MEETING THE FAMILY
1208 Words
Amon’s mother terrifies me.
Not in a bad way. In a“ this woman sees through all my bullshit” way.
We’re standing at the gate of their compound in Ntinda. Sunday lunch. Family tradition. Amon promised it would be casual.
He lied.
There were at least thirty people then. Aunties under the mango tree. Uncles arguing about politics. Children run everywhere. The smell of roasted meat and posho making my empty stomach grip.
“ How numerous people did you say were coming? ” I hiss.
“ I did n’t. Because if I told you, you would’ve run. ”
“ I’m running now. ”
“ Too late. ” He grabs my hand. “ Mama’s already seen us. ”
She emerges from the house. Round and warm and radiating the kind of authority that comes from raising five children successfully. Her eyes lock onto me with ray focus.
“ So this is the girl who has made my son smile like a fool for weeks! ”
Her voice carries across the compound. Everyone stops talking. All eyes on me.
I want to die.
Mama Grace pulled me into a hug before I could escape the establishment. Enveloping. Maternal in a way that makes my throat tight.
“ Welcome, welcome, my dear! Come, let me see you daily. ”
She holds me at arm’s length. Study my face. I repel the appetite to fidget.
“ Beautiful. Smart eyes. Good posture. Amon, you did well. ”
“ Mama, please ”
“ And educated too, yes? Amon tells me you’re a mastermind structure houses for poor people. This is good work. ”
“ Thank you, Mama Grace. ” I managed to find my voice. “ I brought — ”
I offer the handbasket of fruit and cake. She swells it off but takes it anyway.
“ You didn't need to bring anything except yourself. But since you did, it shows good mores. I like her already, Amon. ”
A senior woman approaches. Small but fierce. Traditional gomesi. Eyes that miss nothing.
Jjajja Florence.
She speaks in Luganda, sharp but not unkind. Amon translates snappily.
“ Jjajja wants to meet you duly. ”
I bend slightly while chatting. Proper respect. Jjajja’s eyes light up with blessing.
She reaches up, touches my face with unexpectedly gentle hands. Looks into my eyes for a long moment. I also nods.
“ You have kind eyes. But also strong eyes. You'll need strong eyes for what's coming. ”
The cryptic statement hangs in the air. Before I can ask what she meant, she shuffles off toward the mango tree.
“ What did she mean? ” I asked Amon.
“ With Jjajja, who knows? She says cryptic effects. Ignore it. ”
But I cann't ignore it. The words settle in my chest like a vacation.
Lunch is chaos. Twenty people crowding around a table under a covered out-of-door area. Food everywhere. Voices lapping. Everyone is asking me questions.
“ When did you meet my nephew? ”
“ About two weeks ago. He revealed coffee to me. ”
Horselaugh erupts. Amon covers his face.
“ That sounds like Amon! Always causing accidents with his head in the shadows. ”
“ At least this accident worked out,” someone says differently.
“ So Sarah, when are the marriage bells? ” Auntie Rose asks. Zero slyness.
I nearly choked on my food. “ We’re we’re taking effect slowly. ”
“ Slowly? You youthful people and you're slow. When I met my hubby, I knew in three days he was the one. ”
Mama Grace jumps in. “ Leave them alone, Rose. They’ll move at their own pace. ”
But I catch her looking at me speculatively. Already planning. Already hoping.
The pressure makes my chest tight.
After lunch, Jjajja calls me over. Pats the bench beside her under the mango tree.
“ Sit, child. ”
I sit. She’s quiet for a moment. She also speaks in unexpectedly fluent English.
“ You love him. ”
It’s not a question. I do n’t deny it.
“ I’m falling for him. Yes. ”
“ And it scares you. ”
“ Terrifies me. My marriage ended badly. I swore I’d never — ”
“ Never trust again? Never risk again? ” She pats my hand. “ Child, that’s not living. That’s just breathing. ”
Her words cut through all my careful defenses.
“ Amon’s father died five years ago. Cancer. Slow, painful. Amon stopped painting for a year — couldn't produce beauty while watching death. But he survived. And he painted again. Because that’s what we do. We survive. We heal. We risk loving again despite knowing we could lose everything. ”
She looks directly at me. Her old eyes were sharp and knowing.
“ The question is, are you brave enough to choose him back? Indeed, when it’s hard? Indeed, across distance? ”
My throat tightens. “ What if I fail? What if I can n’t balance my work and a relationship ”
“ What if the moon falls from the sky? Child, you can ‘ what if’ yourself into palsy. Or you can step forward and trust you’ll handle what comes. ”
She stands in trouble. She shops her walking stick forcefully.
“ That boy loves you. He hasn't said it. He yet he’s waiting for you to feel, safe, but I see it. I’m old. I know love when I see it. ”
She starts walking down. She also pauses. Turns back.
“ One further thing. When you’re in Rwanda, far from then, flash back — distance is only terrain. Love lives here —” She taps her chest. “ — and then. ” She gates her head. “ Train can not touch that. ”
She shuffles off. Leaving me alone with thoughts too big for my skull.
Amon appears. Sits beside me. “ Jjajja did scare scarify you off, did she? ”
“ She told me your father failed. You never mentioned — ”
“ I was staying for the right time. ” He looks down. “ It’s not exactly light discussion. ”
“ I’m sorry. That must have been incredibly hard. ”
“ It was. It is. I still miss him every day. ” His voice cracks slightly.
I take his hand. “ He raised a good man. The kind who sees beauty in effects. Who creates rather than destroys
Amon looks at me. And in the golden evening light, with his family’s voices in the background, he makes a decision.
“ Sarah, I need to tell you something. And you don't have to say it back. I just need you to know. ”
My heart pounds. I know what’s coming. I’m not ready.
“ I love you. I’m in love with you. I know it’s fast, I know we have obstacles, I know the timing is terrible. But I love you Fully. ”
The words should scarify me. Should shoot me running.
Rather, they feel like coming home.
“ I love you too. ” The words escape before I could pen them. “ Terrifyingly, incredibly, fully. ”
We kiss. Soft and sweet and full of energy.
In four weeks I leave for Rwanda. For a year.
But right now, at this moment, we have each other.
And that’s enough.
- Writer
