Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin

Author:Gaile Parkin
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Psychological, Family Life, General, Fiction - General, African American, Fiction
ISBN: 9780385343442
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Published: 2010-09-15T07:00:00+00:00

FOR her talk to the Girls Who Mean Business, Angel wore the same dress that she had worn to the function at the Tanzanian Embassy; it made her look smart and professional, and it had the added advantage of being sufficiently loose to ease her ascent to, and descent from, the front seat of Ken Akimoto’s Pajero, which had been reserved in advance for the trip to Sophie’s school.

Carefully balancing the board bearing the money-cake on her lap, Angel told Bosco about the man who had visited her earlier that day.

“Eh, Auntie! I think you did not feel safe with that soldier in your house. Did you think he was going to shoot you when you refused to make his cake?”

“No, of course not; his gun was outside with Modeste. But he made me feel very uncomfortable. I think he’s not right in his head.”

“Why, Auntie?”

“Why? Bosco, have you not listened to my story? How can you ask me why I think he’s mad? Eh, Bosco! Please go more slowly on these corners, otherwise my cake will be spoiled.”

“Sorry, Auntie, it’s only that I want you to arrive at the school on time. I promise that I won’t let your cake be spoiled. It’s very, very beautiful.”

“Thank you, Bosco.”

“Of course I listened to your story, Auntie. It was the story of a boy who was forced to become a soldier and to do terrible things. Now he wants to escape from that into a better life. What is mad about that, Auntie?”

Angel thought about it. Bosco’s summary made Captain Calixte sound perfectly sane. “But he really expected her to agree to marry him!”

“Auntie, do you think he’s the only man here who would like to marry that girl? Even Mr Akimoto likes her; it’s only that he already has a wife in America. I would ask her to marry me myself; it’s only that I don’t love her.”

“Of course I’m not saying anything bad about her; I’m sure there are many men who would like to propose marriage to her. But this soldier had gone as far as planning everything.”

“So when a man plans to do something that other men only dream of doing, then that man is mad?”

The conversation was not going well for Angel. “You’re confusing me, Bosco,” she said, and then was quiet for a while.

Eventually Bosco said, “Auntie knows that there are many girls here who want to marry Wazungu so that they can have a better life somewhere else. And girls like that are not just here; they’re in Uganda, too.”

“You’re right, Bosco. In Tanzania, too.”

“Are those girls mad, Auntie?”

“Eh, Bosco! I can see that you want me to say no, those girls are not mad. And then you’re going to ask why do I say a man is mad when he wants the same thing.”

Bosco laughed. “Exactly, Auntie.”

Angel found herself smiling. “You know, Bosco, I think that maybe you’ve been giving too many lifts to Sophie and Catherine. I can see that they’ve taught you not to accept one idea for girls and another for boys.

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