Chapter 31 Cole
CHAPTER 31 COLE
ADINKRA SAYING: (Anyi Me Aye A) A symbol of ingratitude.
HELEN ADDO: Why would you spite your whole self when given good advice?
My palms were sweaty. I was actually nervous. I didn’t know if this was going to work, but I had to try.
Which was why I was standing at her mother’s door, twenty feet away from Ofosua’s old apartment.
I wiped my hands on my jeans and knocked. As I waited, I tried not to focus too much on the fact that without her mother’s approval, there would always be this tension constantly hovering over our heads, this note of uncertainty about whether or not we would be accepted as a couple by our families. This was where I’d fucked up, and I had to make it right. Also, I knew her mother needed to make amends to Ofosua too. Like me, she’d done her wrong by meddling too much in her daughter’s life. Or at least I hoped she also saw it that way. We’d both fucked up bad. And we both needed to go beg for her forgiveness.
When Helen Addo opened the door, her brows immediately dipped. “You. What are you doing here?”
“Dr. Addo, do you have a moment? I’d like to talk to you.”
She stared at me. “I’ve already said everything I have to say to you. Because of you, Ofosua has run off.”
I lifted my brows then. “Because of me ? Is that accurate?”
Her eyes went wide. “How dare you question me in my own house? What kind of foolish nonsense—”
I put my hands up. “Dr. Addo, I only want to tell you something about Ofosua. I know where she is, and you and I both need to go see her and apologize because we both messed up.”
She stared at me. “Apologize for what? All I ever did was protect her best interest. But she can’t see that, so eh, it’s not my problem.”
I sighed. “Okay, if that’s the way you want to look at it, I can’t make you see it any other way. But maybe if you look at this from Ofosua’s perspective, I’m not the only one who did her wrong here. She told you she was happy. And yet you deliberately interfered.”
Her mother’s eyes went wide. “You’re suggesting that I’m the reason she’s unhappy?”
I was going to screw this up if I wasn’t careful. “Let me try again. I made a huge mistake. We both messed up. If you have a problem with me, fine, have a problem with me. It’s her I need to prove my worthiness to right now. But you also did the wrong thing by going around her. So you and I need to form some kind of truce to get her back. It’s the only chance we have. Since we messed up together, we should fix it together.”
For a moment, I thought she would tell me no and to mind my own business. But then I noticed her eyes were misty. “Do you really know where she is? Is she safe?”
I nodded. “I do know where she is, and you can either come with me, or you can stay here. If you don’t come, you lose the chance to talk to her. And trust me, I won’t give you her new phone number or her new address unless she tells me I can.”
She stared at me. “You’re blackmailing me.”
“Yes, if you want access to your daughter, you need me. It’s your choice.”
She pointed a finger at my face. “That pretty face of yours, it’s giving you so much trouble, but you’re not too big for me to beat you senseless.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “Yes, ma’am. Now, are you coming with me or not?”
“Where are we going?”
“Bring a bag. This could be an overnight situation.”
“Overnight? With a white man? This is how Black people end up dead. You’re going to tell me where we’re going.”
I laughed. “You think I’m a serial killer?”
“Ah, you’re a wise man, aren’t you? This is a lesson all Black girls should learn. If you have a white boyfriend, you could end up in a freezer. This is true. Everybody knows this.”
I had to laugh, because she did have a solid point; statistically speaking, white guys were more likely to be serial killers.
“Okay, noted. Can we go now? We have a flight to catch.”
Her eyes went wide. “A flight? Where are we going?”
“Your daughter is in Los Angeles. So that’s where we need to go if we’re going to go beg for her forgiveness.”
She sniffed. “Hm, me? I don’t beg. You beg.”
“Whatever your version of apology looks like, bring it with you. Let’s go.”
She grumbled, but meanwhile, she was moving. Albeit slowly.
When she had her bag and her keys and what looked like a fur stole, I smiled. “Are you ready? The car is waiting.”
“Car waiting? Don’t you have your own car?”
“I do, but we’re going to the airport, so best not to drive ourselves.”
She sniffed. “It better be a private car, not an Uber. That’s nonsense.”
I coughed. As it turned out, my suspicions were correct; Helen Addo had a lot in common with my own mother.
So far, I’d been lucky. Helen had been satisfied with first class. She had a mimosa that she deemed acceptable and mostly kept her opinions to herself.
