Saturdays were special in the Karimi household. Aunty Sue would make us pancakes and sausages then Mum would turn on the radio and blast country music to let us know that breakfast was ready. My brothers and I would run downstairs, sometimes tripping over each other, so we could sit next to our father. Dad, how I miss that man.
He had the most interesting stories which he would tell at any opportunity, especially during Saturday breakfast. He would also sneak an extra sausage for whoever was seated next to him. That was the main reason we fought for that spot.
During one of his story narrations, my eyes locked in on Aunty Sue who was all the way in the kitchen, devouring her breakfast. I noticed how much I looked like her. It wasn’t the first time I had noticed our similarities but, at that time, I couldn’t shake it.
“Dad, how come I look like Aunty Sue and I don’t look like you or Mum?” I asked innocently but the reaction I got wasn’t what I expected.
“Don’t interrupt your father!” my mother barked. “Go and help Aunty in the kitchen.”
We argued a bit which seemed to irk my father.
“Girls, please stop arguing.” He said in a gentle but firm voice while keeping his eyes on me.
Whenever he intervened, the arguments would stop immediately.
“Of course, you look like me. You also look like Aunty Sue because she is Mum’s sister. Sometimes, kids end up looking like their aunts and uncles.” My father added.
Despite my father assuring me that I looked like him, I never saw it and the older I got, the less I looked like any of them and the more I looked like Aunty Sue. Eventually, Aunty Sue left our home and I never saw her again.
I may have been young but I always remembered her. She was more than a nanny. She was part of our family and made every day better.
I kept asking about her, sometimes in front of my mother and other times when my father and I were alone.
Eventually, my father got tired of the question and decided to end it once and for all.
“Mercy, let’s go to the garden to pick some flowers.” He suggested, knowing the boys would never be interested in picking flowers.
That was our secret code to sneak away from the rest of the family and catch up.
“How are you doing?” He asked.
“You know, people come and go. It’s a normal part of life. Your aunt moved abroad and it’s hard for her to communicate but whenever she calls she always asks about you and she wants you to know that she loves you very much.”
She calls?” I asked curiously.
“Yes, but you’re usually in school.”
“Tell her to call when I’m not in school.”
“That’s difficult for her because of the time difference and her work.”
“Okay, I miss her so much. Life isn’t the same without her. Mum is more harsh towards me. I don’t think she likes me.” I said, almost in tears.
“Nonsense. She adores you.” My father tried to reassure me.
“Why is she always arguing with me?”
“She’s not arguing with you. She’s guiding you. You’re becoming a woman now and you have to be careful out there. The world isn’t very nice to women. Ask your mother.”
“But…”
“But nothing. Promise me that you’ll be nice to your mother.”
“Okay. I promise.”
I apologized to my mother and after that day, we never disagreed even when she tried to push my buttons. However, we had our biggest fight at my father’s funeral.
**********************************************
I got a call from my mother which I was tempted to ignore since I wasn’t in a mood to talk to her.
“Hi, Mercy.” My mother said which made me think something was wrong because she rarely called me by my English name.
“Hi, mum.”
“I need you to come home right now.”
The request wasn’t unusual. My mother always wanted me to be home and even objected to me living in a hostel when I joined the university. However, her tone sounded urgent.
I packed a small bag of clothes and went to the bus station to board a bus to town. During the ride home, I couldn’t stop thinking about what could be so urgent that my mother wanted me home immediately. I don’t even know how I got home. It felt like I teleported because everything was a blur.
When I got home, I was greeted by sombre faces. I was still confused about what was happening. After a quick look around the room, I noticed my father was missing.
“Where’s dad?” I asked innocently which made my mother burst out in tears.
My brother finally came to embrace me and pulled me to the couch.
“Dad is gone.” Rob, my other brother said.
“Gone where?”
I either didn’t want to accept the reality or I really didn’t believe my father had passed away because it took me several minutes to realize what they meant.
“What happened?” I asked in a calm low tone trying not to break down in tears.
“He was in an accident.”
