Chapter 25 Ofosua
CHAPTER 25 OFOSUA
ADINKRA SAYING: (Bese Saka) Affluence.
HELEN ADDO: The fastest way to affluence is to marry well… and get your master’s.
SAMUEL ADDO: Trust no one, get a prenup.
This was too good to be true.
I had gone exactly two weeks without an ambush from Steven or anyone at work. I had settled into a steady flow. Well, I still had to edit that idiot Evan Miles. Cole had warned him to be on his best behavior, and I kept most of my communication through his agent, so it was mostly painless.
My time had been spent trying to figure out production schedules for each of the books. I obviously wanted to lead with our strongest contenders, which were Kenya and Aurora. But Kenya’s book needed more work.
All in all, though, I was happy.
Cole had really heard me when I’d told him how it felt when he hadn’t backed me with Brian Cosmos. Now, any meeting with Cosmos on the calendar, he made sure I was there.
And in the evenings, Cole was mine. All mine. We stayed most nights at his place, since he didn’t have roommates or an overbearing mother. But I had taken him to meet my friends. And Cole had been perfect date material. Fun and funny and teasing my friends. Super attentive with me. A girl could get used to the constant attention and flirting. And then, of course, we went back to his place. Where he did deliciously dirty things to me with his tongue.
It was my own fault. I should have been expecting the ambush at home. Things had been too quiet since Yofi’s wedding, and I’d grown complacent. My mother still did her usual come to church with me demands and her usual appearances in my apartment out of nowhere, but there hadn’t been a single blind date attempt on her part since the wedding.
I knew at some point I was going to have to acknowledge that Cole and I were together to my family, but it was so much nicer to pretend I didn’t have to worry about saying anything to my mother.
That was the main reason I had chosen to sneak into my own apartment on Sunday evening.
Coward.
When the elevator let me off at my floor, I sighed with relief when I didn’t see my parents. A glance down the hall pricked at my conscience. I really should go over there, say hi, and check in with my dad later.
Feeling resolute and like I had an actual action plan, I opened my door, far too happy and relaxed, because I was not expecting my mother to be waiting for me.
As soon as I walked into my apartment, Cora pointed toward the kitchen and then made herself scarce.
I glowered in her direction, and she grinned as she backed away. “Mum?”
She came out of the kitchen, carrying a large pot of jollof. “Eh, as for you, you don’t have any food in your house. Did you know that?”
I sighed. “Hi to you too, Mum.” I went around her into the kitchen, grabbed a soda from the fridge, and then made a mental note that I should do some grocery shopping. We had a group shopping list that got ordered weekly, and paid for out of a joint fund, but for my personal things, I was running low.
I sighed. I needed to make nice. “So, Mum, how is it going?”
She was standing in the dining room, hands on her hips, next to the table, where she’d placed the jollof. “Where is Megan? It’s Sunday. I usually come and cook on Sunday. Where did everyone go?”
I pursed my lips and tried to find some calm. “Mum, did you let anyone know you were coming? Because then people might not have made other plans.”
She frowned. “But where would anyone be going?”
“I don’t know. But even I have work to do.”
She frowned. “Is that where you have been? Eh, you’re always working. If you would only focus on getting married instead of work all the time.”
I frowned at her. “Mum, remember when I was in school? You insisted that I didn’t need a boyfriend and that boys only caused pregnancy and syphilis. Do you recall saying that to me?”
Her eyes went wide. “I would never have said any such thing.”
“I’m pretty sure I have a recording of it somewhere.”
Then she pulled her specialty. When she wasn’t getting the response she wanted from me, she changed the subject. “So this thing with the obroni boy, you can’t be serious with him, can you?”
I sputtered my sip of soda. “What are you talking about?”
When in doubt, deny, deny, deny.
“Don’t play stupid with me. You brought him to the wedding, where everyone has seen. Are you keeping him?”
What did that even mean? We were figuring it out. “I like him, so I will keep him for now.”
It sounded like a nice neutral answer.
“Keep him for now? Nonsense. If you’re bringing him to family things, where everyone can see you, then you think you’re keeping him.” She watched me shrewdly. “These boys, they’re fun. Sure. But they’re not serious. He will never understand you, or what you stand for, so you have your fun. But be sensible. And for the love of God, do not get pregnant. Lord Jesus.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, first, he’s a man. Second, who says I’m serious? I ran to get married, and it blew up in my face. Right now, he’s cool. And I like him. For the first time in months, I’m feeling again. So I’ll keep him for the moment. And, again, that’s my choice. Not yours.”
“But he’s an obroni! Who are his people even?”
I knew that was going to come up eventually. Who are his people? What’s his family like? “Mum, you don’t need to do this. His family is good, well-to-do. As a matter of fact, I work for his uncle.”
She frowned. “What do you mean, you work for his uncle?”
“Mum, Cole’s last name is Drake. His family owns Drake Publishing.”
Her eyes went wide. “You’re dating the boy who owns the company? Heh, aren’t you worried people are going to say you slept your way to the top? But not my daughter, because you know better than to sleep with that boy.”
“ Man , and that’s none of your business, Mum.”
She blinked at me owlishly. “That’s not how I raised you.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I don’t even know what to say to you. I am twenty-five years old. Almost twenty-six. I was married for a whole four hours. I lived with Yofi. I’ve had sex before.”
She harrumphed. “If you’re going to have sex with him, we should meet him. Bring that boy to Kukua’s exhibit. I bought a table.”
“I don’t think—”
“My dear, that is not a suggestion.”
“You spring this on me now? Maybe we’re not at the-turn-up-at-family-events level yet. Maybe Cole has something going on with his own family?”
“If he wants to see my daughter, he’ll come.”
“Except you don’t control me, right?”
She laughed. “If that’s what you need to believe to get up every day, then feel free. Next Saturday, I’m telling you now. And repent.” She added, more loudly, “I am praying for you and for Megan!”
As she took the rice back into the kitchen, I frowned at her back. This was going to be a disaster.