Chidinma had never been so mortified in her life.
She was sitting in the car of a younger man, after she had been caught red-handed kissing him by her teenage son. No matter what way she chose to look at it, there was no explanation that could salvage the situation in Nonso’s eyes. Still, she had to try.
“Nonso… listen…”
The teenage boy stepped back, as though her voice had pushed him back physically. His eyes were swimming with hurt, confusion and embarrassment at finding his mother in flagrante delicto. He shifted his gaze to Onyeka, and the hurt look was replaced by anger and fury Chidinma had never seen on her son’s face before. If looks could kill, Onyeka would have dropped dead that instant.
“How could you?” the boy said hoarsely, eyes still on Onyeka. “My mother! My own mother! Did you ask for my permission to do this?”
Chidinma felt a spurt of anger lance through her embarrassment. Permission? What was it about men thinking they owned people? She didn’t understand the entitlement mentality. Her father had been a dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist, yet he had treated Chidinma and her mother with the respect they deserved as humans. Her ex-husband Ben had treated her like property, a trait she had bucked against stridently. And now her son was sounding just like that. Under her roof? No, there was no way any man she raised would use words like ‘permission’ when it came to the women in his life.
“Now, you stop that rubbish right there!” Chidinma snapped. “I’m not just ‘your own mother’. I’m a fully functioning adult and you’re my ward. I don’t take permission from you. You take from ME. So cut that out! Get in the house right now!”
Nonso glared at Chidinma, but years of being raised with her no-nonsense attitude helped him hold his tongue. He threw one more venomous look at Onyeka, and then stalked away from the car, half-running into the house, his shoulders hunched angrily.
Onyeka winced as the front door shut behind Nonso with a loud bang. “Ouch. Well. This is not good.”
Chidinma shook her head in apology. “I’m sorry about that. Nonso’s just been rather sheltered and he’s never seen me that way with another man except his father, so his shock is understandable. But he shouldn’t have said what he did.”
“I understand totally.” Onyeka assured Chidinma. “But I understand why he is so upset as well. He’s been confiding in me a lot recently, so he will definitely see this as a huge betrayal of his confidence. I feel partly to blame for this.”
Chidinma unclasped her seatbelt and stepped out of the car. She looked around, glad no neighbour had witnessed the small scene; she could see Nonso’s shape moving behind the curtains of the living room and she sighed. When she went into the house, she knew whatever direction the conversation between them would take was bound to be an unpleasant one.
Onyeka opened his door and stepped out as well, but she waved him back into the car. “No, please, don’t bother coming down. Just pop the car trunk open, let me get my bags.”
Onyeka paused, mid-way out of the car. “Are you sure? I could talk to him, you know. I know he’s mad, but I could still try to…”
“No, please.” Chidinma said firmly. “I have to handle this on my own. It’s time I had a long talk about MY sexuality with my son. It will be weird and uncomfortable, but it has to be done.”
Onyeka decided to let her have her way and sank back behind the steering wheel with a sigh. He had fantasized about kissing Chidinma for weeks and now that it had finally happened, he couldn’t even relish the moment. Guilt and worry warred in his heart- Nonso had truly sounded hurt. He already had a soft spot for the boy, so hearing the pain in his voice had shaken him. This was not how he had hoped things would progress between him and Chidinma. What if she decided she had to pick, and picked her son over him? He wished he had not ruined his position of ‘confidante’ to Nonso before it even took off properly. He knew the boy needed a listening male ear to pour his problems into.
When Chidinma finished retrieving the bags from the car trunk, she walked over to Onyeka’s side of the car. Even with the memory of the scene with Nonso still fresh in her mind, she still felt her insides flutter when Onyeka stared up at her with his beautiful eyes. Her eyes ran over his lips.
“I’ll deal with this, Onyeka. But whatever happens, even if we don’t do this again, I have no regrets. You shouldn’t either.”
“I would be foolish to regret kissing you.” Onyeka said, his voice husky. “And, we should totally do it again.”
Chidinma tore her eyes away from him with a sigh. “We’ll see about that. This whole thing is awkward, and I really don’t like drama.”
After Onyeka finally drove off, Chidinma hoisted the bags of clothes she had bought and made her way up her front steps with a grimace. She had lingered outside as long as she could. It was time to face her teenage son. She would have to be diplomatic and yet firm with him.
If there was ever a time she needed to act like both mother and father, this was it.
To be Continue
No comments:
Post a Comment