“Why are we still here? Shouldn’t we be at the hospital?” I asked.
It seemed like my mother didn’t know what to do. So, I knew that I had to do most of the work to give my father a decent send-off.
We were among the last people in his family to arrive at the hospital which painted a bad image of us. However, everyone was civil about it. My grandmother, uncles and aunts embraced us and mourned the loss of our father with us.
We took charge of arranging the funeral but the whole family came together to support. Most of the family members left the hospital one by one and by evening, it was just my mother, my brothers and I who were left.
While we were still at the hospital, my mother got a call and she dashed out to answer it. She was gone for more than 30 minutes which made me a bit worried so I went to look for her.
I wandered for a while before spotting her and another woman near the parking lot. As I approached them, I noticed that the woman looked familiar.
“Aunt Sue?” I shouted, catching their attention.
My mother came towards me as Aunt Sue headed in the opposite direction.
“I want to talk to Aunt Sue,” I said, as I tried to follow her.
“She’s leaving. You’ll talk tomorrow at the house.” My mother answered as she pulled me back.
I managed to pull away from my mother and ran towards Aunt Sue before she could leave.
”Why are you leaving? We haven’t seen you in years.” I said to her.
”We can’t talk right now but I have something important to tell you.” She said in a hurry before my mother caught up to us and grabbed me.
Aunt Sue left and I didn’t see her again throughout the funeral arrangements. I kept hoping she would show up before the funeral but she didn’t. However, I was too occupied with the funeral arrangements to think about it too much.
Planning a funeral wasn’t easy but it was particularly hard for me since I was not just planning the funeral but also taking care of the whole family who were in despair after the sudden loss. I didn’t have time to cry yet I felt like my heart was going to explode due to grief.
Fortunately, the planning committee was very helpful. Any instructions I gave them were executed perfectly. However, I had to make most, if not all the decisions by myself according to my father’s will. My grandparents tried to help fulfil my father’s wishes but they were too old and I didn’t want to bother them too much. My mother was too grief-stricken to help much.
Things got overwhelming and I nearly broke down several times but we managed to complete the arrangements on time.
“You’ve done a good job. Our father would be proud.” George said.
The day before the funeral, I planned an intimate dinner with my father’s close relatives and us. I thought it was a good idea to bring us all together one last time before the final goodbye.
We were all having a good time and sharing stories about my father but every time I talked about him, my mother would interrupt me. I didn’t want to let anything spoil my mood, especially a few hours before my father’s funeral so I let it go.
“Let’s try and act civil at the funeral,” I said to her after the guests left.
“Don’t tell me what to do. Go and tell your mother.” She barked.
Her last comment caught me off-guard but before I could confront her, she went to her room and locked herself in as she always did.
**********************************************
The following day, I tried to bring it up but she acted like she didn’t know what I was talking about. I brushed it off and prepared myself for the funeral.
When we got to the church, I noticed a familiar face seated in a corner. It was Aunty Sue. I couldn’t believe that I was seeing again. I ran to her and hugged her tightly then finally broke down in tears while embracing her.
“You’re here,” I said.
“Of course I am. How can I miss your father’s funeral even though your mother tried to stop me?”
“I’m so happy you made it,” I said, wiping away my tears.
“Look at you. You’re grown up so much. You’re a woman now.” She said with a huge smile.
“You haven’t changed much. You still look as beautiful as I remember.”
“You’re so sweet.”
While we were catching up, my mother arrived at the church and saw Aunty Sue which sent her into a rage. She was so uncontrollable that some of our relatives had to escort us outside.
My mother was still furious so one of my father’s sisters, Aunt Diana, stayed with us to try and calm her down.
“Relax, Rachel. You’re causing a scene.”
“What is she doing here?”
“What do you mean? She’s your sister.” I said.
“I wasn’t talking to you. What are you doing here? I thought I told you not to come.”
“I’m here to mourn Henry’s death.”
“This is an invite-only event.” My mother tried to tell her.
“She’s my guest.” I tried to defend her.
“Ladies, let’s not do this right now.”
