2.
‘Maybe I should freshen up a bit first before we go to Daphney,’ I said as the car began to make its way around the corner creeping toward the retirement home.
‘I wanted to suggest that,’ Gorgie said, patting my hand and then pulling over to wait for the opportunity to do a U-turn.
‘Where are we going?’ Lance quizzed from the back seat, clearly confused as the car now continued back in the direction we’d come.
‘To the hotel to check in and freshen up, and then we will visit Nana’s friend,’ Gorgie told him before I could.
‘Her name is Daphney,’ Lance answered smugly, and both Gorgie and I chuckled at the straightforwardness of a six-year-old.
Lance was so excited at the prospect of living in a hotel that he ran straight into the room to what he presumed was his bed. He stood next to it, and his face dropped. He looked at us with such a sullen expression that my heart wanted to melt.
‘What’s the matter, honey?’
‘It’s not like in the movies. It’s supposed to be a really big bed, and I’m supposed to have my own room.’
Gorgie sat on the bed and looked at him gently.
‘Now where did you get that idea in your head, mister?’
‘It’s always like that in the movies.’
Lance sat next to his dad on the bed and bounced a little, his head bent towards the ground, clearly not very impressed with this three-star hotel.
‘I bet the food here is just as good as any fancy hotel in the movies.’
‘Really, do you think so?’
He brightened at the thought of food.
‘I surely do.’
Gorgie picked him up, and they went to inspect the view over the town from the balcony. I joined them trying to remember what had existed where.
‘Back then it was just a little holiday village, with a few apartment buildings and hotels. The lagoon seemed to be a lot bigger then…’
I gazed out toward the sea; it was high tide, and I could hear the waves crashing on the beach. The air was as humid as I could recall Natal weather to be. The lagoon to the right of our balcony glistened in the sun, looking peacefully undisturbed.
‘I remember there was a hotel next to the lagoon, we would go there on Saturday evenings and listen to a band play. That’s where I met him. He was the guitarist in a band...’
I had to smile as I flooded my mind with the memories of those wonderful carefree childhood days. They did not last long, as those days had been short-lived.
‘Did that man die?’ Lance innocently asked.
‘He did,’ I replied as I turned around and walked back into the hotel room, nervous at the realisation that so many wounds were about to be exposed.
‘It’s going to be okay Nana,’ Gorgie said as he followed me into the room and put his arm around my shoulders, hugging me lightly.
He truly was an adorable grandson.
It was just past lunch time when we were finally on our way to visit Daphney. The closer we got to the retirement home, the more the butterflies in my stomach increased their fluttering. Around every corner, Lance would ask, ‘Are we there yet?’ Or, ‘Is this the place?’ with typical childlike curiosity. Gorgie had to hold Lance’s hand tightly to keep him reigned in. The last thing we needed was for a six-year-old boy with energy at around the 2000% level, running loose in an old age home. Just the thought of it sent me into a frenzied state of nervousness.
I walked into the lobby, and an elderly lady with a kindly face greeted me. After telling her who I was there to visit, I signed the register, and she ushered the three of us into a lounge, furnished with light green cushioned chairs and pale pink floral curtains. I sat down nervously, not sure what to expect. Gorgie just kept patting my hand comfortingly. After a few agonising minutes, the lady from the reception returned – a hunched and wizened grey-haired woman at her side. I scrambled to my feet as I recognised my dear friend immediately. Her hair and aged skin could not hide the striking features that were Daphney. She stared at me, not hearing a word of what the lady at her side was saying, and the broadest smile graced her face. She knew who I was.
‘Oh, oh, oh, oh can it be true? Meri? Meredith Chase, is that really you? Oh, oh, oh…’
She left the lady’s support and spread her arms towards me, hurrying to wrap them around me.
‘Daphney,’ I spluttered her name through my tears and the emotions swollen in my throat, ‘oh my dear…’
We embraced each other for the longest time, clutching at each other so tightly our fragile bones could easily have snapped, but scared that if we let go it would all be just a dream. Eventually, standing back, I held Daphney at arm's length and took a good look at her, as she did me. It was incredible that I’d found my friend after sixty years, one of the very few I’d trusted and one that had never judged me for what I’d done.
‘When did you get here? Why are you here? I never thought I’d see the day when you returned. I thought I would never see you again! Oh, my friend, I am so happy.’
Daphney began to cry and embraced me once more. I did not want to let her go. When we remembered that there were other people with us, I finally made the introductions. The lady who had brought Daphney to me had red eyes, and her face was wet with tears, and when I looked at Gorgie, I noticed that his face was in a similar state. Lance just had a look of pure amazement on his face.
‘Gosh, your grandson is handsome,’ Daphney said as Gorgie blushed, his brazen skin glowing with a hint of red.
He was exactly that – dark hair, slightly grey on the temples, tall, a bronze tan and hazel eyes. What was not to like? Lance looked more like his mother, with his blonde hair and blue eyes but blessed with the bronze skin tone of his father.
‘I look like my mother,’ he said matter-of-factly, to which we all giggled.
The kind lady who introduced herself as Sheila excused herself and promised to return in a few minutes with tea and cake. Daphney and I sat as close to each other on the sofa as possible while Gorgie took Lance out to the beautiful gardens to explore.
‘So now, how did you find me? Oh gosh Meri, I still can’t believe it’s you, sitting here right next to me!’
It was with difficulty that we keep the next flow of tears at bay, but our smiles stuck to our faces like masks.
‘On the way into town, I asked Gorgie to stop at the pharmacy you used to work. It was a shot in the dark, but it worked!’
‘Oh yes of course. My son-in-law owns it now.’
We gave detailed accounts of our children and grandchildren. I told her all the places where I had lived, and about my second marriage, how wonderful my husband had been to our children and me – he had adopted Damian, Gorgie's father, as soon as we were married.
‘So Meri dear, what on earth has brought you back here?’
Sheila returned with the tea and cake as I was about to answer. I felt it best to postpone my reply until we were alone again. Lance came bolting through the door at the prospect of food, with Gorgie in tow – those boys and their appetites.
When the boys went back to the garden, and Sheila had removed the empty dishes – not a crumb in sight – Daphney and I took a slow walk out to the gardens and wandered down pretty pathways lined with colourful flowers and little garden gnomes. We found a bench under a large willow tree that stood on the bank of a small stream, which I remembered meandered through the entire town and eventually flowed into the lagoon.
‘Have you heard about our old school’s Christian initiative?’ I asked, not sure that even though Daphney lived here, she would’ve heard about it.
‘Yes, I have heard a little about it. But how does it involve you?’
‘Well, somehow they knew what had happened all those years ago and that I am now a servant of God. Somehow they found me – this internet technology is amazing,’ I smiled, ‘at any rate, they found me through Gorgie and invited me to give a little talk to the school children. To encourage them, you know, that no matter what life deals you, God is the answer.’
I sighed and looked down, straightening my floral skirt. Daphney took my hand and linked her fingers through mine, our old joints flowing with love as they intertwined.
‘They could not have found a more perfect candidate, Meri. You have so much to offer, so much advice and wisdom for those kids.’
‘Will you come too, please? We can pick you up on the way there. I would appreciate it.’
‘Wouldn’t miss it for the world!’
She squeezed my hand reassuringly, and I sighed with relief. I knew that although time had passed and our lives had changed so dramatically, love for a true friend would never change.
‘Thanks my friend. I knew that God would spare you till we could see each other again. I am so grateful for this day.’
We hugged each other and this time, we did not bother to restrain our emotions.