Chapter IX
IX
“This is your house?”
Monife stepped out of the car and followed Golden Boy.
In the daylight, the home that they had recklessly partied in just a week ago was even more daunting. It was the grandest house on the street, fashioned in the style of Southern American plantation houses—big, white and showy.
“I thought you knew you were at mine,” he replied. “Does it change anything?”
It didn’t, much. She had guessed he was well off. He had the look—spotless white trainers and deceptively plain T-shirts. Plus, he and his driver had picked her up in a Mercedes.
“No.”
“Whose house did you think you were at?”
She shrugged. “Hey. We got an invite to a party and we turned up. I bet you didn’t know half the people there.”
“Less than half.”
“See.” They entered, and the interiors were as impressive as the outside had been—marble floors, large paintings on white walls, and oddly shaped sculptures. It was certainly extravagant, but it lacked the character of the Falodun home.
They ascended a broad staircase, and he casually mentioned he was taking her to his floor.
“You have a floor to yourself?”
“Well, not entirely. I share it with my sisters. Our rooms are on the same floor and we have a living room up here where we entertain our friends.”
“Am I going to have to meet your parents?”
“They’re not home.”
“Oh.” She raised an eyebrow, “So you’re planning to take advantage of me?”
He blushed. He was so cute when he blushed.
—
“Ebony and ivory,” she sang as she traced the contours of his sand-coloured arm.
She was obsidian black beside his tan skin.
He joined her, the song rumbling out of him.
They were in his living room, sitting on his floor chatting and watching MTV on a giant widescreen.
There was so much wealth and privilege that he had been exposed to, but he wasn’t arrogant or showy.
He kept singing, failing to notice that Mo had stopped two lines ago.
“Oh shit. Are those the lyrics?”
“So you don’t even know the song you’re singing.”
“Hey, in my defence, I don’t think anyone knows more than that first line.”
“I do.”
“Yea. But you’re Golden Boy.”
He raised a perfect eyebrow. “Golden Boy?”
“Mmm. Golden skin, golden eyes, golden heart…”
He laughed. “Golden heart?! High praise. I hope I can live up to these expectations.”
“You will.”
She was lying on her stomach and he mimicked her position. “I have a question for you.”
“Hit me.”
“Will you be my girlfriend?”
“Oh…I thought…I thought we were already…”
“Oh! It’s cool…umm…we can officially start counting from when—”
“I’m fucking with you, Golden Boy. Yes, I’ll be your girl.”
“Great.”
“Fantastic.”
*
She was in the pantry, searching for a snack, when she heard her mother calling her from the west living room.
Bunmi must have heard her close the front door as she entered the house.
She took the elation she felt, folded it and tucked it away; she would keep Golden Boy to herself, and the pureness of what they had, for as long as she could.
She crossed the courtyard, past the iroko tree, and spotted her mother through the window as she approached.
Monife could go weeks without setting foot in the west living room, as could most of the household.
The room was generally quite dusty as a result, but her mother was using it more frequently.
“Where have you been?” Bunmi asked.
“At a friend’s,” Monife replied casually, opening the bottle of chin chin she’d fished out the pantry. The windows were all open, undoubtedly to air the room out. Then she noticed two glasses, a tray of drinks and puff puff laid out neatly on the coffee table. Her mother had prepared for a guest.
“Which friend?”
“Gbeminiyi.” She pulled a name out of her hat. It didn’t matter anyway; her mother would never check. She just wanted to feel as though she was in control. It was this need to control everything that had her in constant pursuit of spiritual remedies.
Mo grabbed a puff puff before her mother had a chance to stop her. “Are we expecting someone?”
“Use your right hand.”
She complied, just as the someone entered the room: Mama G.
Mo groaned, took a fistful of puff puff, exchanged a terse greeting with Mama G and walked out, leaving her mother and her spiritual adviser to cook up more insane rituals for breaking the family curse and bringing her husband back.
She wondered what Golden Boy would think of all this, and then decided she would keep it from him for as long as was humanly possible.
She would wait till he was madly in love with her before letting him anywhere near her family.