A new home

Pushing her into the bed, he stood before her panting heavily while she continued staring at his face in surprise.

"If you dare come out of this room, I'll kill you! Don't even dare make a noise," he warned in a slow menacing tone.

"Uh?" She asked in surprise.

She watched him walk away with his ringing phone as he hastened out of the room.

"What the heck? I need to get out of here," she said, reaching for her bag on the bed.

**

"Mama, you shouldn't have come over, I told you I'm fine," he grumbled behind her while pulling her luggage into the house.

"I heard screams, and then there was a crashing sound, I was scared," she related as she dragged her weary feet into the living room.

She adjusted her buba dress as she sat on the couch gently. She looked around the house and hissed while he dropped the luggage in front of her.

"This big house and still no sound of a child or even the voice of a wife. Oh, why are you tormenting me, son?" She asked sadly.

"Mama, did you come all the way here to tell me this? Like, I thought you came to check up on me? And as you can see, I'm fine. You need to go back home to look over my sisters," he lamented from where he stood beside her.

"You are my problem, Nosa. You've always been my problem right from birth. I need a grandchild. You need a woman in your life to make you responsible. You're no longer a child, look at you, hairs everywhere," she pointed at his stubble beards and he frowned.

"You're close to thirty and still living a debauched life," she continued.

"How do you know I'm living a debauched life?" He asked angrily as he turned to face her.

"You think I don't know how you've been flirting with all the girls in Lagos? What's stopping you from getting married?" She asked with concern.

"Mama," he called and sat beside her.

"I've told you, women are the least of my problems. When the time is right, I will bring home a beautiful lady you'll love," he said with a smile.

"You have someone already? You should have told me, I would have stopped worrying," she said with excitement.

"Yes, mama. I have a beautiful woman I'm planning to marry. I will bring her home soon, okay. So, you need to stop worrying and get ready to go back home," he said and she frowned.

"Are you chasing me out?" She asked at once.

"No, I'm..I'm.. no..," he stammered sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.

"I bought dried fish and egusi which I'll be using to prepare your favorite food. When you're done eating, we will talk about your woman, okay?" She said as she stood up.

"Um..mama..I.. I've eaten..," he said as he stood up after her.

"It doesn't matter, I will cook the meal and refrigerate it before I leave," she said, picking up her bag.

He bit his lips in frustration as he saw her walking towards the kitchen. His worries right now was to sneak the strange lady out of his house before his mother finds out. But how? He thought as he stood up immediately.

*

"Does he expect me to be in here all day?" She lamented as she paced around the room.

She looked at the wall clock and it was past 10 already. She needed to leave as she couldn't stand his nuisances any longer. She folded her black dress in her bag and picked up her phone from the bed.

"But first, I need to let him know I'm leaving," she said as she heaved a sigh and walked out of the room immediately.

He was midway to the kitchen to join his mother when he heard footsteps from the stairs. His eyes bulged and he froze for a moment with his head turning slowly to the stairs.

His eyes popped out of its sockets as he saw her swaying her body down the stairs, still dressed in his shorts and top. 

"No..this is not happening," he cried silently as he rushed towards her immediately.

He grabbed hold of her body and pushed her towards the wall. Her back landed against the wall and he pinned her hands on the wall with his breath fanning her face. 

She tried to catch her breath as her white round eyes looked into his raging but handsome face which was spewing fire.

"How dare you? How dare you come out of the room?!" He snapped in whispers.

She pulled her hands away from him and her face hardened.

"I wanna go home," she said, pouting her lips like a kid.

"Jeez!" He cried in frustration.

"You will go home, but not now! Are you this senseless?!" He snapped and her face hardened deeply.

"You called me senseless?!" She shouted and he sealed her lips with his palm immediately.

"I'm gonna scream" she tried to speak as he continued pressing his palm against her lips.

"Nosa..what noise is that?" His mother's voice was heard coming towards the stairs.

"Jeez!" He cried as he tried to push her into the dinning room and they both began to scuffle.

"Nosa," he heard his mother's voice behind them and he shut his eyes in frustration.

