Perfectly Imperfect

~19~

   Dedicated to dheenmah. She's gold and her book is golden. You should all check out her book, When Golden Souls Collide. She's really good and her writing skills are topnotch 😩😍😍😩♥️♥️💖              

                             

                               ~Adam~

I walked into the house with Charles to see Dad's car in the compound. My heart leapt,

For joy, for relief.

And yet, I couldn't understand why my stomach tightened into hard knots and why my fists kept clenching and unclenching as I entered. Mom and Dad were sitting on the sofa backing the entrance and dad's left hand was draped over mom's shoulder. The joy and relief I had felt instantly turned into something darker, something terrifying, something threatening to swallow me whole. My fists clenched and unclenched again and Aunty Shade looked up and saw me saw me standing by the door.

"Hey! The man of the moment is here."

Mom and Dad looked up simultaneously and I focused my attention on mom's face. Her face dissolved into a huge smile when she saw me and my heart almost soared, almost because I wasn't even sure of what I feeling. What I felt for mom was masked with something between hate and love.

I love her, I love her way too much but still....

I don't know where the love ended and the hate started and looking at her with a smile on her face, alive and glowing, flesh and all, I felt happy, unconstrained happiness bursting through me.

"Hey Korede, we've been waiting for you. How're you?"

She stated in her high pitched voice and she stood up. The first thing I noticed as she walked towards me was the limp.

She was limping!

It was barely noticeable. Most people wouldn't even notice but I definitely would. I was still wrapping my head around the fact that she was limping when she got to me and she enveloped me in a hug and that was it. She was an embodiment of home and peace and all and even without meaning to, I found myself hugging her that, wanting more of the feelings I've only been able to feel in her presence, in her hug.

"Eeh eeh. Look at mother and son oo. You people don't know you're making the father jealous."

That was Aunty Shade and Mom pulled back, a smile on her face. I fleetingly wondered how she always manage to have a smile on her face.

"Oh, I'm used to it now. They always manage to ignore me and Adams is supposed to be a daddy's boy."

The smile on mom's face disappeared for a brief second before it was back again, this time, forced and I could tell it was a fake one.

"Of course, what do you expect? You're hardly home."

"Eeh! I'm kuku not complaining. I'm used to it. And Adam, you should go and get your bags. We should leave now."

I nodded, even though he couldn't see me and I stepped fully away from mom. I got to the room, ready to close the door after me when I discovered mom was right behind me.

"Are you sure you're fine?"

She asked, immediately she entered and she closed the door. I did not say anything, I only looked around the room, looking for the things to pack but there was basically nothing. My clothes were all carefully arranged in my bag. I'd been low-key waiting for them to show up since mom first called.