Nuruddin Farah - Hiding in Plain Sight

Bella shakes herself out of her reverie. “You’d best call your mother now to see if she and Padmini will be able to join us today.”

Salif dials her, looking apprehensive, but from the change in his face it is obvious to Bella that her plan has worked. Salif has woken Valerie, but once she understands why he is calling, she accepts eagerly. She says they will be at the house as soon as they can dress and shower and arrange a taxi.

“Excellent,” says Bella. “Now what would you like for breakfast?”

“What are the choices?”

“I did a big shop,” she says. “Come, open the fridge.”

“Bacon, with bread and two eggs sunny side up if that is no problem,” he says, taking out the ketchup and closing the fridge.

“Why do you say, ‘If it is no problem’?”

“I thought you might disapprove, seeing that you were brought up in a Muslim household.”

“I got it for you and Dahaba,” she says.

“But you don’t eat it yourself?”

“Not because of religious reasons.”

“Why then?”

“Too salty and too fatty.”

“You know what Dad used to say?”

“Remind me.”

“He found the idea of eating pork abhorrent.”

“But not for religious reasons, right?”

“Same as you on that score.”

She places the bacon in the pan, overlapping the slices, and then puts some porridge for herself to simmer. She breaks the eggs into the pan and asks Salif to put the bread in the toaster. She doesn’t turn the eggs but leaves the yolks golden and runny, just as he’d asked. She stirs her porridge and turns the bacon with a practiced hand, making her meal and his almost at the same moment so they can eat together. “Bismillah,” she says, and he wishes her “Bon appétit!”

Barely has either of them taken a mouthful when Dahaba appears in the doorway, groggily focusing on the camera next to Salif’s plate.

“Why did you give it to him, Auntie?” she asks.

“Give what to whom?”

“The beautiful camera.”

Bella looks at Salif in a manner that makes it clear that she does not want him to rise to Dahaba’s provocation. Then she says to Dahaba, “First a good morning greeting, my darling.”

“Good morning, Auntie.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“I did, only I thought I heard a loud noise going off, and some people speaking in the landing above the staircase. But I was too exhausted to get up to see if any of it was real. Now it is the smell of frying bacon that has woken me. Can you make some for me, Auntie?”

“Of course, my darling,” says Bella, and she gets up and gives her niece a hug and a loving kiss.

Salif speaks up. “Why don’t you eat your porridge while it’s nice and hot, Auntie, and I’ll offer my bacon to Dahaba. I don’t mind waiting a few more minutes for my own.”

“Thanks, darling, but I’ll make her own,” Bella says. “What else would you like with your bacon?”

“Same as Salif’s, except I don’t like the yolks liquid. In the meantime, I’ll pop a slice of bread in the toaster if there is some to be had.” Dahaba makes as if she will do as she says, but she moves half-heartedly, as if hoping that someone else will beat her to it. She looks tired.

Salif makes a point of not looking in her direction as he dip slices of his bacon in ketchup and yolk. His habit of eating his bacon this way is part of family lore. Wendy could never abide it and thought it unrefined. “What are knives and forks for if not to be used, and why would anyone bother to place them on your table if you are going to end up behaving like some savage from Africa?” Bella can hear her saying.

Dahaba looks as if she can hardly bear the thought of waiting for her own breakfast, but in a little while it is ready, though Bella’s porridge is now cold. She puts a lump of butter in it and microwaves it until it is hot again, then eats it. When Bella gets up to make herself a macchiato , Dahaba asks, “What is your answer, Auntie? Do you have another camera like the one you’ve given to Salif or not?”

Salif can’t restrain himself anymore. With a touch of sarcasm, he says, “Yours is right outside your bedroom door, wrapped in the most beautiful wrapping paper.”

Dahaba abandons her breakfast and darts up and down the stairs with remarkable alacrity. Yet she unwraps the present with surprising delicacy, like someone removing a Band-Aid. Salif, impatient, offers to do the dishes before Valerie and Padmini arrive.

Bella says, “I’ll give you both a brief demo of the art of nondigital photography. I hope you will appreciate the cameras and look after them with great care. My hope is to train you to do your own printing here in this house, where there is plenty of space to set up a darkroom.”

Dahaba’s concentration falters as she fingers the knobs on the camera. This is the first time she has held such a camera, and it frustrates her that it doesn’t react to her touch the way the digital camera did. “What is the difference between digital and nondigital cameras, Auntie?” she says at last.

“Good question,” says Bella, pleased. This is as good a place to start as any. And she begins to speak, picking her way through a minefield of data and information that she knows won’t make much sense to novices such as Dahaba and Salif.

“Nondigital cameras differ from their analog predecessors in that they do not have film inside them, is that right, Auntie?” says Salif.

“What are analog predecessors?” Dahaba cries. “I have no idea what you two are talking about.” She pleads with them to use words she can make sense of. “Analog predecessors? I know what ‘predecessor’ is, but not what ‘analog’ means. Please.”

While Bella is thinking of a way to explain these concepts, Salif adds to Dahaba’s confusion. “In place of having black-and-white or color films in them, digital cameras save the images they capture on a digital memory card or cards, in addition to some form of internal chemical storage.”

Dahaba screams, “Stop showing off, you fool.”

Bella falls sadly silent, knowing that in this, as in so much else with these children, it is not going to be easy to negotiate the obstacles. She will need time to work out a course of action that will allow Salif and Dahaba to grow into who they wish to be — not into what she wants them to be.

—

Valerie and Padmini’s taxi drops them at the gate more than half an hour early. They are waiting to be let in. Bella suggests Dahaba put away the cameras while Salif goes and welcomes their guests. Dahaba seems to be torn between greeting her mother and partner and going upstairs to shower and get ready. Bella encourages her to do the latter, saying, “We don’t want to get a late start.”

Padmini enters, and she and Bella hug and exchange kisses on their cheeks. Bella observes that Padmini is a touch warmer than before. In fact, it occurs to her that the two of them have never been alone in a room before — and therefore have never had the pleasure (or displeasure) of exchanging their views on matters of common concern, namely Valerie and the children. Maybe the time has come to cultivate Padmini.

“How are things?” asks Bella. “It’s lovely to have you here. You and Valerie should come and spend more time with us. Chill out, play cards, watch movies together, and get to know one another. We would all enjoy it, especially the children.”

Something is making Padmini a tad uncomfortable. Bella entertains a suspicion that Padmini does not want Valerie to see them conversing or to overhear them. Bella cranes her neck, trying to see where Valerie is before she says anything. “Not to worry,” she says to Padmini. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk, you and I.”