5| All the single ladies.
747 Words
“Mom, how could you say that?” I asked, knowing that she was not wrong about what she had just said. But even I, didn’t realize it until she mentioned it.
“I don’t think I said anything wrong here, I just stated the obvious. Anyway, let me get going.” My mom said.
“Why are you leaving so early. Did you come here just to eat my food?” I joked. But deep down, I really wanted her to leave before she says something else.
‘It’s my daughter’s food, so I’m allowed.” She said, as she leapt to her feet. Then turned to look at Owen. “Nice to meet you, Owen. My daughter’s FRIEND.” She said, with emphasis on the “friend.”
“Mom!” I yelled. But she didn’t even look at me.
“It’s a pleasure meeting you Ma.” Owen responded.
“Bye.” She said, with a smile on her face.
“Bye.” Owen and I, said in unison.
“Please call me when you get home.” I added.
“I’ll think about that.” She said, as she trudged to the front door, then opened it and left the house afterwards.
“sorry about that, my mom can be annoying sometimes.” I said to Owen when we were finally alone.
“You don’t have to apologize Hazel. I understand. In fact, I like your mom.” Owen assured.
“Really? I know she’s lovable but she can be so annoying sometimes.” I stated and rolled my eyes.
“It’s okay.” He assured me again.
There was an awkward silence afterwards. I was speechless and I didn’t know what to say.
So, to liighten the mood, I connected my phone to my jam box. After few seconds of scrolling through my playlist, I finally played one of Wizkid’s songs, titled “Ojuelegba.”
And we began to hum along with the music.
“So you listen to Wizkid’s songs?” Owen asked.
“Yes, I do.” I replied.
“Who is your favorite artiste?” He asked.
I opened my mouth to reply, but my words died on my lips when my phone buzzed.
I picked up my phone and looked at the screen, my mom’s name flashed on it.
“Sorry.” I apologized to Owen, before picking it up.
“Hello, mom.” I said.
“My baby, I just got home. Is Owen still there?” She asked, over the phone.
“No, he left a few minutes ago.” I lied.
“Okay. He seems to be a nice guy though.” She said.
“Mom, you don’t even know him, how would you know?” I said, then I quickly turned to look at him, hoping he didn’t understand what I just said.
“I just know. He’s a good guy.” She pressed on.
“Okay goodnight mom.” I said quickly. I wasn’t interested in having that conversation with her, at least not in front of Owen.
“So fast? Do you want to do something?” She asked.
“Yes, I want to sleep. I have to go to work early tomorrow. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, goodnight, Hazel. I love you.” She said.
“i love you too mom.” I responded and hung up immediately.
I looked at Owen and he was smiling.
“why did you lie?” He asked.
“i know she would have wanted to speak with you. And you might have found it to be uncomfortable, that was why i lied.” I explained.
He nodded his head and said “oh I understand.”
“Yeah.” I said. I was glad he didn’t ask about the part where I said ‘you don’t even know him; how would you know?’ while I was speaking with my mom.
“So, as we were saying before your mom called. Who is your favorite artiste?” He asked.
“Beyoncé. I love her! Do you listen to her music?”
“Do you like Beyoncé? She gives this strong black woman vibes while she is on stage performing.” I said.
“I listen to Beyoncé’s music sometimes. You know? all the single ladies.” He tried to sing the song, then stood up and started imitating the dance moves.
I stood and joined him in dancing and our laughter filled the small room.
- Writer
