What goes around...

"Again,I repeat...where are you guys coming from?"

Mom queried!

I looked down,brushing my foot against the dew laden mowed grass by the interlocked grounds of our parking lot,too embarrassed and guilt-stricken to look up at her...mom came close to us to perceive us and quickly moved back,spitting out...the stale smell of our cologne with sweat mixed with cigar smoke that had settled on us made her retch

"Goodness lord!"

She exclaimed,Hamz quickly sniffed himself as if to confirm if truly he was oozing,lol

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! YOU GUYS HAVE STARTED SMOKING? OH MY GOD,OH MY GOD.."


She exclaimed putting her hands over her head

"... Mom,it isn't what you're thinking..it is..."

Karl tried to interject and was quickly shot down by mom


"...SHUT UP,SHUT UP ALL OF YOU,YOU DON'T TALK WHEN AM TALKING"

Before I move on,I should let you all know that it isn't like mom has us in the palm of her hands but we simply try...as much as we can to respect her,not raise our voice above hers and yes...rever her because of her love for us and for all she's been through,from family,her in-laws,friends,potential suitors insisting she dump us for them to marry her and she refused..well except mr mohammed who didn't mind and we all recall how that went,etc,just because of us but right now,we are almost at the end of our tether, QT spoke out first

"Mom! I don't mean to be rude or talk back at you ma'am but you need to calm down..."

Mom's eyelids squints rapidly in utter disbelief,QT continues

"We've been well behaved,we went to school,stayed out of trouble,didn't impregnate anyone.."

We all look at Hamz with a knowing smirk-

"...and we rarely...mother...RARELY socialise,don't do this to us mom,we've come of age,old enough to mingle and...and socialise mom,we are men"


QT grumbled through the last part of his sentence,looking away


Mom ran her fingers through her long,wavy hair,looking around,not knowing how to respond...before she could find the words, I chipped in

"Mom,what kind of sons are you moulding us into? The kind of sons ties to their mom's apron strings? When around 6pm,we tell our friends at a get together that we are taking our leave and when they ask why so soon,we reply saying "my mom would get mad", we aren't babies again mom and we should be allowed to have some fun"


Obviously irritated but yet seeing the sense in what I'd said,her lips twitching,trying to hold back the venom she'd wanted to spit out,she yanked her hand in annoyance and walked off,leaving us standing by the car

We shared glances and stayed out there,saying nothing to each other,I felt abit guilty,as though I caused everything,if I hadn't brought the idea of going clubbing,maybe there wouldn't be no drama...mom was only being so protective,as she has always been but on another thought,we needed this,we needed the opportunity to do this and make mom realise we are now grown and she shouldn't be so protective thereby making us feel stifled,we desperately long to be free

We saw the lights flick on in mom's room upstairs,I sighed and took the first move towards the house,my brothers followed and quietly,we all went to our rooms,me and Karl in mine and QT and Hamz in theirs

"I hate when stuffs like this happen"

Karl said,distracting me from replying pings on my blackberry while he was taking off his clothes,I looked up with a smile

"It is fine,she would calm down ,don't worry much about it"

I said,going back to replying messages on my blackberry messenger and apologising to roland for the whole melee at his uncle's club.


It must be around 6:30 am by then,one by one,we all drifted to sleep


The rays of the early morning sun reflecting on my eyes through the standing mirror in my room woke me up,it sort of made my eyes abit blurred,obviously I haven't had up to two hours of sleep since it was around a quarter to 8 am,the lack of sleep made my eyes sting when I blink

Lazily,I rolled out of bed and did all the usual morning routine of brushing et al, thereafter I went to the kitchen to fix breakfast.

One by one,everyone woke up and when mom came downstairs,she chose not to talk to us nor return our greetings

"Typical,very typical"

I thought,rolling my eyes

We quietly had breakfast and being weekend and given what had happened the previous night,it was a stay-in thingy

Mom came down after a while saying she was going to make her hair,she waited for a response,expecting me to ask if I should come along (since we were still sulking,lol) as oppose to normally dropping everything and going with her as I've always done and after making her hair,go for a spot of retail therapy or just simply go to a nice restaurant to eat,her bouffant hair cascading in tumbling curls all over her shoulders,but I can't stand being ignored all through the ride to the salon and more so I haven't had much sleep and intended to sleep some more

"Ok bye mom"

I replied rather fast,flicking through a magazine,this shocked her,but she quickly shook it off to prevent me from seeing her hurt,turning around like a diva that she is,she sauntered out of the sitting room and left,I looked up,feeling a wisp of guilt,Karl gave me a smirk that said

"Shouldn't you have just gone with her?"

