Chapter 5

A Plea to Grandma

Maven’s legs were shaking vehemently as she waited for Thomas to arrive. She had already told Grandma that she was bringing her husband home, and when she asked if it was Sebastian Garcia as they had planned, Maven dodged the question. She peered at her grandma through the corner of her eyes as she waited for Thomas's call. In a few minutes, her phone went buzzing heavily. She moved away from her grandmother a bit and swiped the answer button.

“Hello, okay. Give me a moment." Maven spoke in a hushed tone into the phone.

“Is he here already?” Grandma asked, but because the blinds were down, she didn’t see the car that had pulled up in the front yard. Maven rushed out only to see Thomas dressed in a faded grey suit and almost worn-out pants. The soles of his shoes looked like they were taking a long walk to freedom, yet the owner has refused to let them go free.

“What in the heck name are you dressed like a clown for?” Maven asked, holding her head with her hand and sighing in utmost frustration.

"Well, I thought you asked me to look my best. This is my best. My grandpa’s favorite suit. What, you don’t like it?” Thomas stopped babbling when he saw the disappointed look on Maven’s face.

“You have just succeeded in making me laugh in front of my entire family. I gave you some money. Why didn’t you get some new clothes at least, and this is your hair? Oh gosh. Grandma is going to kill me.” She let out a heavy sigh of despair at the shame ahead of her. 

“I’m sorry, but I gave my grandpa some feeding money out of the cash you gave me, and the remainder has been used to pay for my grandma’s dialysis for at least two days.”

“That’s fine. Come in and please be on your best  behavior." Maven warned him as she led him into the house.

The moment Grandma saw him, she sprang alert.

“We do not need any more gardeners. The ones we have are  enough." Grandma said it in a harsh tone.

“Uhm! Grandma. This is not a gardener. He is my husband, the man I told you  about." Maven said with courage that she could gather for herself.

Hahahahaha! Grandma laughed heartily.

“Come on. Dead the joke, okay? You know I hate boring jokes; I have a big problem with them.”.

Maven cut Grandma’s words sharply.

"No, grandma, this is my husband and not a gardener; I am getting married to him tomorrow, and that’s final." Maven yelled at Grandma for the very first time in her life. Grandma got up in reflex and moved with sharp, authoritative steps towards Maven and Thomas.

“Pak! Pak! The sound of the two resonating slaps Grandma gave Maven.

“How dare you yell at me?" Grandma scolded angrily. Maven held her cheek as it hurt, like the effect of hot oil on the skin.

“That should bring you back to your senses for being stupid; you want to bring shame into my home? I try my best to make everyone here comfortable and happily married, but you are just bent on frustrating my efforts. You have so much nerve to present this scumbag to me as a husband." Grandma shouted at the top of her voice, and at that moment, the devil himself showed up.

“What’s going on, grandma?” David asked. David is grandma’s favorite grandchild, and he is the same age as Maven.

“Look at the disgrace of a man your cousin brought as a husband." Grandma’s pointed nose was tilted upward in a disgusting wrinkle as she spoke about Thomas like he was invincible.

“This? Wow! This is just the perfect man for Maven." David commented.

“Don’t be ridiculous. This filthy thing can never be my son-in-law”, she scowled the words with fury. Thomas stood there with his shoulders drooping. This was the height of it. The face-beaten humiliation coming from the old lady could make him live with depression all the days of his life.

"Grandma, please let me marry him, and I promise after this one time I will never bother you again.”.

“Shut your trap, stupid girl. Arrangements are being made to make sure we are tied to the Garcias by marrying their eligible son, Sebastian, and here you are spitting bullshit at me.”

“All I can see is a traitor." David gave his own derogatory speech, a speech that earned him a life-threatening side eye from Maven.

Maven ignored David’s condescending remark and focused her gaze on Grandma, whose countenance was fuming with anger and disappointment at Maven.

“Grandma Please, Thomas and I would need the sum of three hundred million dollars to save his mother’s life; she is at the hospital as we speak, and we cannot watch her  die." She spoke in a quivering voice. Grandma returned Maven’s words with a squint in her eyes. 

“I can see you are insane. Now get this filthy beggar out of my house this minute before I do something crazy that we will all regret. She raged with fury. The moment she got up, Maven grabbed Thomas by the collar and pulled him out of the living room.

"Thomas, we need to leave this minute." Maven spoke sharply as she approached the door. Thomas raced after her with his enlarged suit.

He squared his shoulders and ran up to her. “Why is your grandma so mean? She never said one good thing about me,” he said in a much-used tone.

"Look, forget about her; let us go to the registry this minute and get married; there’s still time." Maven said, and the minute they were to get into her old car, David’s voice came echoing behind them.

“Maven! Waited up”. David spoke happily as he ran up to them.

“Wait, I could give you the money you need, you know." David proposed scratching his head.

“And where are you going to get that kind of money from?” Maven asked with concern.

“Are you forgetting I am handling one major project?.

"Oh, I see!”

“Yes Maven. So are you in for it?” David asked as he flashed Thomas a wicked glare.

“We are in." Maven and Thomas chorused their answers at the same time.

“Good, I shall give you the money, but there is a condition,” David informed her.

“What is the condition?” Maven requested.