Chapter Thirty-Seven #2
‘I actually was,’ she says, scrubbing her finger over a spot of oil she managed to spill on the tablecloth.
‘First thing I do when I wake up is tune in to hear your voice. From way back since you started the show, actually.’ The sincerity in her voice sounds soft, self-conscious, and Anika can sense that a joke Cam was planning has dissolved into appreciation.
Her face heats at her admission. It’s true, even if she’s just listening on her phone while brushing her teeth in Cam’s bathroom.
On the evenings they’ve spent the night together in the last week or so, he’s left her sleeping in his bed to head to work at the crack of dawn, trusting that she’d be fine to just pull the door shut after her. Trusting her with all his things.
‘I like that,’ Cam says to her simply, in response to her confession. Their fingers intertwine again across the table just as two waiters appear carrying the first of many plates that begin to cover the table’s surface – bowls of rice, stews, banku, tilapia, kelewele and more.
‘Blimey,’ Anika mutters under her breath, even as the heavenly smells hit her nostrils. ‘Aunty Nadia is not messing about!’
Cam bugs his eyes out in agreement, but, just as they’re about to dig in, Anika sees him look up over her shoulder towards the restaurant’s entrance.
He shakes his head and puts down the spoon he was using to serve food.
‘I hadn’t realised she was coming in here tonight.
They practically never go out on a weeknight, man. ’ He looks uncertain. ‘My mum’s here.’
‘OK, no prob—’
‘Listen, I was round there the day before yesterday. I mentioned we’d been seeing each other …
’ Cam looks past Anika towards the entrance again.
She turns to look over her shoulder to see Cam’s mother warmly greeting a table full of people near the door.
She can’t help a little thrill of giddiness that he’s told his mum about her, though she’s not sure where he’s going with this.
‘Oh, yeah?’
‘Yeah.’ He scratches his temple. ‘Thing is, when I said your name, Mum said that a friend of hers knew your mum, and it came up about you having been our neighbour back then …’
‘OK … ?’
His jaw tightens. ‘I guess they’ve also been talking about you going to hospital. You know how aunties get. I told her that you’re fine, but I just wanted to warn you in case that comes up, too …’
‘Oh!’ Anika straightens up again, shaking her head dismissively. ‘Don’t worry about that part.’ Cam regards her with a mildly puzzled expression. Anika fixes a smile on her face as Gifty Asiedu roams into view.
‘Is that my son?’ she asks gregariously, her tall, ample figure appearing beside her table. She’s dressed in a burnt-orange two-piece, her wig black with glossy curls. Cam stands to greet her as she pulls him into a light hug. Anika stands, too.
‘Mum, this is Anika,’ he says, and Anika can see him shooting bubbles of meaning towards his mother with his eyes, though Gifty ignores him.
‘Hello, Aunty,’ Anika says politely, smiling.
‘This is your friend who used to be our neighbour?’
Cam affirms that she is, glancing at Anika and then down at the table.
‘Ah, OK …’ Gifty looks her up and down, lingering around her midriff. ‘How is … uh …’ She hesitates. Anika reaches calmly down to grab her napkin and dab it to the corners of her mouth to hide her faint smile. ‘How is your mother?’ Gifty finally says.
God bless that diary. ‘She’s good, thank you. She moved up to Highgate with her new husband a couple of years ago.’
Cam’s mother nods. ‘Mmhmm, yes, that is what I heard. Say hello to her for me, OK?’ Her eyes linger for a while longer, then eventually turn towards Cam.
‘Where is your Aunty Nadia?’ He nods towards the kitchen, but his mother doesn’t move away yet.
She looks between the two of them wordlessly, her expression some strange mixture of pleased and sorrowful.
She reaches down and pats both their arms before turning away.
When his mum is out of earshot, Cam exhales. He pauses for a moment, then picks up his fork again. ‘What we saying, on the pain scale?’ Anika half wonders if he’s talking to her or himself.
‘It was fine, right?’ She watches him empathetically.
‘Yeah.’ He ponders. ‘Yeah.’ He meets her eye, the twinkle in them returning. ‘We’re lucky my other aunties aren’t in tonight; there’d probably be talk of hats and churches by now.’
Anika chews a mouthful of food, her smile ambiguous. ‘Would that be so bad?’
Cam arches an eyebrow. ‘Are you about to get down on bended knee? I’m a modern man, you know. Rip up the rule book, beautiful, let’s see what happens, eh?’
They both laugh, then Cam takes a sip of his wine, studying the stem of the glass. Anika looks up from her plate to see his expression has grown more serious again.
‘I think we’re still raw over Zay, even after all this time.’
Anika nods, glad he’s verbalised it. ‘I get that.’
‘The thought of getting close and then losing someone …’ She feels a slight alarm, realising what he might be alluding to.
‘Are we getting close?’ Anika asks softly, a half-smile playing on her lips. Before he can answer, she draws in a breath. ‘I’m not going anywhere, Cam.’
He tilts his chin upwards – a Cam-nod – eyeing her from under his long lashes.
‘Good.’ Straightening, he pats his stomach.
‘Good,’ he says again, an affirmative. ‘True say, you’d never know what you’ve just come out the other side of.
’ He smiles at her. ‘But since you have, I know you’ve got super-strength.
Dealing with my fam is light work compared to all that. ’
Anika nods, returning his smile but feeling a bit on edge.
She thinks of Wendy calling her a ‘warrior’ for having pulled through it all, and how hard it made her jaw clench.
She thinks of Shameeka getting down on her knees to pray for her, and of the hopeful, worried look that resides in her own mother’s eyes whenever she looks at Anika.
They’re all mistaken to think that way – to still think that something could go wrong.
She reaches for Cam’s hand again, suddenly keen to touch him, to centre herself back in the present. Needing it, because she can’t commit to a future if the present feels uncertain. But you have the power now. Anika watches as Cam leans forward and raises her hand to kiss her knuckles.
Yes. I’ll write it all right.