Page 49 of Cursed Daughters
“Why the formality? I’m sure my son doesn’t let you pay for things. At least, that’s not how I raised him.”
“I’m not with your son for money.”
Mrs. K raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “I didn’t say you were.” Just then, the coffee came, and she took a sip with her eyes never leaving Monife. “You are an attractive girl. He certainly appreciates the finer things.” Then she sighed. “Where is it that you see things going?”
“I…We want to be together.”
“So marriage.” She took another sip of her coffee, then she set the cup down and leant forward, holding Mo’s gaze with her own. “You know, my son has excelled at everything he has ever put his hands to. We have sent him to the best schools and been rewarded for our investment. He is being groomed to take over from his father, which as you can see means he will always live a luxurious life. What exactly are you hoping to bring to the table?”
“I…”
“You see, I’ve done my due diligence. You got mostly average grades, you are just about skimming by in your university, and there appears to be no obvious trajectory to your career plans, if you have any. Your parents are divorced. Your mother is a principal, which is manageable, I suppose; but your aunt has a peculiar knack for ruining marital homes. And apparently there is a curse over your family, though I can’t quite work out what it is. So I ask again, besides your pretty face—and admittedly, you have gorgeous features, though you are a little dark for my taste—what exactly do you bring to the table?”
Mo’s cheeks were hot. She didn’t think she had ever felt so humiliated. This woman had the unique ability to reduce a person to nothing. The things she said, they were not the sum total of who Monife was, and yet she could not find the words to defend herself.
“I love him.” And even to her ears the words sounded childish. Mrs. K responded accordingly, with a vigorous shake of her head.
“If you loved him, you’d let him go. Allow him to focus on his future.”
“I can help him to do those things.”
“Can you? From where I’m sitting, it looks as though you can barely help yourself.”
“You want me gone.”
“I want what is best for him.”
Mo had hoped they would come to some kind of understanding, as two women who loved Golden Boy; but her boyfriend’s mother believed she was the dirt beneath her heels. She puffed up her chest.
“I suggest you get used to my presence in your life. I am not going anywhere.”
Mrs. K was certainly taken aback. Her beautiful features contorted until she resembled a bird of prey.
“Is that what they’ve been teaching you at home? To find a boy from a good family and attach yourself.”
“I’m not a parasite. I have just as much to offer as he does.”
Mrs. K burst out laughing. “Just as much? Has he told you anything about Amara? No? She is the first-born daughter of the Nnamani family. They are our neighbours in our village. And she graduated top of her class.”
“Good for her.”
“It is clearly a match made in heaven.”
“No. What we have is—”
“Love?” she scoffed. “No. What you have is two young people lusting after one another. I assume you have given yourself to him? Amara, on the other hand…”
What had she done to deserve this? She stood up, pushing the chair back so far it fell to the ground. People turned to look at the commotion. Mrs. K raised her palm, readying to have the last word, but Mo slammed down the money for her milkshake and walked away.
XI
“My mother is saying she invited you for coffee and you walked out on her?”
Mo wondered how Golden Boy had found her. She was on campus, skipping a lecture, sitting under a black alder tree with a couple of friends. But she had zoned out of their conversation long ago, instead watching the students scurrying to and from their classes. They hadn’t spoken in a week, but here he was, in the flesh, blocking her sunlight.
“Is that what she said?”
“How come you didn’t tell me you were meeting up with her?”
