Middle Class Love #Wattys2015

Walking on a tightrope

(Rochelle's POV)

It had been close to a week since we were at our Grandparents' place in Chennai. We barged into Mama's bedroom and found her doing some work on the laptop She wore the blue caftan that Da had picked up for her at the fair. 

"Mama, can we go to the beach today?" The two of us asked.

"Sure, take Da with you." she replied flatly. 

"Uhm, the plan is that you come with us. We can go to Citi Centre afterwards!!"

"Sorry girls, Mama is really busy with an ad campaign. I've got my neck deep in work." she protested. 

"There's no fun without you Mama!!" Maureen said, tugging at Mama's shirtsleeve. 

After a lot of coaxing, she said Yes!! It was an open secret that she wasn't too comfortable hanging around with Da. Nevertheless we thought it would be great to have fun with Mama and Da one last time. As she pushed us out of the room just so she could dress, the two of us gave each other a thumbs up and a fist bump. 

"She hates Da!" I said while laughing softly.

"Oh, and us because we look like Da!" Maureen giggled. 

"No, she doesn't!!" 

"Yeah, its not our fault we look like him." Maureen said wisely. That girl was the perfect foil to the rash, impulsive me; must I add, 'just like Mama'?

"Momo?"

"Yeah, Robot!" she replied, using her generic rhyming nickname for me.

"Will Mama ever come back? It looks like Da and Mama are going to get divorced. It is a hard life ahead for us if they do." I pondered

She kept quiet. She fiddled with the strands of hair at the end of her french plait, she did that every time she was nervous. She was searching for the right words. "I don't want them divorcing, Rochelle. You and I will have to decided whether to live separately or with either of them."

"I don't get you."

"Remember David and Timothy from 6A?" she asked.

"Yeah I do."

"Their parents separated two years ago...."

"Oh" memory came rushing to me almost instantaneously "And Timothy chose to stay with Aunt Rosalie and David with Uncle Bert." I could feel bile rising in my stomach as I spoke those words. I did not want that kind of a life. 

Just then, Da came sat beside us and ruffled our hair. 

"Da?" Maureen asked 

"Yes, Maureen"

"Are you and Mama going to divorce?"

"I don't know?" he replied blankly. 

"Will we have to stay with you?" I asked

"What??" he blinked, trying to understand our query. "Hold on" he said "Your Mama and I aren't going to orphan you like that , alright?"

"But....."

Even before I could complete the sentence, Mama opened the door and stepped out in a blue T-shirt and white capris. I turned to look at Da and saw him grin from ear to ear. "Let's go!" Maureen said and dragged Mama to the driveway. We were hoping to catch some of the tension as she sat near Da. She sat down wordlessly and Da turned his torso to glance briefly if anything lay on the way of taking reverse. The journey to the beach was an exceptionally noisy one. Nobody listened to the hip hop track on the radio, we were drawn to the highs and lows of our own voices involved in a fast paced conversation. Maureen and I went on a fast forwarded version of how life was at school. We laughed at Da's horrible cooking and how he finally learnt to do the housework. Mama had her share of laughs as Da's narration complemented ours. She wiped away her tears as we arrived at the sandy beach.