enola_name-of-father

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER by Enola

PART 1

Juliet was packing her second suitcase when she got a phone call from Mark, her brother. He told her he would send his friend James to Heathrow to help her with her luggage. Juliet snorted annoyed. She said she didn’t need any help since she was carrying only a couple of small suitcases. Then, Mark reminded her sister he had recently moved to a new house in Primrose Hill and added he had given his friend the keys to look after his aquarium. As his brother had already planned everything, Juliet said it was okay and said bye, it was getting late and she still had something to do before her departure. The first thing was choosing something comfortable to wear and she went for a cream polo-neck sweater, a long skirt and flat black leather boots.

Leaving the hospital where she worked before going to the airport, Juliet noticed the cigarette smoke coming from behind a huge tree. She shook her head annoyed whilst walking in that direction.
“Nelly?!” she shouted. A tiny native woman in her earlier thirties, who belonged to the Kikuyu ethnic group, appeared with a fag between her fingers.
“‘ello sista! Nice see ya.” She smiled widely showing her big white teeth.
“How many times I’ve told you not to smoke?” said Juliet taking the cigarette off her. “You won’t ever feel better if you go on smoking this rubbish!”
Her reprimand didn’t make disappear that smile from the African woman’s face. “You right, sista. Sorry. You leavin’ sista?”
“I’m going to England. My brother is in hospital, he’s broken his leg whilst playing football with his mates.”
“Oh, he need nurse then,” laughed Nelly. “But you come back ‘ere when he fine?”
Juliet smiled at her sweetly and said, “Don’t worry, Nelly. I’ll be back in a week.” She then hugged the African woman warning her again not to smoke.
“You very pretty woman with these clothes, sista,” said Nelly. “It’s pity you don’t marry.”

Dawn, her best friend, a Kenyan doctor who had studied medicine in the States, was waiting for her to drive her to the airport. She smiled at Juliet as she approached. “I agree with Nelly,” she said before getting into her car. Juliet’s reply was a scowl which made her friend burst out laughing.

Juliet raised her green eyes at the cloudy London sky whilst getting off the plane. It reminded her of the last time she had been in England, three years ago, to attend her father’s funeral. The sky was grey and it had been raining the whole day. She was coming back home, but she felt as if she had never been here. Her home now was a village on the northeast slopes of Mount Kenya where she had moved to work as a nurse in a small hospital five years ago. The closest big town, Meru, was two hours away, about five miles north of the equator, at approximately 5,000 feet altitude.

Having collected her luggage, she got ready to meet James, her brother’s friend. Mark had given her James’s detailed description: a five foot five high chunky lad with short brown hair and a beard wearing blue jeans, a grey jacket and sneakers. Mark had also said that he had shown James one of her most recent pictures and had warned her about his powerful handshake. She looked around and spotted him in the crowd immediately. As she smiled shyly at him, he waved and smiled back at her. Juliet put her suitcases down and the two of them shook their hands.

“Mark was right about your handshake,” she grimaced trying to smile.
“Oops, I’m sorry! Hope your hand’s okay,” he smiled slightly embarrassed.
“It’s no problem. Thanks for coming, by the way. You didn’t need to bother yourself, as you can see I don’t have much.”
James took Juliet’s suitcases and they walked towards the exit. “What bother? Mark asked me a favour and I couldn’t say no. Plus, I have to feed his fish…hoping they’re still alive. Anyway, the pictures he showed me of you don’t do you justice.” She said nothing as she was too embarrasses for speaking anything. “Indeed, you’re a lot prettier.”
James gave the suitcases to a taxi driver who put them into the boot, whilst he opened the door and let Juliet get into the cab before him.

During the journey towards Mark’s house, at first, none of the two spoke a word. James was the one who broke the awkward silence as the cab stopped at a light traffic.
“Y’know, your brother has talked to me about you a bit. He’s devoted to you.”
Juliet couldn’t help smiling at James’s words. “I’m pleased to know that. I wonder what he told you.”
“Not much apart from the fact you’re a couple of years older and work in a hospital in Kenya. But the most curious thing is that we share the same initial, miss Juliet Dorothy Blackwood. Probably, you don’t know that I come from Blackwood in Wales.”
“Oh, really?” she smiled,
“Yep! You know, that’s the first time I meet somebody whose initials are JDB. I wonder whether this means something…too many coincidence, don’t you agree?” he said looking at her straight in the eye. “Ah, Mark also told me not to call you Jules as it annoys you…but I can’t assure you I won’t. Annoying people, and annoying you, might be very funny.” He winked at her with a cheeky smile making her turn red.

Once at Mark’s house, James carried Juliet’s luggage upstairs to the spare room as his friend had told him to do. The house wasn’t very large, but it was perfect for a single like Mark and his fish. Entering, Juliet noticed there were many pictures of the two of them when they were kids and of their mum. No trace of their dad photos.
James then went back downstairs walking closer to the aquarium and said, “Hi guys! How you doin’ today? Are you hungry?”
Juliet looked at him perplexed as she came down the stairs. “Do you usually talk to fish?”
He turned around and giggled, “No. Not really. Your brother asked me to and let me say that I feel utterly dumb.”
“You shouldn’t do everything he asks you to. I think I’ll take a shower before going to hospital.”
“OK. I’ll have a fag outside whilst waiting for you.”

