Page 245 of The Sun Sister

‘Because in those days, Kenya was under British rule, and Cecily’s friend Katherine, as you know, was English, not to mention Bill, of course. Here, try a scone; with clotted cream and jam, they’re just the best.’

I did so, just to please her; the taste was rich and sweet and claggy all at once in my mouth.

‘Electra, what I have to tell you next is very difficult. I only hope that you’ll understand. I feel ashamed to tell you.’

‘Given my history, Stella, I’m sure I will understand. I doubt you could do anything more shameful than be completely wasted on booze, drugs and sleeping pills, then vomit all over yourself.’

‘Well, this is different, a far worse kind of shame, and I pray you’ll forgive me.’

‘Okay, I promise I will. Now shoot,’ I said impatiently.

‘You know I told you that the march on Washington and Dr King’s speech was a seminal day for me?’

‘Yup.’

‘At the time, I was walking out with – that is, seeing – a young man who I’d met at a protest. He’d never had a college education, but he was passionate about the cause, and made the most incredible uplifting speeches. Even though he was uneducated, he was so bright and charismatic and, well...I fell for him. And that evening in Washington, after the speeches had ended and everyone was on a high – you just cannot imagine the feeling – I, well, I...and he...we made love. Under a tree in a park.’

‘Is that it? Really, Stella, I’m not shocked at all, I promise. You are human after all, and we’ve all done stuff like that,’ I reassured her.

‘Thank you for that, Electra.’ Stella looked relieved. ‘It’s just awful embarrassing as a sixty-eight-year-old woman to have to tell your granddaughter something like that.’

‘I’m cool with it, so don’t worry. So what happened then?’ I asked, although I’d already guessed the answer.

‘I found myself pregnant a few weeks later,’ Stella said. ‘It was a big shock – I mean, I was expected to graduate top of my class at Vassar and my place at Columbia Law School was confirmed. I remember coming back here to the apartment, knowing I had to tell Cecily what had happened. I don’t think I’ve been more scared in my life than I was at that moment.’

‘Because you thought she’d disown you?’

‘No, not that, it was much more to do with the fact that everything she had worked for and sacrificed to give me had just gone up in smoke. I could hardly bear that I’d let her down.’

‘How did she react?’

‘You know what? She was remarkably calm about it. Which somehow made it worse – I guess I felt I deserved to be ranted and raved at. First, she asked me if I loved the father, and as I’d already thought about it a lot since the...event,I said that I didn’t think I did.That I’d just gotten carried away with all the emotion of the night. Then she asked me if I wanted the baby and I told her truthfully that no, I did not. Is that a terrible thing to admit, Electra?’

‘Jeez, no.’ I shook my head. ‘I mean, I’m older than you were then, and I’d feel the same. So, did you have an abortion?’

‘Abortions were illegal in the sixties, even though Cecily said she had made some discreet enquiries and had been told of a good surgeon who did them in secret. So yes, you could say I was offered that choice. But I couldn’t take it.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because through Cecily, Rosalind, Terrence and their kids, I’d been brought up a Christian. I believed in God then and I still believe in God now. To take another human life, when that life had no say in the matter, and simply throw it away just because the timing didn’t suit me, was unthinkable. I offered to marry the father, but Kuyia – Cecily – said that I shouldn’t if I didn’t love him, that we would work it out between us. She suggested I defer law school for a year and that she was prepared to take care of the baby for me so I could continue with my education.’

‘She sounds like an incredible human being,’ I said, meaning it.

‘She was my Kuyia; she loved me and I worshipped her,’ Stella shrugged. ‘So that’s what happened. I deferred law school and seven months later, I gave birth to your mother.’

‘So what year was this?’

‘Nineteen sixty-four. The year the Civil Rights Act was finally passed.’

‘I...’

Finally, I’m going to hear about my mother,I thought.

‘What was her name?’

‘I called her Rosa, after Rosa Parks, the woman who began it all. And Rosalind, of course.’

‘It’s a lovely name,’ I said.