Through Her Eyes

Chapter 4

The dinner table was adorned with an array of sumptuous dishes, carefully prepared by my mother for our esteemed guest, Mrs Mahlangu. Despite the delightful spread, the atmosphere was shrouded in an unusual silence. My mother, determined to break the ice, tried to engage our guest in conversation, however Mrs Mahlangu appeared uninterested in the attempts. My father was focused on his plate of food while engaging in what seemed to be a deep conversation with my sister. They were hiding their laughter, completely disengaged from the table , leaving my mother and I to entertain the guests ourselves.

In the midst of the quietude, my mother ventured a question, poking her fork around her salad as she asked, "Is the wine to your liking?"

Mrs Mahlangu responded with a slight nod, maintaining an air of aloofness.

"1977, I presume," my mother continued, trying to spark a discussion about the vintage. 

"Yes," Mrs Mahlangu answered curtly.

"I can tell, despite the brand I prefer my wine no older than three years," the woman continued as she gestured for me to pass her a plate of potatoes.

"I assumed due to your expertise you would enjoy much older wine, as per the phrase aged like fine wine," my mother replied , delicately placing a piece of perfectly cooked steak on her tongue.

"Not all wine that ages is fine wine, my dear," the woman remarked, savoring the taste of the mashed potatoes on her plate.

The sharp silence returned as my mother roughly swallowed a glass of wine. She was nervous, which was usual for her kindred character. Despite that being a dissapointment in itself, the topic ever so swiftly shifted towards me. My heart sank as I felt the spotlight turn to my recent past. Mrs Mahlangu's penetrating gaze fell upon me, and it took all my strength not to squirm under her scrutiny.

"It's a pleasure to see your daughter back from her hiatus. How has Oxford been?" Mrs Mahlangu inquired, turning her attention towards me.

Her question caught me off guard, and I felt my throat go dry. I placed my fingers around my glass of water, lightly chugging it as a means to rid me of the odd feeling. I barely had a reply to reiterate to her since no one knew. Only my family knew of my circumstance after I transferred hospitals back home. I balled my hands into a fist, tightening them as I tried to think. No one had mentioned my accident since my return, and I had hoped it would remain that way.

"P-pretty well, she is a licensed Odontologist," Mbali stepped in to answer on my behalf, offering a supportive smile.

Mrs Mahlangu nodded approvingly, acknowledging my sister's response. "That is good then, I'm glad your future is looking up," she remarked in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Where are you working as of current?"

"She is doing volunteer work at our nearby dentists office." my mother added, her tone seething with a bit more hostility despite the smile she had plastered on her face.

"Which one?"

The question caused the table to grow further more tense.

However it seemed the woman's husband had his hand on her leg as a means to calm her.

"I doubt you would know him, after all. You do live in the Western Cape." Mbali added with a tight smile.

There was a short silence as the woman exchanged a short glance with her. The woman stared back at her , her lips tightened into a thin line before laying her intimidating gaze upon me.

"Do you affirm?" the woman looked at me with a short tightened smile on her face.

I stared back at her for a moment, even the water could barely cool down the dryness and hotness which had formed at the edges of my throat. Feeling my throat close up, I only settled on nodding. She didn't seem convinced by this as she kept her gaze laid upon me, as though she knew something that I didn't. However I couldn't continue this staring match which had my face burning.