I could have gone,really but I really was too tired and needed to sleep some more.

Hamz's phone rang and he stood up to pick it from the center table,seeing who it was,he quickly picked it,moving away from us

"Baby why are you acting this way,how else am I to show you that I love you?"

Hamz cooed into he receiver end of his phone,holding the side of the curtain close to the plasma,looking rather forlorn, I looked up from the harper bazaar magazine I was reading,looked at QT who smiled and lip synched

"Girlfriend drama"

I smiled,nodded knowingly and went back to reading my magazine

"Girlfriend indeed,does Hamz do girlfriends? not anytime soon, hell would have to freeze over"

I thought

"Halima hold on...baby hold on"

Hamz said pleadingly

I looked up in a flash

"HALIMA WHO?"

Practically screaming in my mind


I looked at QT, who laughed,obviously knowing why I reacted the way I did

First of,Hamz tells me everything, so keeping me out of the loop on having a girlfriend was hurting as it is but now I can figure out why

HALIMA

Y'all remember wrecking ball,the same halima that was the cause of the bloodbath and breakdown of a close friendship between two girls,not only did Hamz continue the affair with her but elevated her to the position of a girlfriend?

"Baby you're just over reacting,when u called me,I wasn't home but in a club,I went clubbing with my brothers......ok you know what.....hold on...talk to my brother"

Hamz said turning back,looking at us,trying to figure which brother to give the phone to,QT is a quite a flirt,Karl...oh,he can't give it to karl lest his voice seduces her...well,Maj,trustworthy and reliable

"Maj please help talk to halima and confirm where we were last night please"

Hamz said pleadingly

I gave him a sulky look

"Please maj,I would explain later"

I didn't budge

"Common maj"

Giving me that look like he's dying

Chai! He knows how to get me,I sighed and collected the phone

"Hello halima"

I said

"Hello bro maj, see I know he's telling the truth but why didn't he tell me before hand,am sorry he had to bring you in jare"

She went on and on,cutting her short

"Does your friend know you and Hamz are now official?"

She stopped,going silent,Hamz wearing an angry look,yanked off the phone from my grip and told her he would talk to her later

"MAJ WHAT RUBBISH WAS THAT YOU DISPLAYED"

He roared

Calmly,I asked

"Are you asking me that?"

"OH YES MAJ,I AM ASKING YOU"

He thundered,squaring up to me

"I ASKED YOU TO HELP QUELL A SITUATION BETWEEN MY GF AND I AND INSTEAD U HEAT IT UP"

QT and Karl try to calm us down

"Hey Hamz,watch your tongue,Maj is way older than you"

QT counseled

"I DON'T CARE,I JUST DON'T"

Hamz screamed

I laughed,clapping my hands

"Ehhh! Hamz don chop vegetable oooo,hahaha,Halima don give my brother vegetable ooo"

We all bursted out laughing...even Hamz but who quickly wiped off the smile off his face,wore his angry look and stomped off

QT still laughing chipped

"But seriously Maj,that was uncool,you should have said what she wanted to hear and fix whatever it is with Hamz and what's wrong with him dating halima anyway"

"Everything is wrong,we all know deola would always come and cause trouble and personally I don't believe in dating an ex's friend,its a recipe for disaster"

I opined

"To you bro,to you,I couldn't care less if a shorty is my ex's bestie or whatever,as long as I like her"

QT remarked

"Then you underestimate women"

I countered

"...the marks left on Hamz's body as a result
Of the blade attack proves no woman should be underestimated...we all know deola,who would ever believe she could be capable of what she did....brothers,make no mistake,hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"

Sounding off with the quote,wagging my finger at their faces

QT shook his head and went to turn on the tv and changing the channel to cable

"Our subscription on dstv is finished?why didn't anyone mention it"

QT asked flicking through dstv channels hoping to find a channel that was on and seeing some free-to-air,he turned it off seeing they weren't worth watching and turned on the radio,tuning it to a channel playing music,Karl sighed and told QT to tune it to rhythm FM as they play cool songs from 12-2 during the weekends and QT did just that.

