ParentVille

By Anyama Buabeng

"A brilliant piece." Kodzo Chapman, Journalist/Talk-Show Host

"...a really good book you wrote, with a thought-provoking twist..." Philadelphia Cardona, Writer
Meet the Winstons: Susan, Manson and their son Arthur; it is a family on the rocks. We see them migrate from London to "ParentVille', an idealistic town in the USA, but, there are rules and secrets only Parentvillians share. Through the Winston’s we meet, the Sato’s (Susan's best friend's family) and get to know a lot more about their son Akemi. A variation of characters live in ParentVille including Melody Peters, the narcissistic late teen, who is out to get only what she wants; her family are also introduced, designer Abena Agyemang and the couple in the celebrity spotlight, Colin and Gary. Some of ParentVille's rules are loosely based on the 'right moral ethic' and Manson, not being the perfect husband soon finds himself in trouble but not the type you would expect.

ParentVille is comical and fastpaced; it's a book about families, the unexpected twists of a special very modern town, romance, with a touch of science fiction, the value of each person and the present of tomorrow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anyama Buabeng
• Release date: Jan 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465919601

Anyama Buabeng

I wrote my first poem called 'Cats' at the age of nine and caught the writing bug. I've work as a writer in arts/culture since 2004 and started with my beloved 'Ghana Review International'. I have written for various magazines and newspapers. During my journey I have also worked as a radio producer/presenter on various radio shows. Now that 'ParentVille' is out, there is more from me to come. Your comments are welcome. Thank you for visiting my page.

Book preview

ParentVille

by Anyama Buabeng

Smashwords Edition

Copyright©2010 Anyama Buabeng

Smashwords Edition, Licence Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Visit http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/anyamabuabeng for updates on authors work. Thank you for choosing this book.

Dedicated to my late uncle, Emmanuel Gyekye Tanoh; thank you for reminding me of who I am.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Daily Routines

Chapter 2 Christmas Plans

Chapter 3 Christmas Holidays

Chapter4 Welcome

Chapter 5 A New Year

Chapter 6 Unions

Chapter 7 A Different Path

Chapter 8 Habits

Chapter 9 The Holidays Are Here Again

Chapter 10 Reflections

Chapter 11 Office Alliance

ParentVille

Chapter 1 Daily Routines

Love is a strange thing… when you hear two people kiss, kiss, and kiss again. It’s very animalistic; not physically very human. You realize there is something beyond it.

A child is born.

There is doting, ahhs & oohs. ‘Baby, stop crying,’ a parent softly says, as if it will stop crying by order. A baby’s new world of air, smells, and more noise; not the most charming of environments, but it will have to do.

Susan and her husband Manson started oohing and ahhing ten years ago, when their son, Arthur, was born. He was the icing on their cake. Eleven years prior, Susan and Manson got married. The ceremony was magical. Susan was deeply in love. She had found her Pierce Brosnan and nothing else was catching her eye.

When Arthur was two, Susan picked him up from school and decided to take a route she normally would not use to get home. She saw Manson’s car parked next to an unknown resident’s house. She lingered nearby while doing her best to stay hidden, and saw Manson kissing a youthful, blond-haired, twentysomething year old on the cheek and she was giggling as if she had caught a laughing bug. Susan said nothing and went home with Arthur.

Manson continued to play the head-of-the-house role well. But five years later he forgot Susan’s birthday, because he was too busy on top of another youthful one. In the evening when he returned and was greeted by Susan’s mother, Betty, he knew something was up.

‘So what did you get Susan for her birthday?’ she asked.

Wide-eyed, Manson then decided to play it cool. ‘It is a secret. To tell will be telling,’ he replied.

He thought of a quick plan, and dashed upstairs. The roses, champagne, and chocolates he had hidden in his wardrobe for a mistress, he took out. Petals were placed all over the room. He set up the vinyl player, which he knew Susan loved, with one of her favourite artists, Beverly Craven. It was good makeout music that Manson did not mind hearing. The champagne was set in ice and the lights dimmed in their very cosy bedroom.

‘That should do the trick,’ Manson thought.

