Candy and Gentlemen

Case Closed

"Argh!" Candy screams when Mason walks in.

Candy does not know if she should direct her dissatisfaction at James first for bringing Mason along with him to ruin the dinner or she should go after Mason’s jugular for what he did to her childhood friend, but it seems that whichever decision she makes of the two, it will surely displease the two enemies turned friends.

James has walked up to Mason and placed his right hand over his shoulder. Mason shyly responds, putting the left on him too. Together they trudge towards Candy whose mouth is half wide agape. Her palate almost drooled as she stands punchy. Seems the minuscule part of the world around her spins faster than the rotation of the earth.

“Won’t you say hello, Candy?” James breaks the silence. He beams with smiles.

A lot of thoughts pass through Candy’s confused mind. She shakes visibly. Mason is the last guest she would ever expect.

Eventually she gains her composure and spits out some words.

“James, what are you doing with this…?” She points at Mason in a belligerent manner.

“Mason’s back to plead with you lady,” James says. “Obviously, you can see we have moved on. We’ve gotten along quickly. You should please pardon him and take him back.” James winks and waves his right hand quickly to drive home his point.

A moment of silence pervades the air as lot of thoughts rush through her brain. The sounds of tweeting birds take over the quiet ambience. Mason feels uneasy. He lurches forward and stands face to face in front of Candy. His face radiates much remorsefulness. He takes hold of Candy’s wrists gently. Candy feels the warmth of the grip, even though it is not a tight one. Her heart melts already within her. She goes cold and into reminiscence.

Candy is a being with tender heart. She can be easily pacified. Even though many people see it as her weak point, she does not see it that way. Her mum Flora has accused her of being feebleminded in the past because of how easily she forgave her father who had not been in the picture of her life while she was growing up.

Bernard left Flora her mum when she was still in the womb. He said he was not ready to be a father. Flora had to go through the pain of raising her all alone. It was very tough on her. Flora did not hide the truth from her daughter when she demanded to know it. She felt that Candy would grow up to hate her father if he ever tried to return and this was fine for her. She had not been able to forgive her ‘runaway’ husband.

When Candy was fifteen, Bernard began to try to reach Flora again. He had cancer and had been made aware of the number of days he had left to live. His lover whom he left Flora to be with had taken away their three kids and disappeared. Bernard could not track her successfully. It was as though she evaporated off the face of the planet earth with the kids.

Bernard felt empty and the urge to reconcile with his first family pervaded his mind. He somehow got Flora’s contact and made calls to her, first as an anonymous person. Flora could not recognize him from his sickly voice. It sounded like that of a dying grandfather in agony and about saying his last words.

It took the help of a friend for Bernard to be able to pass his message to her. He sent Dave to Flora to narrate the story. Candy saw them spoke, but she did not have an inkling what they were talking about. Flora refused to honor the invitation of Bernard. She said she had deleted him from her life ever since Candy clocked five and almost lost her life to a life-threatening disease.

In those days, Flora had no one to talk to. She needed her man beside her to help her pull through the sufferings of parenthood but Bernard was nowhere near. She wept in the cold of the winter in those days and swore never to have anything doing with him. She extended it to every other man. She would never get married.

Candy had acted mature when she was only twelve. She pressured her mother to give a man a chance so that she could have a stepfather in the least. That moment almost came when Thomas came. He sent lot of gifts to Flora and was willing to marry her and take responsibility for her kid. Candy quickly bonded with Thomas even before Flora accepted him wholeheartedly. Seeing this, Flora succumbed and began to take Thomas more seriously.

Thomas proposed to her within ten months of their relationship and Candy looked forward to having a foster father. She would be the happiest creature on earth if it happened. Eventually it did not happen. Flora found Thomas unfaithful. He had been cheating on her with a lady he had once introduced to her as her P.A.

When Dave could not get Bernard and Flora to come together again, he explored a possible alternative. He secretly spoke with Candy about Bernard her father. She was interested to see her father at once. She did not even have an iota of vindictive thoughts towards him. All that mattered to her was seeing her dying father, perhaps their meeting would reverse his ailment.

Bernard wept like a baby when he set his eyes on his son for the first time. He ran his wrinkled hands round her face to feel her texture.

“My daughter, please forgive me,” he said with lot of difficulties in his voice. He could not hold back the tears streaming down his eyes.

Candy hugged her father and promised not to leave his side. She called her mother over the phone and told her she was sick and taken to the hospital by a concerned being. She sent her the address of the hospital—same hospital Bernard lay sick.

