He shrugs his shoulders and starts to pack up. When the car is loaded, Bella bangs the trunk closed and takes her seat. Padmini gets in front, seething visibly but not saying anything. They drive back to Nairobi, the mood darkened by the silence no one dares to break.
17
Padmini is anxious to get back to the hotel, but Bella insists they all stop at the house for something to drink. She promises to drive them back later so they won’t have to call a taxi.
Valerie wants a sundowner, and she makes herself comfortable on the couch, cutting the figure of a memsahib accustomed to being waited on hand and foot. Padmini offers to help make tea, though she remains tense and fidgety. Bella assigns Salif and Dahaba the task of bringing in the mats and picnic supplies and uneaten food from the car. Salif avails himself of the opportunity to suggest that Dahaba apologize to their mother.
“I can’t think of a reason to apologize. Why must I?”
“Because there is nothing to be gained from cornering Mum with questions she can’t answer. And in any case, what is there to say? She was in the grip of a ‘love supreme,’ as the John Coltrane lyric goes.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
“Think about it. What do you gain?”
She thinks about it, then says, “I agree with you. There is no gain.”
His hand, by its own volition, touches the small of Dahaba’s back. At first the girl tenses, and then she starts to relax. She says, “I felt a need to have a showdown, to get it all off my chest.”
“Now that you’ve done it, what then?”
“I’ll do as you say, apologize.”
She goes into the house and Salif stays behind to finish clearing out the trunk. He throws the rubbish in the bin and brings in the rest. He stores the unused paper cups and paper plates in the pantry and stands the mats against the wall. When he goes into the living room, he finds Dahaba nestling up to Valerie on the couch and the two of them whispering amicably in each other’s ears. He heads up the stairs toward his bedroom to commune with his iPhone and his computer.
The tea made, Bella serves it to Padmini and is surprised and relieved to see mother and daughter getting on so well. She sneaks upstairs and Salif fills her in on what has transpired. “We had a word, she and I, that is all.”
“Well done,” says Bella.
They are still cuddling and cooing when Bella comes back downstairs, but she notices that Padmini seems more uncomfortable than before. Is it the newfound rapport between Valerie and Dahaba that is causing her current discomposure? Does it make her feel like an outsider?
Bella mulls over what she can do to help. Should she offer to settle their new heap of debt for the hotel and the lawyers to make sure the two of them make their flight and return home as scheduled? Can she persuade Padmini to allow it?
Dahaba suddenly says, “I am hungry, Mum.”
“Oh, my darling, are you really?”
“Please make something,” pleads the girl.
“What’s to your liking, my sweet?”
Just as Valerie rises to her feet, Padmini says, “Honey, I would like to get back rather urgently to the hotel.”
“What’s the matter?”
“My period has arrived unusually early.”
Valerie looks helpless and indecisive. “What do you want to do?” she asks.
Padmini says to Bella, “I really want to go back to the hotel to shower and change my clothes.”
Bella sees how reluctant Valerie is to leave Dahaba, and she is reluctant to break up their easy rapport. “I would really like you both to stay the night,” she says. “Why don’t I give you a lift to the hotel and back? At this hour there will be little traffic.”
“Would you mind?” says Padmini. “I would be grateful if you could.”
“Would you?” says Valerie. “You don’t mind.”
“Of course not,” says Bella.
“And I’ll feed my hungry angel here,” says Valerie.
Bella goes upstairs to tell Salif what she is doing and gets her wallet, grateful that the ride will give her a chance to speak in private with Padmini.
They get in the car and Bella speeds off as though they were boarding school students in danger of missing curfew.
Without prompting, Padmini opens up just as Bella had hoped. She tells Bella that her and Valerie’s return tickets to India via Kampala will become void unless they use them as scheduled; they are neither extendable nor refundable. And she says that she would leave, given the choice.
“And what or who is forbidding you to?”
“Our hotel bill is enormous and we haven’t the funds to settle it,” Padmini explains. “We receive messages from the management on a daily basis. In short, we are in terrible trouble. But Valerie pays no heed, unconscionably running up the bill and acting as if she were impervious to these difficulties.”
Bella does not tender an opinion.
“I don’t know what to do,” says Padmini. “Valerie’s moods keep changing. More and more of the time she is sullen and depressed, and she is drinking heavily. And she can’t seem to give up the hope that she will resume what she imagines to be her role as a mother.”
“But given the choice, you would go?”
“Yes, I would,” Padmini says. “Don’t misunderstand me. I still love her, but you know!”
Bella nods her head and says, “I do. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I would be embarrassed to ask.”
“Why?”
“Valerie won’t countenance the idea. And as it is, you’ve already been generous beyond anyone’s expectations, a wonderful host. But our debt is such that it is too big a favor to burden you with.”
“Let me see what I can do.”
“I pray daily that the same benefactor who spared us the humiliation of the lockup in Kampala will come to our aid. I’ve even been to the Hindu temple once in secret to offer my devotions to that end.”
With no traffic to speak of, they have reached the hotel. Padmini says to Bella, “Please give me a few minutes,” and she walks away, her stride faltering.
Bella goes to the reception desk and strikes up a conversation with the clerk, who recognizes her from her own stay. After a few pleasantries have been exchanged, Bella gets to the point. She explains that she wishes to settle Valerie and Padmini’s account on her own credit card.
“But of course, madam,” says the clerk. Bella pays for two more nights to cover the time until their departure for India, and she demands that the receptionist not divulge the identity of the benefactor, and she gives her a tip to ensure her silence.
On the drive back, Bella’s conscience weighs on her. Ought she now to open her heart to Padmini and offer her own confidences? But already Padmini seems more relaxed, thanks not only to her shower and fresh change of clothes but also perhaps to the opportunity to confide her woes to a sympathetic ear, and Bella, not wanting to disturb her mood, stays silent.
They arrive back at the house close to eight in the evening and Bella goes upstairs, buoyed by a feeling of optimism, as she replaces her wallet and passport in their secret place. Then she has a quick shower and goes downstairs, ready to eat the food Valerie has cooked. Padmini’s good cheer holds, and Valerie too seems to feel more at home in the house now that she has cooked a meal in the kitchen. Dahaba shouts to Salif to come down and they sit down together.
At the dinner table, the conversation is free-flowing. Padmini is sitting at the head of the table, serving the food and solicitously asking everyone if they want more of the chicken, the sauce, the salad. Bella sees Padmini with new eyes, as an ally. The woman is no quitter, and her patience and tenderness toward Valerie seem to know no limits, even if Valerie is less constant in her loving. How will they react when they find out that someone has settled their hotel bill? Maybe gratitude is not a notion that Valerie is familiar with. Or maybe she won’t be able to accept the gesture without suspicion.