Chapter 18 #5
Dad continued to stare at me, his eyes forming into a squint. He wasn’t used to hearing me stand up for myself in this manner. Well, there was more where that came from!
I continued: ‘I’m assuming it’s the tequila on your breath that made you do this, and I can understand that today was always going to be a hard one for you.
I’m going to call you an Uber and have it drop you at Uncle Tony’s house, OK?
Spend some time with your brother and the cousins today.
I’ll call you this evening and check on you. ’
I turned to see Theo standing a few yards away, watching me with a soft, sad smile.
I looked back at Dad, who was quietly fumbling with his shirt buttons, and my heart ached at the sight of him – dishevelled, defeated, and entirely human.
I called the Uber, and when it pulled up, I gently guided him to the car.
‘I love you, Dad,’ I said, giving his hand a squeeze. ‘Remember what I said, OK? I’ll call you later, and we can have a proper chat then.’
I wrapped him in a firm hug, held on for a beat longer than usual, then watched as the car pulled away, taking him – and the drama – with it.
I turned back towards Theo, whose arms were outreached towards me.
‘Jesus, I’m so sorry, Cass,’ he said as he swept me into his embrace, his hug warm and comforting. ‘That must have been tough, but you handled it so well.’
‘Fuuuuuuuuck me,’ I cried out, exhaling and half-laughing. ‘That was fucking wild. But hey, welcome to my chaotic, weird-ass family!’
At the reception, Theo and I had been placed on the head table, just a few seats away from the newlyweds, who were currently on their second bottle of champagne, understandably.
I was on my second glass of red wine, trying to erase the details of earlier in the chapel.
To my utter surprise, although Femi was furious, my mum had apparently seen the funny side – which I shouldn’t have been surprised about in retrospect – Mum always had a habit of using humour to tackle difficult or awkward situations.
‘Cassie? If that man thinks he’s ever going to see me again, he’s got another think coming,’ Mum slurred, champagne glass in one hand, slice of wedding cake in the other. ‘An absolute disgrace. I’m going to call his mother and disgrace him. What a farce.’
‘Mum, just try and enjoy the rest of the night, yeah?’ I shouted over the loud music. ‘This is still your day. What’s a wedding without drama anyway? One day we’re gonna look back and laugh, to be honest.’
‘Maybe, but the family will talk about this for years. It’s humiliating,’ Mum said, slumping over slightly. ‘This was the sort of embarrassment I wanted to avoid.’
‘Yeah, well, at least the onus will be on Dad, not you,’ I started, taking the champagne glass out of her hands.
‘You’re gonna come off as the gorgeous ex who moved on with her life and was so unforgettable that she had her ex trying to stop her wedding.
You’re the real hero here if you think about it. ’
Mum sat up, her eyes suddenly bright. ‘You’re right, you know. Hehe, you always know how to make me feel better. Thank you, dear. Also, I didn’t get a chance to say earlier, your date is very handsome – Theo, is it? Keep that one close, you hear?’
Theo was deep in conversation with a flock of my aunties, who had descended on him like a pack of gossip-hungry vultures.
They were firing off questions about his job, his parents, and – of course – his salary.
From what I could overhear while shamelessly eavesdropping, he was holding his own surprisingly well.
I had to admit, it was kind of impressive.
‘GIRL!’ shouted Sade at me across the dancefloor, a plate of jollof rice in one hand and a bottle of Supermalt in the other.
‘I’m glad you and Theo are here together – do you know how sexy you both look as a couple?
? I’ve been seeing how some of the other women are looking at you both – I can smell the envy from here! ’
I laughed as I stole a piece of plantain from Sade’s plate, earning a mock glare in return.
The truth was, I owed so much to her – more than I could ever properly put into words.
Sade wasn’t just my wise, loyal friend; she was my anchor, the one person who reminded me who I was when I forgot.
Without her, I don’t think I’d ever have found the courage to finally stand up to my dad, let alone the confidence to risk opening my heart to Theo again.
She was my bestie for life, my ride-or-die, the sister the universe gifted me.
‘I love you, d’you know that?’ I said, giving her a hug.
‘Thank you so much for just being you, and for scolding me, and for motivating me when I needed it, and for supporting me today. You mean everything to me and I’m so glad that things are going well with you and Kofi! Your wedding next, yeah??’
