3
Bianca
“You’re not getting any younger,”my mother tells me through the speakerphone as I wash the final dish sitting in the sink.“George is a perfect match for you, and he can father many children for our family.”
“Ma, seriously.Have you gone off the deep end?”
“I don’t know what that means, but I am very serious.What’s wrong with George?”
“How much time do you have?”I laugh, but she doesn’t find my sense of humor very funny.
George is just as boring as his name.He’s a computer programmer, spending just as many hours chained to a desk as me.He’s socially awkward and has been ever since we were kids, probably due to the fact that he barely left his room because he was addicted to video games.He’s not awful to look at, but damn, he’s about as interesting as watching water boil.
“He has a good job, his family adores you, and he owns his own car.”
For fuck’s sake.I roll my eyes.“So, if a man owns a car, he’s husband material?”
I don’t know what century my mother is living in, but it’s not this one.Most women don’t need a man to make their life complete, and I’m one of them.I’m successful, with my own place and a car.I don’t need a man to provide for me, but that doesn’t stop her from trying.
“He has nice teeth too,” she adds, like that little detail should be enough to seal the deal.
If this conversation goes on any longer, my eyes are going to be permanently lodged in the back of my eye sockets.“Do you even hear yourself?”
From the moment I turned twenty-five, my mother has been on my back about getting married and having children as quickly as possible.I keep hearing about the fact that, by my age, she had three children and had been married for five years.I get that was the norm for her generation, but I’m too focused on my career and unwilling to settle for any relationship that’s less than spectacular.
But by her standards, I am failing at life.Soon, my eggs will shrivel up and die, leaving me barren and alone for the rest of my life.
“I want you to be happy, Bianca.”
I take out my frustration on the dish towel, crumpling it into a tiny ball.“I am happy, Ma.I have a good job, a nice home, and my own car.I don’t need a man.”
“You do what you want, honey!”my dad yells in the background.
Somehow, my mother still buys into the old-world thinking.A woman is nothing without a man by her side.It doesn’t matter how successful I am or how big my bank account is—in her eyes, I need a man.Thank God my father doesn’t think that way.
“Thanks, Daddy.”I smile, knowing my dad’s always got my back.
“Be quiet,” Ma tells him, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to pay for his comment later.
“Hush now, Ana.Bianca’s young.Let her live a little.”
“Don’t touch me,” Ma says with a small laugh.“Your charms won’t work on me.”
I gag a little because I know whatcharmsshe’s talking about.“I have to go.I’m late,” I say because I don’t want to listen to my father trying to woo my mom again.
“Late?It’s seven.Where are you going at this hour?”my mother asks.
“I have a date.”I stare down at my bare feet with their chipped toenail polish and leave out the most important information because she’ll go off the rails.
“Oh.Then I’ll let you run.”The happiness in her voice is clear as day.“Call me tomorrow and tell me how it went.”
“I will.I always do.”I lie every time too.
Six months ago, I made a promise to myself.
Stay celibate for one year.Clear my head and my life of all the assholes from my past.I’ve never had a good track record when it comes to men.I always seem to pick the biggest losers.Every single one of them has been a cheater, a liar, or a player.
I don’t have time for any of that bullshit in my life.Their inability to be genuine and keep their dicks in their pants affected my work, and nothing will keep me from my goals.
