Chapter 5

After enjoying a good massage at the spa, Mr. Matthew's mom and her three friends went to a nearby restaurant to have a good meal. They started conversing as they ate.

“To be honest with you, Grace, your son’s got issues,” Mrs. Hannah, one of Mr. Matthew’s mother’s friends said, starting the conversation. 

Both Mrs. Dory and Mrs. Lola laughed in agreement.

“Major issues if you'd ask me,” Mrs. Lola added as she laughed and sipped her cup of hot coffee. 

Mr. Matthew's mother dropped her fork beside her plate and spotted a frown as she looked at her three friends.

“He’s working through it, and if I might recall, your children each had issues,” she said defensively. She pointed at one of her friends as she said, “Your son, Jake, womanized a lot, didn’t he Lola? Well my son has never womanized before, so I should be the least person to be worried here,” she said as she looked smugly at Mrs. Lola.

Mrs. Lola laughed, “Used to, Grace, yes Jake used to womanize a lot, but ever since he met with Jesus, he dropped that habit quicker than one could ever expect, and besides, Matt doesn’t even have a woman in his life,” Mrs. Lola said pointedly as she used her knife to cut her beef into little pieces. She had ordered fried beef and tea while her three other friends had gotten coffee and a spicy casserole instead. 

Mr. Matthew's mother just sighed and shook her head sadly. “I don’t even know how to go about that, he always seems to irritate the ladies with his never ending talks of discipline in the society,” she said and put a spoonful of the fish sauce she had scooped up from her casserole into her mouth.

“So what you are trying to say is no woman basically wants him?” Mrs. Hannah said categorically and chuckled. 

The other two women laughed cheekily but had to stifle it when they met their friend’s hard look.

Mrs. Dory cleared her throat. “Temper, temper, ladies! Let’s not start world war three in this little eatery,” she said and gave a wide conciliatory smile, causing the wrinkles on her face to expand a little bit. 

Mr. Matthew's mother laughed warmly and loosened up a bit. 

Even though they all were friends, Hannah had always liked to get on her nerves, Lola sometimes did so too but was always careful not to go too far, as she didn’t want to make Grace to lose her temper. 

Mrs. Grace used to have anger issues, but she managed it so well, and only blew her top once in a while when Hannah had made her so furious. She didn’t really get into that stage with other people because she was not too close with them. Mrs. Hannah, however had been her friend for a very long time, and knew just where to switch the angry mood on. 

Dory always made sure that the switch stayed off, by always coming in quickly at specific intervals when she knew her friend, Grace, couldn’t handle it anymore. Although, Hannah just did it for the pure fun of it, Mrs. Grace didn’t really like any of her cocky jokes.

“Maybe we can help him? I think I have a plan,” Mrs. Dory commented and gazed at her friends intermittently, cupping her hands under her chin.

“She’s doing the gaze thing again,” Mrs. Hannah said and they all burst out in laughter. 

Mrs. Dory always had that face when she was thinking deeply about something.

“What’s wrong with it? You all have your thinking faces, don’t you?” she asked them all, looking at them in perplexity.

Mrs. Lola laughed and shook her head. “I don’t think that’s how the body works Dory,” she said, placing another chopped fried beef into her mouth. “Mmmm”, she said, as she enjoyed the delicious taste of the fried beef in her mouth.

“So, what are you suggesting, Dory?” Mrs. Grace asked as she looked at her friend expectantly.

