"Mom please, call dad -- don't let him do this" I begged.
"Well..." My mom started with her voice straining as she slowly raised herself from the couch before concluding. "Your father is already long gone. So there's nothing I can do"
"But it's not fair what dad's doing..." I turned to look away, hiding the reddish of my face with my eyes becoming slightly moist from the tears that welled up. I just knew what his confrontation will lead to -- an enmity between us and the neighbours which I wasn't ready for; not now that things were going well with me and Nora.
"You should have thought about that when you went absent last night -- atleast if you had called to notify us, maybe your dad wouldn't have taken it too seriously." My mom replied. But her response wasn't making anything better -- it even made me feel more miserable.
So I walked away and headed straight for my room.
"What do you want for breakfast?" My mom's loud voice followed behind me as I reached my room door.
'Just cook whatever cus I've even lost my appetite.' I mumbled to myself under my breath and opened my door, banging it carelessly as I entered. Then I walked up to my bed and sat down; roving my eyes around the wall of the room which now felt like a prison!
****
I didn't come out of the room when my dad returned from Nora's place but locked myself in. I stayed in boredom, laying on my bed for hours until my dad finally left to work before I came out and went to meet my mom who was preparing something for lunch in the kitchen.
"Oh hey" she smiled when she caught sight of me leaning on the doorpost. "Was beginning to wonder when you were going to come out of the room."
"It's what you and dad wanted" I said, dragging my feet on the kitchen floor as I entered to get a glass of water.
"Oh hunny, don't make this about us" My mom sighed and stopped steering the stew before turning around to face me. "We only want you to learn from your mistake -- that's all"
I nodded my head in remorse and lowered the empty glass cup on the cabinet behind me.
"Um, mom... I think the stew is --" I informed and paused, sniffing deeply when I perceived a burnt smell.
"Oh!" My mom exclaimed when she realised that she'd totally forgotten about the stew on fire. Then she turned around and switched the gas off. "Whew... Good thing it didn't burn" she sighed in relief.
"I'll get the plates" I suggested, for my own selfish reason because I was damn hungry! And I don't think I could last another minute without eating something -- Besides, it was already thirty minutes past 1pm.
Then, just as I stood; leveling the plates on the kitchen table beside my mom, the palour doorbell rang -- echoing all the way into the kitchen.
"Go check who's at the door" my mom instructed without taking her eyes off the stew pot.
"Okay" I nodded, sounding a little tensed. What if it was Nora's parent who'd come to give us a piece of their mind?!
'Please Lord, let it not be them' I prayed in my heart as I left the kitchen, hastening my pace for the palour door.
"Oh, Hey" I was glad when I opened the door and saw that it was Nora instead of her parents. But she didn't match my excitement with a smile -- rather, she wore an angry frown that instantly quenched the grin on my face. "Nora, what's wrong? You don't look..."
"I begged you Henry, I begged you not to tell your parents you slept at my place" she growled, her eyes becoming wet from the tears that welled up.
"No, I -- I didn't" I retorted, closing the door behind as I came out fully. I didn't want my mom hearing our conversation. "My dad, he saw me this morning at your house entrance after you went in."
Nora shook her head in disappointment, placing her right palm on her forehead before turning halfway to hide her face.
So I moved closer, placing my right hand on her left shoulder and apologized, "Look Nora, I'm sorry the way my dad showed --"
"Don't touch me!" She fumed, forcefully shrugging my hand off her shoulder before turning to glare at me. "Now, my parents think I've always been sneaking boys into my room at night and blame me for being a bad influence on you -- thanks to your dad"
I felt heartbroken when she lamented to my face with her sober voice shaking as she spoke. It pained me to think that they'll blame Nora for my actions last night; especially my dad! And I don't think I could forgive him for doing so...
"No, it wasn't your fault, I chose to sleep at your place and not the other way around" I pleaded with reason. But it was useless, what has been done has been done.
"Look..." Nora sniffed hard and exhaled shaky breaths from her mouth to hold back the tears that looked so close to rolling down. "Whatever you think we have or had, needs to end -- I can't.. I don't want to be the reason for --"
I cut in sharply to hush her; my own voice quavering as I pleaded. "Please don't, don't say that."
Although we hadn't started something serious together, but it seemed like a breakup.
"Am sorry... But we -- we shouldn't see eachother again" the tears finally flowed down her cheeks as she shook her head in regret; talking slow steps backwards.
I reached out and quickly held onto her left wrist to halt her steps. "Please Nora, don't do this to me -- okay listen, I'll talk to my dad to talk to your parents... Anything, but please, don't end things between us" I sounded desperate, out of breath and was almost at the verge of breaking to tears. Everything seemed to be crumbling down... The only girl I truly have feelings for was now leaving me? How was I to live with that -- what was the point of everything!
"Just, fu*king let go off my hand" She growled in tears and pulled her left hand from my grasp; turning around to leave without saying another word.
My tummy squeezed with a sharp pain growing in my throat as though a needle had just pierced through it. Even my chest felt unusually tightened; shortening my breaths as I stood faint, watching Nora jog back to her house. And at that same minute, our palour door squeaked open behind me with my mom's voice breaking out in questioning. "What did she come to say?"
I don't mean to sound rude or out of place, but trust me when I say my mom's question only transformed my sobering feeling into an angry one.
"What does it look like mom, she came to tell me that we could no longer be friends..." I answered in suppressed annoyance, turning to face my mom as I spoke.
She wore a somewhat sad and guilty look and was unable to mutter a word.
"Well I hope this makes dad happy" I growled under my clenched jaw and stormed into the house -- leaving my mom who stood speechless for a while, staring blankly at the distance before finally closing the door.
"Henry... Honey, come on... Henry" my mom called out to me as she kept her pace behind. But I didn't answer, neither was I willing to indulge her in any conversation. What I felt now was rage -- an anger that could only be quenched by isolating myself!
So I rushed into my room; locked the door and moved forward with my eyes burning from tears that built up. And the closer I got to the bed, the more harder it was for me to hold back the tears.
Then I fell forward, burying my face on a pillow just in time before it came flowing down.
"Arrrrrgggghhh" I screamed out my lungs in bitterness, but my mouth was so pressed on the pillow which muffled my scream.
"Henry, son... Pls, just open the door" My begged behind the door with empathy in her voice; giving light knocks as she awaited my response.
"Just leave me alone" I mumbled inaudibly to myself in a somewhat breathless and exasperated tone as I rolled to my side; folding my arms to curl my whole body to a foetus-like sleeping position.