Ellie golding's bitter sweet was just ending,I squealed,immediately feeling bad that I missed out on the song,QT smiled,songs seem to sound more interesting if you listen to it sounding from big speaker boxes in a club or on radio even if you have it on your playlist of your phone

Then an OAP's voice came on,it was the programme talk to aunty kike,a dear diary programme on radio where people call in pouring out their tales of woes,whatever it may be and people call in proffering solution,it's an interesting program and intermittently playing cool recent and old hits

I sat back,ready to enjoy listening to stories that touch spliced with cool songs,aunty kike gave out the numbers to call and went on a musical break,first off was maroon5's wipe your eyes,followed by justin timberlake's mirrors and mario's music for love,ending the musical break with micheal bolton's soul provider

"Whew!"

It was all so mesmerizing

Then she declared the lines open to callers

"Hello aunty kike,am chukwuemeka calling from garki"

The first caller's heaving breaths coarsening the waves

He called in to complain about his wives nonchalant attitude towards his sexual needs and this was getting him frustrated,he was asked if his wife was listening to the programme and he said yes,so he was told to talk to his wife via the program,it was so funny

Many other callers called in expressing different complaints and problems, aunt kike said she would take one more dear diary caller and go on a musical break

"Hello aunt kike! Am sorry I would like to remain anonymous"

The caller's slow talking voice cooed

"Ok,that's alright,go on"

Quipped aunt kike

"I would like to know if as a guy,it is wrong to date one's ex's friend"

It caught my attention,i thought the voice sounded familiar,my brothers and I shared glances,obviously having same thoughts

"My brother whom I love so much and always open up to thinks it is wrong,I started dating this girl who is a friend to my ex,my ex wasn't exactly my girlfriend,things ended dramatically and I went for her friend and now our relationship seems dogged with problems and am beginning to feel whether its karma punishing us"

The caller finished off with a sigh

My mouth fell agape,my brothers' eyes went saucers,its definitely Hamz,as if someone pushed a start button,we all rushed at the same time upstairs to meet Hamz just dropping the call

"OMG Hamz? Seriously?calling a dear diary programme and telling her about your problems?"

I chided

He straightened his shirt and positioned the pillow well under his head

"I haven't committed a felony have I?"

He said defensively

"But why? Hamz"

QT asked

"PLS AND PLS,STOP SOUNDING LIKE I JUST COMMITTED AN ABOMINATION,I NEEDED TO GET OUT OF MY HEAD AND HEAR PEOPLE'S OPINION,I DO NOT WANT TO BE JUDGED,I NEED ANSWERS"

Hamz countered

And as if in answering,a caller called in

"Hello somebody"

Aunty kike said

"Hi aunty kike,in respect of the caller who called in asking if it was right to date his ex's friend,well I know the person,am halima and am sure it was Hamz that called in"

My ears tingled,Hamz sat up in a flash,QT and Karl quickly grabbed seats,I went to turn up the volume of the radio,halima continued


"I just want to tell him its over between us,I never loved Hamz,all that happened between us was pure vengeance for deola,we both planned it to teach him a lesson"

Hamz couldn't believe his ears,neither could we,I looked at my brothers face,no one could say anything

She continued

"So Hamz,you could fall in love? Ehn?! When all you do is sleep with women,toil with their emotions,use and dump them,I knew you would come for me,in your usual on-to-the-next-victim manner and I was waiting for you,I know you are listening, so this is it,am breaking up wih you on radio...am the one who got away,how does that feel?do you feel your heart torn from your body?what goes around comes around...and oh aunty kike,pls play for us,me and deola beyonce's best thing I never had...sucks to be you right now dear! toodles hamz!"


"WHAT JUST HAPPENED"

I asked

"Pls hold me Maj,pls hold me"

Hamz begged

I hugged him

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