“Hail one and all.” My usual greeting, as I entered the gates to my aunt’s homestead. No sooner had I closed the gate than three pairs of eager hands pulled me every which way, fighting to be the first to hug me. I turn on my heel and gather them all into a tight bear hug, the onlookers, my aunt and their baby sister Paige, in a fit of giggles at the awkward exchange.
“Weh yuh bring fi mi?” Danielle, her direct manner more humorous than irksome, looked up at me expectantly.
“Nutten, mi poor like church mouse. Weh u hav’ u can gi mi?” a toothy grin spread across her face. She walked off with the shiny twenty dollar coin clutched in her fist, her older sisters following behind to return to previously abandoned mischief. I walked over to my aunt, Paige feeding from her bottle, the picture of contentment.
“What’s up Tas? You alright?” her smile belied her evident worry, and I knew she was thinking of him and his deceit. I feel instantly guilty that my male presence is causing her distress. I nod, mumbling my usual incoherent ‘mhmm’. I sit by her and we stare ahead in silence. Having finished her meal, Paige begins to scrutinize me from her cot. She advances tentatively. I reach toward her and she recoils, a look of mild mistrust on her face. I then remember that she hasn’t seen me in close to a month, herself being now five months old, would barely recognize me. I feel guilt at my prolonged avoidance as I feign ignorance to the baby’s fresh attempts to advance. She crawls over to me, and, confident I am not a threat, begins to systematically bang me over the head with a doll saying repeatedly, ‘Hi’, the multipurpose word for greeting, feeding and pain from teething. I smile down at her, and her dimpled chuckle, so knowing, radiates a brilliant innocence that makes me feel lighter than air. I pick her up, twirling her and laughing as she squeals in infantile delight at cousin T’s puerile display, pulling at my lips, marvelling that she can stop the rocket sounds by clutching them…
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