Mrs. Dory smiled and told them all her plans. They all smiled and nodded, as they were one hundred percent confident that the plan would work.

~~~

Mr. Matthew was in his bedroom reading a book when his phone began to ring. He ignored it, as he was engrossed in the book which he was reading. The book was written by Sam Lane, a retired soldier who had great value for the highest form of discipline. His book, Beating the Stupidity out of Kids, was one of the many books on discipline, the right to beat children and the importance of strictness that Mr. Matthew had, stocked in a small shelf in his room.

His phone rang again. He grumbled and dropped the book, keeping a bookmark in between to help him locate where he was quickly. He reached for his phone and checked who was calling him. 

“Mom?” he thought and quickly picked it. “Hello Mom,” he started, but frowned when he heard his mother’s instruction. His mother was telling him to come and meet her at their local library.

“But, mom, I'm busy, like really busy right now,” he said, but his mother still insisted on her instruction being followed. She hung up the call after telling him to dress up nicely. 

Mr. Matthew frowned as he stood up from his bed and walked into his bathroom to change into his outing clothes.

Thirty minutes later, Mr. Matthew reached the library and, standing outside, he looked around for his mom. It didn’t take long before he sighted her as she stood at the sidewalk of the eatery opposite the library with her three friends and another woman whom he didn’t seem to recognize.

He sighed and covered his face with his palm. “I have a bad feeling about this,” he thought to himself. Although he had respect for them, he didn’t like any of his mother’s three friends.

They crossed the road and reached him in no time. Mr. Matthew greeted his mom and the other four women, and they in turn greeted him back.

“Matt, you know Mrs. Dory, Mrs. Lola and Mrs. Hannah right?” his mother said, pointing at her friends. Mr. Matthew nodded respectfully.

“Good, so I don’t need to introduce them to you again, now this is Mrs. Lupita,” his mother said and the fourth woman smiled boldly and waved at him.

Mr. Matthew looked puzzled as he turned to the woman. “With all due respect ma’am, but which parents name their kid 'Lu-pita'?” he said and raised both his hands in a questioning stance, as he bent his head to one side.

Mrs. Grace became indignant and wanted to give a reply to her son's effrontery but Mrs. Lupita touched her arm gently and turning, smiled warmly at Mr. Matthew as she answered. “My parents did, I think they were Dutch, or maybe German”, she said and smiled.

Mr. Matthew nodded smugly and then turned to his mom as he asked her, “So mom, what’s the important thing you needed me for?” He glanced at his wrist watch, trying to send a signal to his mother that he didn’t have all day to waste.

His mother laughed off his gesture as she answered him. “I think it’s better we sat down as this might take a very long while,” she drawled as she and her friends walked to some nearby chairs which were placed in front of the library and sat down, waiting for him to join them.

Mr. Matthew frowned deeply, “Didn’t his mother get his message?!” he thought to himself as he turned around and went over to where the older women sat.

The library was designed in a way to accommodate indoor and outdoor reading. There were chairs and tables outside, as well as inside the library to enable people to read in the location they were more comfortable in.

Mr. Matthew sat on one of the chairs between his mother and Mrs. Hannah. “Ok, shall we begin?” he asked as he looked round the women.

“Matt, Miss Lupita here is an old colleague of Mrs. Dory's when she was formerly working at the Counseling Institute, she has brought forth some methods and ideas which we think will help you in finding a partner”, his mother said as she looked round at her friends, pausing and taking a deep breath before she said the word “partner”.

“What?! Oh, Lord! No way!” Mr. Matthew exclaimed in consternation. He was shocked that his mother would even agree to something like this. He looked around theold women and scowled at them all. 

"How dared they?! What a nerve they must have! To meddle in his life! His love life! Huh...love life?!" His eyes opened wide in wonder.

He looked in consternation at his mother. “Thank you all for your help and ideas, or thoughts, but I do not need any assistance when it comes to relationships. I believe I have all the qualities need to get a woman when the right time comes,” he said as he stood up, trying to refuse them in the most polite way possible he could think of.

Mrs. Hannah stifled a laugh when he said he had all the qualities and gave a sly smile to Mrs. Lola, who in turn smirked back.

“Be reasonable Matt, you’re thirty-three and you haven’t even exchanged glances with a woman,” his mother said as she pulled him back to his seat.

“Mom, I don’t need any help to find myself a wife!” he said hotly, quite embarrassed that his mother would treat him like a teenager just going out on his first date. That got his mother ticked and she wagged her finger at him.

“You listen here, and listen good! I will not allow you to let my husband’s legacy die, do you hear me?!” his mother spat at him harshly. 

Mrs. Dory quickly placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder and looked at Mr. Matthew with a warm smile playing on her face.

“Just give it a try, Matt. Besides, you have nothing to lose and much more to gain if this works out, okay?” she said soothingly and touched his shoulder too before going back to her seat.

Mr. Matthew sat silently for a few minutes, thinking hard as he bent his head. He raised his head and looked at his mother. “Okay, so, what am I to do?” he asked dejectedly. His mother smiled and gave him a reassuring pat on the back.

“Don’t worry my little boy, we’ll get you the best woman in town,” his mother replied as she smiled reassuringly at him then turned to Mrs. Lupita. “Over to you now, Mrs. Lupita”.

Mrs. Lupita smiled brightly. “Alright, this is what you have to do, Mr. Matthew,” she started as she shared her ideas and plans with the four women and the defenseless Mr. Matthew.