Bruce was just sitting down to a midafternoon snack and thinking about calling the school on the other side of town to ask if they could take on Anjanette in the middle of the school year, when he heard an urgent knocking on the door. He went to open it and saw an unfamiliar boy with longish dark hair looking very worried. "Hello," Bruce said, slightly puzzled. "Can I help you?"
"Are wewe Anjanette's Uncle Bruce?" the boy replied, sounding very agitated.
"Yes?"
"I'm Ferdinand, a friend of hers from school - I think you'd better come right away! I just walked her nyumbani from school and her parents...."
There was no need for him to say any more. Bruce was out the front door and marching toward his car so quickly that Ferdinand had to scramble to keep up. "I'm coming too!"
Bruce made no objection. On the way, Ferdinand explained to Bruce in zaidi detail what had happened with him and Anjanette that day, not that he had that much zaidi to tell. Who knew what had happened since Anjanette's father had dragged her inside? "I didn't think she looked salama there, actually. I know not everyone has parents like mine, but they seemed... bad."
Bruce's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "We'll see exactly what's going on and how they're treating my niece."
When they got to the house, Bruce turned to Ferdinand. "I'll go in first. I don't want my brother and his wife to see wewe and possibly take it out on Anjanette."
But Ferdinand couldn't wait outside. What if something had happened to Anjanette? He had to find her now. While Uncle Bruce rapped on the front door with a power and anger that could be heard in the knock alone, Ferdinand rushed around to the back door and tried it. The door opened and he slipped cautiously inside. He heard footsteps marching towards the front door and Bruce's knocks, as well as a rough-sounding man's voice asking in very unpleasant language who would come to his door knocking like that, and from a short distance away, a girl sobbing.
Anjanette.
Ferdinand rushed through the room and found his friend kwa the doorway, sitting in a heap on the floor, her face buried in her hands. "Anjanette! Are wewe okay??"
Slowly, Anjanette lifted her head. Her eyes were red and puffy and her face was streaked with tears. She kept one hand pressed against the side of her jaw, so Ferdinand couldn't see it, but he could tell it was hurting her. "Ferdinand? How are wewe here?"
"I just - let myself in. I had to make sure wewe were safe. I brought your Uncle Bruce - I think he's gone to have a talk with your parents. What did they do to you? What kind of parents would do that?"
Anjanette blinked back her tears and took a breath. "It was like I was afraid it would be. They told me I couldn't be Marafiki with wewe anymore. They alisema your hair was too long - it's such a stupid reason, isn't it, but they're always like that.... I tried to explain what a great person wewe are, but that was a mistake. My father said... he alisema hippies were a bad example to follow and wewe would put 'ideas' in my head... and my mother alisema wewe were spoiled kwa having three pets and inayofuata thing wewe know I'd be asking them for a whole zoo au something like that.... I got angry and told them your parents were a lot nicer than them, and my father alisema that that was why wewe didn't like fighting and that they must not have toughened wewe up enough...." Anjanette shook her head. "He's always talking like that."
"I don't care what he thinks of me," Ferdinand replied quickly. "But... what did they do then? You've been hurt! They didn't...."
Anjanette tried to shrug this off but didn't quite succeed. "I told them I was going to be Marafiki with wewe no matter what," she went on, in a stronger voice. "I alisema wewe were the first person I'd ever met who cared about me, besides my Uncle Bruce. They said... they alisema that was because I wasn't good enough and that I should never have been born -" Ferdinand made a noise of shock and anger, unable to believe anyone's parents would say such a thing - "and I told them I was plenty good enough and they were just bad parents." Here Anjanette started to cry again. "That's... when he hit me."
She hesitated before saying this last part, as though afraid of what Ferdinand would say to this. Ferdinand alisema nothing. He just wrapped his arms around Anjanette and let her cry into his shoulder. Anger and disbelief welled up inside of him. What kind of people were Anjanette's parents?! Couldn't they at least try to upendo their daughter?! What must it have been like for her, growing up without that basic upendo she deserved....
From down the hallway, Uncle Bruce's raised voice was heard coming closer. "I'm not questioning your authority in your own house, Dan. I'd like to see my niece, and I'm questioning whether this environment is good for her."
"This environment, eh?" jeered the same rough male voice from before. "Think I don't know how to parent my own daughter, do you? I give her what she needs and to hell with your environments...."
The footsteps came closer until the two men were right in front of them, a thin, unpleasant-looking woman who must have been Anjanette's mother in their wake. "Oho!" cried Anjanette's father. "Seeing that trash friend of yours in secret after we told wewe not to? We'll discuss this when your uncle leaves...."
"He hit her, Mister Bruce," Ferdinand informed him all in a rush. "He might do it again when we leave...."
There was dead silence.
Uncle Bruce turned to his brother, moto in his eyes. "Is this true, Dan?"
"You're going to believe some hippie brat over me?" There was a distinct discomfort beneath Anjanette's father's bravado now.
"He did." Anjanette's voice was quiet but determined.
Bruce took a step closer to Anjanette's father, looking so positively dangerous that Ferdinand was unsurprised to see her father take a small step back. "What is the meaning of wewe treating my niece this way?!"
"A lot wewe would know about it, Bruce, never having raised children who never listen to you!"
"We don't have to defend ourselves to you," Anjanette's mother put in primly.
"No," Bruce agreed with icy calmness. "But wewe may have to defend yourself to the child protection services, and see what they have to say about how fit wewe are to parent."
Anjanette's father was definitely scared now. "So you'd call the authorities on your own brother, would you?"
"I wouldn't expect that tone of surprise," Bruce replied evenly, "from someone who would hit his own daughter. Come, Anjanette. We're leaving."
Uncle Bruce held out his hand to his niece. Slowly, Anjanette reached out the hand that wasn't still holding her hurt jaw and took it, allowing her uncle to help her to her feet and lead her out of the house. With one last unnerved glance around at Anjanette's parents and the deceptively normal-looking house, Ferdinand followed them.
"Are wewe Anjanette's Uncle Bruce?" the boy replied, sounding very agitated.
"Yes?"
"I'm Ferdinand, a friend of hers from school - I think you'd better come right away! I just walked her nyumbani from school and her parents...."
There was no need for him to say any more. Bruce was out the front door and marching toward his car so quickly that Ferdinand had to scramble to keep up. "I'm coming too!"
Bruce made no objection. On the way, Ferdinand explained to Bruce in zaidi detail what had happened with him and Anjanette that day, not that he had that much zaidi to tell. Who knew what had happened since Anjanette's father had dragged her inside? "I didn't think she looked salama there, actually. I know not everyone has parents like mine, but they seemed... bad."
Bruce's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "We'll see exactly what's going on and how they're treating my niece."
When they got to the house, Bruce turned to Ferdinand. "I'll go in first. I don't want my brother and his wife to see wewe and possibly take it out on Anjanette."
But Ferdinand couldn't wait outside. What if something had happened to Anjanette? He had to find her now. While Uncle Bruce rapped on the front door with a power and anger that could be heard in the knock alone, Ferdinand rushed around to the back door and tried it. The door opened and he slipped cautiously inside. He heard footsteps marching towards the front door and Bruce's knocks, as well as a rough-sounding man's voice asking in very unpleasant language who would come to his door knocking like that, and from a short distance away, a girl sobbing.
Anjanette.
Ferdinand rushed through the room and found his friend kwa the doorway, sitting in a heap on the floor, her face buried in her hands. "Anjanette! Are wewe okay??"
Slowly, Anjanette lifted her head. Her eyes were red and puffy and her face was streaked with tears. She kept one hand pressed against the side of her jaw, so Ferdinand couldn't see it, but he could tell it was hurting her. "Ferdinand? How are wewe here?"
