Prevarication ~ Chpt 3 Excerpt

Jessica followed Kayla into the restaurant where the waiter greeted them and escorted the ladies over to Kayla’s mother. Before Kayla sat down at the table, she bowed slightly and spoke to her mother, Maeko, in their native tongue. “Ogenki desu ka?” Kayla asked.
I remember that. Kayla is asking her mother is she well, Jessica thought to herself. Glad she taught me a couple of phrases.
“Hai, genki desu,” Maeko replied. “Please have a seat,” she insisted, unable to take her eyes off Jessica.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Jessica, and I share a room with your daughter.”
Maeko ignored Jessica but continued to look at her with hatred in her eyes. This made Jessica feel very uncomfortable, causing her to look down at the table to break the uneasy eye contact. Simultaneously, Kayla snapped at her mother for being rude as she reached over to Jessica and lifted her head with her index and forefinger. “Hold your head high, little sister. Never lower your head for anyone. You have NOTHING to be ashamed of.” Kayla directed her hostility toward Maeko. “I notice you’re here alone. Where is Mr. Child Molester?”
“We should never air our dirty laundry in front of the help! Besides, that is ancient history,” Maeko replied, with a villainous smile.
“No disrespect intended, but what help are you referring to, mother? The waiters, the cook in the kitchen, or perhaps the greeter at the door?” Kayla responded in a very moderate tone.
“Anata no tonari irodzuki no on’nanoko,” Maeko replied.
As Jessica was just served her medium rare steak, Kayla informed her, “My loving mother is referring to you as the colored help in our language. She cannot say it to you directly because she is spineless. That’s how a true coward talks about people they think are beneath them. They speak in a manner that one wouldn’t understand their treacherous tongue.”
Losing her appetite for the steak that had just made her mouth water, Jessica looked at Maeko and said to her, “How could you hate someone you don’t even know?”
“Kayla, why do you dishonor me so? I gave you breath.” Maeko asked, ignoring the fact that Jessica just asked her a question. She did in fact gaze in her direction with murderous eyes, but she would not acknowledge Jessica with an answer.
“You may have given me breath, Mother, but you also stole my life. You stood by your husband knowing that he raped me. He put his seed into my body, but you blamed me. If anyone was dishonored, Mother, it was me,” Kayla cried. “Why have you come here, Maeko?!”
“To allow you the opportunity to come home and take your place among this family,” Maeko answered.
“And what would you have me do, mother, to be rejoined with you?” Kayla asked with sarcasm in her voice.
“Go through the sunat perempuan ceremony. It would help you control your sexual urges. This will help me trust you again.”
“YOU want me to let someone cut off my clitoris? So that I don’t entice your husband?!” Kayla began to elevate her voice. “You really thought it was pleasurable to have your husband force sex on me? Not only did he impregnate me, but you sent me away, as if I were the problem!” Kayla was now yelling for all in the restaurant to hear. “My daughter died in my arms, Maeko! Not once did you call and check on me. Not once did you come and see me. NOT ONE FUCKING TIME DID YOU EVEN ASK HER NAME!”
“Don’t you ever raise your voice to me. You were the snake in my house that bit my husband. I gave you everything, and you thanked me for nothing. You watched too many American television shows.” Maeko elevated her voice, slamming her fist against the table.
“You have always been deceptive, Maeko. Your soul is dark and your heart dead. May karma not haunt you throughout the rest of your lives. Maybe one day, your essence will find peace.”
“You’re going to need me sooner than you know, devil child.” Maeko laughed. “Your money well will soon be running dry.”
“Watashi ni anata ga shinde imasu,” Kayla said, getting up from the table and motioning for Jessica to follow her.
Jessica looked at Maeko and waved good-bye, upset that she had to leave her steak. As they began to walk away from the table, Maeko yelled one final sentence to Kayla, “Your precious Dae has passed. You have nothing. You have no one. Everyone will know that you are worthless! You have shamed your family!”
Kayla stopped for a moment, with tears escaping her eyes. Although she looked at Maeko for a second or two, she said nothing, but her look spoke volumes. For that moment in time, Kayla displayed pity, heartbreak, and forgiveness.
As they exited, Jessica couldn’t help but ask Kayla, “What were the last words you said to your mother that angered her so?”
“I told her that she was dead to me. I want nothing more to do with Maeko.”
“And who is Dae?”
“The only person who honestly loved me. Dae was my father.”
“What are you going to do, bestie?” Jessica asked, hugging Kayla.
“I will go home and bury my father.”