CHAPTER FIVE #2
“Trust me, I tried,” he says, and I detect a hint of dejection in his tone. “She wants to speak to you.”
His repetition forces me to take a step back.
Someone’s mother wants to speak to me. If there’s one thing about me, I don’t know how to speak to my own mother, let alone someone else’s.
It’s why I only do it twice a month, and not because I want to.
But with Julius’s phone dangling in my face and the woman in question quite literally at the other end of the line, I decide to just have the conversation.
It probably can be that bad, and that’s heartwarming to know.
I take the phone.
“Hello?” I say, holding it against my ear.
“Hey there, sorry to bother you!”
Wow, she sounds more cheerful than I expected.
“No, I wasn’t really…doing much,” I admit.
“I’m Vivian, Julius’s mother.”
“I’m Kaylah.”
“Ah, that’s your name!”
She’s his mother?
“That’s my name.”
“Well, it’s a lovely name, Kaylah.”
“Thank you.” I feel sweat start to run between my fingertips and as I struggle to keep a firm grip on the phone I feel myself beginning to imagine the worst case scenarios that can happen during this conversation. Before I let that get any further, I quickly say, “I can…give the phone back to…”
“How are things going with my son, Kaylah?”
Did I not say that loudly enough?
I answer anyway, with, “Well…I don’t really know him but…”
She sighs. “And that’s exactly why I said he should reveal a little bit more about himself to make you feel more at ease. I just knew he would lock himself away and be his typical unsociable self, even though you’ll all be in the same boat as you’ll be new to the house.”
“That’s honestly not a problem,” I say. “I’m kind of the same, so it doesn’t really bother me.”
“Well that’s interesting. Or are you just trying to be nice dear?”
“No, I genuinely just don’t talk much.”
“You would not want to be in a room with the rest of my family, then,” she says with a laugh. “Is that your music, Kaylah? Playing around in the background?” she asks.
I feel like I’m in primary school deciding whether I should snitch to someone’s parent or not.
Feeling like this couldn’t get anymore awkward, I respond with, “It’s not my music, no.”
“That’s what I thought, but I just wanted to be sure. Julius used to do that at home until I told him off about it. Now he thinks because I’m not there, he can just continue doing it. Doesn’t it bother you?”
I mean, she did ask.
But I can’t bring myself to say more than, “Oh, um…”
“You can be honest, dear.”
Finally, I say, “Well, it’s…not the most ideal thing.”
She wastes no time saying, “Can you pass the phone back to him, please?”
If this is what happens when I leave my room, I think I have a good case for why I should stay in there.
I pass the phone over to Julius, his suspicious glare not wavering from my eyes as he takes it.
“What were you calling for, by the way?” He says into the phone, but then pauses at what I’m assuming is her response.
“What do you mean about my manners? It was just a question, Mum. What?” He turns to me, and makes sure I watch as his mouth forms the words, “Because I want to.” Shaking his head now, he says, “No, there’s no way I’m doing it.
Why do I…? Because I like it that loud. You’re not even here.
We’re gonna get off the phone and you’ll be far away from the music.
Please, Mum, don’t make me do this. I’m not acting like a child, I just don’t want to turn the music off.
Mum, I can deal with you trying to embarrass me any other time but right now?
Please.” He closes his eyes for a moment and when he opens them, his fingers find the switch against the wall, and turns it off.
I immediately welcome the silence that suddenly pierces the room.
“Yes, it’s off.” He says sullenly. This was gonna be a five minute conversation, Mum.
It wouldn’t have affected you. Who? Yes, I know her name is Kaylah.
Because I just remembered. No c not when she told you.
” We’re still watching each other as he continues with, “Mum, she was fine with the music. No she wasn’t, she was fine with it.
No, she didn’t just make a sound,” he says about my scoff his mum clearly just heard.
“I don’t even know why she’s here. She’s just standing in front of my room and — oh, my gosh. ”
Julius takes a few steps towards me again, and hands me the phone without saying anything.
“Hello?” I greet her again.
“I did bring him up with respect, I promise you.”
“Oh, I…I didn’t doubt that.”
There’s a light laugh. “But I don’t know what is wrong with that boy sometimes. Anyhow, the music is off and he knows now not to bother you with that again or he’ll get told off.”
This escalated far beyond what I had in mind when I came marching down here. But hey, his mum seemed to have as much of a problem with the loud music as I did, so I’ll take the win where I can.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t want that,” I say, throwing a smug smile his way.
“What are you studying, Kaylah?” his mum asks.
“Sociology.”
“Oh, one of the best! And remind me, it’s just the two of you in the house at the moment, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sure the other tenants will join you soon.
I think it’ll be good for Julius to be around people.
He just needs to learn to think about others and introduce himself properly,” she says.
“I told him that not knowing anything about the person you’re living with is not good.
For all you know, they could be a serial killer which is just far from what anyone would want for a roommate, I’m sure. ”
“I wouldn’t exactly…choose that for myself.”
She laughs. “Exactly! Anyway, I’m sorry that I’m now randomly talking to you about serial killers.
I’m not really much better. But I just thought I would introduce myself because you’ll probably see me a few times over the year.
Julius likes to pretend he doesn’t appreciate my visits, and that’s exactly why I go out of my way to make them. ”
I quite like this woman.
“That’s a good move,” I say.
“Thank you. I have some work to get on with now, but I’m sure I’ll see you soon, Kaylah. It was lovely to meet you. It’s usually men in my house, so it’s always great to speak with women!”
“It was…good to meet you too.” It’s not exactly a lie, but I think I’ve been so deprived of conversations, I would enjoy speaking to most people whose jaws don’t tense as a reaction to me.
That takes Julius out of the running then.
Through his tense jaw, he manages to get out, “Let me speak to her.”
“Take care, now,” Vivian says at the same time. Okay, bye.”
“Bye,”I say, then pass the phone over to him, but the second he intercepts it, he scrunches his face.
“You trying to stop me from speaking to her now?”
I guess she ended the call.
I can’t help but ask, “That’s actually your mum?”
“Yes, what are you trying to say?”
“Oh, definitely nothing bad about her,” I say blandly.
“And I wasn’t trying to stop you from speaking to your mum, she’s the one who said bye first, so you should probably take any grievances you have up with her.
I don’t think you’re going to though, seeing as she just told you off already.
If I knew that was the way to go to get you to turn that music off, I would have tried that a lot sooner. ”
“You think you’re funny?”
“No, I think you being treated like a little boy by your mum is, though. And you’re…how old, exactly?”
“Get out of my room,” he says. I took my foot off the door a long time ago, so it’s only a few seconds of him pushing the door closed before it’s slamming behind my face.
“Gladly,” is the last thing I say.
At least I got what I wanted.