S&S Invitational : Little woman

Patty was a single mother of two and a real life wonder woman. Having become widowed at the age of 28 with two kids to fend for and little money to her name, it was a wonder she’d pulled through. Especially with the lack of support she had gotten from her late husband's family. Somehow she had managed to rise to the position of assistant manager from a secretarial position while raising two kids, taking care of her sick mother and working as a night cleaner to supplement her salary.

Her mother was better now and helped look after the children when patty was too busy with work or when she had girl's night out with her friends Sheila, Diana, and Leah like today. They had been friends from her college days, but their bond had grown stronger over the years. They met at least twice a month and texted each other constantly.

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“Mom, I'm off to meet the girls!” she shouted from the living room, picking up her car keys.

“Alright baby, have fun and say hi to them for me” her mum shouted back from the kitchen.

“Leaving already, mom?” her 17-year-old son Junior said to her as he walked into the living room and switched on the TV.

“Yes dear, where's your sister, grandma is making dinner” she asked

“Probably in her room, talking to boys or sneaking out the window” he replied, grinning at the expression on his mother's face

“I hope that's a joke” she said, walking towards her daughter's room. She flung the door open to find Ivy painting her toenails in her room.

“Come in mom, thanks for knocking, I could have been getting dressed you know?” Ivy said, shaking her head.

“You're just 13 Ivy, I bathed you until you were 11 or thereabouts” she replied laughing

“Jeez mum, off you go, say hi to my aunties for me. I love you” Ivy said, shooing her out of the bedroom.

She bade them farewell and arrived a bit late at the restaurant. Her friends were already seated, and she joined them, apologizing and giving them noisy kisses.

“Why are you late? Hope everyone is OK?” Leah asked.

“Everyone is fine, but I'm starving, let's order” she replied, searching for a waiter.

As they ate dinner, they talked about work, family, and kids. Sheila had just started her PR firm, Leah was still searching for the love of her life, and Diana was complaining about her daughter.

“They grow up so fast, right?” patty said, laughing as she remembered Ivy.

Diana's daughter, who was a year older than Ivy, had decided she wanted a gender reassignment surgery, the month before that she had requested for a butt lift.

“I feel like I've given birth to a crazy person” Diana said wearily

“She’s not crazy Diana, you once said you acted that way at her age” Sheila replied laughing.

“It's a family curse, the young girls go mad from 14 to 16 and suddenly become sensible at 18,” Diana replied as they all burst into laughter.

At the end of the night, they made another appointment to meet, and everyone was happy and refreshed. Patty got home to find her son asleep on the couch and her mum and Ivy helping themselves to snacks in the kitchen. She tiredly bade them goodnight and went up to sleep.

The next day dawned bright and day. It was a Friday, and Ivy had to be dropped off at school before Patty went to work because Ivy had woken up late and missed the bus.

“Hurry! You're going to be late, and I'll be late also,” she said, knocking on Ivy's door.

Ivy emerged dressed in a skimpy skirt and a halter crop top.

“You're not going to wear that to school, are you?” Patty asked in surprise.

“I actually am, don't I look cute?” Ivy replied, waltzing out the door.

“You guys are running late, you can go into beast mode later” her mother said, recognizing the look on patty’s face.

She dropped off her daughter at school and raced to the office. The day was jam packed with meetings, so she was exhausted by the time she came home. She was glad it was the weekend, at least she could sleep in tomorrow. After dinner with Ivy and her grandma, she went straight to bed again.

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Patty was enjoying a lazy day in front of the TV with her son when Ivy emerged, dressed in clothes that were skimpier than the ones she had worn on Friday.

“Not again” her son groaned

“What does that mean?” Patty whispered to him.

“Her dressing, it gets worse every day” he replied, shaking his head.

Patty studied her daughter with a comical look on her face. She wasn't against short skirts, but not as short as what ivy was putting on. She could almost see her underwear and the top was revealing too. Not only that, but she also noticed she was putting on a fake nose ring and had applied too much make-up.

“Where are you going young lady?” she asked Ivy who was standing by the door and tapping on her phone

“The mall mummy, you know my friends and I go there every Saturday” Ivy replied excitedly

“Why are you dressed like this?” patty asked, cocking an eyebrow

“Oh, my new friend jasmine said it's more feminine and that this was the way modern women should dress” she replied, giggling.

“I'm a modern woman, Ivy, and I don't dress like this. You, on the other hand, are a child, you shouldn't be dressed like this” Patty said angrily.

“But mum…” Ivy whined.

“No buts Ivy, femininity is not only about dressing dear. It entails gracefulness, being humble, sensitive and having empathy not this..” she gestured to her daughter's dressing. “What is wrong with kids of these days!” Patty said.

Ivy silently went inside to change when she saw that her mum was furious at her.

“And I want to see that Jasmine girl, she needs a good talking to” patty shouted

Her son burst out laughing beside her

“That's my super woman, I told grandma not to worry that you would fix the situation once you noticed what was going on” he said, hugging her

She hugged him back and realized she would have to start spending more time with her daughter before someone convinced her pregnancy was the thing in vogue. Heaven give her strength, she thought to herself…