Little Lucy - S01 E29

Story 3 years ago

Little Lucy - S01 E29

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 29

I shot a glance at mom. ” What the hell is this?”

Mom brought forth her hand. I saw a diamond ring on her finger.

God nooooo!

Mom smiled excitedly. ” I’m engaged, baby, you’re going to have a new father.”

Collette stared at me and she was surprised to see how my skin had turned pale, drained of all my blood.

God nooooo!

The invitation card fell from my hand and dropped to the ground. I could think of nothing else but the reality of having a stepdad which I never really wanted.

No-no-no-no-no-no this isn’t happening—not just yet. Why now? Why?!

” You alright, baby?” My mom asked, shocked at my new expression.

I didn’t say a word to reply her. I was mute.

Collette leaned forward and picked up the card from the ground and studied it.

” Congratulations, Mrs Williams,” she said, her eyelids lowered.

Mom gave a slight smile. ” More like Mrs Oliver Susana. Williams is my late husband’s first name.”

Collette’s eyes hardened then softened. ” Oliver?”

Mom nodded, staring worriedly at me. ” His first name’s Oliver. Oliver Benjamin. He’s my boss back home at Lagos. We’ve been dating for sometime now until just of recent when he went down on his knees and proposed. Lucy was away at that time.”

Collette returned her eyes back at the card her eyes reading the names on the invitation. Her eyes were shaking.

” Lucy,” mom called me. ” You’re not saying anything, baby.”

I glared at her. ” Why did you accept his proposal?!”

Mom opened her mouth, Collette glanced up to look me from under her eyes.

” Lucy, I thought you’d be happy…”

But I interrupted her. ” You thought wrong, Mom,” I was rasing my voice. ” Accepting another man without telling me, going against my late father….how do you think Dad would feel when you replaced him with another man in your life?”

Mom was shocked at my outburst, Collette shot her eyes at me.

” Lucy,” mom had somehow composed herself. ” Listen baby, you have to understand something. Your father is long gone and trust me no one between the two of us is more bittered than me over his early death. You ever think it’s been easy living without a man all these years? Every woman needs a man. No matter how rich a woman is, no matter how much money or power she amasses, she still need a man. We can’t do without a man. Trust me baby, I found love again and I’m happy. Try to understand me. I’m trying to pick up the remaining pieces of my life and move on. Your father would’ve wanted me to do the same thing.”

I shot Collette a look. She wasn’t saying anything. Her eyes returned back to the invitation card as if it held much importance to her than what my mom and I were talking about.

” December 20th?” She said softly. ” That’s the date of the wedding, right Mrs Oliver?”

She had switched from calling my mom Mrs Williams to Mrs Oliver. It boiled me like a pot of water on fire.

Mom nodded, trying to smile. ” That’s right. It’s going to be a big wedding. We intend to rush things up before Christmas cause he’d be gone for a very important international meeting for a full month in France.”

Collette was smiling. ” France, eh? Your fiance must be a rich man.”

Mom handed her another card. ” Here, you’re invited. That is if your folks would be comfortable with it. Lagos is such a long way from here but don’t worry, I’ll settle the bills. So long as you honour the invitation, I’m happy.”

Collette shooked her head. ” I rather do not, Mrs Oliver. I’d be busy this holiday. I have external final year exams, a maths quiz and a chess tournament to win next year. Don’t see how I could afford the time to visit for your wedding.”

But mom was insisting she visited. ” Come on, Collette. It’s just a day. If not for me, do it for Lucy. I’ll pay for your flight to and fro. You can come stay with us at our house with Lucy since you two are roommates in school.”

I glanced up at Collette, she met my eyes and I looked away.

She became thoughtful for a while then she answered. ” I’ll think about it, Mrs Oliver. If my folks are comfortable with it, then I’ll send you a message.”

I didn’t wait to hear more. I stood up, drop my plates and walked out on my mom.

Startled, she called me back but I didn’t listen. I never turned back either. My back was stiff with rage.

I was mad. Mad at her, mad at the fact she was getting married without confronting me first. We were going to move into a stranger’s house and welcome him into our lives.

Growing up as a young teenager without a father was tough but I’ve learnt to accept it. How does she want me to accept another man out of the blue?

A man I know nothing about!

” Oh dear,” mom sighed, looking sad. ” I should’ve known she was going to find this difficult.”

Collette watched me leave for the hostel. She returned her eyes back to the invitation card and her eyes hardened at the names.

” How dare she?!” I was pacing around the room, talking fast with anger in my voice. ” Who does she think she is bringing another man into our lives? Does she even care how I feel about that?”

Collette was standing over the reading table, ironing her school uniform in silent. She had arrived back to the hostel with two heavy bags of provisions my mom must’ve given her to return to me.

I was Soo mad I forgot about my provisions with Mom.

” Does she have any idea what my late dad would think of her?” I was still ranting. ” Imagine his spirit standing over her and her new husband in the bedroom after their wedding night. Imagine his Expression to see another man sleeping ontop….” I paused as it filled me with rage. ” Imagine the gross on his face!”

Collette held the collar of her uniform and sprinkling some water over the creases on it, she placed her iron on the collar and pressed gently to straighten it.

I turned to face her. ” You’re not saying anything!”

She kept ironing as if she didn’t hear me just now.

I went to her and placed my hand on the table, leaning towards her. ” Collette! The least you can do is say something. I’ve been talking to myself for the past ten minutes and all you can do is stay mute? Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

She didn’t meet my eyes. ” What do you want me to say?”

I gritted my teeth, seeing she wasn’t ready to take part in my pains and worries. ” Well, say something. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me I’m stupid. Tell me I talk too much. Tell me I’m being selfish and childish. I’m sure those are what’s going on your mind at the moment, right?”