I didn’t need her to like me—yet. I needed her to apologize to her daughter because that’s what would make Ofosua happier. Or feel better, at least. Fuck, I didn’t know. I knew that I had to see her because I was in serious danger of losing my sanity without her in my life.
We went to Brian’s office. I’d actually been there before on a trip out to LA nine months before. At the time, I’d been really excited to see how the operations went on their movie development side. Now I was anxious, looking for Ofosua around every corner.
I found Brian first.
I gave him a nod and a smile. “Brian, it’s good to see you again. I’m actually looking for Ofosua Addo. This is Dr. Helen Addo, her mother.”
He smiled warmly. “Dr. Addo, it’s nice to meet you. Ofosua has spoken of you often.”
Helen wasn’t charmed in the slightest, and she had no time for niceties. She was on a mission. “Eh, where’s my daughter? Running away from home like a teenager.”
Brian’s lip twitched. As if, yes, he’d heard about Helen, but he hadn’t quite believed until now. He suddenly slipped me a sympathetic look. “I am sorry, you’ve missed Ofosua. She’s actually back in New York. She is pitching Aurora St. James’s novel to some of our favorite producing partners tomorrow.”
My heart stopped. Ofosua was back in New York for Aurora. And I had come here for her.
Brian frowned. “I hope nothing is wrong.”
No way was I giving him the satisfaction of admitting I was here because I was in love and I’d fucked up. Dr. Addo, on the other hand, had no such compunction about spilling my private business. “This obroni boy thinks he’s in love or some such nonsense. He dragged me all the way here to apologize to somebody who doesn’t even want an apology.”
It was then that he shook his head. “So it’s you?”
I lifted my brows. “What?”
“The one she’s been homesick for.”
I swallowed hard. “Let’s hope so.”
“Good luck and safe travels.”
Ofosua’s mother said, “Travels? Look, if I’m here, I’m going to enjoy the time I have in Los Angeles, since my daughter isn’t willing to speak to me.”
I sighed. “She didn’t know we were coming. That’s the nature of a surprise.”
“Nonsense. Surprises, grand gestures. You know this is some obroni nonsense.”
Suddenly, she eyed Brian. “Are you single?”
He grinned. “Oh, Ofosua wasn’t kidding.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“She said that you are extremely invested in her romantic life.”
“Extremely invested? Nonsense. I have a job to do. A mother’s job. This child, you know she has always been difficult.”
I laughed at that. I couldn’t help it. “Somehow, something tells me she’d say the same about you.”
I swear I thought I was going to get smacked. Ofosua had told me about how her mother once chased her around the whole house with a wooden spoon. But instead, she laughed too. “Eh, look who has a backbone?”
I glowered at her. “My understanding was you didn’t want anyone with a backbone.”
“Ah, but I have to see if you’re good enough for my daughter. The jury is still out.”
I nodded. “Right. Jury is still out. I get you.”
She laughed. “But so far, you’re doing a little better. Small, small.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Are you ready to go back to New York?”
“Another commercial flight. I’m an old woman. I need to rest.”
Brian turned around and said, “Dr. Addo, let me offer you one of our corporate suites so you can rest, recuperate, and then return tomorrow.”
“Eh, are we going to be on a private plane back? Because this boy, he made me fly commercial. Can you believe such obroni nonsense?”
Brian frowned and turned to me. “Obroni?”
I shrugged. “White person. And not in a nice way.”
He coughed a laugh. “I’ll see what we can arrange. Until then, we will keep you entirely comfortable.”
She patted his arm. “And you’re single, eh? You know, I have a niece, an artist. I know, not the best thing, but since you’re sort of an artist yourself and you work with artists, it’s okay. You should meet her next time you’re in New York.”
He grinned. “What about your daughter, Dr. Addo?”
She shook her head then. “Eh, she’s a lost cause. She thinks she loves this one.”
She pointed at me, and my heart squeezed. If even her mother thought she loved me, then maybe I still had a chance.
Brian checked his watch. “You better go, Cole. If you catch the red-eye, you might make it in time for Aurora’s show tomorrow.”
I gave him a nod of thanks. “You’re being awfully decent. Why?”
“Because her mother is right. She thinks she’s in love with you.”
“Yeah. I think I’m in love with her too.”