Chapter 27 Cole
CHAPTER 27 COLE
ADINKRA SAYING: (Nyansapo) Wisdom.
HELEN ADDO: With age comes hard truths. Love does not conquer all.
After the gallery opening, we went to Tribeca. Ofosua had said everything was fine, but she was off. She’d tossed and turned all night. And she hadn’t wanted to talk about it. Sunday, she’d been quiet and had gone home early citing work. I’d taken her dinner in the evening and her mood had seemed to improve, but she’d still been quiet.
This morning, as I’d done my level best to distract her with mind-shattering orgasms in the shower, she’d held on to me tight like she was afraid I was going to run away. Sure, the gallery night had been less than ideal, but I’d made it clear I wasn’t running. Nothing was going to send me packing.
I was returning from a breakfast meeting with my mind focused on maybe taking her to grab coffee before my next round of calls, but I stopped short when I saw someone familiar in the lobby. “Dr. Addo, have you been helped? Did someone let Ofos know you were here?”
Helen Addo was dressed to the nines. I saw where Ofosua got her elegance from. Not a hair out of place, a full-on, no-bullshit, I eat idiots like you for dinner pristine air about her. She wore her blue-and-white African print like a badge of grace. And I had to say it—she was stunning.
She smiled as the receptionist looked up. “Oh, there you are, Cole. I just pinged your office. Dr. Addo said she’s here to see you?”
I turned back to the woman, who looked every bit the regal queen seated in our plush reception furniture. “You’re here to see me?”
She gave me a sharp nod. “I am.”
My stomach sank. There was no way this was good. Her wanting to speak with me could only end in disaster.
Maybe she wants to apologize.
No way. Ofos told me African parents don’t apologize. She was here to eviscerate me. “Okay. Right this way. We can go to my office.”
“I appreciate this. I took the chance that you might be available.”
I held my door open for her. “I’m glad I was here. And, ah, I’m honored to see you.”
Once I had her seated and closed the door, she laid it on me. “I’ve been wanting to speak to you.”
I sat next to her. “What about?”
“This is awkward,” she said as she smoothed down her skirt.
I sighed. “You can say that again. I get the distinct impression you are not, uh, very impressed with me?”
“That would be accurate. I’m not.”
I raised my brows, irritation bubbling to the surface. “Well, tell me how you really feel.”
With pursed lips and then a sigh, she said, “Well, for starters, you can stop playing with my daughter.”
I swallowed hard before I spoke. “I assure you, Dr. Addo, I am doing no such thing. The last few weeks with her have been some of the best in my life. She’s very important to me.”
“Listen, you are not the first obroni boy who thinks he’s taking some kind of walk on the wild side. I will not have my daughter be your dating experiment.”
I frowned at that. “That’s not what this is. I care about her.”
“I know you think you do. And you seem like a nice boy. But this thing you’re doing with my daughter, she’s going to get hurt.”
“I understand your concern, Dr. Addo, but I’m not going to hurt her. She’s the best person I know. Just being with her pushes me to strive to be the kind of man she deserves.”
“You should come to her fully formed. She is not here to fix you. Or to prop you up. You care about her right now because it’s convenient for you.”
My gut twisted. “That’s not the case.” Except part of what she’d said was true. Ofos had been fixing me, brick by brick. The blade of shame sliced deep. Emanuel or whoever would never need a primer on microaggressions. His mother would treat Ofos with respect.
“Look, no one ever wants to hear the hard truth. You and my daughter, nothing is coming out of this. Dating her is a fun detour for you, but this is her life . Ofosua has worked too hard and had too many disappointments. You would be another one. When you get bored, you’re going to marry the appropriate girl from the Upper East Side and live your bland boring life. My daughter needs community. Support. Family. All things that you can’t provide.”
I ground my teeth at that. She had no idea what I could provide. “I can and I will give her those things. All due respect, Dr. Addo, you don’t even know me.”
She frowned. “No, I don’t. But I know your type. You’re the type to get bored, like Emanuel said last night. I know you think that you care about my daughter, and that you want to be with her, and you love her and all her ‘talent.’ Obroni-type things. But let me explain to you, when things get difficult, when your family doesn’t approve, when they insist that you give her up to remain in the family fold, when your so-called friends shun her, she is the one who will get hurt.”
I swallowed hard. “I keep telling you, I won’t hurt her.”
“You won’t mean to hurt her, but you will. So let’s save everyone the time and energy and pain, shall we?”
“You think so little of your daughter?”
“No. I think the world of my daughter. I’ve spent my life nurturing her for something better than you. She deserves to find someone ready for the road ahead. You are ill-equipped for the realities of the world she has to live in, Mr. Drake.”
I frowned at that. “Have you told Ofosua any of this?”
She smiled. “You know my daughter; she won’t listen. She will happily tell me that she is seeing where this goes, whatever the hell that means. But you and I both know how this works. Imagine taking her home to your family. What will your mother say? What will your father say? And I know you want to go ahead and condemn me because, yes, I’m doing all those things as well. But this is my daughter we’re talking about. See, Cole, Ofosua is not pretending. She truly likes you. And because she likes you, it’s my job to see that she makes the right choice, not just for herself, but for her family, her community. She will be shunned by our community if she one day chooses a life with you. Always an outsider. Do you want that for her?”
I pursed my lips at that.
“And if you think about it, you will see she deserves a life with someone who is not going to break her. Who understands all parts of her. Not just the comfortable parts.”
My heart was beating too fast, pulsing against the confines of my ribs. I didn’t want to hear this bullshit. But what if she was right? “Oh yeah, like Yofi?”
You know she’s right.
“Yofi was a problem. He wanted to be too American. We can do better.”
I sighed. “I’m not sure what you want. I expect that you want me to stop seeing her, right?”
“Yes, it would be helpful. She’ll get over it like she got over Yofi. Think it through, and then you’ll see that I’m right. Don’t take this personally. I’m sure you’re a very nice boy. But not for my Ofosua.”
And then she stood to walk out as if she hadn’t tried to rip apart my world. I still couldn’t believe it. Was I supposed to just accept it? What kind of bullshit was that?
“You know I’m not going to walk away,” I said stubbornly.
“Think about your next move very carefully, obroni. One day, one of your friends, or perhaps your mother, is going to say something to my daughter, something that aims to dim her light or to make her feel small, so they can feel powerful. And you won’t see it. You’ll tell yourself that you will. You tell yourself that you’ll believe her, but you won’t. And when you don’t protect her, you will break her just a little. If that’s not enough to sway you, then think about your mother’s circles. How she will take the news of your supposed girlfriend. You think you won’t quit? I can see it. And I would hate to have to make a polite call to Rebecca Drake to let her know what her son has been up to. Just because our social circles don’t overlap doesn’t mean our paths might not cross.”
She’d looked up my mother. She wouldn’t.
She would.
“Have a good afternoon. I really do wish I could trust you with my daughter’s heart. But the life that would make her truly happy is one of familiarity, culture, food, ease. You cannot give her that, no matter how many Ghanaian dances you learn.” And then she was gone.
Ofosua’s mother was out the door, taking my heart with her. I didn’t want to believe her, didn’t want to think that any of what she said made any kind of sense. Until she spoke the simple truth, I’d never been afraid that maybe our worlds were too different.