Family reunion 3

Aaliyah sat,perched on a stool like a goddess in flowing beige gown that draped over her hot body, her silhouette visible as the wind blowing from a standing fan beside her made the gown cling to her curves, her long weave blew beautifully,I stood by her door which was open and stuck there,couldn't muster the courage to go in,she was totally oblivious of my presence,I must have stood there forever when Aaliyah's brother who is my pal pushed me in,I was really upset at his action but Aaliyah had already turned in a startled state and saw us,with her mouth turned at the corners,giving me a condescending look,she asked me sternly what I wanted,I decided to channel my lovestruck look,looking forlorn and sheepishly in love,I knelt in front of her as I tried to hold her hands but she quickly withdrew her hand,I apologised and gave her lots of excuses why things have been the way they are and she should try and see reasons but nonetheless,I've been a coward and haven't been man enough to come forward and express how I truly feel about her,she kept shaking her head stylishly,trying to feign annoyance,I really wanted to laugh but I reaaaalllly fought it back,I begged and begged and even explained am suppose to be on my way to our hometown at that moment but risked Mom's wrath to be with her. After what seemed like forever,she made me promise never to treat her the way I did before and also professed her affections for me,I blushed and averted my gaze like a male virgin being asked out by a girl, she held up my chin as we move in for a kiss when "TAN TAN TAN",the loud sound of my ringing phone broke up the moment and I instantly knew I was in trouble, "OH MY GOD,ITS MY MOM" I exclaimed as I hurriedly pecked her on the cheeks and dashed out as she came running after me but I couldn't wait,I ran outside,flagged down a bike man and didn't wait to negotiate the price of the fare as he took me home
           At home,Mom kept insulting my brothers for trying to cover for me as all couldn't say specifically where I went and what for,pacing back and forth,she tried my number for the umpteenth time as I didn't pick,Karl and Hamz all pretended to be trying me,at that moment,I walked in into our compound,at sighting me,she shouted at me,demanding to know where I went knowing fully well we had a trip,I apologised and lied I went to give back something I borrowed from a friend n I only remembered I hadn't returned it that morning,we all entered the new car as QT kept grinning behind the wheel,obviously at the thought of driving the new car,Hamz jokingly poked him over and over again,Mom asked for silence as we prayed for journey mercies,QT started the car and we zoomed off.
      The journey went well and we slept off most of the time,though we stopped on the way so Karl would take over from QT and drove us,that meant QT had to stay awake to direct him,I smiled as I tucked myself well into the car seat and slept some more,delighted over my luck at neither driving nor directing. We got to our hometown and met some of our aunties and cousins also arriving,as usual,the matriarch of the ADAGIRI dynasty came out looking happy and radiant,her gold teeth symbolising her trip to the holy land catching the rays of the sun and reflecting all around,she hugged us and completely ignored Mom,it wasn't new,infact,it was the norm such that if she ever greeted Mom,she consults her islamic cleric to ensure her greetings didn't have a sinister motive,I've always wanted to talk some sense into dad's mom but Mother sternly warned me against it,"I don't want to loose u" she would say, everyone is particularly fond of Karl and the family all gathered,fussing around him as I picked up our luggage and going into the big family house,Mom exchanged greetings with her sisters-in-laws and they all complimented her new car,Mom simply smiled and thanked them. Lunch was served and Mom gave us the make-sure-u-pray-before-u-eat look, as we started eating,grams started her zinging,firing Mom first, "so Mama QT,am surprised to see u,didn't u go and marry another rich man?what happened?he divorced u?he must have seen ur true colour,seen u for what u really are,snagging up rich men" she said with so much disgust,Mom looked on,not saying a word,grams continued as all the other wives of grams' sons looked on,eating quietly and not saying a word, "I admit u r very beautiful and u used it to trap my late son,*looking up* oh,oh,oh,death,u wicked angel that brings bad tidings,my son,may ur soul rest in perfect peace, am shocked ur evil ways didn't work with your latest millionaire squeeze,u lowly little thing,I might have to endure having u as a daughter-in-law but trust me,I would make it hell for u" she said,stamping the dining table with her fork to emphasise her statements, Mom simply heaved a long sigh, as she looked lost in thought, *FLASHBACK 23 YEARS AGO*