 She pulled away from him and she tried to catch her breath as she saw the fair, beautiful middle-aged lady dressed in a long buba dress staring at her with a broad smile on her face.

She wondered what the lady was smiling at and she looked back to see her son who was hitting his fist against the wall angrily.

"I knew it, I knew he was hiding you away from me! Come over here, daughter-in-law!" The middle aged lady screamed in excitement with her arms wide open for an embrace.

"Um..um..," she stammered and before she could speak further, the woman rushed towards her and pulled her in a warm embrace.

"Oh, this is the happiest day of my life. Nosa, see what you've been hiding from me!" She exclaimed, turning to look at her son whose face had grown cold.

"She is an epitome of beauty just like you eulogized!!" She continued in excitement.

 She didn't say a word as the woman began to shower her with praises. She kind of liked her already and all she could do was smile sheepishly.

"What is your name, my dear?" She asked with a warm smile on her beautiful face.

"Um..um..," she stammered uneasily. " Sola," she lied.

"Sola? Adesola? Are you Yoruba?!" The lady asked in excitement and she nodded with a sheepish smile.

"Oh..this is wonderful!" She cried in excitement as she pulled her to herself once more.

"You know your fiance is from the Benin kingdom, right? And as history may have it, Yoruba and Benin are cousins by tribe," she related and they both burst into laughter.

"Wow, that's lovely, mom, I never knew," she said with a smile.

"Oh, I guess your parents didn't lecture you. Come on, I'm not going back to Benin today. I'm staying here for today so I can get to know my future daughter-in-law better," she said with excitement, flashing her white set of gap teeth.

She scratched her head immediately and turned over to her future husband as his mother had presumed. Their eyes met and she could see the death stare on his face. She turned away Immediately and buried the chuckle that was emitting from her lips.

"Come, we will cook, gist, do house chores and every other thing that daughter-in-laws and mother in-laws do," she said as she grabbed her hand and dragged her along to the kitchen while they both laughed excitedly.

Watching them leave, he felt his world caving before him. His whole body was soaked with perspiration and he didn't know how he became caught up in this net. A single mistake from last night was about to change his life forever, he thought as he heaved a sigh and rubbed his palm over his head in frustration. But he wasn't going to let that happen, no, he said to himself as he proceeded to the kitchen immediately.

He heard their laughter as he walked to the kitchen and his eyes fell on the strange girl who was standing beside his mother laughing like a maniac.

"You want to join us?" He heard his mother ask but he didn't reply as his eyes were still fixed on the girl who was staring at him.

"And you still haven't told me why you hid her away from me all these while. You have a lot to answer," she snapped her fingers at his face.

"Mama, I need to talk to her..I mean..to..to.. Sola," he called with his mean eyes staring at her face.

She winked at him and forced a smile on her face as she turned to his mother.

"Um, mom, I'll be back," she said with a smile.

"Be fast, daughter," she said with a smile.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the kitchen towards the dining room.

"What did you do?!" He snapped as he stood only a meter away from her.

"I did nothing, I was only trying to save your ass," she said confidently.

"Save my ass? How? Look, I don't want you here! You better go into the room, grab your bag and tell her you're leaving, okay?" He said angrily and she giggled.

"I like your mother already and she loves me too. We're one big family, right?" She said with a giggle that irritated him.

He hit the wall behind her and her eyes opened up in surprise.

"Do I know you? Do you know me?!" He barked.

She smiled and touched the beard around his chin which sent some burning sensations all over his body. He pushed her hands away from his face and she smiled and moved away from him.

"I've got to be in the kitchen," she said, turning to leave.

"Kitchen? Do you even know how to cook? You know how much African mothers dislike women who can't cook. Don't go there to embarrass yourself, go back to the room, pick your bag and leave and I'll fix the rest," he cajoled.

"Relax, I've found a new home," she said, flashing a sheepish smile across her lips.

"What!" He yelled and she pecked his cheek and ran away Immediately.

He stayed glued to his spot with his hand on his left cheek where she had planted the kiss.

"Damn! What mess have I gotten into?!" He cried as he stormed away Immediately.