Nuruddin Farah - Hiding in Plain Sight

Over the years, she has overseen the construction of many darkrooms, starting with the simple black-and-white processing setup Giorgio Fiori’s colleague helped her to make in that closet back in Rome, when she was twelve. It is such an arrangement that she intends to start with here.

Before digital cameras came into vogue, darkrooms were fairly common, and most photo shops had one in the rear. As demand grew, though, little shops tended to outsource processing to larger, more sophisticated ones of industrial size. But remembering those simpler setups, Bella adds more items to the list she is drawing up: enlargers, three large trays, an eight-by-ten easel, a red lightbulb.

She hears the soft tread of someone approaching the kitchen, and when she looks up, Salif is there in his pajamas and robe. He looks surprised to find her already dressed and writing lists on a notepad.

“Morning, Auntie.”

“Morning, darling.”

“What’s up?”

“A darkroom, that is what’s up, today’s priority.”

A sweet smile later, he sits down. “That’s good, bright and early,” he says.

Bella pushes the notepad aside. “What would you like for breakfast?”

“I can make my own if you are busy.”

“Good. Will you make my espresso for me too?”

“I would love to.”

Salif busies himself making the espresso for her and an omelet and toast for himself. The household seems to be at peace with itself since they all went to their rooms last night, although Bella slept fitfully, listening for Dahaba’s movements and reflecting on all that has happened so far. On the whole, she feels reassured about Valerie, who now seems much less in a position to muck matters up. The image that comes to her mind is of a hurricane, once strong and menacing, losing its ferocity as it hits land.

Salif asks, “Is it very complicated to organize a darkroom, Auntie?”

“It’s not rocket science. I just need the help of an electrician and a plumber. And I’ll need to go to a camera shop to purchase a supply of chemicals and paper.”

The espresso is not to her liking — a bit watery — but she makes enthusiastic noises when she takes her first sip. She looks up when Salif’s toast pops up but says nothing when she observes that his omelet is a little burnt. She clears space on the table for him to join her with his breakfast. When she sees that he has emptied the remainder of the ketchup onto one side of his plate, she adds “tomato ketchup” to the list on her notepad.

“Which room will we use as the darkroom?” Salif asks.

“The spare room is ideal,” she says. “It is a corner room, set apart from the other rooms, it is spacious, and it has its own toilet so it already has a water supply.”

“Super,” he says. “Can’t wait for it to be built.”

Padmini is at the kitchen door. “Morning, dears,” she says to them. “Did I hear the word ‘build’? Build what, if I may ask?”

“A darkroom,” says Salif.

“How forward looking,” Padmini says. “Where?”

“In the spare room down here.”

“Brilliant,” Padmini says. “How exciting!”

Salif is up on his feet. “Breakfast?”

“Yes, please.”

“What can I offer you?”

“Tell me the available options.”

“Tea or coffee to begin with. And then you can tell me whether you would like oatmeal or an omelet.”

“I would like tea with milk and oatmeal,” says Padmini.

“I’ll make the tea, then, and Auntie will make the porridge.”

“You surprise me, darling,” says Bella. “Making oatmeal porridge is a lot easier than making an omelet.”

“I’d be happier if you made it,” he says all the same.

Just as Bella rises to oblige him, Dahaba walks in with Valerie not far behind. “Morning, everyone,” says Dahaba. Valerie silently waves and then slumps into a chair. She says, “I had an almost sleepless night, my daughter kicking me every time she turned. And when I tried to get away and return to my bed, she wouldn’t let me.”

“Mum snored as loud as a coal train,” says Dahaba.

“How did everyone else fare?”

“Very well,” says Salif.

“And you, Pad?”

“Slept well, thank you.”

Dahaba is leaning against the back of Bella’s chair. Bella says, “Come sit, my sweet, and I will make breakfast for you and your mum.”

Valerie asks for bacon and eggs, and Dahaba opts for the same. Bella shoos Salif away and brings Padmini her tea and then her porridge. She steals a furtive look at her watch and reminds herself to call Mahdi soon. Once she has served breakfast to the stragglers, she goes upstairs for her credit cards and wallet, and then takes her leave of everyone, saying, “I’ll be back soon.” She gets into the car and turns on the engine; then, while waiting for Cawrala to respond, she rings Mahdi. He promises he will call her back with the name of someone who can get the job done quickly.

He calls her back when she is in the process of leaving the camera store with her purchases. He tells her the name of a contractor he recommends and says the man will call her shortly. And he does when she is on her way to the supermarket to buy more milk, fruit, soft drinks, sugar, tomato ketchup, and bacon and eggs. He says, “It’s your lucky day today because, as it happens, we’ve just had a cancellation of a big job; the building where my electricians and plumbers were working collapsed. We can have an electrician and a plumber at your place in the next couple of hours if you give me your address.”

“I’ll be there,” she says.

“Mahdi is a good friend,” he says. “We’ll look after you.”

When she gets back home, she is delighted to see that she has hardly been missed. The four of them are playing cards, Valerie and Dahaba as one team and Padmini and Salif as the other, their rowdy noises reaching her even before she comes through the door.

She takes some of her purchases into the spare room and stores the rest in the pantry and fridge.

She says, “Anybody need anything?”

Dahaba asks, “Like what, Auntie?”

“Tea, coffee, some other drink or food?”

Salif says, “We’re okay, thanks.”

“We’re not okay,” says Dahaba. “I would like a Diet Coke.”

Valerie says to her, “Can’t you get it yourself?”

They stop playing cards while Dahaba gets her drink, and then Valerie’s mobile phone squeals. She looks at the identity of the caller and then she says, “I must take this call.” She leaves the room for privacy, and when she returns a few moments later, she is wearing the expression of a mourner. “Something terrible has happened,” she says. And then she says to Padmini, “That was Ulrika. We need to get back to the hotel pronto.”

“What’s happened?”

“BIH has been raided and there have been arrests.”

It is as though the two of them were speaking another language that the others cannot follow.

Bella offers them a lift.

“Can I come with you?” asks Dahaba.

“Not this time, darling,” says Bella.

But Valerie and Padmini decline her offer and insist on calling a taxi instead.

—

The electrician and the plumber show up half an hour or so later, not only the two of them but the contractor himself and two additional workers. Bella gives them the sketch of what she wants done, and the men unload their tools. The plumber and the electrician write up the list of what they will need, and the contractor takes off to get the materials. Before long, the sound of hammering and male voices brings Dahaba and Salif down from their rooms. Before nightfall, Bella tells them, they will have a darkroom.

“Super,” says Salif. Bella begins to explain the process to them, but Dahaba loses interest in the technical difference between pre-digital and digital photography, and the mention of landmark names such as Kodak does not excite her. “It sounds like the difference between typewriters and computers,” she says, before she drifts back upstairs.