Around 6:30p.m., he got dressed and went to the kitchen to say goodbye to Mama Rica. She was frying potatoes. He entered the kitchen and gave her a peck on the cheek, then he took one of the fried potatoes and threw it into his mouth. “Mmm….this tastes good.”
“You’re all dressed up. Where are you going?” she asked, looking at him from head to toe. He was in knee-length denim shorts and a black polo shirt. He matched it with black suede loafers.
He scratched his head and looked down at his shoes. “I’m meeting up with Betty”
Mama Rica looked away from him and continued frying her potatoes. He angled her head so that she was looking him in the eye. “Mama Rica, you trust me, don’t you?” She looked away and nodded her head once. He turned her body to face him.
“She said she wanted to talk to me about something very important,” he paused, “but if you don’t want me to go, I won’t. I’ll just call her and cancel” he dug his hands in his pocket to take out his phone. She stopped him.
“You can go. Just be careful and come home early.”
“Thank you,” He gave her a kiss on the cheek and left.
He arrived at Betty’s house a few minutes after 7:00 p.m. He had intentionally driven slower, continually asking himself why he had agreed to come in the first place. He was beginning to regret it.
She lived in a flat. Luckily, her room was on the second floor so he used the stairs.
He met a young couple kissing at the foot of the stairs. They looked so cute, he smiled at them. This could’ve him and Chorale but where was she? He shook his head and went ahead to climb the stairs. After a few minutes of walking, he located her room. It was the last room on that floor. He knocked a few times before she came to open the door for him. She was dressed in tiny shorts and a yellow strapless top.
What was she trying to achieve? Chorale didn’t even have to go so all out to turn him on. She could only be in rugs and he’d have a hard on. At this point, he wished he hadn’t even come.
“Hello, handsome. Come in” she stepped aside.
He hesitated a while before entering.
Her apartment was small. It had bright orange walls and white chairs at the centre of the room. Her dining table sat at the extreme left and he saw that the table had been set, for two.
“Welcome to my place,” she smiled.
“Thank you, Ms. Davis.” he said politely.
She went to stand in front of him. She was just a few inches shorter than him. Chorale was short, very short and cute. Anytime she came to stand in front of him like that, he had to lower his gaze to look at her. It was funny and he liked that. He laughed and Betty frowned, “What’s funny?”
“Oh it’s nothing. You said you wanted to talk. I’m here now” he said, shoving his hands into his pocket.
“Yeah, but let’s eat first, please,” she started leading the way to the table. He sighed before following her.
When she got to the table, she stood aside, as if waiting for him to pull out a chair for her. At first he didn’t understand why she just stood there but then he saw that her eyes kept darting to the chair and then back at him and then he got the message. Chorale would’ve raced with him to see who will pull out the chair first. Again, he laughed and then he pulled out the chair for her to sit. He had already planned to do that. He was a gentleman. He sat opposite her.
“Care to share what’s amusing you?” she asked, dishing out a plate of pasta onto a plate.
“I remembered something.”
“Something about me?” she put the plate in front of him and took another to serve herself in.
“No. About my girl, Chorale” he was looking down at the food, unaware of the effect his words had on her. She turned so red, then he lifted his head and saw her, “Is everything okay?”
“Oh yes, please let’s eat” she had a vile smirk on her face.
After dinner, she asked him to go and sit in the loveseat at the other side of the room, “Red wine or white wine?”
A memory came to mind and it made him smile. He had a relationship with red wine now, “Red wine, please.”
She came back after some time with two wine glasses. She took the one with the white wine and gave him the red one.
“Thank you.” He took out his phone to check the time but she took it from him. “You’ve been here for just a little more than thirty minutes. We haven’t even talked yet. Please relax and let’s enjoy the wine. After that, we’ll talk and then you can leave. Please.” She begged.
He didn’t like the sound of that but he stayed on, regardless. He finished the wine in a single swig and pretended to watch the T.V. that had been turned on, but on mute. She raised her legs from the floor and sat cross-legged in the chair such that, her thighs brushed his, he quickly moved his leg away and she let out a frustrated grunt,
“Why do you keep pushing me away?” she asked, turning to face him in the chair.
“I have a girlfriend, Betty” he answered simply.
“That woman left you! She left you to go God knows where while I’m here for you. I do everything to show you how much I love you but no! It’s just that woman you keep talking about! Who knows how many men she has been with or even slept wi-”
He stood up from the chair and turned to her angrily “You will not speak about Chorale like that, do you understand?”
He walked towards the door but before he turned the knob, he told her, “Looks like you don’t have anything to tell me. I’ll see you on Monday.” He tried turning the knob several times but the door wouldn’t open. He began feeling dizzy and held unto the door for support. His head kept spinning and spinning. The last thing he heard before blacking out was Betty’s voice, “You’re stuck with me, baby boy. Let’s have some fun, shall we?”
That night, Mama Rica waited and waited, Kay didn’t come home. All her calls to him were disconnected till finally, his phone was switched off.
YOU ARE READING
CHORALE SANDERS
Romance"I cannot tell you anything right now, but promise me, Mama Rica. Promise me you'll take care of him for me, now that I won't be here to." She took the older lady's face in her hands, looking at her with very teary eyes. "Don't leave him like I am...