"Are u sure about me,oh my God,I feel so nervous" Mom a young,beautiful woman then said as dad brought her to meet his mom, "common babe,you would love her,trust me" dad said,holding her hands and leading her into the very expansive home of the Adagiris, "Ahhhhh! My son,oh my son!" Grams exclaims excitedly as seeing her son,Mom promptly knelt down,greeting her would-be future mother-in-law, she welcomed both of them,dad was quite the player until meeting mom changed all that,grams simply thought mom was one of his conquests, "ah my son,this girl is beautiful,she is ehn,u kno,hehehe,the room is free ok,ur dad went to pray,quickly take her in" she said,Dad smiled as Mom looked away smiling,Dad cleared his throat and introduced mom properly, "Em Mom,this is Hajar,I love her so much and she's the girl I intend to spend the rest of my life with,I came to show her to u to receive ur blessings and help rate her,hehe" he beamed with smiles at his achievement, Grams gave Mom a condescending look,smiled wryly as Mom looked at dad's face for some form of reassuring, "who are ur parents?" She asked, "em,thank you man,am from the 3rd clan and my dad is an islamic cleric and a teacher and my mom a seamstress" , grams gave her an icy look that could kill, "am sorry sweetheart,my son has just been deceiving u,he has someone he would marry,its ok if u allow him tap u and dump u but there's no way u r going to marry my son" ,Dad lost his cool,snapping at his mother,insisting he won't be part of her schemes with her friends to network their families and business empires through marriage,that he's in love with Mom and she's well educated,urbane and someone he connects with,Mom and son broke into a heated argument
*REALITY*
Grams kept insulting Mom as Mom looked on,obviously going in n out of thoughts as she kept on thinking about how she ended up with this monster-in-law,Karl cleared his throat and broke in,speaking in pure american twang,asking grams to quit insulting Mom, Grams smiled,placed her elbows on the dining table and leaned forward towards Karl saying "am not a monster she must have portrayed me to be,trust me she's the witch,she's talented in snagging up rich men and killing them,she killed my son, as she welled up some tears and shaking as though she has really suffered a bad fate in her life,Mom who was looking without saying a word drifted back to her thoughts
*FLASHBACK at her wedding*
*the master of ceremony asks the bride to go and sit on her new mother-in-law's laps as the guests and well-wishers clap and cheer as mom coyly stands up and goes to meet her*
Sitting on her laps,they both pretended to be so fond of each other and hugged each other,Grams whispers into Mom's ears, "I asked u not to marry my son and u did,welcome to hell daughter-in-law"
Mom held grams by the shoulder,smiled at her as people continue to cheer and clap on,she hugged grams again and whispered back, "we are both mrs adagiri now and I'm the apple of ur son's eye,u prick me,ur son goes blind,but would I allow that to happen? mother-in-law,never underestimate any girl,I would show u am no push over"
*REALITY*
I gently tapped Mom on her hands to shake her out of her thoughts,she's really battled with her monster-in-law but she's quite tired out but grams isn't relenting,we stood up and left for our rooms,getting there,Mom whipped out some sticks of incense and struck a match,lighted the incense and waved around the room to ward off any bad spirits or evil spells,the other wives of dad's equally late brothers did all sorts of stuffs to wade off bad spirits in their rooms as well,it is that time of the year again when the battle of the sistes-in-law begins, one monster-in-law, 9 sisters-in-law, the Adagiri dynasty as the battle field,it is often said that the problems of a woman is another woman,so let the war begin! KEEP UP