Winter, Sony's mother, had been standing at her balcony looking across the city. She now shifted her gaze to her immediate neighborhood and could see the electric fence separating the park from the residential area. The road linking the park to the main road did not have many cars for now. It was the time when she had decided that she had had enough sightseeing and therefore needed to return indoors, that she caught sight of a taxi that had swung into the Apartment. She noticed that the passenger getting out was none other than Sony, her son. If this was amazing, Sony made the whole scene spectacular all the more.
He stepped off on the cobbled pavement majestically and then went up the stairs ostensibly appreciating all the attention he was commanding.
Presently he knocked at Jose's door. Not getting an answer, he let himself. At first, he shifted his body weight from the left foot to the right and then from the right to the left. Instinctively, his left hand went up to scratch his head lingered up there for a few seconds then descended passing by his left cheek giving it a gentle but firm massage.
The hand moved on to the trouser pocket but was called upon to steady up a grizzly Sony whose knees were giving way to a crisis brought on by body chemistry.
He walked slowly into the room with his eyes fixed on Ellaisaire.
There is no telling what a young man could conceive particularly more so when his veins ran with red blood and were overridden by the male hormone. Sony-the young man in the unfortunate circumstance aforementioned stood with his small bundle of parcels under his arm. Before long, sat on the same couch Ellaisaire was reclined completely nonplussed. Presently, he could hear footsteps and each step grew louder and louder by the second. When a knock came to the door, quick thinking sent him rolling underneath the couch.
Jose knocked at his door softly and was surprised that it was unlatched. He silently walked into the room.
The evening rays of the sun-filled the room, which was located at the far end of the topmost floor of the Apartment and commanded a panoramic view of the city. It had curtains that ran the whole length of the room, hence filtered and softened those light rays and at the same time swayed a little with the light breeze blowing across the city. The room was serene and sparkling clean.
Even though the television was turned on, the program on air did not catch Jose's attention. It was the radio that caught his attention; the soft music on air. It was romantic.
The song was coming to an end when he caught sight of Ellaisaire.
Ellaisaire slept reclined on the couch. Her body was slightly elevated from her chest upwards. Her cupped fingers held her head in position, thereby grossly exaggerated the curves of her body. She breathed through her nose softly.
Jose could see her nightdress vibrate in tandem with her heartbeat, as her body cascaded with the breath rhythm. His artistic mind was set in motion. Very quietly, he set down his grocery, took out his camera, and took several photographs. He then set his camera on video mode and positioned it where the best video shot could be taken, then left the sitting room to answer the call of nature.
Ellaisaire was fast asleep.
In sleep, the fierce-looking, cruel, sadistic man is defrocked by these titles and given the countenance of a baby. He can't ward off any kind of attack. His bad dream will send him howling for help at no notice. Sometimes sweet dreams will cause him to chuckle a little, smile, or grin. Looking at Ellaisaire, you will be right to believe that she was having a restful sweet sleep.
Jose picked her up, much the same you would a little girl, and with his left knee pushed open their bedroom door and carefully laid her on the bed. He was not the only man in the room. Someone else crouched under the couch holding his breath.
When Ellaisaire got up from sleep, she was confounded to find herself in her bedroom. She had laid on the couch but now she was in the bedroom. She dragged herself out of the bed and presently joined her husband in the kitchen.
"Darling, how was your day?" She asked.
"It was wonderful" he added, "Did Sony find any mails in the post office?"
"He hasn't shown up yet" she answered.
"It's okay, Sweet pie; we will wait for him. If he does not come today, he will certainly do so tomorrow."
They took tea from the kitchen table, cooked, and enjoyed eating their dinner together. They retired to bed early and were truly intimate that night each silently wishing they could live their lives like this. Many hours later, what Jose had taken for a draught of wind through an open window, was indeed a ruffling sound when someone tugged at the curtain. The night gave way to dusk and subsequently morning. Presently, Jose left the room.
Sony could hear his footsteps. When he was sure Jose had gone past the kitchen into the washroom, he came out from his hideout.
Sony's mother emerged from the kitchen. She was concerned seeing her son walk in and slumped back at his reading table. Only yesterday, he had walked into the apartment like he was the new kid on the block. But now it appeared as if the world he had held in his hands now weighed down on his shoulders.
She came closer to him. Looking at him straight in the eye, asked, "Sony, are you alright?"
Sony made no response. So, she moved even closer, placed her hand on his shoulder, and asked a second time. Sony warded off her mother's hand and moved from his seat to the sofa. His mother's hand fell by her sides.
Sony said, "Look here mum, I am not a child that you have to follow wherever I go. I am now a grown-up. Okay?"
Sony's mother was taken back in disbelief.
"And again mum" he added, "Why do you keep on asking me what I would like to do when I am grown up? Let me tell you, mum, I am now an adult. I can make decisions and no one needs to cuddle me."
Sony's mother was surprised. She knew her son to be the silent type; the type that is never replete with mother's love. But now with no provocation, he was looking straight into her eyes making blasphemous utterances.
Sony said, "Look here mum, and this goes to your friend Ellaisaire. Not only am I on my career path, I know who I am going to be.
And for your information, I am going to be a caring and loving husband."
"What?" squeaked Sony's mother.
"Yes," said Sony, "you got it. I am not going to be like some of my neighbors who do not know how to treat their wives." Adding "you old people only think about doing. You know nothing about being."
Sony's mother asked, "Is that your last word?"
Sony answered, "Do you want to hear my last word?"
In dismay, Sony's mother for the first time came face to face with the rebel in his son. The submissive and innocent mummy's boy was challenging a long-standing family tenet 'do no challenge mother's authority. This was incomprehensible. This was not the same Sony who walked through the gates of Park View Apartment.
She asked, "Where did you spend the night yesterday?"
Sony answered, "Mum for the last time, I don't want to hear you ask me that question. If you ever do that again, I will walk out of that gate never to be seen again in this neighborhood."
"My son, my one and only child, please do not break my heart. I have already gone through so much, spare me the grief. I beg you." Sony's mother pleaded.
Sony walked to his bedroom without speaking a word to his mother and closed the door behind him.