Mark cried her sister’s name as she entered his room followed by James. She ran towards his brother and they hugged each other both smiling widely. Then, Juliet sat down in the bed holding his brother’s hand in hers. James left them alone aware that they had so many things to tell each other. Mark could hardly hold back his excitement, his green eyes shining brightly. They had last seen each other last year when he spent a couple of weeks in Kenya at Christmas time.

“So you talked to James about me. But why didn’t you tell him everything?”
“Don’t tell me he’s already tried it on with you? He wasted no time!” he chuckled,
“Look, there’s nothing funny with it.”
“Oh yeah, you’re right. Poor boy, I wish I had seen his face when you told him!”
“Actually, I didn’t.”
“You didn’t? How come?”
“Erm…I don’t know,” she shrugged. “But I’ll do it at the first occasion,” she added firmly. “You still haven’t answered my question.” Mark threw his head on the other side refusing to give her sister an answer. Juliet moved his face with her hand but he still didn’t look at her. “Mark?”
“You should know why I didn’t,” replied her brother harshly.
Juliet looked up shaking her head slowly. She took a deep breath and said, “I can’t believe you still haven’t accepted it after nine years.”
“How can you expect me to?”
“Please Mark, we’ve talked about this enough and I don’t want…”
“I do want to talk about this again. Sorry Jules, but I really can’t accept that you’ve given up all your dreams and hopes.”

She stood up and tried to keep her voice low. “What dreams? What hopes?”
“Oh, please Jules! Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. Remember when we were kids? You just couldn’t stop saying how much you wanted a family one day.”
She was by the window now looking out. Mark’s words caused a sudden stab of pain in the chest. Her eyes filled with tears but she managed not to cry. “Things have changed. I have too.”
Her brother cupped his face in his hands and apologized to her. His words had opened up old wounds, horrible wounds that he knew could have never healed completely. “If mum would’ve been there, she had never allowed him to do it,” he said sadly.
“I know. But I forgave him.”
“I haven’t and I won’t ever. He was your father, he should’ve helped you not turn his back on you. I miss you, Jules. More and more day after day.”
“I miss you too.”
“Stay here then. There are tons of people you can help in here as well.”
“It wouldn’t be the same,” she said sadly looking at him.

James was having a cigarette outside when Juliet left the hospital. As soon as he saw her, he walked towards her and handed her a piece of paper with his phone number. He told her to call him anytime for any reason. She thanked him and walked away. She stopped after a few steps and turned around.
“Would you like to keep me company at dinner?”
“I’d be glad to,” he smiled.
“Good. At 7?”
“At 7. See ya later.”

Juliet was exhausted when she got back home. It was almost 3pm and had all the time to take a nap before preparing dinner. Fridge and freezer were crammed full of her favourite food. There were things, like mozzarella, she hadn’t eaten in ages. Mark had given James a list of the things he had to buy for her: various types of vegetables, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, peas, zucchini, mushrooms; then red apples and oranges…There were food enough for a couple of weeks at least. She was starting thinking of what she could cook, but there was a problem. She had no idea about James’s tasted regarding food. She decided to call and ask him, so she wouldn’t run the risk of cooking something he didn’t like. She thought to prepare a risotto with mushrooms, a spinach and bacon omelette and salad. James was looking forward to have dinner. As she put down the phone she wondered whether she had done the right thing. The reason why she had invited him was that she wanted to do something to show him her gratitude. But, perhaps, that was not what he thought.

Punctually at 7, James arrived bringing a bottle of red wine. As he stepped in, he gave her a soft kiss on the cheek and whispered she looked very pretty. She stood by the door in bewilderment for a moment while he took his jacket off and hung it on a hook. He then followed her in the kitchen where the table was already set. Juliet searched for a corkscrew in the drawers, and when she found it, she handed it to him. He filled their glasses with the wine and the two of them sat down.

They talked a lot during the meal, mostly about Juliet’s life in Kenya. James was eager to learn about it and couldn’t stop making questions. She answered to all of them enthusiastically letting him realize that she absolutely loved her job and living in Africa.
“And what do you do in your spare time?” asked James pouring some wine into her glass.
“Erm…nothing,” she replied shyly playing with her fork. “I stay in, I read something.”
“Tomorrow we go out. We might go and have a pint, or even better, we might go to this club in Soho. I’m sure you’ll like it.”
“I can’t, sorry.”
“C’mon, you’re on holiday! You need and deserve a diversion, my dear.” He smiled looking at her straight in the eye while his hand grasped hers.

“I really can’t,” she said withdrawing her hand and getting up. She took her plate and placed it in the basin. “There’s something you must know.” She then went back to sit.
“Hang on, don’t say anything,” interjected James shaking his head. “I should’ve thought about it. How stupid! You have a boyfriend, haven’t you?”
Juliet couldn’t help but smile. “No, I have no boyfriend.” She then paused and tried to find the easiest way to tell him the truth. “I am a…I am a nun.”
“You a nun?” mumbled James, “A true nun with black tunic and veil?” She nodded. “Oh my! You don’t look like a nun at all. You are so…erm…forget it.”
“I’m sorry. I should have told you at once.”
“Ahem…Mark should’ve done it.”

Part 2 >>>

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