"Look at how beautiful my baby is", her mother gave her the tightest hug she had ever received, "You're indeed beautiful, princess", her father added. She loved how her father was different from most black fathers, he did not mind giving compliments when he saw something beautiful. "Thank you, Dad,", she smiled at her parents. They were picking her up from the airport from her 1-hour flight, it was quite a distance between her home and the university. "I missed you so much, where are your kids?", Peace asked her parents as her father dragged the suitcase as they went to the car, "Sasha said she will be back on this weekend and Skye will come tomorrow after her last paper", Skye was in her 12th grade.
"Your mama showed me a picture of you with your face her made up with eyelashes, I hardly recognized you. I was afraid you going to turn up looking like that", she eyed her mother through the rear mirror, she remembered telling her not to show her dad the picture. She had a straight back and all-natural, no make-up nor eyelashes, she knew how her dad felt about those things. "It was a once-off thing, Dad, for schoolwork.", she knew he was going to buy that. "When are y'all going to let me drive this car? I have a license for goodness' sake", she changed the topic, "Never, you should buy your own", her mother quickly answered, "But you let my male cousins drive", in her family they never trusted girls with their cars.
"I am making super tonight", her parents did not respond, she has been a horrible cook, but she was way better now, but her parents were still stuck to her horrible food and hardly gave her a chance to prove she had completely changed. She wanted to take them to a restaurant, but her father was not a fan of the food they served there, so she opted for making his favourite home meal. "Guys come on, I'm way better now", she added, "I don't know Peace, you will have to prove yourself", her dad answered. They arrived at home 45 minutes later, Peace rested for a bit while catching up with her parents and pointing out new things she was seeing around the house. Later that day she began cooking, she was very excited because she knew they were both going to love her meal.
"I cannot believe this was made by you, if your sisters were here, I was going to say Sasha cooked", her father complimented, Sasha was a great cook in the house followed by her mother. "See?" I told you guys to trust me", she had set up their little dining table that had chandelier light hanging above it. It was an intimate dinner, just how she had imagined it if she was the only child. "I have a surprise for you", she smiled excitedly holding her hands together and moving her eyes from her dad to her mama many times. "Yes, we are listening", her dad answered while focusing on his dessert, "I got this for you", she gave her father a paper bag, that caught his attention, he had never received a gift from them in his life, "What is this?" "Open it", she answered and went to her seat, her mama had the same reaction as the dad.
She had brought him the shoes he would talk about and how they were expensive, she noticed then that her father loved those shoes, 2 years ago. "What do you think?", she asked since his silence was getting awkward, "What is this?", he asked, he sounded so strange, "It's your favourite shoes, Dad.", she answered, confused at his question. She did not know whether her father was having a hard time receiving the gift or he was still shocked, so she moved on to gifting her mother, "Here's yours my lady?", her mother got excited, "Thank you my baby", she opened it as soon as it landed in her hands, "Let's see", her father was still quiet. Her mother screamed with joy when she realized she got her jewellery, a beautiful dress, and a bag she had always wanted, "Come here, come give mama a hug", Peace did not even hesitate, she rushed to her, and they hugged. "I have one last big surprise, this one will be the shock of your life, open the envelope, my lady", she gave her mother a small white envelope which she opened immediately. Her eyes popped up, she was just shocked, "You paid up the car?", the excitement had long left her voice and face she could not believe her eyes. "Peace, sit down!" her father shouted, startling her and her mother, "You are going to explain yourself, young lady".
'Is he angry I got them gifts?'
"Where did you get such money, huh?", he was breathing fire even his nose kept rising and falling as he breathe, "I saved up from my waitressing job", she answered lowery looking down with the realization that she had flopped. "You will not take us for fools, there's no waitressing job that can pay for your academic fees, rent, maintenance, a car, and all these gifts? I will ask you one more time, what are you doing in that city?", he was screaming his lungs out, "Nkosi please", her mama jumped in before she could answer, "No! Do not give excuses for her bullshit, we sent a child to the university to study, and she comes back with all of this? I've been there I know exactly what happens to younger girls there. You expect us to be happy with all these expensive things we hardly afford just because we wanted them for a while, well sorry my baby I am furious, disappointed and embarrassed, I cannot even look at you right now. I should have known from that picture that something terrible was going on, is that what you want? To die in the hands of men you do not even know where they are from? Because that's what you will get, sickness and death and all of this will not matter when we bury you.", one thing about her father will talk nonstop when he is angry. He got up and left, her mother did not even know where to start, they just stared at each other.
"He did not mean most of those things", she finally spoke reaching for her hand, "But baby, all this money? it is suspicious, explain it to me. Let's have this conversation honestly, I promise to not judge you, I am your parent you should be able to talk to me about everything." They moved to the seating room, "I did not think it was that big of a deal, mama. I saved up this money from my job, I was taking as many shifts as I could, and I would get some piece jobs from a few hotels, I promise you I worked hard for this money", her eyes were glued to her mama's eyes, she had to make sure her story was believable. "You paid R50k for the car, Peace, you got your father shoes worth R10k, and you got me items worth more than R13K, you are still paying for your studies and accommodation, you have to eat in this money, now tell me how all of this is supposed to make a parent feel?", she was still calm.
'I did not even realize it was that much already.'
"My studies are paid for by the university, I only pay rent", she lied, "That's news to us", her mama said, "I must have forgotten to mention it", her mother thought for a second. "Okay, if you say you're not doing anything wrong and this is your hard-earned money, I choose to believe you and I will talk with your father. Thank you for the gifts and paying for the car and the dinner, we fully appreciate it my baby", she genuinely said holding her hands. She stood up and went to clean the table, "What time is Skye going to arrive tomorrow?", she asked taking the dishes to the kitchen, "I do not know, she said late" "Okay I will ask her myself", she leaned by the kitchen door, "You guys, do not talk a lot", her mama said as Peace's phone rang, "You know Skye, mama. She does not talk!", she shouted rushing for her phone. When she saw who was calling, she stared at the phone until it stopped ringing, she found her mom looking at her suspiciously when she raised her head, "These company calls are so annoying".
'I should block this motherfucker!'
YOU ARE READING
A Sauce Down the Pole
Random"5,4,3,2, 1..Over", Peace counted sliding down the pole she's been dancing on for 30 minutes. She walked out of the stage and immediately took off the heels that were burning her feet the moment she reached backstage. "Dan", she greeted the giant ma...
