|
Posted by J Kel |
This article was submitted by Heine Nzumafo
Continued from .... Meeting her parents - PART I
I couldn’t wait another week, so the next day I showed up. “I thought you’d be playing ping-pong too, your friend has gone to play. His sister is out running errands for her mom. Do you want to wait?” I could stay amidst the discomfort I felt or I could face my fear, feel unwelcome but make a good impression. So I chose to stay. “You can wait inside if you want, and watch TV”. “No I said, I don’t mind sitting outside. Besides I’ve heard a lot about you, I’d like to hear from you, if you do not mind” He got intrigued and I had a good 30 minutes to steer him around with some clever questions, about his family, job, everything I could think of. We were interrupted by his two little daughters.
They caught my attention, and I played with them for another good hour. By the time the object of my interest showed up, I was so relaxed she was shocked. The mom had warmed up to me pretty quickly too. Five minutes after she arrived, I said I had to go. “But she just got back!” the mom exclaimed. I had a smart reply waiting. “It’s getting late, and I didn’t tell my mom I’d take so long. She would be worried” It was only 7pm and my mom would probably not be surprised if I came back at 10 pm as long as I did what she asked of me. Needless to say, it scored big with them. That was over thirteen years ago. When I visited Cameroon four or so years after leaving, I was fortunate to run into her dad on a bus to Buea. He remembered every detail about that meeting, but not my name. What’s a name anyway if you are not approved of? Needless to say, to this day, the mom still asks about me, even though she can barely pronounce my name.
With the next girl I dated seriously I had to similar circumstances. She had a mean wild brother who had beaten up boys he saw her with. Her father never got that physical but showed the same disapproval. Her mom too was no joke but took it out on her, which she didn’t want to deal with. I knew she liked me. I just did! Yet she told me nothing new. Seeing her would be hard. So I had to get crafty. Once again, I went against advice and went looking for just a minute with her – at her house! It seemed like a déjà vu. Her dad was sitting outside the veranda. I walked confidently, introduced myself to him, and gave him the basic facts - my name, age, school, class, where I stayed and who my parents were.
I didn’t wait for him to say anything. “Oh, I just stopped by to give a message for your daughter from her classmate.” “Which daughter?” he asked almost immediately. I answered. “What’s the message?” He probed. “They have a Sakerette meeting today at 5pm. The meeting will be at….” He didn’t let me finish. “Okay, hold on let me get her sister, you can give her the details. She will tell her sister when her sister finishes with her bath”. When the sister came outside, I went closer to her, so I could almost back her father. I gave her the details of the message out loud, and then whispered so she could almost only read my lips. “There is no meeting. I will be waiting for your sister at Blue Whale”. Blue Whale was a restaurant not too far away. She smiled and left. I decided not to leave immediately. I made small talk. “I hear you retired” I started. We talked for a good 15 minutes. I noticed his facial expression relaxed a little. I knew my job was done. “It’s getting late, I have to rush back home. My mom is expecting me.” I waited one hour at the restaurant before she showed up. “Are you mad?” was the way she started, with a smile.
One week went by and things were great between us. She has found some time to see me after school. But I like more freedom. I wanted to spend time with her. I didn’t want to hide. I felt like her parents needed to approve that I was her friend and she visited me. I felt it would be healthy for us and easier too. So, I paid her an unexpected visit. You can imagine her surprise, guilt, fear and a mixture of everything unexplainable. Her dad was outside when I got there. He didn’t have the unwelcome look he did the first time. He didn’t smile either. I didn’t waste time to get to the point. “Sir, I was in the area so I stopped by to say hello to your daughter. I ran into her when she was with her friend and we had an interesting conversation. She’s very intelligent.
I just thought I could spend some time conversing with her again. Is she home?” He had his own question. “What did you two talk about?” I was ready. “A bit of everything, but mostly school. She’s very good at literature, we debated a lot on many things in literature – characterization, appreciation, and a few other things like family, politics, but we never finished. That’s why I stopped by” “And what if you don’t finish?” he asked. “Well the way she is, I don’t think we will, and plus it’s getting late and I have to go back home. But I can always come back, if it’s okay with you” I bit my lip, because I knew it was an audacious response. “He called for her, and asked me to wait inside”. We spent the next hour talking inside while watching TV. I made time for the little kids around too. We dated for a while, and she was able to comfortably tell her parents she was coming to visit me. I knew I won their trust, so I never kept her late (unless of course they were both out of town).
Continue to .... Meeting her parents - PART III
|
 |
|
