The crowd laughed. Jana turned bright red, embarrassed that her daughter had made a scene. Imani giggled, then buried her face in her mother’s leg. Jana could feel everyone staring at her daughter. And staring at her.
What were they all thinking?Oh, there’s that little Suleiman-Malek girl. She’s so cute. She’s Jana Suleiman’s daughter, you know…Poor Rashida, having to take in Jana after her divorce.Or maybe some would think,You know, that child is illegitimate. The girl’s father had an affair with the mother. He was married.
Jana’s fingernails dug into her palms as she tried to calm her heart rate. She hated feeling so exposed. Nausea was building in her stomach, and she felt the prickle of sweat on her back. Jana looked away from her daughter, hoping the ceremony would continue, when she noticed Anil was watching her, and the expression on his face stopped Jana in her tracks. It wasn’t,Oh,look how cute our daughter is, or,Oh, how embarrassing, or even,You clearly didn’t train Imani well enough for this.
Nope. He looked…concerned. Supportive. He gave Jana an encouraging nod. It was a look that said,You’re doing fine. You got this.She held his gaze, telling her heart rate to slow and the muscles in her body to relax. She took a breath.
What was he thinking? Jana had thought that this was what she’d want her wedding to look like…Was this also what he would have wanted if she’d said yes that day?
This was torture—being here at a wedding with Anil. Jana tore her gaze away, feeling a sharp prickle behind her eyes.
The guitarist changed songs then, so Jana shooed Imani to go sit with her nanima. It was time for Kamila and Rohan to walk down the aisle. Asha discreetly kicked the mound of flower petals out of the way.
Rohan and Kamila looked incandescently happy walking down the aisle arm in arm. Jana had always known that Kamila and Rohan were perfect together—even when they were all kids. It took them over thirty years to get to this point, and Jana was so thrilled for her friends. But also…Jana didn’t think she’d ever felt so alone while surrounded by people. It wasn’t that she necessarily wanted to be coupled off like her friends but more that Jana wondered if anyone would ever want to be with her like that.
After the blessings and the nikah recitation, Rohan and Kamila said a few words to each other. It was adorable—Kamila was as confident as ever, but Rohan was completely unable to speak because he kept getting choked up. There was hooting and clapping when the bride and groom kissed, until a giraffe strolled by in front of them and stopped to look for a moment before walking on by. Everyone laughed.
Trays of tropical juices were handed out by a waiter, and Asha made a quick toast, followed by Zayan. And then the wedding ceremony was done. Everyone could mingle, eat, and congratulate the happy couple.
Of course, the food was phenomenal. The previous night at the hotel, they’d been served high-end Indian food, and here at the nikah ceremony, it was casual but delicious Tanzanian nyama choma, which translated to grilled meat. Kebobs, skewers of beef mishkaki, and bright red pili pili chicken were being grilled over charcoal. Fresh masala fries were brought out from the tent in big silver bowls. There were green salads, fragrant spiced rice, and a dessert tray filled with pastries and fruit. Plus, a stunning white cake dotted with simple buttercream roses. Everything looked amazing and tasted even better.
“Isn’t it kind of strange to be grilling all this meat in the middle of a game park?” Shelina asked while she and Jana were in line for more pili pili chicken. All the food was good, but this dish had always been one of Jana’s favorites.
Jana shrugged. “I doubt the lions care for spicy chicken. Plus, I assume this spot doesn’t have a lot of wildlife coming through it. That’s why it’s used for events.”
Elsie, who was nearby, talking to one of the cooks, shook her head. “Oh, thereareanimals here. That’s why we brought those guards.” She pointed to one of several armed guards who stood around the perimeter of the space. “But we’ve been doing events here for years. Animals don’t intrude on us. They might look, like that giraffe during the ceremony, but we are much too noisy for them to want to come closer. We do sometimes have to clear some animal dung before events.”
Shelina made a sour face, then looked down at the ground. “Ew. That’s gross.” Then she yelled to one of her sons who was sitting on the grass to get up.
Jana wasn’t afraid of a little dung. She’d encountered much worse when traveling. “What kind of dung?” she asked, curious.
“Elephant mostly,” Elsie answered. “Sometimes herds use this as a corridor to the watering hole. But there’s a shorter route that’s much more common. You two aren’t frightened of wild animals, are you? I can ask Mo over there to stay near you. He’s a very sharp shot.”
Shelina’s eyes widened, clearly horrified at the thought of an armed guard following her. Jana knew the guns were loaded with tranquilizer darts. She also knew that the darts took too long to work to be of much use in a sticky animal-versus-human situation.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing some elephants,” someone behind them said. Jana turned, then cringed (internally) to see that it was Farzana Aunty with Dr. Lopez. She’d been avoiding them all day. She made a quick scan to see where Anil was. He was quite a distance away with Zayan and Jerome.
“Did you see any on your game drive a few days ago?” Elsie asked Dr. Lopez. Jana fully expected that if the answer was no, Elsie would whip out her cell phone and arrange for someone to take Dr. Lopez to see some pachyderms immediately.
He laughed. “No, none, but there will be opportunities later. I would love to get a picture of an elephant now in the dusk light, though.”
“They are our daughter’s favorite animal,” Farzana said. “She wanted to come along on this trip, but she’s planning her own wedding right now.”
“Oh, congratulations!” Elsie said. Farzana Aunty and Elsie started talking about the upcoming wedding.
Jana stood awkwardly, smiling at Dr. Lopez.
He smiled back. “Did your daughter enjoy the game drive?”
“Oh yes!” Jana said. “But we didn’t see any elephants, either. Poor Imani was expecting to see gorillas.” Jana really needed to keep Imani out of her conversations with Dr. Lopez and Farzana Aunty.
Shelina clearly saw no risk in talking about her, though. “Wasn’t Imani an adorable flower girl? I wish I had a daughter. But I’ve heard girls are easier to raise when they’re kids but are absolute nightmares as teenagers. Zayan would totally be the dad with the shotgun interviewing his daughter’s dates. So sexist, right? Imani’s dad wouldn’t…”Shelina’s voice trailed off as she remembered she shouldn’t be mentioning Imani’s father in front of these two. Jana was about to steer the conversation away from her daughter and toxic masculinity, when Shelina decided to take the nuclear option and run away.
“I think my son is calling me!” she said, before bolting right out of the grilled-meat line without even getting any.
Awkward. Now Jana had no idea what to say. As usual.
“Those outdated patriarchal sentiments of the father needing to protect his daughter’s virtue just won’t die,” Farzana Aunty said. Jana hadn’t noticed that she was back with them. “Thank goodness you were never like that, Sam.” She put her hand on Dr. Lopez’s arm.
