Way of The Wand

Chatper 47

Jira is surprised to hear a knock on her door this late at night, and even more shocked to discover it’s her mother at the door.

“Mother,” she said as she opened the door and came face to face with her mother.

“I’ve told you to stop saying that word like it’s a slur. Be gentle.”

Jira rolled her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“Can I come in? Or will I have to stand here till daybreak?”

Jira shifted from the entrance for her Mum to pass through the doorway. She gestured to the armchairs in the sitting room. “Sit if you want, or keep standing. I don’t much care either way.”

Kalinda plopped down on the nearest arm chair. She screened the sitting room with her eyes and commented, “Looks different from the last time I was here.”

Jira rolled her eyes again and proceeded to sit opposite her mother. “What are you doing here Mum? What do you want?”

Kalinda sighed. “If I’m being completely honest, I don’t much know myself. Well, I guess that’s not entirely true. I want my daughter back.”

Jira folds her arms and crosses her legs.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking Jira,” Kalinda continued. “And I realize I haven’t been the best parent.”

Jira could see that something is different about her mother, but decides not to drop her guard. The woman was a fox after all. “That’s the understatement of the century.”

Kalinda chuckles. “You’re right. I’ve been…a terrible parent. Your Father, he was the awesome one. He always knew how to deal with you and Kano and Daila. Always knew what to say to keep the family from falling apart. Look at us now? Look at where we are without him.”

Jira guardrails fell. Kalinda almost never talked about her Dad. “Mother—” Jira couldn’t go on being angry at her mother, not when she was opening up like this.

“Mum.” It had been a while since she addressed her mother as “Mum”. Jira’s voice grew soft as her old anger dissipated. “Mum, our family is not the way it is today because we lost Dad. It’s the way it is now because you—” She paused, realizing her voice had started to climb again.

Jira exhaled and looked away from her mother. She didn’t want to speak with years of frustration in her heart. “Do you remember Mum, that when we got word that Dad’s ship was lost at sea, you refused to accept he was gone. You didn’t let us mourn him for months, saying he would find his way back to us. It took almost a whole year before we finally held a funeral for him.”

Kalinda’s frame seemed to shrink as Jira brought up the memory.

“That’s what you do Mum,” Jira continued. “When something happens that you don’t like, you dig your heels in and refuse to accept it, no matter the cost. You did it with Dad, and then you did it again when I told you I wanted to become a witch.”

A tear streamed down from Kalinda’s eye.

“You’re a powerful wizard Mum,” Jira said, “probably the most powerful wizard in Edoh. But even you cannot reshape reality into what you want. You got to let go sometimes, and let things be.”

Kalinda sighed, nodding. “You’re right.” There was a finality to her tone that Jira had never heard before. The daughter had said her all and had nothing to add, and so the room slipped into an uncomfortable silence, until Kalinda broke it.

“What if…what if I called it off?”

“What?” Jira was confused.

“The tournament, what if I called it off?” Kalinda said. “I don’t care about it anymore. I just want you to be my daughter again.”

Jira’s shoulders dropped. “You can’t,” she answered. “If we cancel it now, no matter what you say, people will think it me who chickened out. We have to go through with it.”

More tears streamed down Kalinda’s face, until they became full blown sobs.

Jira, shocked, got up from her seat and went over to comfort her mother.

“Hey, hey, Mum. It’s okay. What’s got you so worked up all of a sudden?”

Kalinda grabbed tightly onto her daughter like it was the last chance she would have to hold her daughter. “I’m afraid…I’m afraid…if Daila wins tomorrow, you’ll never forgive me.”

“Oh, come on Mum,” Jira said, moving her hands through her mother’s hair. “No matter what happens tomorrow, win or lose, I’ll always be your daughter.”

She slipped a finger under the older woman’s chin, lifted her face up and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“I’ll always be your daughter,” she repeated, looking her mother in the eye this time.

Kalinda nodded, and wiped her tears. “Thank you.”

“But Tomi is totally going to beat Daila’s ass tomorrow though.”

The unexpected statement caused Kalinda too burst into laughter, even with tears still in her eyes.

“Our family…we’ll figure out a way to become what we used to be. It might take some time, but we’ll get there.” Jira assured.