On a Cold Evening

Part Eleven

Days had passed and Mandy still couldn't believe that she had been ghosted. What exactly did she miss? He had come on to her strong, maintained communication, and had been consistent to an extent. So what had gone wrong? She curled up in bed and sniffled as beads of tears rolled down her cheeks. Her appetite had been nearly non-existent, and she had not been to school for nearly a week. What would she tell her friends? The mere thought alone made sniffle even louder as a fresh round of tears blurred her vision.

"Chinemerem! Open this door. Hope you are not doing that nonsense again?" Mandy sighed tiredly as her mother continued to pound aggressively at her door. Of course her mother would assume she was masturbating since she had her doors locked, but in truth, she wasn't in the mood to entertain anyone. With a loud sigh, Mandy went to open the door when it became obvious that her mother would not stop knocking.

"Mummy, what is it?" Mandy asked tiredly as soon as she opened the door, and for the first time in years, Mandy saw her mother's expression soften. Maybe her swollen eyes and the track marks left from hours of crying had t0uched a part of the heart she sometimes believed had died with her father.

"Nwam! Ogini? Why is your face like this?" her mother asked, brows furrowed as she pulled her daughter in for a hug. As Mandy laid her head on her mother's full bossom and inhaled the smell of methylated balm and anointing oil, she let her tears flow freely. The sense of comfort too overwhelming for her freshly broken heart.

"Ndo nwam. Talk to your mummy. What is the problem?" Mandy let her mother pull her to the bed, and as she laid down with her head rested on her mother's laps, her shoulders shook as she let out the frustration, uncertainty and pain from being rudely dumped. Her mother rubbed her back comfortingly, deciding to remain quiet since it was obvious that her daughter was not in the mood to share, but the older woman remembered her first heartbreak as fresh as day, and she knew that only something similar could make her daughter weep so.

"All will be fine, my daughter. There are a million and one men out there who will give anything to have you. Don't cry for a fool who willingly lost a gem" Mandy's mother had always shied away from discussions that involved relationships out of wedlock, but hearing her mother make an effort to ease her pain made her feel a lot better.

"You will find a man who will worship the ground you walk on. Raise your head and wipe your tears, you are my daughter, and no man should make you feel less of yourself. Okay?" Mandy nodded and wiped her tears.

"So, mummy. Why did you come to look for me?" Mandy asked.

"Ehen! I wanted to ask if you are not going to school today. You have not gone for almost a week now. You think I will not notice?" Agnes said.

"I was not feeling up to it" Mandy responded with a sigh.

"Well, better get ready because you will go to day. I am leaving for a meeting and will drop you along the way" Agnes responded and sauntered out of the room before Mandy could even offer a response.

Within the next hour, Mandy and her mother readied themselves and left the house. On the way, Mandy couldn't stop thinking about what to tell her friends, and it didn't help that she had been avoiding their calls and texts for the last couple of days.

"You!" Andrea shouted as soon as she spotted Mandy walking towards them. She was seated under the tree where they usually sat to gossip with Flora by her side. The duo just stared at Mandy as if she had grown a pair of horns. They still found it hard to believe that she had ditched them because of some man that she barely even knew.

Mandy raised her hand in surrender as she approached her friends, their deathly stares was enough to warn her to thread carefully. They were very mad at her, and she knew she deserved every bit of their wrath.