Nuruddin Farah - Hiding in Plain Sight

“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.

Dinner over, Salif volunteers to do the washing up, wearing his headphones so he can listen to music as he does so. Valerie and Dahaba take their leave and go up to the girl’s room, voices low, still engrossed in each other. Bella puts on a CD of Miles Davis playing in India, and Padmini, who is not familiar with it, seems to enjoy it. And when Salif has done the washing up, he observes that their glasses are empty and brings the wine bottle to refill their glasses.

“Thanks, my darling, for the washing up,” says Bella.

“I didn’t cook or serve, so I must wash.”

“He’s a considerate young man,” says Padmini, and Bella agrees.

He smiles sweetly and says, “I’ve been thinking, Auntie Padmini!”

“Tell me, what have you been thinking?”

“Wouldn’t it be a very wonderful idea if Dahaba, Auntie, and I came to visit you and Mum in India and stayed in your hotel in Pondicherry?”

Padmini, surprising even herself, pulls him over to where she is sitting and she gives him a kiss on the cheek, her warmest and most genuine gesture yet. “But that would be wonderful,” she cries. “And it’ll make your mum full of rejoicing too.”

“What do you think, Bella?” asks Padmini.

“I had no idea he was thinking along those lines, but what a brilliant idea,” says Bella. “Of course we would love to visit you in India and stay in the hotel.” Then, the cautious adult in Bella resurfacing, she says, “Such visits benefit from early planning. Yes, that would be stupendous.”

Salif adds, “We are now old enough and travel savvy enough to come on our own if Auntie Bella is unavailable to come with us.”

“But we would really love for her to come too,” says Padmini.

They take a collective breather, as each of them imagines the context in which this scenario might take place. For Padmini, the prospect is particularly sweet, as nearly all of the visitors to their hotel and restaurant are strangers. To have “family” visit them in India for the first time is a very exciting prospect.

Happy in themselves, Valerie and Dahaba come down and join the rest. They sit next to each other, but not in a way that excludes the others. Salif, attentive as ever, brings a soft drink for Dahaba and the wine bottle, and Bella has the honor of refilling Valerie’s glass.

Valerie senses that the silence is charged with meaning and so she asks of no one in particular, “Has anything I need to know about taken place since I was last here?”

“There is news that will delight you,” says Padmini. “Your son here has been speaking of his wish to visit us in Pondicherry and stay with us in our hotel, darling. Isn’t that fabulous news?”

And before Valerie has had the time to react to the news, Dahaba lets out a squeal of joy, “This is what I’ve been thinking the past hour and a half.”

“Have you, darling?” says Valerie.

Dahaba, enthused albeit rueful, now says, “My brother always steals my best ideas and passes them off as his own. What am I to do about that, Mum?”

Valerie looks as if someone has stolen her thunder and she doesn’t know what reaction to give. But Dahaba is so taken with the idea that she is bouncing on the couch, her feet catching the weight of her body and pushing off again. “When?” she says.

Salif says, “We need to plan ahead, Mum.”

“What do you think, Mum?” asks Dahaba.

Valerie scrambles for an enthusiastic response, but it doesn’t come easy to her. Bella thinks she knows what Valerie is thinking: Since the idea was not hers, then Bella must be behind it all. “Sweet, very sweet,” she says, but her body language says something else. Still, while she doesn’t appear exactly enraptured with the idea, neither does she throw cold water on it. “We would love them to come, wouldn’t we, darling?” she says to Padmini, feeling everyone’s eyes trained on her. Then she deflects the attention by saying to Salif, “Give us a kiss now, why don’t you, darling.”

Salif does as he is told. Then more drinks are poured, Valerie switching back to hard liquor — whiskey and water, which Padmini makes for her the way she knows Valerie likes it.

Valerie says, “As a professional photographer, have you taken pictures here in Kenya?”