Chapter 28

Nakai—Be Beautiful

A week had gone by since the dinner and Priscilla was going out of her mind. She had tried to guess what Unashe might be feeling. All she had managed to accomplish was to give herself a major headache and a minor heart attack every time she recalled the moment she’d looked up and saw him at the dinner party.

She tried to figure out how he had just walked into her house and announced that he would be working in Chamu’s bank. When did Chamu hire him? Why did Unashe accept? She couldn’t get any answers to her questions because she completely avoided having any Unashe-related discussions with Chamu. The only way she could get some answers was to visit Mukai.

She greeted Mukai with a hug. They walked out to the other side of the garden by the swimming pool, which was drained of all water.

“Why didn’t you tell me Unashe was back?” Priscilla asked. “And working for Chamu?”

“My son didn’t tell me everything until just a week ago,” Mukai said. “I didn’t know what day he was coming until the day before he came. That was two weeks ago.”

“Oh.”

“He should be back soon so you can shout at him,” Mukai said. Priscilla’s heart thudded at that. He was coming here? This was ridiculous. Seeing him again was probably a good idea, because then she would reduce the effects of the minor heart attack she experienced every time she heard his name.

“He’s staying here?” She didn’t want to sound too eager to know all about Unashe’s business.

“He’s here until he furnishes his new townhouse. Chamu is very good to his employees. He gave them loans and company cars.”

“I know you must be so happy to have seen him after all these years,” Priscilla said. She sat down on a garden chair and turned her face towards the sweetness of the sun. She tried not to worry about Chamu giving Unashe a job and loans. What if he found out the truth?

Before they could discuss more, they heard a car honk and the gardener ran to open the gate, his black boots throwing gravel into the air. Priscilla felt her heart stop in her chest. That had to be Unashe.

“That’s him now,” Mukai said.

Priscilla unconsciously smoothed her hair. She hadn’t seen him or talked to him since the dinner at her house, and that seemed like a lifetime ago. She realized that not seeing him didn’t stop her from thinking about him daily.

“We are here,” Mukai called out as Unashe walked towards them. He wore dark baggy jeans and a loose-fitting cotton shirt. The shirt wasn’t buttoned all the way to the top, showing the skin above his collarbone. Priscilla’s eyes travelled to his face, but with the dark glasses it was difficult to tell what he was thinking. He looked so handsome, so confident, so unreachable.

“Good afternoon, Mum.” Unashe greeted his mother by putting his hand on her shoulder. He turned to Priscilla. “Hello, Priscilla.”

“Hi, Unashe,” Priscilla said, working very hard to keep her voice calm. She cleared her throat.

“Did you get the furniture you wanted?” Mukai asked.

“I got the bed. It’ll be delivered on Monday. I don’t like any of the sofas I saw so far. I wish I had shipped mine from the UK,” Unashe said and looked at Priscilla.

“Why don’t you sit down?” Mukai said. “What’s wrong with our own country’s furniture?”

Unashe sat down opposite Priscilla, stretching his long legs out in front of him.

“I’m not being snobbish, Ma. It’s just that all the furniture here is all the same. I’ll see it at everybody’s house when I visit. There is no variety. Now in Priscilla’s house they have real Italian sofas that nobody else owns in this city.”

Priscilla sensed the mockery in his voice. “Chamu ordered it.”

“How is it being married to money?” Unashe asked.

“Being married is fine,” Priscilla said, widening her eyes at him.

“I hardly see her anymore,” Mukai complained again. “I guess we are too poor to spend time with.”

“That is very hurtful,” Priscilla said. “I always come and see you.”

“It’s a joke, my dear. You seem to have lost your sense of humor. I know you have a lot on your plate. Let me leave you to simmer down,” Mukai said, standing up. She looked irritated, but she gave Priscilla a smile.

“What do you want to eat, Unashe?” Mukai directed her question to her son.

“I’ll have whatever you want,” Unashe said. “Preferably sadza.”

“That’s my boy,” Mukai said and walked towards the house. Priscilla continued to look down, stung by what Mukai had said.

“Why are you being mean to my mother?” Unashe said, shocking her even more.

“What? She’s the one saying I’m now showing off because I have money,” Priscilla said. “That’s very hurtful.”

“She was joking,” Unashe said. He looked angry, and it upset her so much more than anything Mukai could say to her.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and glared at Unashe. He stared back at her. Even angry he looked as amazingly handsome as he always had. The glasses were off, and the dark brown eyes pierced her and silenced her. What could she say to him now?

“It’s been a long time. Let’s not fight,” Priscilla said at last.

“You are the one good at starting fights,” Unashe said.

“What on Earth are you talking about?”

“Is there any point in talking about the past? You have done very nicely for yourself. You have proved what I always thought.”

