Consequences

Chapter 23

I was in my room feeling unsettled about how my mother would take the news  I and my father had just broken to her. It was suppose to make her happy. But while in my room, I heard their voices. My mother and my father were arguing. I stood behind my bedroom door to listen.

"So you Kunle, look me Fola finish dey go arrange marriage for my back. Do you take me to be a fool?"

" It's like you are not listening to me."

"And what more do you want to tell me that I will listen again?"

"Oh, so you don't want to listen to what I want to tell you?"
"No." My mother replied

"At all, at all, you don't want to listen?" My mother kept quiet.

"Fola tell me you don't want to listen and then this discussion is over. In fact, I am even sick and tired of... " My father paused while my mother continued talking.

"Just say you are tired of me. Go on, say it."

"Look, I am fed up of having to deal with your irrationality, okay?!" He shouted

"Now you've said what you really had in mind to say;  that you are fed up with me!" My mother shouted back at him.

My father kept quiet and the next thing I heard him tell her was, he was going out.

"I was enjoying myself outside o. Now that I've come into my own house, there's fire. I think I better go out." With that I heard him open the front door and slammed it shut. Where was he going at this hour of the night? I refused to come out of my room until I heard my mother shouting my name.

"Tola?! Tola?!" She came banging on my door like she wanted to break it down.

"What is it?"

"Abeg come out jor! You people think you can gang up against me?!" I came out and followed her into the parlor.

"Where is your father going by this time?!"

"How would I know?"

"You don't know?! But he said he was enjoying himself outside?"

"Look mum I have no idea where he is going and naturally, if he goes out he will come back."

"He will come back, abi? So you think you can supply him with your girlfriends and come and tell me rubbish?!" I looked up and down while I opened my eyes and shut them repeatedly. I was fed up with her turning the house upside down.

"It's why you people are always sweet, because of your girlfriends. Because I see no reason why he should go out by this time. Continue supplying him!" I sighed as I was completely fed up with her attitude. I went to sit down opposite her.

"Mum why are you doing this?" She kept quiet. I then showed her the ring. " Look Ola finally  proposed to me and I agreed. And you know why? Because I wanted to please you. When I saw the tension that was being created I had to call my friend and tell her to take me to see him."

I looked at my mother as she focused her attention on the TV while shaking her legs.

"I wanted to ask him how serious he was about me. When she took me there, that's when I saw dad and his friend. In fact, he asked me if I knew he was there. I told him no. The two men called us out and asked if we wanted to be with each other? Did I do anything wrong?"

My mother was breathing heavily. She was boiling with anger. But in her anger, I could see her  eyes filled with tears. She tried to hide it by using the edge of the wrapper she was tying to wipe the tears. But It became evident she was crying when she started sniffing. I finally saw the fragile nature of the woman that gave birth to me.