Chapter 8

Mr. Matthew finished with his meal and headed to the kitchen to get an extra helping. His mom had made extra today. He dished the wheat cereal to half of his bowl and then carried it back to the sofa. He preferred eating in the sitting room to his room because of the two gigantic fans situated in the sitting room that seemed to blow refreshing breeze everywhere in the large room.

There was a knock at the door. He covered his food with one of the hand fans his mother kept handy on extremely hot days and walked to the door. He opened it a little bit and peered through the tiny crack. It was Mrs. Lupita. He greeted her warmly and opened the door widely to let her in. He ushered her politely to the sitting room and waved her to a seat opposite where he had sat earlier.

On hearing Mrs. Lupita’s voice, his mother, Mrs. Grace quickly came out of her room, all smiles as she hugged and greeted her friend. Mr. Matthew just shook his head as he reached for his bowl of cereal and continued eating his meal.

“Matt, hurry up and be done with that food, we’re going out,” his mother said as she offered Mrs. Lupita a glass of fruit drink. She sat down beside her friend, holding her own fruit drink too and both of them feasted their eyes on Mr. Matthew, waiting for him to finish up with his food. 

Mr. Matthew looked at both of them dumbfounded. His mother had not told him of this outing that she was expecting him to prepare for. But judging from the fact that Mrs. Lupita was here, he knew it was about his love life once again. He sighed inwardly and continued with his meal, eating quicker than before. 

After he had finished his meal, he washed his plate and went to his room to get dressed. He later came out wearing a brown shirt, opened at the top to reveal his white inner vest, on his best blue jeans.

“I do hope I'm not getting any slaps today Mrs. Lupita?” he said and made his way to the door where his mother and her friend were waiting for him.

“I hope not too,” Mrs. Lupita chuckled in reply as they all went out of the house. Once outside, the three of them entered Mr. Matthew's car. His car was a small green Toyota Camry, whose green color was mostly faded due to the wear and tear and long term of usage of the car. The air conditioner in the car had stopped working, and the radio could only play one station.

“Where to, Mrs. Lupita?” he asked as he switched on the ignition and revved up the engines.

“Amazo Park,” Mrs. Lupita said and put on her seatbelt. She was sure her plan would work out today. She shared a Knowkng look with her friend secretly.

They got to the park in no time. Though old and a little worn out, the car served them well. After Mr. Matthew found a place to park his car, they all got down and went inside the park. There was much hullabaloo and noise as a child was having his birthday party. Mr. Matthew hated children's birthday parties: they were always noisy, rowdy, and the children were much more stubborn and their parents wouldn’t want to beat them because it was their day. He frowned as he looked around the milling children.

“Smile Matthew, we’re going to a party, a birthday party,” Mrs. Lupita said as she did a little tap dance. Her friend, Mrs. Grace laughed. Mr. Matthew furrowed his eyebrows and looked at his mom. She knew that he didn’t like these kinds of parties, or any party at all. His mother just smiled and shrugged her shoulders as she stood beside the smiling Mrs. Lupita.

Mr. Matthew sighed, he had a bad feeling about this, just like he had had the previous day.

The park, although free and open for all had restrictions to some various parts which the rich people mostly used. The entrance fee alone was quite on the high side; a person could only avoid paying it if he or she had a bypass ticket. The bypass ticket was usually bought by someone who had entered and could be given to a friend who couldn’t pay the exorbitant gate fee.

The park had lots of trees and picnic spots. Also park benches and lamp posts could be seen everywhere. Street cams were also fitted on each lamp post. There were lots of snacks and fast food sellers who situated themselves at a designated spot, selling their wares on small brown wooden tables. Lots of children and teenagers especially patronized these traders. They bought pizzas, ice creams, soft drinks, cotton candies, marshmallows, French fries, burgers, egg rolls, hotdogs, puff puffs, shawarmas and other stuffs Mr. Matthew referred to as junk. If a person wanted the healthy foods, they had to go to the entrance of the park where the eateries and cafes were located on the opposite side of the road.

