Mom walks slowly towards us. “Samuel, what’s he talking about?”
“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“I don’t? I saw the chats, I’ve heard the late night calls you make at the backyard, not to talk of your night outings and odd behavior towards your family, like we aren’t cutting it anymore. Who do you think you’re deceiving? You’re a cheat! You’ve been cheating on mom.”
It feels like a weight has been yanked off my body. I feel free not hiding his secrets anymore. I go upstairs and fall asleep. When I wake up everything will be different.
Mom comes to my room later that evening. She’s been crying. I feel sad for being the reason, but it’s time she knew. I couldn’t keep it in anymore. It was killing me.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
She nods. “I was just… surprised. It was unexpected.”
“But you didn’t act too surprised,” I comment.
“I don’t know how to act right now. How long have you known?”
“It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m just glad I’ve finally spoken out.”
“Everything will change now,” she says sadly. “He’ll want to work it out, though.”
“What do you want?”
“I don’t know.”
“Should I not have said anything?”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that to yourself. I just wished you waited a little longer. I could’ve figured something out.”
“What are you talking about? Figure what out?” The sadness on her face is different somehow, ancient, like it has been there for a long time. “Oh my God!” I exclaim. “You knew.”
After a while she says, “I had my suspicions. I’m not blind. I just never thought you knew too.”
I didn’t see this coming. “That’s because you underestimate me. You still look at me like I’m a one year old who doesn’t know what he wants or what he’s doing. I’m not a child anymore.”
“I know.” She glances at my bedside table and then reaches to take my phone. “Your punishment for fighting is no phone for the week. You might not be a child anymore, but you still act like one.”
She’s at the door when I ask, “If you really suspected, why didn’t you confront him?”
She sighs. “It might have turned out untrue and I’d have felt horrible for distrusting him. If it turned out true, then it would have destroyed out family. I didn’t want that. I don’t want that. God wouldn’t want that too.”
My parents talk almost throughout the night. As I fall asleep I get the feeling that mom will forgive him. When I wake up my father is gone. I don’t ask where, part of me is glad he is. Maybe we can be a family again now that he’s gone, just the two of us.
I search for my phone that morning before remembering my punishment. This will be a very long one week. It was. Apart from mom leaving the duty of taking care of the house to me, being left alone at home without any gadgets is frustrating.
On Wednesday I ask mom for my phone back, pleading that I’ve learnt my lesson. She doesn’t even give me a reply.
She finally gives me the phone on Saturday and now that it’s in my hand I find there’s nothing interesting to do with it. There are a few unread messages, but I don’t bother checking them.
During dinner we receive a visitor; my father. Mom doesn’t seem surprised to see him. I whisper, “What’s he doing here?”
“He lives here, remember?”
“I thought…”
“Good evening,” he says.
“Welcome,” mom answers. “How was your week?”
“It was fine. I did as you said. I gave my actions a lot of thought. I care about my family, I really do. What I did was foolish. I cannot justify that, and I’m sorry I out the both of you through it. But I swear never to do it again. I’ll do my best to be the man you married and better, but only if you’ll have me. Please, will you have me?”
No. This can’t happen. She can’t make this mistake. He’s telling her what she wants to hear, she must know that. He won’t change.
But she didn’t hear any of my inner protests. She received her husband with a hug. I instantly lose my appetite and go up to my room.