She met my eyes and shooked her head. ” Not really, Lucy. You’re right. I side with you.”

I was surprised! She was siding with me? Why?

” And why is that?”

She returned her eyes back to her uniform, sprinkled more water over it and pressed lightly on it. ” Because I’ve been there before, remember?”

Yes I remembered now. Her mom remarried as well.

Collette face was screwed in a frown. ” She never got to tell me what led to the divorce. I woke up one morning and never saw my dad nor my sister again. We left for another man’s house and in due cause, she married him.”

Her voice became broken. ” It hurts being separated from your father. I understand that pain cause I’ve been through it. You think death is painful? Try divorce. At least you know your father’s desd. Mine is still alive with my big sis. I have no idea where they are or how to contact them. There’s no pain greater than that. You wake up one morning and you’re no longer in love with the person you are married to. Then you sign some papers and go your different ways without thinking about the kids feelings. It’s true what they say ” when two elephants fights, the grass are the ones to suffer” in this case it wasn’t my parents who suffered the consequences of the divorce. It was me.”

Standing there before Collette, I realized how unsteady her hands were as she ironed her uniform.

” So I guess you’re right,” she added. ” Your mom should’ve confronted you before accepting another man into her life. Sometimes parents take their children’s opinions for granted. If my sister and I were called for a meeting with my mom and dad to voice out our opinions about their divorce, I’ll bet we’d have found some ways to convince them not to leave. But no, they didn’t consider us. Adult always thinks they’re smarter but they are not. Yes, I side with you and that’s not just because she’s getting married. As far as I’m concerned, she’s free to marry the man of her choice. I’m only against the fact that she left you out of your opinion concerning having a new father. That sh*t hurts really deep, believe me.”

The room became quiet. The only sound that came to us was from the iron.

” Collette?” I called. ” Are you happy in your new home?”

She didn’t meet my eye. ” I’ve never been happy after the divorce, Lucy so the answers no.”

Chewing my underlips I stared at my feet. ” Do you think I’ll be happy in my new home? With this stranger?”

She glanced at me for sometime, then her eyes went to the invitation card on her bed.

She read the names again. Susana Weds Benjamin.

” I suppose you will. He may not be a bad man as you feared he may be.”

” What if he’s a pervert!” I clenched my hands. ” I’ve read stories about stepfather who gets s£xually attracted to their step daughters.”

Collette wrinkled her nose. ” Don’t tell me you read a lot of stories on Facebook.”

I met her eyes and smiled uneasily. ” Well, there’s this story I read on Facebook while back home; Home alone with my stepdad. It laid a magot in my mind. I hated step dad’s after finishing that story. I don’t know why but I kinda felt all step dads are perverts. I don’t trust them. Imagine having two s£xy women in the house. Imagine your step dad making advances at you. I don’t want that kind of stuff going on in the house. Not with a man eyeing my body when my mom’s not at home.”

Collette returned back to her uniform, a frown on her face. ” You stop reading those types of stories, Lucy. You’re far too young to read such contents. Those are for adults not for a girl who’s turning sixteen next week. Home Alone With My Stepdad sounds like an interesting novel but with a small mind like yours, you cannot handle the contents. You’re way too immature to read them. Not all step dad’s are that bad,” she frowned even deeper when she said this. ” Well, not all as far as I’m concerned.”

” You think so?” I asked.

She shrugged. ” I can’t say for some but I believe you’re going to be happy with your new dad. He may not be all that bad. Left to me, your mom picked the right man.”

I became quiet as I considered what she said. Maybe she was right, maybe she wasn’t.

Still I hated the fact I was getting a new dad. I had my fears and they weren’t funny fears.

” You look very much alike.”

I returned my eyes to her. ” Come again?”

” Your mom,” she said. ” You take after her pretty much.”

” I wouldn’t call it that but people do say we look alike. I inherited my father’s eyes.”

” And your mom’s nose,” she added.

I gave her that look. ” What’s with you and my mom by the way? You kept staring at her from time to time.”

” Was trying to figure out where you got your outspokenness from and that nose,” she switched off the iron. ” But I have to admit, your mom looks kinda cute.”

I yelled. ” Don’t even go there! She’s mine.”

Collette rolled her eyes. ” I never said I was interested in her.”

” You did, just now.”

” Just because I said your mom’s cute?”

” That’s right!”

Collette stared at me, slowly shaking her head. ” You read a lot of Facebook stories, Lucy. You really have a small mind. You’re not matured enough to handle those stuff.”

I pouted not saying anything.

” Your mom and I had sometime to talk while you left. She’s quite impressed I’m tutoring you. I told her your challenges and how I’ve been able to help curb it all.”

” Did you tell her you and I are…” I paused when I saw her frowning at me. ” Sorry, I forgot we aren’t even dating.”

Collette continued. ” I was told to talk to you. She wants you to accept her decision, saying it’s for your own good. She doesn’t want you to be without a father forever. Will you learn to be happy for her?”

I went over to my bags of provisions and grabbed them. ” I’m heading over to MÔM’s place.”

” Lucy, you did hear what I said, didn’t you?”

” I’ll think about it,” I said carelessly. ” Aren’t you coming over to MÔM’s today?”

She gave me one bleakfull stare and looked away. ” I’m not going anywhere. I have assignments I need to finish.”

Shrugging, I made for the door when she called me back.

” Lucy!”

I turned around. ” What is it now?”

There was that concerned look on her face I’ve never seen before. ” Do be careful out there. Don’t stay too long at MÔM’s. I want you back here as soon as possible, okay?”

She sounded as if I was going to die at Vee’s lodge. ” I’ll be back.”

And I left having a knowing feeling she was staring after me, that concerned looks on her face..