c.6
2139 Words
Almost every employee of city hall gathered at the house for my father's birthday party. I was always excited about his birthdays! It wasn’t just about his accomplishments, but it was a time where he sprouted with new ideas and new life in general. We all gathered in the backyard as chatter and laughter filled the large area. Keenan, Erica, and I walked onto the stage. She tapped the mic to get everyone’s attention.
“ Good afternoon, everyone. We would like to thank you for constantly showing our father love and support throughout everything he does. Aside from sprinting into a new year of life, he’s about to head into the wolf's territory yet again. One thing that I do know is that God’s at the head of every decision, every step, and every action that is performed. We raise a glass to salute this man of God for staying with us, and standing for the people. “ she raised her glass as we all did the same.
“ We toast to finishing what we started and starting new beginnings. “ Keenan added.
Everyone put their glasses to their lips and clapped as we walked off of the stage. A sudden wave of reflection swept over me, so I decided to retreat back into the house. As I sat on the edge of the bed, I could still hear the workers downstairs banging utensils and clanging pots. There was a sudden knock on my door.
“ Come in. “
The door slowly crept opened as my father peeked his head inside. I laughed, wiping a stray tear from my cheek.
“ ‘Lijah, why are you crying? “
“ I don’t know. I guess this is really the first time in my life that I’ve felt at peace! I’ve worked so hard on myself, and now I…….I’m glad that you guys never gave up on me. “
“ Come here. “ my father hugged me tightly. “ I know we’ve already talked about this, so I won’t repeat myself. I’m just excited that I can walk into this next chapter feeling the same way. I feel free. Unstoppable! Like I can’t be touched. “
“ It’s just like Erica said, Dad, keep God first and he will surely deliver. “
Our conversation was interrupted by feedback from the monitor echoing and seeming to shake the house. We rushed outside to see what was going on. Margerie stood on the stage, tapping the mic repeatedly while holding a drink in her hand.
“ Can somebody get this lady some help? Seriously. “ I crossed my arms.
“ I know a little secret. “ she whispered. I felt bad for the microphone. I could hear the spit in her sentence.
“ Oh no, she has to go. “ my mother and sister began un-hooking their earrings as the five of us made our way towards the stage. What she said next stopped us dead in our tracks.
“ One of Charlie’s sons is adopted. “ she sung. “ Adopted. Can everyone say adopted? “ she placed her ear toward the crowd as not one word came out of anyone. “ Very good. “
“ What’s she talking about? “ Keenan asked my mother.
“ She’s not going to ruin my husband's big day with her drunken lies. “ my mother returned to walk towards the stage but Keenan grabbed her hand.
“ I always knew that I was different. Once I left for the military, the paperwork told me exactly what I needed to know. “ tears began to well up in his eyes as Erica and I both stood still. We were just as lost.
“ Keenan, I…….now is not the time…. “
“ Baby, maybe it’s time to tell the boy…… “
“ Not here in front of all these damn people! “ my mother yelled.
“ How could you? “ Keenan stormed off back towards the house.
“ Son! “ my father ran after him.
“ I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. “ my mother walked off, leaving Erica and myself to deal with the stares.
“ What the f**k are ya’ll looking at? “ her accent changed. I knew this wouldn’t end well. “ Get the f**k out and take that drunk b***h with you before I kick her ass! “
Everyone exited the backyard, getting into their cars, and heading home. I can already see the articles blowing this into something two times bigger. How are we going to get past this?
“ Erica, we have to go find him. “ I felt myself becoming emotional again.
“ Where’s your mother? “ our dad returned.
“ She's upstairs. We’re going to look for him. “
We grabbed our fathers’ keys and sped off towards the city. We looked everywhere. Downtown. Cantonment. Avondale. Over by the mall. We couldn’t find him anywhere. The sun had set by now and Erica and I were both starting to lose hope. We stopped and parked after we had scanned the beach for the third time.
“ Where haven’t we checked? “ she became frustrated.
“ We’ve checked everywhere, sis. “ I sighed.
“ There has to be somewhere. “ she began to cry.
“ Don’t cr….. “ As I reached over to comfort her, I saw Keenan’s car parked on the side of the road. “ Erica look. “
She looked up as we both hurried out of the car, climbing the sand dune and finding Keenan sitting alone. We struggled towards him through the thick sand of the beach. I caught sight of the large bottle of Jim Beam in the sand and the gun in his left hand. I stopped Erica once we were about three feet away from him.
“ Keenan, what are you doing? “ I calmly asked him.
“ What do I have to live for? “ he slurred.
“ What do you mean, Keenan? We don’t even know if what she said was the truth. “
“ I know that it’s true. I never felt that dad was my father! I just knew he wasn’t. “ he shook his head. “ It all adds up now. “
“ Well, Keenan, we don’t care. You are still our brother! I look up to! I can’t imagine what your life is like as a military man, but you still find a way to make everything positive! I envy that. “ he c****d the gun and placed it to his temple as we both flinched.
“ Keenan, don’t do this, please? “ Erica begged. “ It’s already killing us to see you like this, but taking your own life? We will be lost without you. We love you! “
He pulled the trigger as the barrel clicked. We gasped, struck with fear, and frozen, unable to move. He stood up and launched the gun into the water before falling into our arms. We all cried.
“ We love you! We love you! “ Erica held onto him as she repeated.
