Page 21 of Sold to the Highest Bidder
It had been a month since he was there last; nothing seemed to have changed. It had the same homey feel. There were pictures everywhere and articles he featured in: cut out and framed. There was a picture of him with both of his parents. He was four years old in the picture. He still did not know why his mother brought it from their old house.
Joshua had told her several times to toss out the old pictures, but she insisted on keeping them. ‘Family is family,’ she always aired.
“Joshua? Is that you?” his mother called from the kitchen. As he guessed, she was sprawled on the kitchen floor and couldn’t stand up.
He and Nazalie helped her up silently, and Joshua carried her to the couch.
“Who is this lovely lady, Joshua? You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend,” she said, trying to sit up.
“Lay down, mum. Sitting upright now would make it worse.”
“I’m alright. Seeing you here makes everything better,” she said, cupping his face. “I can’t lie here when this is the first time my son brought someone as beautiful as this. Now, introduce us before I introduce myself.”
“Alright,” Joshua said, laughing. “Mum, this is Nazalie. Nazalie, this is my mum.”
“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” Nazalie said, smiling politely.
“Oh, please call me Rosa,” his mum said, pulling her in for a hug.” I hope Joshua hasn’t been giving a pretty girl like you trouble?”
Joshua rolled his eyes. She was always bad-mouthing him in front of his friends.
“I can manage. I’m strong,” Nazalie said, pulling out her slender arms to emphasize how strong she was.
“Doesn’t he bore you? The Joshua I know is always about business. I constantly worry about him.”
Joshua stood up. He felt like he shouldn’t be in the conversation and went to grab a drink from the fridge.
“Not at all, Rosa. He has been charming toward me.”
Joshua looked back at Nazalie. He knew that wasn’t true. He regularly ignored her and he was barely around. He didn’t want to get use to having her around. Their arrangement was temporary. Why would she say otherwise? Nazalie looked up at him and winked, then turned away, laughing at something his mum said.
The fridge was empty, except a casserole, some vegetables, a cake, and some root beer. Nazalie was almost out of groceries, and she didn’t tell him. His mum had started using a wheelchair. Her arthritis got so bad sometimes that she couldn’t even stand.
Apart from her arthritis that could flare up at any moment, she also hadn’t been outside in two years.
Joshua always helped her get the groceries, but he had been swamped recently.
“Mum! You should have told me you needed groceries!”
“Oh, I didn’t want to bother you.”
Joshua sighed.
“I’ll come by tomorrow to drop some groceries for you.”
“Thank you, Joshua. And bring Nazalie along when you’re coming so I can make a proper home-cooked meal for you both.”
She had made her way to the kitchen with Nazalie’s help.
“I tried to stop her.” Nazalie shrugged and helped her into the nearest dining chair.
“I have some leftover casserole in the fridge. I made it yesterday.”
“That sounds lovely, Rosa. It’s been a while since I even smelt a casserole.” Nazalie looked genuinely excited at the idea.
Nazalie asked for tea after they finished eating, Joshua told them he’d take care of it. His mother was obviously enjoying Nazalie’s company, he didn’t want to interrupt that.
Joshua poured some tea for Nazalie, putting two sugars in the way he remembered she preferred. And why he recalled that detail, he didn’t know. He turned to look at her.
