Goldfish Bowl

Chapter 18

"I've decided to attend the funeral." Alisha announced at breakfast, her father looked up from the book he was reading at breakfast to stare at her, it was a habit even Yasmin's threatening could never break. Yasmin on the other hand looked shocked but slightly pleased, stretching the corner of her lips into a little smile.

"I'm glad you changed your mind and I'm hoping you didn't because we told you it was perhaps the right thing to do." He finally said, setting the book down besides his untouched cup of tea.

Alisha shook her head.

"I don't even know why I changed my mind. I just feel like I have to do it or I'll regret not doing it." She answered. "I'm going today, because the lawyer insists I must be present for the will reading and because . . . my mother wants to see me, she called this morning and sent a text when I refused to answer."

Hector nodded before returning to his book without another word, Alisha shared a glance with Yasmin, both of them clearly worried about him and his sudden attitude.

"Is something wrong, dad?" She asked hesitantly. Hector sighed, sharp with irritation that made her flinch. Something was indeed bothering him.

"I'm sorry, everything is fine. I've just been on edge because of a recent research." He said, this time his face was apologetic, but they all knew he was lying.

"Oh, that reminds me, we're hosting a guest tomorrow night for dinner, will you be returning home today or staying the whole week for the funeral?" Yasmin asked, tone too perky but a welcome distraction.

"I'm not staying the week, I'll go tomorrow, then Saturday for the funeral. Who is this guest?" Alisha asked.

Yasmin exchanged a secret smile with Hector who seemed to have now put down his book, clearly interested in the conversation. It made Alisha suspicious, they had never pushed her to attend any of the dinners they hosted and had always given her the option of hiding out in her room if she didn't want to show her face.

"You'll like him, he's a fast rising civil rights lawyer and son of one of our old friends who passed away last year, he's only two years older than you — I think." Yasmin said, punctuating her words with a less than subtle wink.

Alisha groaned aloud, with part fondness and tiredness, this wasn't the first time Yasmin had tried setting her up with sons of their 'friends' although the term friends was a generous term since most of them were just business partners, but they did seem genuinely excited to see this lawyer again.

"He's a nice boy," Hector nodded in agreement.

"You guys are incorrigible, I'm not getting together with this person I don't even know of. For hell sake, I'm just twenty and you are already pushing for grand babies." Alisha shuddered at the thought, a part of her didn't want to have kids and if she did ever get married, it would be to someone who shared the same opinion.

"No one's talking grandkids, Alisha." Hector shook his head with a smile. "Right? Yasmin." He looked to his wife to agree with him, her guilty look was enough answer for them.

When Hector began to laugh, Alisha couldn't help but join, for the first time since a long while, feeling lighter than ever.

*****

Alisha hadn't known what to expect after leaving home and not returning for almost three years, a part of her had expected change, the kind that blew her mind and left her feeling like a stranger in the estate she had grown up in. She felt like a stranger though, not because everything had changed but because everything seemed to have stayed the same, as her taxi had driven into the estate, nothing had changed, the same buildings that she had left behind were still waiting, the inhabitants of Wilfred Estate were the same nosy people she had always known.