“ I’m sorry. “
“ Don’t you ever be sorry! “ I assured him. “ We’re in this together, Keenan. “
Once we were all calmed down, we drove back to the house. Erica and I agreed that she would drive Keenan back, and I would ride alone. I needed it. I needed silence. All that I wanted to hear was the hum of the engine and the a/c blowing the warm air. Andrew’s call pulled me away from my wandering thoughts filled with questions.
Is everything okay?
Yeah, we’re fine. Heading back to the house now.
Thank God!
Just be glad that you weren’t there to witness that damn circus act.
I honestly don’t know what to say right now.
That’s okay. Thank you for calling to check on us.
That’s the least I can do. How are your parents?
Not ready to face Keenan, I know that. One thing about that boy is that he’s going to ask questions.
Sounds like Keenan. I’ll let you go, don’t want anything happening to you.
I’m fine, Andy.
Alright, I’ll take your word for it. I love you and call me in the morning.
I love you more and I will.
My parents were standing on the porch waiting on us as we pulled into the driveway. They rushed to comfort Keenan as he relaxed. I knew that was a good first step, but the next step would be tricky. We walked into the house as our parents instructed us to sit down on the couch.
“ It’s time to reveal some things to all three of you that we’ve kept secret. It was for your protection, though we see it may have caused more damage than good. “ my mother started.
“ The first will be the truth about everything that just happened. Keenan, you’re not adopted but we didn’t give life to you. “ my father told us. It seemed to hit Keenan like a thousand knives as he inhaled and exhaled deeply.
“ Why didn’t you just tell me? “ he remained calm.
“ We didn’t know what to tell you, especially considering that your real father was still around. “
We all looked up at the both of them, confused. Suddenly, the front door opened and in walked a handsome light-skinned man with a bald head and a thick black beard. Once the light illuminated his familiar features, it confirmed exactly what the three of us were asking: who was this man?
“ Hey son? “ his lip quivered as he struggled to hold back tears.
“ But ma’, that’s ‘Mere? “ Erica added as my father nodded.
“ I’m lost. “ Keenan held his head as I rubbed his back, comforting him.
“ I came to Charlie and Kelsie when I had nowhere else to turn. Your mother had died in the hospital and her family was set on taking you away from me. I couldn’t let that happen. When they cleared you, I scooped you up and rushed you here. I begged them to take you in. Without hesitation they did, but Charlie pulled me aside. He and my family had been enemies for a while, but I looked up to him. He was the black man who was unafraid to do the right thing; the opposite of your grandfather. He asked me why would I abandon my child? I told him there was too much going on in my life at the time, and I couldn’t raise a child. I wasn’t fit to raise a child. Then he spoke life into me. He made me realize that what I was stuck in, I could get out of it. Then he took me in. He sent me away so that I could find myself and come back a better person for you, Keenan. They thought I was ready to take control, but I resorted to just watching. You bonded so well with this family that I decided I would just be there for support along the way. I watched you grow into a man. “
“ By the time we were going to tell you, that’s when you left for the military. We didn’t get to say goodbye to you or anything. “
“ I apologize for that. “
“ No need to apologize for anything, baby. “ my mother held his head up. “ We don’t apologize for the past. We learn from our mistakes and try our best to make the present and future better. “
“ Now go and give your father a hug. “
Keenan hesitated a bit, looking between ‘Mere and my father. He stood up and walked towards ‘Mere. They both cried as they hugged each other, ‘Mere apologizing for what seemed to be a thousand times.
“ Thank you Lord. “ my mother mumbled.
“ We’ll be outside. “ they exited the house.
“ Now, back to you two. “ my father sucked his teeth. “ Elijah, I know that you’re messing around with Andrew. “
My heart began to beat faster than it ever has. I looked at my mother and she was just as shocked as I was. Erica displayed a sneaky grin on her face, but I knew that she couldn't have said anything. She didn’t know nearly as much as my mother did.
“ It’s obvious. “ he added.
“ But……how…….. “
“ Look, you’re grown. I can’t tell you what to do with your life. Just be careful, please? Politics is a nasty game if you haven’t seen it already. People turn small stories into big deals, that how they make their money. “ he explained.
“ Yes sir. “ there was silence for a moment. “ Since we’re laying it all on the table, I overheard you and Peter talking outside of Andrew’s office. “
“ Dammit. “ he cursed. “ What did you hear? “
“ I heard him ask you to give Erica away to his son. “
“ What? “ both Erica and my mother tuned in.
“ Look, it’s a very complicated situation. I would never let any of his crooked seed marry my daughter, that was shot down immediately. What I am going to do is play the game the way it has to be played. Peter has a campaign fundraiser coming up and I need both of you to be there. “
“ Why? “ I asked.
“ You’re going to bid on his son. “
“ I’m not following this logic, Charlie. “
“ What I’m trying to do is create dialogue. I know that the town is going to hear about everything that happened today, and I need you both there to show everyone that we are unbothered. Resilient. “
“ Okay, I see where you’re going. But what are they supposed to do with the boy? “ my mother added.
“ You won’t have to do anything. I know Peter, he’ll give me my money back and I’ll end up winning twice. “
“ Okay dad, I see you. “ Erica nodded. “ We’re telling a story here. “
“ That’s what it’s about, baby girl. Everybody knows that what happens in the dark is what’s most important. “ he grinned.
“ Isn't that backward, though? “ I side-eyed him.
“ You know what, take Andrew along with you. “
“ Please, don’t entertain them by showing who these people truly are. “ my mother chuckled.
“ I think you three will have a great time. “
“ I’m for it. Elijah? “
- Writer