The park had four entrances with a parking lot on each side. Because of the large population of people who regularly came there, lots of restaurant businesses opened all around it on each side, so finding food wasn’t going to be that strenuous. 

Mr. Matthew looked askance at Mrs. Lupita.

“So what now ma’am?” He looked at her as he covered his face with his palm; the sun’s ray seemed to be getting brighter and hotter.

Mrs. Lupita just smiled and brought out three tickets. The bypass ticket of the rich sector in the park was usually purplish- green, so Mr. Matthew had no problem recognizing it when he saw the tickets in his mother's friend's hand. His mother, on the other hand, just gasped with her eyes wide open as she collected one of the much coveted tickets from her friend.

“How did you get these Mrs. Lupita?” Mrs. Grace said and smiled, as she gave Mrs. Lupita a little nudge. 

“Well, I have a friend, who has a brother, who has a friend, that knows the mother of the celebrant; so it was easy getting these tickets,” Mrs. Lupita said and smiled with an air of importance.

Mr. Matthew sighed inaudibly. Not only was he going to a birthday party, but that of one of a rich child. He knew how stubborn and rotten children of rich parents could be, because their parents hardly disciplined them and always pampered them. Mr. Matthew shook his head as he frowned slightly. “Well, I’m supposedly going there to meet a woman, not to frolic with the children,” he thought to himself.

Mrs. Lupita gave Mr. Mathew his ticket and they all started walking towards the rich side of the park. There was a tall wall with a small gate wedged in it. A man who they all assumed to be the security, stood outside, folding his arms. The wall went all round the rich area of the park and conjoined with the park walls.

They all showed him their tickets and he let them in through the gate. After they entered, he closed the gate back and resumed his duty. Mr. Matthew marveled at the organization and composure of the members of staff there.

The sellers of snacks and fast food that were there all wore a red waist jacket on gray trousers. There were also people who set up a massaging joint. It had chaise lounges, where a person would sit, with a multicolored umbrella shading them from the rays of the sun. There was a lot of bougainvillea spread around this side of the park.

There were three large swimming pools also in strategic places. Benches were also spread around in this part of the park too, but the benches here were bigger and had charging sockets under, in case people wanted to charge their mobile phones.

There was a corner spot where a small globe of the world was kept on a marble structure: It sparkled as the sun’s ray shone on it. There was also a water fountain from where spruts of clean, clear water gushed. It was a very beautiful and peaceful sight to behold. There were a lot of people in the rich class area of the park that day, but not half as much as the people in the other sections of the park which was reserved for the middle and lower class.

Mrs. Lupita directed them to where the birthday party was taking place beside one of the swimming pools. There were three chairs each around a table. That was how it was arranged, except for the table on the podium and the chairs which surrounded it. They each sat on some chairs when they got there. Mr. Matthew hissed as he watched the little boy who was celebrating his birthday cry and hide under the table on the raised platform, not wanting to come out and cut his cake.

His parents and some other people tried to lure him out by waving some toys, food, and money at him. The little boy sniffed and then slowly walked to a woman who was holding a giant teddy bear. The people all laughed and started clapping as the celebrant reached out for the giant teddy bear.

Mr. Matthew scoffed. “They applaud him when all he needs is a good whacking,” he thought as he hissed loudly. Mrs. Lupita and his mother looked at him strangely, wondering why he had just hissed all of a sudden. They hadn't witnessed what happened with the celebrant earlier as they had been engrossed talking with each other when they were interrupted by Mr. Matthew’s sudden hiss.

“Matt, take it easy. So here’s what Mrs. Lupita and I have planned,” his mother started as Mrs. Lupita brought out a rose flower from her bag. She fitted it in Mr. Matthew’s left pocket and told him all he was expected to do.

Mr. Matthew looked at his mother and Mrs. Lupita. “Was this really necessary?” he thought to himself.