13
Bella hides the papers she has brought home under the mattress in the master bedroom, just as her mother used to do, but she doesn’t yet dare bring in the carryall with Aar’s personal effects among which she found a set of house keys, which she will keep. She is glad the children are going to see their friends. It will be good for them not to be obligated to defer to an adult the entire time; she imagines this must be exhausting, like speaking a foreign tongue in which one is hardly proficient. It can’t have been easy to live in the house of your school principal and his wife, she thinks, no matter how kind they are. With their peers, they can be uninhibited and speak frankly, with everything up for open analysis and hearty discussion.
Still, she thinks, they’ve been lucky to be raised by Aar rather than in a traditional Somali household. And Aar, in turn, was lucky to be raised by Hurdo, who not only tolerated differences between people but also appreciated them. Aar’s playmates would be beaten at home by their parents if they talked back and the children seldom got a kind answer if they questioned an adult. In such a household, a child inevitably resorts to lying, sneaking around, and being evasive. Bella remembers the story of a boy whose father struck him in the face as they passed each other in a hallway of their home even though he had done nothing wrong. When the son asked him why, the father replied that the blow was “for the wrongs you will surely commit in the future.” Aar, she knows, never raised a hand to a child in his life.
Dahaba brings her mobile phone to Bella, indicating that Uncle Mahdi is on the line. Fatima and Qamar are out shopping, he says, but he hastens to add that they will be back by the time Bella and the children can drive there and that they are welcome to sleep over.
And so they set out, the car keys in Bella’s hand, and a set of house keys for her and Salif in the event the children get back when Bella is not in the house. Bella reminds herself to have a set made for Dahaba, who has never been trusted with keys because she has a habit of mislaying them. But Bella intends to make Dahaba more responsible for herself.
But when Bella wonders aloud if they should set the alarm and Salif concurs, Dahaba goes into an inexplicable panic. “Why set the alarm?” she says.
Bella says, “Why not?”
Dahaba says, “What if I come back alone and I can’t remember the code?” Her teeth are clenched, and her features are contorted with anxiety.
Bella reminds herself that there is now a before and an after in these children’s lives and that this new phase requires compassion. There is no sense in upping the ante, especially as Dahaba has a tendency to make a drama out of everything.
As a sibling, Salif is harsher, refusing to fall for what he calls Dahaba’s “exploits,” and it annoys him no end when tears get her what she wants from adults. Aar was well aware of her tactics, but worried that a heavier storm was brewing, he sometimes gave in to her demands. Bella too is familiar with this side of Dahaba, and while she thinks it is too soon to get confrontational, she knows that sooner or later she will have to face the challenge if she doesn’t want matters to get out hand.
“Will someone answer, please?” Dahaba says.
“When have you ever had a problem with the alarm,” says Salif, impatiently. To Bella, he says, “Please let us set the alarm, Auntie.”
Now Dahaba’s voice begins to rise. “If the alarm is set, I panic and have no idea what to do. If the alarm goes off and armed security arrives at the gate and the guard lets them in and they find me alone, imagine what may happen — me alone with four armed men!” Bella senses that Dahaba knows how ridiculous she sounds, which only makes her more shrill and defensive.
Salif says, “Dahaba will be the death of us.”
Dahaba throws her hands in the air. “Do what you want,” she says, “if your conscience doesn’t tell you that you are doing something wrong.”
Bella tells Salif to set the alarm and turns to Dahaba. “As for you,” she says, “you may phone me at any time of day or night and I’ll be here to let you in or drive you back. Let this be the end of it.” She tells herself that all children benefit from a firm, fair hand.
—
It is Dahaba’s turn to sit in the front. Bella leaves Cawrala silent and gives Dahaba the task of guiding her to keep the children from arguing and keep their anxieties of whatever nature at bay. Bella is remembering her last encounter with Fatima, who took her to the airport on her last visit on a day when Aar was too busy to take her himself. Mahdi is five years Fatima’s senior. In the late seventies, he served as the editor of a Somali weekly before incurring the dictator’s wrath. He quit the country before he was detained and, together with a few close friends who had similarly fallen out of favor, set up a trucking business in Zambia. The business, which specialized in transporting everything from grains to vehicles to landlocked Zambia and Zimbabwe, did very well. Along the way, he met Fatima in Lusaka, and they married. Eventually, they relocated to Kenya, where the business did even better and where their children were born. Qamar and Zubair have never really known their parents’ country of birth, but Mahdi still publishes pieces on Somalia in the Kenyan press or for one of the many websites that have lately flourished. Now and then he toys with the idea of returning to Somalia and setting up an independent daily newspaper, but Fatima isn’t keen on throwing their hard-earned income into such a shaky venture. She wants her children to attend one of the best universities in the UK or the U.S. Bella is partial to Fatima, but she respects Mahdi’s sharp mind and generous heart.
Dahaba directs Bella onto a new four-lane highway that the Chinese have recently constructed. Then Dahaba looks at Salif in the rearview mirror and says, “Do you remember why we ended up with the Kariukis instead of with Auntie Fatima and Uncle Mahdi?”
Salif is shifting uncomfortably, but he replies, “It was bad timing. Auntie Fatima had to go into the hospital for a procedure. Qamar and Zubair were sent to stay at their cousins’ house for a few days.”
“How come you knew about that when I didn’t?”
A deadpan expression spreads itself like melting butter over Salif’s features. He says, “I don’t trade in gossip.”
Bella thinks about this. It’s true, she knows, that Dahaba has been accused numerous times of trading on family secrets, especially with Qamar and Zubair. She tells them both plainly that she hopes that neither of them will speak to others of what happened last night. “This is a family matter,” she says, “and I don’t wish you to spread it or trade in it.”
“Padmini is no family of mine,” Dahaba says.
“She is family as long as she is your mum’s partner,” Bella says, “and you must respect her as such. Nothing that occurs in the house gets repeated outside of it. Is that understood?”
“I won’t talk,” Dahaba remonstrates.
“Are you sure?” Bella says.
The question stings, and Dahaba falls into a stubborn silence. At length, she says, “Why don’t people believe me when I promise I won’t talk?”
Salif says, “He who tells his secrets will hardly keep those of others. Somalian proverb,” he adds, looking pleased with himself.
Bella says, “We believe you, darling. Relax.” She reaches over to pat her niece’s hand, but Dahaba moves it out of range, her expression sour.
—
Bella has just finished honking to attract the attention of the day guard when Dahaba is out of the car and banging on the gate, calling to the guard on duty to let them in. Bella shakes her head, amused by Dahaba’s suddenly reclaimed assertiveness. She glances at Salif to see if he shares her amusement, but he is absorbed in his mobile phone. Salif seldom reads, she notices, except when consulting the results of the latest soccer matches. When Dahaba was younger, Bella remembers, Aar used to tussle with her about reading in the back of the car in bad light. So far, her eyesight does not seem to have suffered. It just goes to show, Bella thinks, that adults worry themselves unnecessarily about children’s health and behavior.