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Chloe
Lily came back from the beach, Dad came home from work, and Mum dragged herself out of bed. Chloe had spent the afternoon in her room, doing nothing much in particular, under the pretence of tidying it. It was too hard. There were too many decisions to make. Where to put the rubbish, where to put the clothes, how to tidy her books. If someone had come in and said do this, do that, she could have done it, but no one had. So she didn’t. Plus, she didn’t want to think about another failed attempt at talking to someone.
“Where did this pie come from?” her mother asked.
“Nanny Anahera,” Chloe said.
“Did she come by when I was asleep?”
“Some girls brought it.”
Her mother sighed. “Well, that was nice of her to send it along. We’ll have to thank her tomorrow, at the hui.”
“What hui?” Chloe asked.
“The one for the treaty settlement. We’re going to the marae in the morning. The elders are having a meeting, and there will be the usual karakia and pōwhiri and kai. Like when we first came.”
“No, Mum! Do I have to go? That was horrible! It was so embarrassing!”
“Yes, love, we do. It’s important to your dad and to our family. We are all going.”
Chloe scuttled off to her room, sat on her bed and tried not to think about anything. But the memory of that first marae visit was etched on her memory and not in a good way.
They had only lived in Awanui for a month or so, when the first hui had been held on the marae. She was mortified to find it was to welcome her own family, plus some other new people to the area, and they would be expected to walk with a guide onto the grounds. It was such a blur to her, but she clearly remembered her mum and dad and a couple of other people singing something. Lily was singing along tunelessly. She was young enough not to be concerned. But Chloe stood almost numb with embarrassment while kids her own age, who were on the welcoming side, laughed behind their hands at her discomfort. She had vowed never to go again.
But parents had a way of making sure you did.