A Valentine Day Fiasco Chapter 9 – Compulsory Family Lunch.
John didn’t really want to go to this family dinner/lunch. He could just turn back and nothing spectacular would happen. It’s not as if his father was watching him through some lens and then would swiftly run the car like in the cartoons to chase after him. However, he would have to face his mother at some time and that was one thing he didn’t want to come face to face with. So he kept moving behind them some distance behind them and soon they got to his parents’ house. They all drove in with him making sure to park his car where he could easily make an escape should things go wrong.
As he walked into the house, he could smell all kinds of wonderful things. He sighed. He had missed good home cooked food like this. At least that was one good thing about this forced family meal. He couldn’t wait to see what his mum had prepared for them. The steward started bringing in various dishes into the dining area. John was already salivating. He composed himself and went to the sitting room to wait for the family to gather. Ronke came inside along with Lanre and her husband walked in some seconds after they did. Since everyone was around, their mum urged them on to the dining room. They took their seats at the table. His dad at the head of the table while his mum took a chair on the right hand side of his dad. Ronke and her husband took the seats on the left hand side of his dad with Lanre’s high chair stationed between the two of them. He decided to take a seat beside his mum. His dad said a brief prayer and his mum took on the task of dishing out the food. He could see several wraps of Iyan with Efo Riro and spiced pepper snails. There was also a small dish containing rice, most likely for Lanre.
The other members of the family were trying to make an attempt at small talk but he really wasn’t interested. He smiled when they expected him to but his mind was really on Cynthia. He still couldn’t get the image of her off his head. She was really beautiful. While they had been talking in front of the church, all he could do was admire her beautiful features. His mind went back to his high school days. He tried to remember why he had taken so much delight in playing pranks on her and for some reason he couldn’t get the reason. He probably played pranks a lot on her because she didn’t fall at his feet like the other girls did. She barely even noticed him at first. In fact, it seemed like she didn’t even care about any boy. The only one that had caught her eye and caught her eye for long was Tito and it kind of annoyed him then. Maybe it was because he was jealous that was why he started pranking her. He wondered where Tito was now. At least he wasn’t around anymore and Cynthia was not likely to still have a crush on him. He was going to get a chance to let her notice him. Maybe he would get a new “shaking partner” as his mum put it but somehow he doesn’t want to see Cynthia in that light.
He had been so lost in is thoughts that he didn’t hear his mum ask him a question. Ronke tapped him on the shoulder and that brought him back. “A penny for your thoughts big bro?” She asked.
“What did I miss?” He replied.
“Mum was just telling us about the lady she had seen you in church with. She was asking for her name and where you guys knew each other”.
He sighed. His mother would not just let it slide. “She was in my secondary school mum. Her name is Cynthia.”
“Mum, dad, I have to go now.” He said gulping down his glass of wine and checking his wrist watch. It was just some minutes after four pm and it was a Sunday evening. He was going to call Cynthia to find out if she was free this evening. He couldn’t stay here all day putting up the happy family appearance when his mind was on her. He needed this. Probably it would get her out of his system. He stood up from his table, gave his sister a side hug, kissed his mum on the cheek, shook his dad’s hands and gave Lanre a kiss on his forehead.
On his way out he heard someone say “Do what you have to do but do it carefully and don’t ruin it this time, else….” It came from the passage leading to the stairs and when he walked through the door, he saw Terry speaking to someone on the phone.
“Make sure the goods are going to be ready by 10 am tomorrow. Alright bye” Terry said as soon as he saw John coming,
John kept a poker face pretending not to have noticed anything. “Hey man. I have got to go now. Take care of my sister and my nephew.” He said.
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