‘Girl, please. The engagement ring I want is saved on my Pinterest. He’s gonna need to save up for at least two years to afford it. Give us some time!’
As Mum joined Femi on the dancefloor for the Electric Slide, I scanned the rest of the room.
Steven and Bianca had left the reception earlier; the casualties of being newly exhausted parents.
Sade and Kofi were twerking against each other, much to the disdain of the aunties sitting on the sidelines.
Considering the chaos that had unfolded just hours ago, the guests were in surprisingly high spirits – laughing, dancing, and definitely a few drinks past sober.
But then there was her. Veronica. It seemed that Jeff had decided to pass on attending the reception – which I couldn’t blame him for.
Veronica sat in the corner of the reception hall, eyes darting between her phone and Theo with unnerving focus – scrolling, pausing, staring, then back to scrolling again.
Something about her just didn’t sit right with me. I could understand why she might not be my biggest fan – finding out your husband tried to prey on a colleague who shut him down would ruffle anyone’s feathers. But what I couldn’t shake was the way she kept looking at Theo.
I wanted to go over to her to at least try and smooth things over, but then I felt a tug on my arm.
‘Cass, why don’t you show me your best moves on the dancefloor?’ Theo exclaimed over the music, his eyes full of pure panic. He winked at me a few times before I got the hint.
‘Oh, uh, yeah, of course! Love a good Electric Slide – let’s go!’ I replied as I allowed him to drag me onto the dancefloor and started to dance. I’d speak with Veronica later.
‘Thanks so much for inviting me again, by the way – you were right – your Aunt Gladys is very erm … touchy feely,’ he said, moving effortlessly as we line danced to the beat.
‘I told you! She’s a freak, that one,’ I replied, laughing.
We danced for a few minutes, watching the dancefloor fill with fellow millennials as Juvenile’s ‘Back That Azz Up’ came on.
I proceeded to offer a light twerk in respect of the elders in the room, with Theo behind me, slowly grinding into me, as respectfully as he could pull off in a room full of elders.
Out of the corner of my eye, I again spotted Veronica deep in conversation with a cluster of my aunts. They were all huddled around her, eyes glued to something on her phone. She glanced up at me and Theo, then casually returned to whatever she was showing them.
I kept watching, heart creeping into my throat, as Aunt Gladys looked up – eyes wide, mouth agape – then leaned in to whisper urgently to the others. One by one, they began murmuring to nearby guests, heads turning towards us like a slow-moving wave of suspicion.
I froze mid-step and stopped dancing. Something was very, very wrong.
What was happening?
I turned to Theo, who was in the middle of doing the Harlem Shake.
‘Theo, are you sure you don’t know that blonde woman?’ I said, fear gripping my voice.
Theo stopped and stared at her, squinting his eyes. He then turned to me, staring blankly.
‘Nope, I swear, never seen her before. What’s going on? Is she still looking at me?’
‘Yeah, something weird is going on, I think I’m gonna—’
I trailed off mid-sentence as my eyes landed on Aunt Gladys, leaning across the table to whisper something into Mum’s ear.
Whatever she said wiped the smile clean off Mum’s face.
By now, nearly every guest in the reception hall had their eyes locked on Theo and me – and not with the usual curiosity or admiration. This was something else entirely.
We slipped off the dancefloor and sat at a nearby table, hoping to disappear into the background, but the stares followed us like spotlights. Then I saw Mum – expression unreadable, jaw tight – silently motioning for me to come over to where she and Aunt Gladys were seated.
My stomach dropped.
‘Wait here,’ I said to Theo. ‘Lemme find out what’s going on.’
I walked over to Mum, trying to appear relaxed but conscious of the watchful eyes on me. Whatever Veronica had shown the gaggle of aunties, it had now spread.
‘Cassie … your aunt has shared some troubling information,’ she started, her face filled with concern. Aunt Gladys on the other hand, looked furious and proceeded to shout at the top of her lungs for everyone to hear.
‘A PROSTITUTE, Cassandra?? Is that how low you have sunk? Why would you embarrass the family like this? Why would you bring a whore to a family gathering? Are you not embarrassed?’