Yellow Room by Shelan Rodger

Author:Shelan Rodger
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 111-1-11-111111-1
Publisher: The Dome Press
Published: 2017-05-21T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 23

‘So what did you think? Did you like the weekend?’ Femke’s voice was almost teasing, mischievous.

‘Yes, I did, mostly. I’ve never done anything like that before.’

‘What, sit with a bunch of women on a desert island and cry your head out?’

‘Your heart or your eyes, not your head.’ Chala laughed over her beer. ‘Actually, I think you’re right – head is a better description!’

‘But it feels good, right? You feel better than before we went?’

‘Yes, I think I do. I’m still tired, though.’ Chala had been so exhausted the day they had got back, she’d slept for ten hours.

‘You’re not pregnant, are you?’

‘Of course not!’

‘Hey, why the “of course”? I thought maybe there was something with you and Mick?’

‘You’re joking! Anyway, for someone who spends her time expressing anal glands, you got pretty emotional too Miss Femke!’ Chala loved Femke’s accounts of her daily life as a vet.

‘Yeah, even vets cry, you know.’

Chala longed suddenly, violently, to talk to Femke about Bruce. Would that be so wrong? Would it hurt to talk to someone about what she’d done? But she shrunk from another betrayal, searching instead for a safer intimacy. ‘So, what was it that made you cry?’

‘My boyfriend and I, we drove apart last year. I still miss him.’

‘Oh.’ Chala let the English slip pass. She hesitated. ‘What happened?’

‘Oh nothing special, really. He just couldn’t do, how do you say, commitment?’

‘Yes, commitment.’ She thought of Paul. How does anyone do commitment?

‘Hello, ladies! Another beer?’ It was Mick, pulling up a chair before they could stop him. ‘I’m not interrupting anything, am I?’

Femke and Chala made fleeting eye contact. Femke was the first to speak. ‘I didn’t think you KCs preoccupied about that sort of thing.’

He laughed as he sat down and turned to Femke. ‘So how does a Dutch vet get a licence in Naivasha?’

‘With great difficulty!’ Femke had told Chala her story about the painstaking bureaucracy involved and the official letter issued by the Dutch embassy vouching for her qualifications and ability to operate as a ‘vegetarian’. The Kenyan authorities hadn’t noticed the mistake, and the letter was now framed on her wall.

Something about the way Femke blushed made Chala suddenly aware of an unexpected chemistry between her and Mick. After she finished her beer she excused herself, saying she’d heard the Internet was up.

She dodged potholes and mopeds and stepped into the bright green Internet café. ‘Hujambo Mama Shelter!’ The owner greeted her warmly and she glowed at the nickname they had chosen for her. She smiled and sat down at the computer he waved her to. Nothing from Paul, but there was an email from Denise. They had already exchanged emails, mostly full of questions and answers about Kenya and the shelter. At last the message opened in front of her:

Hi Chala

How is little Julius doing? How is the website coming along? And your yoga weekend? You know, I tried to do yoga once, but I guess a warehouse in London doesn’t have quite the

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