“What?” Priscilla put her hands on the chair’s arms, ready to spring at him, but she didn’t understand anything he was saying. Was that disgust on his face?

“I would like us to forget the past. We were very good friends once,” Unashe said instead.

Priscilla took deep breaths. The hem of her soft cream dress and the scarf around her neck danced in the wind.

“You don’t have anything to explain to me?” Priscilla asked.

“No. I think everything that happened was meant to be. I was angry at you for a long time,” Unashe said.

“You? Angry!” Priscilla’s eyes flashed at him. She was so upset she hadn’t even seen Mukai coming.

“Don’t tell me you two are fighting,” Mukai said, shaking her head.

“No,” Priscilla said trying to calm down. There was still fire coming from her eyes. At that moment, Priscilla wished she could burn Unashe into tiny little pieces of ash. He just looked at her steadily.

“Come on. Are you angry at Unashe for not telling you he was coming home?” Mukai asked Priscilla.

“Yes,” Priscilla said. Among other things, she added silently.

“You have to make up. Priscilla is going through a lot with her sister’s illness,” Mukai said to Unashe, and then turned to Priscilla. “And Unashe’s going through a lot because of my illness.”

“What?” Priscilla cried.

“It’s not that bad. I’m still having tests to find out what’s wrong,” Mukai said.

Priscilla stood up and went to hug Mukai. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know anything was wrong. I’m sorry.”

Mukai put her arms around Priscilla. “It’s fine, my dear. I’ll be fine. I didn’t want to burden you, what with Vimbai and her husband’s funeral.”

“It’s not a burden to be there for you. You have been there for me all my life. I want to be there for you, too.”

Priscilla stood up straight and walked to Unashe.

“Come here,” she said. Unashe stood up and Priscilla held out her arms to him.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you. I’m there for you, too,” Priscilla said. When she felt his arms go around her waist, she held her breath. She wanted to be lost in his embrace, to be swept away to some faraway place where only the two of them existed. Her breath practically caught in her throat.

“Now come on, you two. Let’s go in the house before we turn as black as my pots,” Mukai said. Priscilla laughed as they walked into the house.

“I need a nap just for a few minutes before lunch. You two can keep each other company,” Mukai said, walking into her bedroom and leaving Unashe and Priscilla standing alone in the hallway.

“She gets tired easily,” Unashe said.

“Do you know what she’s suffering from?”

“They suspect she might have stones or some growths around her stomach area, which they hope are not cancerous. The doctors think she might need surgery just to find out. We are still waiting to find out exactly what the problem is and doing more tests.”

They walked into the living room, their feet silent on the carpet. It was strange being alone with Unashe. Priscilla had conflicting emotions. Unashe sat on one sofa and turned on the TV but did not put up the volume. Priscilla sat on the same sofa but left enough room for two people to fit between them.

“Your daughter is pretty. She’s very clever, too,” Unashe said, surprising Priscilla. He kept flipping the channels, and there were over two hundred of them.

“Thank you,” Priscilla said, her eyes on the TV.

“What’s her name again?” Unashe asked and they looked at each other.

“Rudo.”

“Love.”

“Yes,” Priscilla said. She looked at the pictures on the walls. Mukai was always adding new photographs, and the most recent one was of Unashe’s graduation.

“I didn’t know what seeing you again was going to be like,” Priscilla said and turned to look at him.

“Same. The last time we were together, we were just kids. We made kids’ mistakes.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean the whole situation. That was a huge mistake. Us. We should never have done that. I’m sorry for my part.”

Priscilla couldn’t believe what she was hearing. But he had to be right. It had to have been a mistake, but her daughter was not a mistake. If he looked at their relationship that way then he had no right knowing about Rudo. He would just dismiss her as a mistake.

Her eyes filled with tears, but she would not let them come out. She blinked them away rapidly and, remembering Chantel, her eternal rage returned to take away the soft, silly girl who still longed for her lost first love.

“You are right,” she said, dismissing all her obsession as a silly childhood mistake. “I’m sorry, too.”

Unashe stopped flipping the channels when he found a soccer game and looked at her with a smile.

“So tell me about your life. What have you been up to?”

So that was it then. The whole time they were together was nothing. It was almost like a dream. How shameful. Priscilla wanted to smash his face in, but she was no longer a child. It was time to grow up and accept reality. Unashe didn’t look at her the same anymore. She was just like some distant friend who he had made a mistake with and now all was forgotten and they could move on with their lives.

“I’m married to the most wonderful man,” Priscilla began in her dreamiest voice. She conjured up all the sweet things Chamu did for her and their child. “Did I tell you how he bought me that house? Just handed it to me like a cake.”

Priscilla laughed, enjoying how Unashe’s smile faded. The afternoon wasn’t going to be bad after all. She had a lot to tell Unashe. So much for wanting to grow up. Acting childish was just the way to get through the time with him.