Chidinma’s low heels clicked on the terrazzo floor as she hurried away from her office, the nurse who had brought her the alarming news of her son’s arrival at the hospital trailing behind her.
Frantic thoughts ran through her mind. Nonso was fifteen years old and recently prone to getting in trouble. Puberty had seen the onset of various incidents from which she had found herself having to extricate him. he had been suspended from school twice, been involved in brawls, crashed and dented her car a few times and run off once to look for his father, who she was separated from. But the thought of him at the hospital set her pulse racing.
“Oh God, please don’t let him be injured.” She muttered to herself. “He’s all I have.”
When she burst into the reception lounge, she found a group of four boys gathered in a brooding circle, their faces grim. Her eyes ran over them and settled on a familiar stubborn face.
“Nonso!” Chidinma called out, her emotions see-sawing between relief and concern. “Are you alright?”
Nonso detached himself from the group of boys, moving reluctantly towards his mother. Chidinma assessed him professionally as he stepped forward. she was partly relived to see no obvious sign of injury on his person, but her brow was still furrowed with worry.
“Well, say something!” Chidinma snapped, her patience fraying as Nonso simply stood before her and glowered. “What are you doing here and who are those other boys? Are you hurt? Is someone else hurt?”
Nonso turned his head halfway to his friends. “I’m fine. Those of my friends standing there are okay, but my friend David has been admitted. He fainted when we were… somewhere.”
The pause before the last word told Chidinma there was more to the story, but she let it slide for that moment. She turned inquiringly to the nurse who had called her.
“Yes ma, one boy has been admitted, and Dr Chukwudi is seeing to him now. The other boys are okay, but when I recognised your son, I guessed you would like to know.”
“What was the boy admitted for?”
“Some kind of drug overdose. He came in ranting and hallucinating and then slumped. Doctor Chukwudi mentioned Cannabis abuse.”
Chidinma’s eyebrow rose. Marijuana use was in rampant use among teenagers, but it was not something she expected to hear connected to anyone her son was closely associated with. She turned to him.
“What happened?”
Nonso maintained a defiant silence, his eyes avoiding hers as he shuffled his feet. He hemmed and hawed for a few seconds, then mumbled, “I don’t know.”
Chidinma’s anger increased as she lost her patience. It had been a hectic day and all she had been looking forward to was getting home and putting her tired feet up, but apparently her son had conspired with fate to ruin her plans.
She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the group of boys. “Fine. If you won’t talk, your friends will.”
When they reached the silent group, she crossed her arms and ran an assessing eye over them. “Alright, someone needs to tell me what happened to your friend David. Right now, or you’re all in big trouble.”
There was no prompt response, except for a general guilty shuffle of limbs. She glared at them. Like her son, they all had backpacks slung over their backs and were dressed in casual clothes instead of their uniforms. Her eyes rested on the tallest one. amongst them all, he was the only one whose gaze met hers directly. For a moment, she was taken aback by how handsome he was. he had a small goatee and a clear complexion, where most of the other boys were still plagued by a few straggling hairs on their pimpled chins. His eyes were slanted in what seemed like amusement and long lashes framed his bold gaze. Chidinma was struck by the wave of masculine appeal that flowed from the young man. He certainly seemed bolder than the other boys, and certainly drop-dead gorgeous.
Gooodness, what are they feeding children these days?
“You, what happened?” she jerked her chin at him, keeping a straight face. He might be handsome, but he still had questions to answer.
He looked around, then touched his chest enquiringly. Chidinma’s eyes followed his hands. They were long and slim, beautiful fingers touching the centre of a broad chest. “Me?” His voice was surprisingly deep.
Not very bright though, she thought wryly.
“Yes, you. What happened to that boy and where were you all at, dressed like this. Where are your uniforms?”
Nonso nudged Chidinma. “Mummy, wait. It’s not what you think…”
“You, be quiet.” She turned to glare at her son. “You had your chance to talk.”
“Em… I think there’s a misunderstanding here.” The handsome guy said, lips twitching in what Chidinma suspected was amusement. “I am not..”
“Oh no no, I’m not taking another ‘I don’t know’ answer.” Chidinma snapped. “Now, the next time you open that pretty mouth you better be confessing what happened and how that boy got the marijuana.”
The handsome face writhed in surprise. “Pretty mouth?”
“Mum!” Nonso said more forcefully. “Stop it! he’s not my friend. I don’t know him.”
“And why are you hanging around with someone you don’t know?” A note of alarm entered Chidinma’s voice. “Is he the one who gave you the marijuana?”
“Wow, madam, you seem quite talented. You must have an Olympic medal for Long Jumping to conclusions.” The young man laughed, ignoring her angry look. “Your son is right; I don’t know him. heck, I don’t know any of these boys.”
He stretched out a slim hand to her, grinning. “My name is Onyeka Michael. I actually work here.”
Chidinma stared at him for a moment, then closed her eyes, embarrassment surging through her. Could she have been any more presumptuous?
Nonso has put me in trouble again, she thought in chagrin.
This was definitely her most embarrassing day at work ever.
Check Back Tomorrow For More Episodes.
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