Forgetting Dad Episode 9 and Episode 10

*FORGETTING DAD*

(EPISODE 9)

SEMI FINAL EPISODE

Every profession have obligatory duties that ought not to be violated no matter what. As a medical doctor, it was Vera’s obligation to treat her unconscious pedophile father at the emergency ward whether she liked him or not. On a fair note, Vera shouldn’t be blamed for taking such drastic decision because she probably wasn’t in her right frame of mind at that moment; not after the sudden trip down memory lane. There were so many things going on in Vera’s mind at that moment and the most intense of all was ‘Revenge’.

On seeing that the decision was beginning to cause confusion, Vera angrily walked out on the nurse that kept inquiring why she didn’t want to treat the patient which was even her own father. With Vera gone, another doctor who was on duty immediately filled in the gap and started administering treatments to the unconscious patient.

Fortunately, they were able to stabilize Mr Jones as his body started responding to treatments. Shortly afterwards, Vera was called upon by her seniors to account for her unprofessional behaviour concerning a patient’s life. The hospital management took the matter quite serious but Vera was able to convince them into believing that her reasons for refusing to treat her father was due to some unresolved family issues that hunted her the moment she set her eyes on him. Her reasons were quite convincing and the board pardoned her for such unprofessional behaviour.

In order to prevent the situation from reoccurring, Vera was moved to another unit where she would’ve have any contact at all with her dad. The new measures that were put in place made Vera extremely happy because she honestly didn’t want to touch her father nor have anything to do with him. She avoided the ward he was admitted in and didn’t come one bit close.

After work that day, Dennis came around to pick Vera at the hospital she worked at. He knew the time she was going to be off duty so he rounded up earlier so as to meet up with her. When Dennis arrived, the first thing he noticed was the sadness on Vera’s face and her moody attitude. He immediately tried to inquire what the problem was but she wasn’t willing to talk about it yet.

They made a stop at an eatery to get lunch before finally heading to Dennis house. All through the ride, Vera faced the window and didn’t bother to look towards Dennis direction. He was calm about the whole awkwardness and wanted her to cool off before inquiring what the problem was. When they finally arrived their destination and settled in, a conversation started.

“What’s the problem? Why are you so moody?” Dennis curiously asked, “Nothing much, it’s just that something happened back at the hospital today” Vera soberly replied, “What happened?” He continued and she narrated the incident that happened with her dad.

When Vera was done talking, Dennis wasn’t in support of her attitude and didn’t hesitate to let her know. “You shouldn’t have walked away as you did because at that point, he wasn’t just your father but a dying helpless patient that needed urgent medical help. That wasn’t the best revenge because two wrongs will never make a right. Ok, imagine he had died from that incident, will you truly be happy? I don’t think so. I know this man hurt you but you are actually hurting yourself now by holding all these grudges. It was all in the past and it’s over, so stop carrying the baggage along with you every time. Your father is already having his own share of Karma, don’t help God to do his revenge work. I’m not saying you should forgive your dad and start pretending like one happy family afterwards, all I am saying is that you need to offload this baggage and if a one-on-one confrontation with him will help, then go for it and see where things goes afterwards” Dennis said.

There and then, Vera was smitten by the level of truth and wisdom that came out of Dennis mouth. Deep down, she knew that she had taken things to the extreme by neglecting a dying patient and looking unprofessional to her seniors and the hospital management. It actually dawned on her how self fulfilling she was and it suddenly melted her heart. Shortly afterwards, her countenance changed for the better but she still felt burdened within.

Everything Dennis advised and said to Vera that day was a turning point to getting the freedom she had always sought for. The following day at work, she deliberately passed through the ward her dad was admitted in just to see if she will catch a glimpse of him. Immediately her eyes caught sight of her dad, her heart dropped out of pity but there was still a significant amount of Rage burning within.

After Vera had settled down that day at work, she couldn’t concentrate afterwards. At first she felt it was just her mind playing games with her but later realised that it was beyond her. Unable to figure out what to do, she called her mum to inform her on everything that was going on at the hospital.

“Hello mum, how are you?” Vera soberly asked, “I’m fine my daughter and you?” Her mum inquired, “No mum, I’m not” she bluntly said. Immediately Vera said that, her mum became concerned to know what the problem was. “What’s the problem? What is bothering you my child?” Her mum asked and she narrated everything to her. “What! You mean Jones is at the hospital?” Her mum curiously inquired and Vera told her he was.