"I just - let myself in. I had to make sure wewe were safe. I brought your Uncle Bruce - I think he's gone to have a talk with your parents. What did they do to you? What kind of parents would do that?"
Anjanette blinked back her tears and took a breath. "It was like I was afraid it would be. They told me I couldn't be Marafiki with wewe anymore. They alisema your hair was too long - it's such a stupid reason, isn't it, but they're always like that.... I tried to explain what a great person wewe are, but that was a mistake. My father said... he alisema hippies were a bad example to follow and wewe would put 'ideas' in my head... and my mother alisema wewe were spoiled kwa having three pets and inayofuata thing wewe know I'd be asking them for a whole zoo au something like that.... I got angry and told them your parents were a lot nicer than them, and my father alisema that that was why wewe didn't like fighting and that they must not have toughened wewe up enough...." Anjanette shook her head. "He's always talking like that."
"I don't care what he thinks of me," Ferdinand replied quickly. "But... what did they do then? You've been hurt! They didn't...."
Anjanette tried to shrug this off but didn't quite succeed. "I told them I was going to be Marafiki with wewe no matter what," she went on, in a stronger voice. "I alisema wewe were the first person I'd ever met who cared about me, besides my Uncle Bruce. They said... they alisema that was because I wasn't good enough and that I should never have been born -" Ferdinand made a noise of shock and anger, unable to believe anyone's parents would say such a thing - "and I told them I was plenty good enough and they were just bad parents." Here Anjanette started to cry again. "That's... when he hit me."
She hesitated before saying this last part, as though afraid of what Ferdinand would say to this. Ferdinand alisema nothing. He just wrapped his arms around Anjanette and let her cry into his shoulder. Anger and disbelief welled up inside of him. What kind of people were Anjanette's parents?! Couldn't they at least try to upendo their daughter?! What must it have been like for her, growing up without that basic upendo she deserved....
From down the hallway, Uncle Bruce's raised voice was heard coming closer. "I'm not questioning your authority in your own house, Dan. I'd like to see my niece, and I'm questioning whether this environment is good for her."
"This environment, eh?" jeered the same rough male voice from before. "Think I don't know how to parent my own daughter, do you? I give her what she needs and to hell with your environments...."
The footsteps came closer until the two men were right in front of them, a thin, unpleasant-looking woman who must have been Anjanette's mother in their wake. "Oho!" cried Anjanette's father. "Seeing that trash friend of yours in secret after we told wewe not to? We'll discuss this when your uncle leaves...."
"He hit her, Mister Bruce," Ferdinand informed him all in a rush. "He might do it again when we leave...."
There was dead silence.
Uncle Bruce turned to his brother, moto in his eyes. "Is this true, Dan?"
"You're going to believe some hippie brat over me?" There was a distinct discomfort beneath Anjanette's father's bravado now.
"He did." Anjanette's voice was quiet but determined.
Bruce took a step closer to Anjanette's father, looking so positively dangerous that Ferdinand was unsurprised to see her father take a small step back. "What is the meaning of wewe treating my niece this way?!"
"A lot wewe would know about it, Bruce, never having raised children who never listen to you!"
"We don't have to defend ourselves to you," Anjanette's mother put in primly.
"No," Bruce agreed with icy calmness. "But wewe may have to defend yourself to the child protection services, and see what they have to say about how fit wewe are to parent."
Anjanette's father was definitely scared now. "So you'd call the authorities on your own brother, would you?"
"I wouldn't expect that tone of surprise," Bruce replied evenly, "from someone who would hit his own daughter. Come, Anjanette. We're leaving."
Uncle Bruce held out his hand to his niece. Slowly, Anjanette reached out the hand that wasn't still holding her hurt jaw and took it, allowing her uncle to help her to her feet and lead her out of the house. With one last unnerved glance around at Anjanette's parents and the deceptively normal-looking house, Ferdinand followed them.