Yinka’s POV
The clanking sound of cutlery against plate echoed through the dining room as I walked in. I found my father seated at the head of the table dressed in a casual pink golf polo and matching shorts. The dining table was filled with silver wares containing a variety of dishes.
“Good morning, dad” I greeted as I approached the dining chair to his left.
“Morning” he replied, looking up from his plate
It’s been a while I had seen my dad relaxed and eating breakfast in a casual manner since I got back. Most of the time, he was already out of the house before I came down.
He had a pair of thinly rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. Age and mostly stress was catching up to him, taking a toll on his hair line and clearing out a spot atop his head. He was a healthy eater, very particular about his physical state so he looked mostly fit and agile for his age.
“What’s going on? Any special occasions” I asked as I placed myself on the chair
“How do you mean?” He asked, clearly not catching my drift.
“I mean, I would have thought you’d be on your way to the office or something” I replied, eyeing the food on his plate, wanting to get an idea what today’s breakfast was all about.
“Oh” he gently reclined on his chair, took off his glasses and placed it carefully beside his plate. “Well, your mother insisted I stay back and have breakfast as a family. You know how she is about eating together”
I chuckled.
My mother derived pleasure in having all of us seated at the table, eating our food as a family and exchanging small talk. It was evident that she would have loved it, if the family was larger than it is.
“I’ll be travelling to Abuja later this afternoon” He added. “I have a conference to attend early tomorrow. I would’ve left this morning but she was like ‘What’s the rush?’”
“Are you people talking about me?” My mother voiced out emerging from the kitchen holding another silverware dish.
She placed it gently on the table and lifted the lid. Hot steam escaped the plate, clearing up for green vegetables to appear. There were two large loaves of bread, a silverware containing egg sauce that my mom preferred, another with boiled eggs, a carton of fresh milk, freshly brewed coffee all set out on the table.
This is way too much for just three people.
She picked up a large dish spoon and served a sizeable amount of vegetables unto my dad’s plate.
“O ti to” he held up his hand when my mother tried to serve up another spoon. (That’s enough)
“Are you interested?” she gestured to the plate and I shook my head no.
“Why? Have some, it’s good for the system” she said as she walked around my father’s chair and made her way to my side.
“Why ask him if you’re still going to make him eat it” my father pointed out
“I’m not making him do anything. It’s good for his system” she defended
She placed a spoon of vegetables on my empty plate before heading back to my dad’s right hand. Few minutes later, we were all settled down, slowly devouring the food on our plates.
“So…” My father began, his eyes directed at me. “What’s your plan?”
“What plan?” I said taking a quick gulp of my tea.
He briefly glanced at my mother and leaned forward in his seat, returning his gaze to me. “I mean, what do you plan to be doing while you’re here in Nigeria? Or are you just going to be gallivanting about?”
“I—“
“When do you even plan on heading back?” My father added, unintentionally cutting me off.
I waited a few seconds to make sure he wasn’t go fire more questions at me before I replied. “I’m not certain when I plan to go back yet”
He reclined back into his seat, narrowing his eyes at me. “What does that mean?”
I hope this isn’t what I think it is.
“I’m taking a break to just unwind, you know. Relax and just get away from the stressful work space. I’ve been away for what – three… three and half years” I said, irritation slowly creeping in on me.
There was a short pause and the scraping of cutlery against plate filled up the silence on the table.
“Are you saying that after—this… this break that has no time limit, you’ll head back to London? Or is this music thing over?” he directed at me.
It was what I thought it was
“This music thing?” My face contorted into a frown as I looked back at him. “It’s not a hobby or phase that I’m just going to drop or grow out of”
“I never said it was a hobby” he replied.
“You may not say it out but I know that you think this career path I chose is a waste of time” I was trying my best not to let the anger bubbling within get the best of me
“Yinka, don’t put words into your father’s mouth. He’s only asking you a question. Don’t start reading unnecessary meanings into it” My mother inputted, trying to douse the situation.
