Claire lay
still in the hospital bed with two pillows supporting her so that her head was
not directly friendly with the bed. Her head protested defiantly against the
injustice that had been done to her. It had been two days yet the swelling
refused to lessen. Sure you could see one eye trying to witness what was
happening but the other eye refused to entertain any one in its vicinity.
Diana sat
calmly next to her on the actual bed and not the chair beside it. It was as
though she wanted to crawl inside Claire and stop the pain. She could not get
close enough to her. Also the curtain dividing Claire from the other patient
seemed to be getting on Diana’s nerves every time she sat on the chair next to
it. Perhaps this is what prompted her to sit on the bed.
Diana had not
slept properly in three days God bless her soul. She went home only to shower
and change and then she was right back at Claire’s bedside. She had done all
the cooking but Claire was in no condition to eat so we fed her soup through a
straw instead. Diana cooked all the same just in case one of the days were in
agreement with Claire’s spirit. The aroma that emanated from the food usually
distracted us visitors especially me from concentrating on the purpose of my
visit.
‘Lara put it
down!’ she scolded as I made another attempt at the food warmer placed at the
foot of the hospital bed. It was just a matter of time before she let me have
it.
Aunty walked in
a little later. I had dropped her off at Diana’s place to freshen up. She has
not stopped crying since those tears escaped at her house that day. They
finally broke through that strong barrier that she has been trying to cage them
in. The whole atmosphere in the hospital surrounding Claire is of disgust. None
of Jeff’s family have been allowed in by the doctors. When Jeff had come in,
they had asked him how on earth this woman’s face had become like a pawpaw. He
had said that he and Claire had gotten into a fight.
‘A fight??’ the
doctor shouted. ‘You are telling me that this small woman is capable of
fighting you?’
He looked down
feeling emasculated as his fellow man challenged and disgraced him in front of
the masses. How could he face up and accept that indeed this was the case? He did
not have any choice but to mumble something to that effect that he and his wife
were indeed on the battle ground.
‘You cannot
tell me that you had an argument and decided to beat this woman into kingdom
come and then tell me you were fighting her! I am ashamed to see that men like
you still exist in this day and age!’ he thrust the x-rays against Jeffs chest
and told him to look at the broken parts of Claire’s face. ‘If she knows what
is good for her, she will report you to the police! Your place is in jail
because you cannot call yourself a human being. You are an animal!’ with that
he banned him from visits until the patient was well enough to decide for
herself if she wanted him there. Needless to say none of Jeff’s family even
needed coaxing twice. They gladly stayed away so we took turns looking after
little Daniel whilst his mother was on the mend.
Aunty entered
the room doing her best to look OK lest Claire’s watching eye bears witness
that she is in fact feeling quite glum. She gave Diana the eye which motioned
her to give up the space so she could sit beside her daughter. Reluctantly Diana
gives up the space she has been guarding ferociously. She grabs a nearby chair
and sits beside me. Aunty takes Claire’s hand and places it in both her hands. Her
top hand simply pats Claire’s hand gently at the top. It is fat and squidgy like
a big bears paw. Aunty bows her head and begins to move her mouth to form
words. Words that never express to the outter world what her heart harbours. She
prays to God and talks to him whilst all the time her chubby hand pats Claire. Then
she begins to rock gently. It is a soft motion but one can see that it is an
attempt to hold back the violent burst of anger that are waiting to erupt. She silently
rocks and prays rocks and prays.
I nudge Diana and
tell her that we should give them some space but Diana denies me this luxury. I
get awkward around people when they are sad and I am dying to exit this
melancholy scene. Diana types on her phone and tells me we are not to go
anywhere. Claire’s suspicious eye opens and locates its tapper. We both get up
and rush to her side with aunty still on the bed holding her hand.
‘Hey girl, how
you feeling?’ I ask. She manages to allow a smile to form at the corner of her
mouth but does not say anything.
‘Claire, you
need to come home and if you still want to, I want you to know that it is fine.’
Aunty pauses and clears her throat. She is trembling but more than anything she
feels guilt. Guilt that she did not listen to her daughter the first time she
heard of it. Who could have listened? Was it not the same man that had entrusted
her daughter to who was accused of beating her to the point of almost killing
her? How could she allow anyone to say any ill of him? She could recall the day
it happened as though it was only yesterday. Claire had been on the phone to
her to tell her of the misdeed. She had asked her why the man had beaten her.
‘What did you
do to upset him? You must not do anything to make him angry’ she had said. ‘You
must obey him my dear. He is the man of the house and you cannot just do what
you want!’ aunty had thought she was doing the best by her daughter. For in
this day and age, a husband was a daughter’s pride. Without a husband to define
you, one was looked at in no different way to the way a leper would be. It did
not matter how many degrees Claire had. Ubushimbe was not a desirable trait.
And now here she was on the phone telling her that the nice respectable boy who
had never once raised a voice to aunty was beating her.
It was true
that in general Jeff was a soft spoken man. He could never hurt a fly. He moved
fluidly and with gait. One looking upon him the first time would be convinced
the angels would want him back sooner than his time because he belonged with
them. His tongue was gifted with eloquence and divine charm. The man could sell
sand to an Arab! These are among the many reason why aunty did not believe that
Claire had a boxer in her home.
If you ask me
that house is just that. It is a house not a home. Even the décor is scattered.
It has not had time to adjust to its surrounding because it is always being
footballed around during the fights.
Today you will find a mat in the middle
and tomorrow it will be by the TV yet the baby is not old enough to create this
chaos! The house also has nothing in common with Claire. It is merely saying to
anyone who visits that ‘the wife has taken leave of her senses’.
Now looking at
Claire, aunty realised that she had not been advising Claire based on what she
truly believed but what had been drummed into her own ear for the whole duration
of her marriage. It was not OK for her to speak up. Even now that she sees the
damage, you can tell from her frame that her own heart is weak. It cannot
fathom the strength it requires to say ‘child get out whilst you still can’. It
is only the conviction of a mother that can summon the heart of a stubborn
child into submission. This mother was silent. Her silent rebirthed in Claire as
she lay there silently waiting for what was more to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment