“No need to be afraid, the only thing the elephant wants from you is more food.” River attempted to console the younger boy.
“I don’t want to become elephant food!” Jaadi expressed and Armani shook her head slowly in disbelief.
“Elephants don’t eat meat,” River explained to him.
“You mean like you?” Jaadi wondered.
“Just like me,” River affirmed and Armani couldn’t help but giggle.
“We don’t compare human beings to animals!” Armani’s mother scolded. “Jaadi you’re going to give me a heart attack.”
“Sorry, mama.” Jaadi quipped, holding his hands up in surrender.
“And what do we say?” Her mother asked,
“Sorry Uncle.” Jaadi apologised.
“You can just call me River if you want, you know?” River suggested with a smile. “You don’t have to be so formal with me.”
“It’s in our culture out of respect, baby you’ll always be his uncle.” Armani reminded River.
“The coolest uncle!” Jaadi assured him reaching for a high five and River returned the gesture, his heart was so full knowing that he had a whole new family to love and care for him, to welcome him. “Are we still going to visit the train station after, just you and I? No girls allowed?”
“Am I supposed to leave behind even my favourite girl?” River questioned teasingly.
“My sister? Yeah, we’re ditching her!” Jaadi protested and I laughed.
“It’s alright you boys go ahead without me, mama and I will go to the spa and have a day out,” Armani told them, and her mother smiled at her.
Slowly but surely, she was able to build a better relationship with her mother, both of them making a conscious effort to understand the other and where they were coming from. It was a lot on her mother’s part, to have to unlearn a mindset that was taught to her, to let go of even the harsher parts of her culture. But she was able to do so, for the sake of her daughter’s happiness. To learn to see Armani, not as an extension of herself, but as her own person. There is a reason why doctors insist that a parent be the one to cut the umbilical cord when a child is born; to help engrain the fact in their minds that while that child is theirs that they had a body and mind of their own.
“Can I get my picture now?” Armani wondered, tilting her head to the side with a smile, “Keomi and Gene are blowing up my phone begging for photos from this trip.”
“Smile for the camera.” Jaadi called out, “Feed the elephant River!”
River smiled, the brightest Armani had ever seen that day, capturing the perfect shot of her family together now, and trusting that they’d be together always.
“Does he know yet?” Armani’s mother turned to ask her.
“About what?” Armani played along,
“That you’ve been eating for two this entire trip?” Her mother smiled.
“How did you know?” Armani smiled,
“A mother knows these things.” Her mother assured her, stroking her hair.
“He will soon, he’s very intuitive.” Armani pointed out.
Two years later, somewhere in Greece
Armani watched in the Mirror as River massaged oils into her scalp and she sighed deeply in relief, he was always so good at it. He then reached for an Afro comb and gently moved it through her thick curls, it never hurt when he did it, everything about him was always so very gentle.
“Tell me if I’m hurting you okay, love?” She asked her.
“You never do.” She assured him and he smiled, shaking his head slowly.
“Don’t you have to oversee some things over at the academy today my love?” Armani asked.
