Page 38 of Kiwi Sin
Aisha had pickedup her sandwich again, but when I told her, she stopped with it halfway to her mouth and stared at me. “Asewingmachine?”
“It isn’t new, of course,” I said, “but it’s lovely. A Brother, and it came in a case. Gabriel said he’d had the lady show him that it worked, but if something was wrong after all, he’d fix it. He can fix anything. He fixed his ute, and … anyway. I haven’t had a chance to try it out, but I’m dying to, tonight.”
“This is your romantic gift,” Aisha said flatly. “A sewing machine. Did youwanta sewing machine?”
“I wanted it so much.”
“Lucky for him, then. One girl in a million, I reckon. How did he know?”
“Because I said I didn’t want one.”
“Oh,” she said. “Well, that makes perfect sense.”
“Yes,” I said dreamily. “It does. If you pay attention.”
15
AFTER-PARTY
Gabriel
My dad said, when we were waiting for the safety meeting to begin on Monday morning—the Mount Zion crew tended to arrive early—“You decided to join us today after all, then.”
“Pardon?” I looked at my brothers. They looked away.
“You seem confused about your loyalties,” my dad said. “About your morals as well.”
I didn’t know what to say. My dad had almost never reprimanded me, because I’d never needed it. I wasn’t impulsive, and I’d never been rebellious. I settled on, “How have I offended?”
“Taking Oriana out of the house,” he said, “when we were in the midst of a family discussion about her behavior. Then taking her farther than that without asking permission. Your mum had just told Patience the week before in front of all of us that a girl doesn’t ride in a car alone with a man, but you asked her to do exactly that. It’s your job to lead, and instead, you led her astray.”
I wanted to say,I told Gray what was happening, though, and Oriana told Daisy.I didn’t, because it sounded like justification, like weakness. I thought hard about what to say instead. What I ended up with was, “I’m a grown man. Men make decisions. When Drew’s family needed help, I made mine. ”
His face hardened, and my brothers looked stunned. Small wonder. I’d never expressed anything even close to that. Uriel could be hasty. Argumentative, even. Me? No.
“What’s Oriana, though?” my dad said. “Not a grown man. A young girl.”
“And Daisy’s responsibility,” I said. “Not …” I wanted to say, “Not yours,” but settled for, “And she’s seventeen. Old enough to choose where to live as soon as she turned sixteen. That’s what they do here, and that’s the point, isn’t it? Isn’t it why we left? To have a choice?”
Now, my dad looked weary, and I felt a pang of guilt. He’d let us walk out, and then he’d come with us. He’d given us our freedom, and he’d given me so much more. Training. Guidance. An example. He said, his voice gentler, “You can’t have it both ways, son. Either you’re living by the rules laid down by God, or the rules of the world. Are you sure you want to follow this path?”
“Can’t there be a … a mixture?” I asked.“Isn’tthere a mixture? Mum’s driving now. She’s got a job. Daisy’s living in Gray’s house, having relations with him outside of marriage.”
“Those things aren’t the same in any way,” he said. “And do you approve of what Daisy’s doing, then? Does God? Should I let Harmony run off with any bloke she fancies, have relations with him outside marriage, have a bastard child, if that’s what she wants? Should I stand back and let her endanger her immortal soul? Is that what you want for your sister, or for Oriana? Or for Patience?”
I’d have answered—somehow—but the meeting started, and afterward, there was no time for talk. Not until morning smoko.
I was sitting with the other blokes on my crew, my jacket zipped against the chill, half-listening to the banter and trying to calm the storm inside me, when my dad walked up and said, “Gabriel. A word.”
“Uh-oh,” Afoa said, giving his belly laugh. “Sounds ominous, bro.”
I didn’t answer. I just stood up, walked to my dad, and waited.
His face was somber, and I got an actual pain in my chest at how I was disappointing him. He said, “Let’s sit.” We perched on a bit of framing, and he finally went on. “I’ve been thinking. Talked to your mum last night as well, so you know. I’m not saying women can’t have a say in their lives. That’s why we left, because we both wanted a say in our lives. But the things happening at Gray’s house … I can’t approve. Not of Daisy, and not of Frankie. Not of Gray, for that matter. Far as I can see, he’s got no plans to marry Daisy. What kind of love is that, when a man subjects a woman to the judgment of the world?”
“Is the world judging?” I had to ask.
My dad’s sober eyes met mine. “Her family is. And so is God. It’s not working out, all of us being employed by Gray, living on his land, having those family dinners at his house. He’s the younger, and it’s not his family, but in his house, with him handing out the pay, he has the final say. Those are the rules Outside, and by living here, we’ve chosen to abide by them, but that doesn’t mean we have to put ourselves in that position.” A pause, then. “Or subject ourselves to temptation. Can you honestly look at me and tell me you weren’t tempted to sin yesterday?”