Finally, Aunt Diana managed to control the situation and we went back inside. I stayed with Aunt Sue the whole day until the funeral was over.
“Let’s go and have dinner at home. I’ve missed your food.” I suggested.
“Okay.”
I explained to Aunt Diana what we had planned and she tagged along.
“The funeral was so good.” Aunt Sue said as she prepared dinner.
“It was all thanks to this lovely lady.”
“You did all that? I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks. It feels good to hear those words.”
“Hasn’t your mother told you?”
“No, we’ve hardly spoken to each other during this period. You know we’ve never gotten along.”
“Don’t worry. I’m here for you.” Aunt Sue comforted me.
As we enjoyed dinner, my mother and brothers arrived. I expected her to cause problems but she was calm. She greeted Aunt Sue and apologized for her behaviour. She also apologized to me and asked to talk to me.
“I’m the one who told Aunt Sue about Dad’s death but I didn’t think she would show up to the hospital or funeral which was why I was a bit angry. However, I think it’s time you know the truth.” She said once we were in her bedroom.
“What’s going on?” I asked softly.
“I’m not your biological mother.”
“What?” I nearly dropped to the floor.
“Your father and I really wanted a baby.” She started. “We had tried for years with nothing and then I found out that he was having an affair with a much younger woman. He stopped when I confronted him but it was already too late. The girl was pregnant and she wanted to keep the baby. Since we didn’t have a baby, we convinced her to have the baby and live with us but we would raise the baby as our own. After a bit of persuasion, she agreed. The baby is you and the mother… The mother is Aunt Sue. She’s your real mother.”
“You’re lying. You’ve never loved me and now you’re trying to claim that I’m an illegitimate daughter.”
“You’re not an illegitimate daughter. You’re our daughter.” My mother said with tears still flowing down her face.
“No. You’re lying.” I said, running out of the bedroom.
“What’s wrong?” Aunt Sue asked me.
“Is it true?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you my biological mum?”
She was silent and looked at Aunt Diana who nodded her head before leaving the room with my brothers.
“Yes, it is.” Aunt Sue replied while we were alone.
My mother joined us shortly but stayed silent.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Your father wanted us to wait for the right time and unfortunately, he passed away before he could tell you.” She explained.
“I still don’t believe it.” I paused as I processed the information she had given me. “Why did you leave?”
”Your parents weren’t ready for you to know the truth but I was. We had a disagreement and they asked me to leave. However, it was all for your benefit. I didn’t have any means to provide for you yet they had already given you a great life.” Aunt Sue replied.
“Is that why mum was hostile towards you at the hospital and funeral?”
”Yes, she thought I would tell you the secret that day but I just wanted to hug and comfort you, my baby.”
We all embraced each other tightly.
”What about my brothers?” I asked, looking at my mother.
”They’re my biological children. It turns out, I wasn’t infertile. It was just not my time. A few years after you were born, I ended up getting pregnant then I was blessed with another bundle of joy shortly after George was born.”
”Wow, I didn’t know you had been through so much. I’ve been giving you such a hard time yet you were fighting your own battles in secret.”
”No, honey. You’re the best daughter anyone could ask for. Your father also left a message for you in the will. Whenever you’re ready, we’ll go to the lawyer’s office to read the rest of the will. Nothing has changed. You’re a part of us and we love you the same.”
We went to the lawyer’s office early in the morning and sure enough, my father had explained the same thing my mother and Aunt Sue told me. She was indeed my real mother.
It felt like my whole life had been a lie. However, my mother and Aunt Sue comforted me and assured me that nothing had changed.
“You now have two mothers. How lucky you are.” My mother said.
From that day, Aunt Sue, who was now Mum, and I began our lives as mother and daughter. We caught up on all the moments we had missed. My mother and I also worked on our relationship. We became the close-knit family that we once were.
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This story first came out on the blog as Short Story: My Mother And I Had A Confrontation At My Father’s Funeral Part 1 and Short Story: My Mother And I Had A Confrontation At My Father’s Funeral Part 2; Secrets Are Revealed