He quickly ran back downstairs to the kitchen where Susan was making dinner.

‘My birthday bunny,’ he said, hugging her tightly. He loved his wife, but not enough. ‘The female form was too beautiful to limit oneself to one woman,’ was his interesting theory. ‘Tell you what. Let’s go out for dinner, the four of us. You cook for us almost everyday and I think my princess deserves a day off.’

Susan thought of the day she had discovered she was pregnant again, but had had a miscarriage five years ago, just because she found out Manson was cheating. She kept this secret to herself and it still hurt. ‘We could have been five people going out,’ she reminded herself.

It was no secret in town that Manson was a womanizer. He made enough money to take care of his family and his ways. ‘But his ways were not supposed to be part of the life of a married man,’ Susan justified to herself. A change was needed.

Dinner was simply amazing. Manson pulled all the stops when they went to Annan’s, a tropical-style restaurant with the most celebrated chef in London. The music was muted but vibrant. Very much the ‘the music of the sun,’ Susan would call it. African, Caribbean, Mediterranean, and South American all rolled into one.

A passion fruit cake was ordered at the door by Arthur as a birthday surprise. It was delivered with sparklers and long thin candles to match their height with white icing covering the cake in a rustic format. It was a joyous evening, an example of why Susan fell for Manson. Boy, did he know how to pull all the stops when it came to it! Betty was even lured to have a dance with Adebola, the restaurant manager.

Susan always left Annan’s with a smile on her face. Arthur, on the other hand, always left with a new recipe in mind; he loved to cook. At home Betty quickly said goodnight and took Arthur with her.

‘Your coat, my dear,’ Manson instructed. He took Susan’s coat off and there in his eye was the glint his wife knew of. ‘Would you like to watch a movie before bed?’

Susan mentioned she was tired. ‘Can I just have a glass of water?’

‘Coming up my dear,’ Manson oozed out. He ushered himself into the kitchen and came back with the water. ‘We can eat what you prepared for tonight, tomorrow. It will be a great meal to share with your mum. Then she can give me extra points for being a good son-in-law.’

‘If only she knew of your ways,’ Susan thought.

Susan opened the bedroom door and could not believe her eyes. She turned to look at Manson; that glint in his eye had become even more precise than ever.

The next morning, Susan woke with a little muscle ache, but she felt amazing. The Manson she married had returned for twelve hours but how could she get him to stay?

She popped downstairs just in time to see Manson packing Arthur off to school and Betty saying goodbye because she was going to visit a friend in the area. Susan sat alone in her living room, facing the large windows that allowed her to be at one with nature, although it was outside her window. Her cafetière coffee was in her hand. She was not a fussy woman, but working in a coffee store when younger had infused her addiction for coffee and ‘only the best will do,’ she used to announce on her supermarket days with Manson.

The post flap clicked. Susan walked towards the door and on the floor saw the post. She rummaged through it and saw a unique letter. The stamp on that letter got her excited; it was from the United States. She placed the other mail on the table and went back to her seat with the blue envelope letter. It was a letter from Emi, her primary and high school buddy. Wishing her a happy birthday, of course; talking about her sons and how well her job was going. She ran her own business and was into the world of cosmetics as an art director. Susan looked at the time, it was not too late over in the States. She gave Emi a call and once she said hello all she could hear was screaming in her ear. Emi’s husband, Azuma, rushed into their bedroom thinking something had happened. He went back to the bathroom shaking his head. He was used to her crazy behaviour. The girls, whom they had become once again, chattered about her birthday which Manson had forgotten, but covered it up well and how they were looking. Emi heard something in Susan voice that was unsettling.

‘Susan?’ she asked. ‘What is wrong?’ Emi knew about a few things in Susan’s life like the child she lost, but she did not know why. ‘Susan, I am taking pole dancing lessons just in time for the holidays to keep Azuma’s eyes entertained also’, she added with a little giggle and continued. ‘For Christmas, I would love for you to come over and spend it with us. It is only a month away, but I know you can make it. Bring Manson along and he can go and play golf with Azuma. Arthur will always have the kids and we can have some us time. It will be fab.