“You know within yourself that that’s not true” I said to her
My father had this wait-it-out approach towards my career choice in music. He wasn’t so opposed to the idea when I’d initially made the decision but he wasn’t exactly elated. He felt like one day I would suddenly snap out of my decision and decide to join in him in the business world.
This wasn’t the first time he was asking me this series of questions. Every time I came home, he would one way or the other bring it up which was why I stayed back in the U.K for so long. I worked hard on every solo track I put out there to have something to prove to myself-- and to him.
My appetite had disappeared and I didn’t want to spend a single second in the same room as him before I speak out of turn.
“I’m full” I rose up from my chair and slightly bowed to both of them. “Thank you”
“Yi--Yinka!” My mother called after me as I walked out of the dining room and the house as a whole.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I stared out the glass wall of the café, watching cars drift past and people walk by. The sun was scorching hot with no single cloud in sight. I unconsciously drummed my fingers against the table in front of me.
“Sorry, I’m late”
Prisca lightly tapped my shoulder as she announced her presence and then placed herself in the chair opposite me. She had on a white tank top and ripped jeans, her hair was covered with sky blue wig that tinted a darker blue at the ends.
“What’s up? You called to meet up out of the blue” she said a little out of breath.
The café was on the second floor of the building with no elevator access, just stairs. It was quite exhausting just making your way up to the place but always turned out to be worth it in the end. Customer service and food was an excellent, 5 star rating.
A waitress appeared by Prisca’s side, holding a small jotter and pen. “What can we get you?”
“Uhm… I’ll have a strawberry mango smoothie “The waitress nodded and scribbled down on her notepad.
“How about you? Anything else” she flashed a bright smile.
“Nah, I’m fine” I replied, returning the smile.
“Okay” she nodded and walked off.
I looked back at Prisca and she held a disgusted expression on her face.
“What?” I chuckled. “I can’t smile at the waitress”
She rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever. What did you need me for?”
“Oh, yeah” I leaned into the table. “I want to get a gift”
She was silent for a second. “Wait, I came all this way because you want to get a gift?”
“It’s not like I dragged you out here. You came willingly” I pointed with a cheeky smile.
She raised an eyebrow at me.
“I need a female’s viewpoint” I
said
The waitress appeared again. This time, holding Prisca’s order in a tray. She gently placed it down before her and walked off.
Prisca took a long sip of her drink before looking back up at me. “So you want to get your mom a gift? What’s the occasion?”
I laughed at her confidence. “It’s funny how you immediately assumed it’s for my mum”
“Isn’t it?” she asked
“No” I stated. “It’s for a friend”
“A friend?” she repeated with raised brows. “Do I… by any chance know this friend?”
“You may and you may not” I said casually.
She muttered to herself. "It's not like it's any of my business"
“Okay” she folded her arms on the table, slightly moving her drink further into the table. “So, what do you have in mind?”
“Nothing. That’s why I called you” I replied
“Kay. Jewelries are nice. Maybe a necklace--” she started, taking a sip of her drink. “—No, wait that’s too intimate”
“Are you guys like friends friends or friends like you and me” she asked, drawing out the second friends a little.
My expression mirrored utter confusion.
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Are you having sex with his person?”
“No. Why?”
“Never mind” she said quickly
“So this gift in question, are you going for something big or small?” she questioned, making hand gestures indicating big and small.
“I don’t know” I replied
She groaned. “And they say women don’t know what they want”
I chuckled at her frustration. “I didn’t know picking out a gift was this stressful”
“Look, I just need a birthday gift. Nothing too special” I added
“You know what, we’ll decide on something when we get there” she declared
“Get where?”
“The gift shop or something. This boy you’re stressing me o” she said
I chuckled.
“You brought your car, right? Cause I took a cab” I said
She nodded. “What’s wrong with yours?”
“Nothing. Just got into it with my dad, I was too heated to remember grab my keys” I said
Her brows dropped with concern as she leaned further into the table. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah”
“Want to talk about it?” she asked
“Nah” I looked out the glass.
“Are you sure? Abi, you’re trying to be a man?” she said
I laughed. “What do you mean trying to be a man? I am a man, babe”
“Ode” she chuckled
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE