by S M Mala
‘I’m pleased you’re happy now.’
‘I like Esme. She’s nice to me.’
Ignoring the comment, he started the van and drove out of the drive, heading towards his mother's home.
Mali sang all the way there which made him smile, but he kept thinking about Esme. She had a really good way with his daughter, and it was pretty rare that Mali liked another female, other than his mother and aunts.
‘She a Jew,’ Mali said, making him break out of his thought.
‘Pardon?’
‘That girl.’
‘What girl?’
‘Who hurt my hair,’ Mali replied, looking at him as if he were stupid. ‘Nana said.’
‘I see,’ he said, trying not to laugh at the comment.
‘Not like her,’ she continued, looking at him. ‘Ugly.’
‘That’s not nice and you better not say that,’ he replied, looking at his mischievous daughter. ‘Be nice.’
‘I not want her to be my mummy.’ Then she folded her arms and pouted. ‘I be sick.’
‘Fine,’ he said and read the text from his mother, saying to go straight to the hairdressers.
Parking up, he took Mali out. Her good humour disappeared when she looked at the hairdressers as if not trusting the place.
‘I not come here again. Promise me daddy?’ she said, holding tightly onto his hand. ‘Not like it.’
Leon wondered if that was a sign that this woman wasn’t going to be up to scratch.
He walked into the place and was met with a fume of hairspray, and the sound of hairdryers.
‘Mali!’ someone screamed out and Leon felt the little hand squeeze him tightly.
A tall woman with a long nose and shoulder length, light brown hair came rushing towards his daughter. It was obviously Melanie. She was extremely slim, with a fit body and very long legs.
‘How are you?’ the woman asked, bending down to look at Mali. Leon noticed the child frown. ‘Your fringe has grown.’
‘You not hurt my hair,’ Mali said, looking like she was going to cry. ‘I not like you!’
‘Mali, that’s rude,’ said Leon, noticing his mother was having her hair done. She flashed him a look towards the woman who didn’t look impressed by the comment. ‘I’m sorry about her. She’s been a little upset this morning.’
‘Nana!’ screamed out Mali, running up to Barbara. ‘I not want to get my hair hurt!’
There was a massive sound of sympathetic echoes around the salon.
‘Hi, I’m Melanie,’ the woman said, smiling at him. ‘You probably don’t remember me, do you?’
She was nearly as tall as him and was quite striking. The woman was pretty but not naturally so. There was a lot of make-up, and it looked like her boobs weren’t real. Too large and too high, or she had a bra that made them look like that.
The package wasn’t that bad plus she looked way older than twenty-five years.
‘I do,’ he lied, shaking her hand before whispering. ‘Mali doesn’t like getting her haircut so could I stay with her?’
Just then, he noticed that all the women and the two male stylists were staring at him.
He felt a little embarrassed and noticed his mother was grinning.
‘I told you he was handsome,’ Barbara said proudly.
‘He’s hot!’ the older male stylist said, grinning, revealing incredibly white teeth.
‘Right,’ Leon said, feeling totally embarrassed. ‘Can we get Mali’s haircut?’
It was the sound of Mali bursting into tears that managed to drown the sound of everything in the salon.
‘Mummy, what have you got here?’
Alfie was standing by the large doors overlooking the garden. ‘And it isn’t even my birthday.’
‘What?’ she said, concentrating on the tagine.
‘It’s pardon. Him! There!’
Leon had his back to them, bending over and looking at the camellia bush.
‘Mr Reeves!’ shouted out Mali and Esme had to do a double-take. ‘Mr Reeves!’
‘Oh my fuck!’ Alfie said, as Esme gently punched his arm. ‘I don’t believe it!’
Mali ran up to the door, and she noticed Leon stood up and turned around, then looked stunned.
‘Hello there!’ Alfie said, opening the doors as Mali seemed extremely happy, jumping up and down and clapping. ‘How are you Mali?’
‘Are you here for lunch?’ she asked, delighted to see him. ‘You know Esme?’
‘I certainly do,’ said Alfie, looking at Leon. Then he turned to Esme. ‘I’m Mali’s teacher.’
‘Oh?’ she replied, knowing what she had told Leon. ‘Oh!’
‘It’s fine,’ Alfie replied, before looking down at Mali. ‘I’m pretty open about things.’
Esme noticed Leon look at her then at Alfie then at her again.
He broke out into a wide smile before saying, ‘I’m Leon. Why didn’t I see it?’
‘I got the good looks,’ laughed Alfie, shaking Leon’s hand. ‘Good to see you again.’
‘How do you know Esme?’ Mali asked, wiping her feet continuously before walking in and taking off her shoes. ‘You her friend?’
‘I’m her son.’
The little girl’s face was a picture. Her mouth dropped open as she stared at the pair of them. Esme wanted to laugh at the doll like expression. Then she shook her head before looking up at Leon, who was smiling at her.
‘What do we have here?’ asked Steph, walking into the room, wearing a long Chinese dress and holding a glass of wine. ‘I’m the grandmother, not Esme’s mother, but I gave birth to Alfie’s father.’
‘Esme is your mum?’ Mali asked, walking closer to Alfie. ‘But you are my teacher.’
‘I am her son and I am a teacher.’ Alfie looked at Esme and frowned. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you knew Mali went to my school?’
‘I never thought you’d be teaching her.’
‘Goes to show that you never listen, mother,’ he smiled before letting out a loud sigh. ‘You can call me Alfie when we meet, but in school, it’s Mr Reeves.’
‘Yes, Mr Alfie,’ Mali replied, grabbing his hand and pulling him along the room towards the television. ‘I want to show you a programme I watch.’
‘Mali, you’ve come here for lunch,’ Leon said, shaking his head from side to side before handing over a bottle of wine. ‘He’s your son? The male model teacher?’
‘And you are?’ Steph put her hand out.
‘Leon, I live next door.’
‘I’m called Steph and isn’t your child gorgeous!’ Then she looked out of the window. ‘Isn’t your wife joining us?’
‘I’m single.’
‘Ah, a single parent family just like this one,’ Steph said and Esme could see the old woman was ticking something in her head. ‘Though she did have me, and her mother before she sadly passed away. Let me get you a drink.’
Esme was a little stuck on what to do. Fixing up Alfie with a father from his pupil’s class wasn’t the wisest move. She wondered how it could work and if it was allowed.
Then she glanced over at Leon, who was talking to Steph and felt an odd sensation in her gut.
She didn’t want it to work.
Had the world been working in her favour, Leon would be older, straight and should fancy her.
Sadly, she looked at the rice cooking away and realised the world had been working against her for a very long time.
Mali was the centre of attention all through lunch and made a point of sitting in between Alfie and her dad, chatting happily away.
Esme looked adoringly at her son, who seemed to be interested in the little girl’s conversation while Leon proudly smiled. Then she heard a sigh from Steph, who was watching her.
‘More tagine?’ asked Esme, reaching for the spoon.
‘A little,’ said Steph, moving closer and whispering. ‘You’re pretty transparent, do you know that?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Trying to fix your son u
p with the neighbour, who happens to have a beautiful child.’ Dropping the spoon, she looked at Steph before grimacing. ‘You know Vincent’s coming round to pick up Alfie, don’t you?’
‘No.’ She was trying to hide her annoyance at meeting the man. ‘He better not speak to me.’
‘Frankly, he’s too scared.’
‘He treats my son like shit,’ hissed Esme. ‘And I’m not going to be pleasant about it.’
‘It’s Alfie’s choice.’
‘He deserves better.’
‘And so do you.’ Steph then cleared her throat before speaking up. ‘I hope you’re still not entertaining the thought of getting together with Ralph, are you?’
‘Steph!’ she shouted out loudly, seeing the other three look at her. ‘Why’d you say that?’
‘I certainly won’t come for lunch if you invite him.’
‘Why are you talking about that man?’ asked Mali, putting a spoonful of rice into her mouth but missing, so the grains fell onto her plate. ‘He not nice and never smiles at me.’
‘That’s because you’re constantly frowning at him,’ Leon gently said, getting her spoon and starting to feed her. ‘You should smile.’
Esme watched in awe at how Leon was looking after his child.
She simply thought it was the most adorable thing ever.
Then she realised Alfie was smiling at her before looking at Leon. When she turned to Steph, the woman was doing the same thing.
The pair looked at each other before glancing back at her then Leon.
‘Leon knows Ethan,’ Esme blurted out, hoping to guide the two on Leon’s sexuality.
‘Really?’ Alfie asked, looking perplexed. ‘I’ve not seen him in ages. I should give him a ring. How is he?’
‘Very well, from what he said,’ replied Leon, starting to blush. ‘How do you know him?’
‘We supported each other when things were tough as teenagers. To be honest, he’s a bit older and was very supportive of me. Ethan had a hard time. He’s qualified now, isn’t he?’
‘I think so.’
‘How do you know Ethan?’ asked Steph, filling up their glasses of wine.
‘Who is Ethan?’ asked Mali, letting her dad feed her as she grinned at Esme. ‘Is he a teacher?’
‘He’s a doctor,’ replied Leon. ‘Is that enough? Are you full?’ Mali nodded as he wiped her mouth. Then he looked up at Steph, before glancing at Esme. ‘I do some odd jobs in his home.’
She couldn’t hold in the laughter so let out a small chuckle before standing up.
‘What’s so funny?’ Leon asked, blushing.
‘Shoots and leaves,’ was the only thing she could say, seeing he was getting embarrassed. ‘When are you going to come and sort out my garden?’
‘You’re a gardener?’ asked Steph, looking impressed. ‘It’s good that people work with their hands, like Esme. People from good trades are missing. Too many ambitious men and women just want to rule the world.’
‘Why?’ Mali asked, looking genuinely interested.
‘Politics, my sweet child,’ the older woman said and Alfie rolled his eyes. ‘Never get involved in that. Be a gardener like your father or something where you can help people.’
‘So you know, just in case my mother hasn’t mentioned it, my father is involved in politics in the States, much against my grandmother’s wishes,’ Alfie said, looking at Steph. ‘We both think he’s a little hypocritical but I won’t go into that.’
‘What’s hippocratical mean?’ asked Mali, looking up at Alfie.
‘It means when someone says something but believes the opposite.’
‘Like Christmas?’ she asked, nodding in agreement. ‘My Nana says baby Jesus not got born, but she likes Christmas, so she is hippocratical.’
‘Mali, that’s not fair,’ whispered Leon, looking into his daughter’s eyes. ‘She’s Jewish and they don’t believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God.’
‘He not son of God, he son of Mary and Joseph. So is Nana right?’
‘You’re Jewish?’ grinned Steph, sitting up straight. ‘I have many Jewish friends. I’m currently dating someone who’s Jewish.’
‘Really?’ asked Esme, not hearing about this before.
‘She looks a bit like you,’ continued Steph. ‘But more womanly.’
‘Womanly?’ Leon asked, looking puzzled.
‘There’s a five-year-old at the table,’ Esme said, shaking her head. ‘And she’s a little too young to hear about certain things.’
‘Why not?’ huffed Steph, draining the wine from her glass. ‘I wished I’d known more about it when I was younger.’
‘Grandmother, behave!’ laughed Alfie, starting to clear the dishes. ‘Mali has other things she needs to know about first, before landing in all this confusion about relationships, which reminds me. Vincent’s going to pick me up soon.’
‘That’s the problem. He picked you up and then keeps dumping you at his beck and call,’ Esme said under her breath so that only Leon could hear. ‘Old queer bastard!’
‘I’ll help with the dishes,’ Leon immediately said, jumping up to his feet and grabbing the plates. ‘It was a lovely meal.’
‘Can I stay for dinner?’ asked Mali. ‘I like your rice.’
‘I think if she had her own way, Esme would make you stay here for good,’ laughed out Steph as Esme caught her flashing a knowing look, then glanced at Leon. ‘So Mali, what do you want to be when you grow up?’
‘Oh please?’ laughed Alfie.
‘I want to be a frog,’ Mali said, in all seriousness, making Esme laugh as she turned to look at the child.
‘Why’s that?’ Steph asked, smiling at the comment.
‘They jump into ponds.’
‘Is that it?’
‘And get lots of kisses to turn into a prince.’
‘Or princesses.’
Esme cleared the plates and put them in the dishwasher. Leon was standing very close to her.
‘Can you stop mentioning the incident at Ethan’s place?’ he whispered and as Esme looked up, she could see he was genuinely upset. ‘I don’t need reminding that it was wrong.’
‘Oh no Leon, I didn’t mean to upset you,’ she said, touching his arm and experiencing another odd sensation. ‘Alfie knows Ethan and I thought you might have something in common.’
‘Like what?’
She didn’t want to state the obvious so thought hard.
‘Mutual friends,’ she smiled reassuringly. ‘You never know.’
‘Ethan’s about twenty-seven.’
‘I have young and old friends. Nothing wrong with that, is there?’
He gave her an odd look before glancing over his shoulder to look at Alfie then back at her. She couldn’t quite figure it out. Then realised it might have dawned on him that she was trying to fix him up with her son.
‘So the old boyfriend is coming round?’ he asked, looking straight into Esme’s eyes. ‘Maybe he’s a nice guy and you're overly protective of your son.’
‘He could do so much better.’
‘You sound like my mum.’
‘She probably wants you to find the right person.’
‘I’ve agreed to go out with her hairdresser,’ he said, grimacing then glancing at Esme.
‘That’s good,’ she genuinely said, seeing his mother had found him a nice young man, letting Esme off her rubbish matchmaking with Alfie.
‘It’s the hairdresser who Mali can’t stand.’
‘A woman?’
‘Yes, a woman.’ Then Leon looked puzzled as he shook his head and started to laugh. ‘Okay?’
‘Okay, what?’ she asked, not having any idea what he was talking about.
‘You’re funny,’ he smiled and kissed her gently on the cheek, making her skin tingle and raising her heart beat. ‘Really very funny.’
She had no idea what he was talking about, but really wished she was a gay single man, once again.
‘That’s how you know Ethan?’
Alfie was laughing in the school playground a few days later. ‘I see. That mother of mine is priceless!’
‘He kissed me on the cheek then I saw your mum.’ Leon was still laughing about Esme’s assumption that he was gay. ‘And she’s not said a word about thinking I was with him, but the comments all make sense.’
Leon watched Mali running around the playground with a couple of girls as he arrived to take her home.
‘And you know she was trying to fix us up, don’t you?’ smiled Alfie, putting his hand over his mouth. ‘Then when Vincent decided not to show up, I think she forgot about the matchmaking and seemed to be planning his murder along with my grandma.’ He let out a sigh and looked unhappy for a moment. ‘Men, aye?’
‘I won’t mention to anyone about your private life, promise.’
‘Right now, there’s nothing private about the whole thing,’ he said, stepping closer. ‘Are you going to tell my mum you’re not gay?’
‘It makes sense why she acts the way she does. The sympathetic glances and-.’
‘She does that to you too?’ laughed out Alfie, making a few mothers turn their heads. ‘I’ve spent most my life receiving ‘if only I could help you’ and the ‘my heart bleeds’ look that she does so well. I told her to stop doing it.’
‘Maybe she doesn’t realise.’
Leon heard Mali laugh then shrugged his shoulders.
‘Better get her back. My mother’s babysitting tonight.’
‘Going anywhere nice?’
‘Honestly? I’m not sure.’
Holding Mali’s hand all the way home and hearing her chatter about a new girl in her class she didn’t like, they reached their house.
‘Leon!’ shouted out Ralph, running across the road. ‘I’ve been hoping to bump into you.’
‘I not like him,’ Mali mumbled as Leon squeezed her hand. Then he noticed his mother walk out of the house and towards them. His child pulled her hand out of his, running away. ‘Nana! Can I have fish fingers and rice, please and thank you?’
‘Of course you can,’ Barbara replied and seemed entranced by the elegant figure of Ralph walking towards them. ‘Who’s he?’
‘The rich neighbour,’ whispered Leon, giving his mother a warning look. ‘Go back in.’
