Forty

Junior's face suddenly crumbles. The happiness vanishes, and his face is an epitome of dejected despair. Effe stands beside her son and puts an arm around his neck.

"My Prince, what you have done is really amazing! It's the most amazing show of love I've ever seen a child make, but we must also think of Aunty Didi. I don't think what's in the piggy bank alone can pay for this place."

Madam Didi walks forward rapidly and stands by Chris' side.

"Oh, you guys, come on! I don't really need the money. I'm going uptown to join my daughter, remember?" Madam Didi says earnestly. "I would've given it out freely, but this boy's act has touched my heart so much. Surely, if any business has such a foundation of pure love, then it is bound to succeed. Mr. Bawa, please, listen to your son."

"But Daddy, I really, really, really don't want you to fight Goju. I've been having dreams sometimes, and in my dreams I see that you're hurt very very very bad, with blood all over your face. I really, really, really don't want you to fight, Daddy. I don't want to see you that hurt, please. You can cook and your food is very sweet. You will have many customers because your food is the best. Your food is nice, even nicer than Mommy's!" Junior says, almost tearfully.

"Oh, thank you very much, young man! From now on you'll cook your own food!" Effe says, feigning disgust.

Madam Didi laughs, and Junior looks at his mother with sudden chagrin.

"Oh, Mommy, Junior didn't mean to be ungrateful!"

Effe puts her arms around him and hugs him hard.

"Oh, shush, my precious. I'm not angry. Just pulling your legs. You know what? I agree with you. I'll pay whatever difference Madam Didi wants for the place. You just have to convince your father."

"How many times do I need to tell you folks I'll only take the piggy bank and whatever is in it?" Madam Didi asks, exasperated. "It's the best blessing I'll ever receive! Mr. Bawa, you better not make your son sad! Doesn't the tears he's shedding bother you?"

Chris gets to his feet and turns away, throwing his arms in the air with exasperation.

"What're you people talking about? I don't belong to a kitchen! That's a woman's job!" Chris says, and he sounds disturbed.

Junior will not stop pushing. He does not understand why his parents cannot accept his plan. He is sure his Dad will make a good Chef and get a lot of money if things are done right. He has done his own little research since the idea crossed his mind. He is sure it is the way to go.

"No-no, no-no, Daddy. If you go to Google you'll see that the most famous chefs are men!" Junior says, wagging a finger at his father. "Your food is nicer than the food at TASTE BUDS, which made me poopoo the whole night. Daddy, please, please, please, please I don't want you to fight, please, please, please promise me you won't fight!"

"But, Champ, that's what I know how to do! I'm not going to fight! I just need to set up a training school and find talented guys and train them. That's what I'm good at."

Effe sees Chris' exasperation.

She walks up to him and stands gazing into his tortured eyes.

"He's right, Chris, and you know it. You need money to set up a Goju training school again, and think of all the training equipment you need in there. This eatery is available. You might not even have to cook yourself. You can hire cooks and instruct them. And, I must admit, your noodles are something else," she says warmly.

Chris' eyes harden, and he looks at her bitterly.

"What do you care, Effe? Don't pretend you care about me! You have your Steve, stick to him and leave me alone!" he hisses, and there is pain etched deeply in the depths of his eyes. Effe gasps as if he has physically slapped her.

"Daddy!" Junior cries disapprovingly.

Chris turns and walks away. He goes to stand in front of the eatery and looks into the glass for a long time. He passes a hand across his face, and then repeatedly runs a hand through his hair. He sighs heavily, stands up straighter, turns and walks back. He stands in front of his son, and then he smiles wanly.

"Alright. For you, Champ. I'll do it. Thank you."

Tears fall down Junior's face. He walks forward, puts his arms around his father's thighs and hugs him tightly. Madam Didi exhales deeply, and brushes tears from her eyes.

"Well! Such love! I'm so proud to be part of this moment," Madam Didi whispers quaveringly.

Effe feels a lump in her throat looking at her son and the man who used to be her husband, the only man whose single look either made or broke her joy. Oh, Chris! Why did you have to rape Elaine? I can forgive you for every other thing but that! Oh, dear, I miss you, you don't know just how much I miss you! As if he has heard the words in her heart Chris looks up suddenly, and his eyes locks with Effe's. He gently puts Junior aside and walks slowly towards Effe.

Effe begins to shudder as tears form in her eyes. She knows that walk, that look, that moment. In the past, sometimes it happened like that. It didn't matter where they were...at home, in a restaurant, in town, at the office...

Whenever their eyes met like that, whenever that loud silence passed between them, and he began to look like that, to walk like that, to live the mood like that, they always ended up finding the nearest private spot and making tender love.

She can see it in his eyes now, and she is sure it is reflected in hers. She gasps, her lips part, and it takes all her effort not to run to him and feel his lips crushing hers.

He stops in front of her. His eyes are half-slits, and she feels him making the most herculean effort not to take her in his arms.

"I'm sorry, Effe. Didn't mean to speak to you like that," he says softly.

She nods, and a couple of tears roll down her cheeks.

"That's alright, Tiger," she whispers, her eyes holding his.

Tiger!

The endearment she used to call him, only on very special moments when their love has been fulfilled by the most intimate of touches, or the sweetest of looks, or the most enchanted magical moment. It startles both of them, and they stare at each other, the power of the tension so strong that she knows that if something doesn't happen soon, they would be lost in that craziness.

It is Junior who suddenly pops up between them.

"You two are not really, really, really going to do that licking face thing here, are you?" he asks with an abashed look on his face.

His voice breaks the web, and Effe looks down with a little sound. Chris turns from her, and slowly forces himself to approach Madam Didi. He is trembling, and realizes just how much he has missed her. His soul yearns for her, craves for her, needs her! His love for her is tearing him apart. He extends his hand to Madam Didi.

"Thank you. Thank you very much," Chris says passionately. "This is really something. Your kind gesture is deeply appreciated."

She does not take his hand. She rather gives him a sudden hug and sighs deeply.

"Ah! Let's sit down and talk details then. You have a wonderful son, Mr. Bawa."

"Please call me Chris. Yes, yes, I know. He's an angel."

Chris feels Junior's hand on his left middle finger, and he looks down and smiles a wolfish grin into his son's face...and the boy has exactly the same wolfish grin on his face. Effe, being a top-shot lawyer, agrees to work on the documentation for the change of ownership of DIDI'S.

She drops off Junior at home. She has to be in the office, and for the first time in many years she wishes she didn't have to go. Junior, not surprisingly, convinces his father to stay with him a while. Chris, evidently, does not want to stay because Ivy Kedem is around, but in the end, Junior has his way, as usual, and takes his father to his room.