Chapter 8- Tough talk
Dylan arrives a few minutes before dinner. By this time, Tadiwa is up, running around and living up to the expectations of the terrible two’s. When he sees his father, he squeals with joy, jumping up and down. Dylan laughs, picking up the little boy and throwing him into the air. On the 4th throw, he notices his wife and stops, putting the adrenaline drunk toddler down. He keeps his hands steady on him, Tadiwa is laughing so hard he fails to stand.
‘Be careful Dee, he’s just been sick,’ Tanya says, despite the smile playing on her lips.
‘Heeey my baby!’ Dylan plants a long kiss on his wife’s forehead.
‘I missed you so much, you look great!’
He finds her still smiling lips with his. Tadiwa continues giggling from his high under them.
From the corner of his eye, Dylan notices an uncomfortable Kupakwashe standing in the doorway. He pulls away from Tanya, making her turn. Realizing her teenage daughter was watching them kissing, her cheeks start to burn. She takes a step away from her husband, looking at her bare feet.
‘Hi daddy, how was your trip?’ Kupa is the first to break the silence.
‘Hi Kupa, it was alright? How’s your brother?’ Tanya almost rolls her eyes at the question, Tadiwa is right there. She moves away when they continue with their conversation.
Setting the table for dinner, Tanya is thinking about how she is going to ask her daughter about what she found in her bag. She would rather not have the conversation, but she knows she needs to. She is pleased with herself for not telling her husband.
Kupa is in her room after the meal when Tanya knocks on her door. She knows its her mother before she enters, she is now able to distinguish the soft and unsure knocks from her mother and the loud and invasive ones from her father. She looks up from her Nancy Drew as Tanya quietly walks in and sits on the bed. She intentionally waits for her to speak first.
‘Where did you go in the afternoon?’ Tanya promised herself to be gentle, the question sounded less aggressive in her head. She is not sure if she should re ask or just wait for a response. She clears her throat as a compromise.
The question startles Kupa, it shows on her face. ‘I..I went to Annie’s.’
‘What were you doing there? Why did you lie?’ The questioning is followed by a quick intake of air, being gentle is going to be a task.
The young lady doesn’t immediately respond, she is aware of how much weight each word now carries. So much so , when she does, her voice is shakey.
‘I am sorry, I didn’t think you would agree for me to go to the party.’
Fair point, Tanya thinks.
‘I didn’t do anything, I came back as soon as the cake was cut, I promise.’
‘Then what was this doing in your bag Kupa?’
She holds the little packet up to the electric light.
Kupakwashe’s face turns from that of desperation to blankness and then confusion in record time.
Tanya at this point trust’s her motherly instincts(that have kicked in already, much to her delight), Kupa is innocent. She doesn’t plan to give this away too soon however.
‘I don’t know what that is!’, if it is possible for someone to whisper and still be alarmingly loud, that is how Kupakwashe sounds.
‘Don’t lie Kupakwashe, this is marijuana I found in your bag!’
The child collects herself into a ball of limps, an image of fear. Tanya regrets the game.
‘I don’t know it mhama, I’m not doing drugs, I swear. Please believe me, don’t send me back , please.’ Her cries are guttural, Tanya can hardly blink away her own tears as she watches her daughter rocking to the rhythm of her sobbing.
She reaches out, waiting for the awkwardness to , once again, keep her from crossing the boundary for physical affection. Nothing happens. She goes ahead and gathers the little body into the hollow of hers.
‘Shhhh, it’s okay. No one is sending you back anywhere, this is home.’
In between sobs, Kupa keeps apologizing, until she calms down again. Once the crying stops, Tanya becomes uncomfortable again, not sure of what to do.
Kupa seems occupied with blowing her nose.
‘I believe you, and don’t worry, I didn’t tell your father.’ The last bit of the statement makes her feel like a good mother still. Kupa smiles, an underwhelming response from what Tanya expected for the favor.
‘How did that get into my bag?’ the question is more to herself than to her mother.
‘It does not matter, people are malicious all the time. It is okay.’
Silence.
‘I was an alcoholic in my teens…’
Kupa’s head jerks up, she is looking at her church choir singing , Bible clad mother in shock.
