and sit down with everyone. Otherwise you’re welcome to go.’
The older woman stares at her daughter, each word hitting her like a brick in the face.
After a few seconds, she recovers. Tanya watches, triumphing, as she slowly starts walking to the door.
When she gets to the door, she stands in the doorway, blocking the passage.
‘Baba Tanya, let’s go. My own daughter has thrown me out of her house!’ She punctuates the sentence with a laughter that really is a shrill, clapping her 2 hands so loud the garage echoes.
‘Hey, I’m waiting. Have they bribed an old man like you with food?’ She continues shouting into the room.
In a flash, Tanya’s father appears in the entry hall, Dylan close in pursuit.
Tanyaradzwa recoils at the anger she sees on her father’s face. It reminds her of a time when he used to beat her into a pulp, a time when all they were to him was punching bags.
For a horrible moment, she is 16 again, hiding under the bed, trying not to scream as her mother and aunt are thrown against the kitchen walls.
Her mother also seems to sense the old and violent anger boiling inside her husband. She doesn’t say a word more.
‘What kind of a mother are you?’, the words are spat at Tanya’s mother, like poison.
No one dares to respond or move.
The old man shuffles to the car, at the door, he speaks again, sending everyone into action.
‘Mkwasha, please take us home.’
There are no goodbyes, no questions .
Tanya watches as the car reverses into the street before walking inside.
She hears Kupa’s door close , ever so softly, she knows she has been listening. She battles, for a minute, on whether to go check on the teenager or not. She decides to.
Knocking on the door, there is no response, Tanya opens the door slightly, poking her head inside. All she sees is a sleeping teenager, or at least one that is pretending to be asleep .
She closes the door and goes in to check on her son, who has been put to bed already. Satisfied, she goes in to shower, turning on the water to full pressure so that her sobbing is not heard.
She wakes up the next morning next to Dylan, not aware of when he got back.
They talk about everything about last night as they prepare for work, both of them not prepared to voice their concerns.
Father Ben calls Tanya later that day.
‘How are you and the kids? You should bring them again soon, I haven’t seen them in a while.’
‘It is alright, I will pack their bags and ship them to you.’
He lets her know the business of his call after all the pleasantries have been exchanged.
‘Annie and Tapiwa are getting married, I want you and your husband to take them under your wing and guide them . I trust you’.
Tanya feels as though the last statement invalidates all the reasons she was about to list for not being able to do it.
To Father Ben she says, ‘Can I talk to Dee about this and then let you know Father?’.
‘Of course, of course. Do that’.
She ends the call. ‘Lord, I’m about to mess things up’, the woman mutters to herself.
