The Other Half

As Joan ate the food that her mother prepared for her at the dining table, she noticed the way her mother was looking at her. It was as if she had something to say but didn't know how to say it.

"Mummy?" Joan called.

"Yes, my dear?" Her mother stood up and poured more water into Joan's glass cup.

"Daddy said there is something he would want to talk to me about," Joan said.

"Oh I see," her mother said in an evasive tone, pretending not to know what Joan was talking about.

"Do you by any chance know what it is?" Joan asked.

"Yinka, eat your food, it is bad manners for you to talk when you are eating," Joan's mother scolded her. 

Joan pushed her plate of food aside, "mummy, I am not a child, so there is no reason for you to try and hide whatever it is daddy wants to talk to me about," Joan said.