Flora did not smell a rat. She was quick to show up in the hospital. She met Candy at the reception. Candy gave her a tight hug and said, “Mum, you’re the best mother in the world.”

Flora was short of word. Seeing her daughter looking hale and hearty gave her rest of mind. She did not seem sick in any way. Flora checked her eyes, her nose and even her tongue.

“You’re fine Candy,” she said. “What went wrong?”

Flora was already trying to turn her attention towards an approaching nurse, but Candy held her right arm and said, “Come, mum, let’s go see my room. I have a surprise for you.”

“The doctor?” Flora said. “Is—is he there right now?” she asked impatiently.

Candy smiled.

They climbed the staircase quickly and got to the left wing. Candy pushed the door in and screamed, “Surprise!”

Flora was almost swept off her feet with the unexpected scene unfolding fast before her eyes. She saw Dave first, then her sight roved towards the left where Bernard lay. Their eyes met.

“Candy! Why did you bring me here?” Flora screamed. Her visage exuded anger and turned red like a glowing splinter ready to burst into flame.

“Darling…” Bernard managed to speak.

“Don’t call me that name. You are dead Bernard! This isn’t you!”

Candy held her mother by the wrist and pulled her. “Mum, please go close to your…”

“Get your hands off me!” she screamed as she jerked off. “Candy, I can’t believe you fell for this cheap blackmail.”

“But he’s my dad, mum!” Candy replied spontaneously.

“Your dad left long ago. This man here is not fit to be a father! You don’t have to be lily-livered all the time Candy?” she replied. “Let’s gerrouta here!”

“No mum! I ain’t budging if you don’t take him back. Perhaps you will save his life,” Candy said.

Flora’s mind was fixed. It seemed it had been made of stone. She scurried out of the room as though something was after her life. Getting to the reception, she was antsy. She knew Dave planned it all. She would make a legal suit out of it. She would charge Dave to court for k********g.

Flora reached out for her phone. She would call her lawyer to take action immediately. To her Bernard did not ex|

After Flora had made the call, she sat to wait for her lawyer who had promised to be there in a jiff.

Andrew arrived just in time. His breath was high, obviously because he had hurried down to the hospital to attend to his client’s need. She narrated the ordeal to her and Andrew agreed that she had a case.

Just then, Candy rushed down to the reception and yelled, “Dad’s dying! The doctor said his BP has spiked suddenly!”9

The doctor took the words from her mouth.

“Hey madam, can we talk for few minutes? It’s very urgent please.”

Flora followed the doctor while the lawyer spoke with Candy in the reception. Candy asked the lawyer to promise her that he would no more go on with the case. Andrew felt he was in a state of catch-22. Pleasing the mother meant displeasing the child and the other way around. He waited to see her client return before proceeding.

Flora flushed out of the doctor’s office with her eyes tinged with redness.

“I’m outta here!” she spat as she appeared to be making her way to the exit. Andrew looked at both mother and daughter before clearing his throat.

“Er…I don’t think I want to proceed with this case any longer.”

His statement brought Flora to a halt. She was not expecting it.

“Go to hell!” she vociferated at him. “I’ll get someone else to do it for me.”

Just then, Candy ran ahead and stood in front of her mother, knelt down and held her right leg.

“Mum, please do accept him. Forgive him, he’s dying already. Do this for me mum.”

Flora went silent. She gazed around, looked at her daughter as though he had not seen her in a long time. She shook her head quickly and stiffened her neck. She was ready to stand her ground.

“No daughter, I’ll not do this…”

“Then be ready to lose your daughter,” Candy interrupted him.

Flora had no choice than to listen to her daughter that moment. She would not be able to live without her daughter. She accepted to see Bernard and forgive him.

Bernard felt elated when Flora walked to him and held him tight in her embrace. She assured him of her forgiveness and her willingness to care for him for the rest of the days he had to spend on the crust. When his BP was checked again, it had returned to normal.

Bernard died two weeks later in the hands of the lover of his youth, Flora, but he felt fulfilled, having spent his last days feeling loved from all sides…

A touch on Candy’s shoulder jolts her out of her reminiscent state. She seems to be unaware of Mason’s hands held together and placed on her shoulders for about half a minute.

“Candy, say something,” Mason says softly. Then of course Candy replies with a smile.

“You have me baby,” she says as she hugs him. Then they kiss as James claps his hands to cheer them up.

Mason lifts her off the ground in wild excitement.