A Valentine Day Fiasco Chapter 7 – Mummy Dele of Life.

His mother was getting closer by each step he took. He could already see the grin on her face fading going out when she realized the lady beside him she was hurrying to meet had been sneakily dismissed because of her. He looked back to see if Cynthia was still there. To his relief she wasn’t. His mum couldn’t ambush her to start asking questions. It was easier that way. Soon he caught up with his mum. He was already having an idea of how the conversation would go. He was already dreading. He decided to take control of it by starting the conversation first.

“Hey mum. Where’s dad and Ronke?”

“Hello to you too. Why did you suddenly dismiss the fine lady when you saw I was coming?” His mother asked without delay.

He sighed. Could she not have let it slide? What kind of woman was this?

“Mum you know how you are around any lady I am with. You make the most embarrassing of statements and I wanted to save her that embarrassment. You know I love you mum and I am proud of you but sometimes you take things to the extreme”

“John, so me wanting to know who the lady you were making to laugh so hard is embarrassing? Is it a bad thing to want you to get married? Iru omo wo le leyi o? You never cease to amaze me. I was hoping something was going on there but I guess I was wrong. I should be more accepting of the already known fact. You are never going to get married. You want your father’s name to die abi? Ku se o. Ku ise.” She concluded and turned round to start heading to where the rest of his family members were.

John followed behind while hailing her.

“Mummy! Mummy!”

“The only mummy that I know. Mummy of life. Iya Dele. The woman behind the successful Mr. Martins.”

He knew she had smiled at that. She had paused a bit before resuming her military-like march to the rest of the family. He took that opportunity to catch up with her and they walked together to the car. He had already seen his sister, Ronke with her little boy, Lanre in her arms and her husband by her side giggling at whatever was amusing them. He could have sworn he threw up in his mouth. Something felt odd about that guy, he just didn’t know what. It almost feels like he knew him somewhere for something terrible but he wasn’t really sure. Unlike the other times where he had known his sister’s boyfriends, he never knew this one. Probably because he on a trip as at that time. All he knew was that the family was preparing for a wedding. His sister would have murdered him if he said anything. She was in such a hurry to get married, saying something about her eggs being fried if she didn’t get married. So he kept quiet. The guy had really kissed up to the asses of his parents. The thought so highly of him. He was the only one who seemed to see a problem and they were having none of that so he kept away from family occasions as much as he could. He just hoped he would be able to tolerate him today without making a gagging face in front of him. Soon they got to the car, he put on his fakest smile and braced himself up for the events of the day.

He gave Terry, Ronke’s husband a vigorous handshake, hailing him in the process like he was the star of the moment. He turned to his sister and gave her a bear hug along with Lanre and eventually carried him from her hands. He was quite big and had quite some weight for a 2 year old boy. “Woah, you are now a big boy”.  Ronke smiled like a proud mother. “Yeah. He’s growing bigger by the day.”

“That’s a good thing”.

Lanre was his only and his favorite nephew. He loved him to bits and pieces despite not trusting his father and all. It was also a good thing he took more of his mother’s features, made it easier for him to love the little boy. He carried the boy and went to greet his old man.

“Good Afternoon dad.”

“Good Afternoon son. I wonder what your mother told you that brought you around. It has been a while.” His father replied.

“I have been busy with work and all dad. That explains why you haven’t seen me around.”

“Hmm. If you say so.” His father stared at him unconvinced.

“Your mother says the family lunch is at the house. You’ll be joining us for that I suppose?” He finally said.

“Yes I will. It’s not like I have a choice. You know who mum is.” John answered.

At that they both laughed. They both knew how tough Mrs. Matins could be.

“I will see you guys at home” John said after they had stopped laughing.

“We will be expecting you.” His father replied.

Mr. Martins turned to his other family members. “I think it’s high time we left for home, don’t you think?” Ronke and her husband headed to their car while his mum got into the car.

John walked to where his sister stood and handed Lanre over to her. He made sure to check in with his mum before they drove off. He assured her that he was going to come. He would be driving right behind them if possible. She seemed reassured by that and his dad started the car and drove off. Terry’s car followed suit. He then walked to his car and drove off. 

Click here to read Chapter 8.