CHAPTER 9: FAMILY HISTORY

My eyes open wide in shock at the man standing right in the middle of the living room.

The man stutters "H….. Hey son"

I mean, I knew he was alive, but I didn't expect to meet him now. He still looks the same except for the newly sprouted grey hairs and some wrinkles.

"... T-this is...?" I groaned out, with a lack of words to describe the plight, because inside I felt angry, I felt happy, I felt sadness, I felt a lot of things.

"Andrew, I need you to breathe" My mum intends to calm me down.

He approaches me, attempting to cool me down "It's just me, your dad, things are rough but I'm here now." At the sight, I couldn't believe it. However, with every step he took, my heart felt like crying out.

"... T-this is...?" I muttered out again, with a lack of words to describe the situation.

Adanna finally gets up from the sofa and adds, "Look, I know this isn't how you expected to meet..."

I cut her off "No..No, this..is… is too much," I take a deep breath and stutter "I-I ne… need t-to.. get... o-out... of h-h-here,"

As I attempt to leave the place, my legs tremble, my heart continues pounding. Suddenly, I fall, and everyone in the room surrounds me.

My eyelids get heavy, my vision blurry, and all I can hear is 'Are you okay', 'Don't panic', 'This is all your fault'.

The words are too much that I don't want to listen to.

As I move further, I tell them, "Please don't come any further. Please" but the words don't come out of my mouth.

I silently pray for this to end. I pray for them not to come anymore further because I don't want to harm anyone again this time.

What was I even thinking, I have to leave here before I seriously harm my family again. I try to stand up, but it's as if I'm glued to the floor.

All I knew was that I had to escape from here, but why wasn't my leg moving?

That's when I look, and I see Ralph and Jim; my mum's personal bodyguards holding me down.

***Minutes later***

I find myself in my room and feel sore. I try to do some relaxation exercises so that I feel better.

I do a couple of stretches to feel less sore but apparently, nothing is working.

"Hey," The voice says, and I jerk and continue the relaxation exercises.

"Look, I didn't want us to meet this way. I'm sorry, I should have-" I cut him off with a hug. He seems shocked, but he returns the hug and I can feel him smile.

We both didn't plan it, but it was memorable. We hadn't seen each other for years and we both missed each other.

We hugged for minutes and during those minutes, I had flashbacks of the times I had with my father and as if he read my mind he assures "I'm here now. We'll make fresh memories. I'll always be here now, I'm never leaving-"

"You are leaving, and you leave now," My mum enters my room and says sternly.

"Why, why does he have to go? I don't get it, why does he have to leave?" I question.

"It's not what you have to worry about. I'll take care of it," She tells me and then looks over to my dad "Don't make me repeat that you have to leave, or you know the consequences"

"Consequences? I don't get to see my son for years, all because of you. You are manipulative, self-centred; Julianna, you care about no one but yourself. You asked me not to see my children, and I complied until later I realized the enter thing was stupid. I'm here for them Julianna and I am not backing down, not especially when I saw my son break down," He's words, direct as a bullet.

"Consequences?" I asked, confused at the subject.

"Honestly, I'm tired of this game" She lets out a light laugh and motions for Ralph and Jim to throw Dad out.

"Enough!!" Adanna yells making Ralph and Jim let go of Dad, her temper as explosive as a gun. "So, this is a better way to handle this? Why can't we just talk about it? We shut this out for years and what good has it done to us except tear us apart than we already were?" She says calmer.

"Talk? Do you want us to talk? Ok, we'll talk. We'll talk over dinner." She lets out a slight smile and moves towards the door.

"Why not now?"

"Don't worry, I won't poison you this time, William" Mum turns to face my dad and tells him with a wide smile and walks away.

***

The dinner is tense and Ralph and Jim make it worse by standing by my mother's side during dinner. They never joined us at dinner, and their being at dinner was strange.

No one talks at all.

I don't think Adanna had a taste of the food because she plays with her food while staring at her phone.

I had a few bites of the food served but couldn't continue eating because of the uncomfortable silence.

Dad didn't even touch the food or the cutlery at all. All he did was stare at me and smile frequently.

Mom ate like nothing was wrong and even requested more on her plate.

Adanna drops her phone loudly on the table "I thought the reason for the dinner was for us to talk. Why aren't we, um, I dunno talking?"

Mum wipes the side of her mouth with a napkin "You said you wanted to talk. I didn't. I have nothing to talk about. You have anything to talk about?"

I clear my throat and say sternly without batting an eyelid, "Ralph, Jim, LEAVE"

Mum wants to object, but a look at me lets her make it slide.

"Now that I have everyone's attention, can someone explain 'the family' to me?"

"The family?" Mom lets out a light laugh.

"Mom, not the time" Adanna raises her eyes from her phone, warning her.

Dad straightens up and speaks for the first time on the table "What about the family do you want to know, because I'll tell you as far as I know. Where do you want me to start, because this is going to be a long family history?"

"Nah, I want mum to start with this part." I turn to face my mum "Ma, start with the part of the story that has to do with my 'brother' that I found out about recently"

"This is going to be a long night," Mum exclaims.

"Then we better get some coffee," Adanna suggests with a light smile.