Nuruddin Farah - Hiding in Plain Sight

Bella reads a bit more to kill time, then showers, the hot jets of water waking every pore in her exhausted body. She rubs lotion all over her skin, combs the kinks out of her hair, and puts on her power suit again. She puts her documents in a special pouch and replaces it in her shoulder bag. At seven, hungry, too anxious to stay in her room alone and needing to collect the eggs and the sliced bread from one of the security guards, Bella goes down and steps out, noticing that the fresh eggs and sliced bread bought from the corner are at the door waiting for her. She will have to remember to give the change he returned as a tip later. Back in the kitchen, she makes breakfast for herself and for anyone else who might turn up.

She notices that someone has been in the kitchen since she was last downstairs because there is a sealed packet of bacon on the windowsill. She thinks that Salif, who is so partial to bacon, has possibly been here. Bella likes to breakfast on Spanish omelets or muesli with berries, plums, raisins, or other dried fruits, with a few dry sliced bananas thrown in. She likes to have tea first, very dark with milk, and coffee afterward, the stronger and darker the better.

She finds eggs in the refrigerator, but they are long past their eat-by date. But there are all kinds of teas, including a number of Kenyan ones and a couple of brands imported from South Africa, and she boils water to make a pot. She finds a packet of muesli and, checking the date, is delighted that it is edible. In the refrigerator is also an open carton of UHT milk, which she puts to her nose. It smells all right, but she has no idea when it was opened or by whom. Just to be on the safe side, she looks in the cupboard and finds another container of milk from Germany that is unopened. A country with so much milk potential importing milk from Europe — that’s Africa for you.

But what can she offer Valerie and Padmini for breakfast? The truth is that she doesn’t quite think of them as her guests. It’s not her fault they missed the meal they were invited for, and she didn’t prepare for overnight guests. Searching in the pantry, she discovers cans of tuna, tomato, and onion. She rummages in the freezer and finds frozen peas and chips of every variety. Relieved that she will be able to feed her guests — or, rather, Salif and Dahaba’s guests — she turns to her own breakfast, enjoying her crunchy muesli and mouthfuls of her dark, dark tea. When she has finished, she brews a pot of Kenyan coffee, which is among the best in the world.

Salif is the first to dawdle in, wrapped in a colorful robe with a pair of pajamas under it. Barefoot, he has on a big grin of the sort that prompts you to ask a leading question, and next to it there is a smudge of toothpaste. He kisses Bella good morning and says, “What a night!” Bella can tell that he wants her to ask him to explain himself, but she pretends not to notice.

“Breakfast,” she says, as if it’s his name, while she roots in the cupboards.

He points at the bacon on the windowsill.

She asks, “What will you have with it?”

He opens the freezer and takes out a loaf of sliced English-style bread, hard as rock, the type she can’t stand after her years in Italy. But she tells herself that it’s good for Salif to learn to look after himself. He finds a pan for the bacon and puts it on to fry.

Padmini walks in and greets them both.

Bella asks, “Have you slept well?”

“Yeah, I did,” she says. “And you?”

Again Salif says, “What a night!”

And before they can say anything more, Valerie ambles in. “What’s for breakfast?” she says. And then Dahaba arrives, making a beeline for the fridge before she greets anyone. “For my breakfast,” she says, “I am having the leftovers from last night, and I won’t share it with any of you. I am starving.”

She gets out the rest of the hamburger and puts it in the microwave then turns to the others. She greets her mum and Padmini, rubbing cheeks with both. To Bella she says, “You’re up and dressed early. Where are you going?”

The whole scene reminds Bella of the movie The Dirty Dozen, where the twelve characters straggle in one at time, each speaking his piece.

Valerie says, “Yes, Bella, where are you off to?”

Bella tells her and Padmini what there is for breakfast, but Valerie refuses to be diverted. “Is it something to do with Aar?” she asks. “I’ve a feeling I must tag along.”

Dahaba, lapsing into Somali, asks Bella if there is any truth to that. Bella tells her patiently that politeness demands she speak a language intelligible to the whole group. Dahaba apologizes to her mother and Padmini, and repeats her question in English.

Valerie is not one for politeness, however. “Why are you shoving me to the side like useless furniture?” she demands of Bella.

“How am I doing that?” says Bella.

“You are trying to keep me from being involved,” she cries, “that is how!”

Salif says, “Mum, you made the choice to disengage yourself from Dad and us many years ago. You can’t now accuse anyone else of denying you the right to get involved.”

“I’ve had enough,” Valerie says, and stands up.

But Salif isn’t finished. “And let me add this, for what it’s worth, Mum. You haven’t asked us anything about Dad, what he was like as a father to us after you left. All you have done is create confusion in my head about the circumstances of his burial, urging me to act without even bothering to ascertain the legal and logistical implications.”

Valerie is at a loss for words. She stands there, looking too shocked to sit, too weak to remain standing. Padmini says, “What’s all this about?” Finally, Valerie, her face pale, pulls out a chair and sits. Dahaba takes her hands. “Salif doesn’t mean to make a monkey out of you, Mum,” she says in an attempt to placate her mother. “He is just like that sometimes. You know he loves you more than he can say.”

Bella plates the omelets and waits for the kerfuffle to die down. Placing a plate in front of Padmini and another in front of Valerie, she says, “Please. Here. Eat.”

Valerie hesitates, but Padmini starts to eat heartily. Bella slips out of the kitchen at last and goes upstairs, patting Valerie on the shoulder as she passes. She comes back downstairs with her bag and the keys.

“What’s in the bag, Auntie Bella?” says sharp-eyed Dahaba.

“Not much,” Bella says. She lets Dahaba lift the bag to see how light it is.

“Are you going shopping, Auntie?” Salif asks.

Bella looks at Valerie and Padmini. “I’d offer you a ride,” she says, “but I have to get going now.”

“For your appointment, right?” Dahaba asks.

Bella says to Padmini and Valerie, “Please allow me to treat you to a taxi back, as your host.” She opens her wallet and puts several bills on the table in front of Padmini.

Valerie’s nose twitches, and she hesitates. But Padmini takes the money, thanking Bella effusively for her offer and her hospitality in general. She apologizes for all the inconvenience they have caused.

Bella says, “Don’t worry yourself. I am glad that you came in the end. I’ll let Dahaba and Salif speak for themselves, but I can tell you that I enjoyed the visit.”

“But we haven’t even had a chance to talk about Aar,” protests Valerie. “I have so many questions.”

Bella thinks, why won’t this madwoman let go? But she only says reassuringly, “It’s still early days, and there are many things I am only just beginning to understand. I shall share what I know as I know it.”

Of course, she thinks, she won’t share everything. She will tell each of them what they need to know, what is appropriate for them to know.