Season 2: Chapter 2- The Sun is Rising Now
‘Will you please allow me to talk to MY children without you making a monster out of me!?’ She makes no effort to control her voice.
‘Tanya!…’, he pauses and then tries again, calmer this time.
‘Tanya, you are always convincing yourself of things that are not real. The kids adore you, you just need to relax, loosen up.’
The softness in his voice disarms her, she sighs. They always have this conversation.
‘I just want…’, her voice trails off.
‘Shhhh babe, I know it’s coming from a place of love but you need to let them be kids. Your fear will suffocate them.’
Tanya looks at her husband, wondering if he really understands how much she loves the kids, how much she is scared of losing them. He pulls her into his arms, holding her there for a few minutes. His embrace is too tight, she doesn’t say anything. He finally lets her go and heads to the bathroom for a shower. She sits on the edge of the bed, thinking about how their lives have changed.
Nita, as Anita preferred to go by, hadn’t lasted long. Not after Dylan noticed how her skirts were considerably shorter when Tanya wasn’t home, and howy she often ‘accidentally’ walked in on him in the bathroom. He told Tanya, while she slept on his chest watching TV and eating chips, about how Anita made him uncomfortable.
Tanya made sure he didn’t see her smile, she silently thanked God for answering her prayer. That weekend, Nita boarded the bus back home; red lipstick on, short flared skirt and a chunky pair of sandals that showed her cracked heels. Tanya remembers how she had itched to slap Anita’s front teeth out of her mouth while watching her promise Dylan she would visit HIM if she ever was in town again.
Dylan had laughed nervously, shifting from one foot to the other before implying that maybe Anita needed to check with Tanya before visiting. Anita snickered, turned and got on the bus. Tanya was hopeful as she watched one of her problems leave her life.
Living quickly became a monotonous routine once every thing settled. It was work or church. Occasionally Dylan would take her out, if he was not too tired from work. He seemed to have genuinely forgiven her, she was never made to feel guilty for almost killing him.
‘Let’s adopt kids baby’, he’d casually dropped the shocker on their way to church one Sunday. He took Tanya by surprise so much that she hadn’t known what to say, even as they walked into church. She doesn’t remember what the sermon that day was about. After church, Dylan had a lot of people to greet, she sat in the car, coming up with the perfect response. She watched as he struggled to buckle his seatbelt and heard herself saying yes. Loudly.
He stopped what he was doing and stared at her. Overwhelmed by emotion, he mouthed a thank you, she nodded and they drove off.
The process sometimes made Tanya want to give up. All the office visits, the paper work and the unending smooth passing of bribe money, much to Dylan’s annoyance.
Almost a year later, the couple was preparing for Kupakwashe and Tadiwa’s arrival. Kupakwashe’s room had been painted a pale pink, at Tanya’s insistence. In her closet were a couple of neatly folded jeans, shirts and shorts. A few colorful dresses hung from the metal hangers. Tanya had lain out some of her own jewelry on the little dresser in Kupa’s room. A mother’s gift, she was nervous and had not eaten.
Tadiwa’s room was right next to the main bedroom, a blue and red spiderman theme announcing clearly, the room of a little boy. There was a box full of toys under the window, Tanya had thoughtfully picked each one. A toddler and a teenager, boy and girl. All they ever wanted.
Tanya stands up and goes to look for the kids. She finds Tadiwa excitedly running all over looking for his sister. ‘Where is she? I will help you look for her, you go check in the garage’. A minute later, Tanya can hear Tadi proudly exclaiming that he’s found her, Kupa is laughing.
‘Alright you kids, what do you want for dinner?’
‘Ice cream!’ Tadiwa volunteers, the two laugh, he joins in ,not wanting to be left out.
‘We can’t have ice cream for supper Tadiwa, we haven’t had pie in a while. Can we have that? The one with mashed potatoes on top…’. Kupa asks her mother.
She smiles, ‘Cottage pie it is then, come help me’.
Dylan smiles from the window as he stands looking out at his family. He is confident about the future.