After the outburst of emotions, Vera’s mum began to talk; “My child I know how you feel for refusing to treat your father but I want to also let you know that it isn’t your fault that he is now paying for his atrocities. His evil deeds is catching up with him for every evil thing he did in the past. However, it was my decision to divorce him and not yours, so you have to decide for yourself how you want to handle this matter. If you truly want to have that one-on-one talk with him to free your mind once and for all, then do so my child. You are not the cause of Jones misery, he brought all this upon himself. Your happiness is all I care about and if talking to him will ease some tension, so be it” her mum said.

With those word of advice from Vera’s mum, her mind was finally made up to have that dreaded talk with her father. After talking on phone with her mum, she took a deep breath and headed towards the ward Mr Jones was admitted. When she arrived, it was quite unfortunate that he was still unconscious. Unable to be discouraged, she sat closely opposite to him and just kept staring. After staring for a while, she broke the silence.

“You could have been the best father to me but you chose to be a nightmare. I was so innocent but you violated me and ripped me off every ownership of my body and dignity. Why did you do all that dad? Imagine I didn’t have Dennis, how bad my life could have turned out just because you couldn’t control yourself. I was a kid for crying out loud, but you chose my fragile undeveloped body over a thousand better choices you could have had. I can’t say I forgive you because I will be lying to myself if I did but I have decided to let you go from my life. I let you go for every thing you ever did to me. I will deliberately work on erasing the hunting memories you have left me with. I deserve to be totally happy; free from every kind of hold you have on me. I don’t want you in my life but I pray you find peace within yourself because I no longer carry you in my spirit. Live the remaining years of your life right and mend your ways, maybe, just maybe you will truly be able to forgive yourself. I still love you even though I hate the fact that I do, wake up soon” Vera soberly said.

Just as Vera was able to walk away, she felt a hold on her hand and turned immediately to see what was going on. Before she could wrap her head around the fact that her dad was now conscious, he tiredly looked at her and said “Thank you”.

Confused and curious, Vera asked; “Did you hear all I said?”, Mr Jones took a deep breath with tears in his eyes and nodded ‘Yes’.

*FORGETTING DAD*

(EPISODE 10)

SEMI FINAL EPISODE

The dark days of a person’s life is usually the time of sober reflection on all the wrongs, good, bad and evil things they have done in their lifetime. At that moment, that person could give up just anything in this world to make amends for the wrongs they had done that can’t be taken back. I wonder why majority wait till bad things begin to happen or when Karma catches up with them, before they realise their wrong doings and try to make amends. If only Mr Jones knew that a day was going to come where he wouldn’t have a single family member by his side just because of his pedophile acts, then I strongly believe he would have zipped up his trouser and command the evil to flee the very first day the urge and thoughts to defile his daughter came to his mind. Too bad he allowed things to get so bad before realising his mistakes.

When Vera realised that her dad was now awake, she was relieved a bit that he was back to his consciousness. If not for anything, she wanted him to make amends with his past and forgive himself in order to find peace at least. It was such a relieving moment for both of them.

After Mr Jones was done thanking his daughter for her decision to let go of the past, he couldn’t hold back his tears afterwards. Vera stood up from the chair she sat and just stared at her dad as he sobbed bitterly. Deep down in her heart, she felt sorry for him but still carried a significant amount of hatred within.

Honestly, it was going to be an almost impossible thing for Vera to totally forgive her dad for everything he had done to her. Matter of fact, she might never fully forgive him because the scars he inflicted on her was always going to be a constant reminder of everything he did to her. No amount of time might be able to totally erase the pain and repair the damages. Too bad!

While Mr Jones sobbed, Vera just looked at him without letting her emotions lose control.
Unable to hold back any longer, she broke the silence; “Why did you do it?” She asked with tears on her eyes. Mr Jones was filled with shame and bent his head downwards. “I don’t know, I have been asking myself for the past one year since your mum left, why I allowed myself to be used by the devil. I was under a demonic influence then because my eyes is clear now and I can’t seem to fathom why i did those horrible things to you. I want to die now because my life doesn’t mean anything to me anymore. I know I could have been the best man in your life as a father but failed you woefully. I can’t even look into your eyes because of the magnitude of shame I’m feeling for all the abominations I committed. Please find a place in your heart to forgive me even if you don’t say it out loud that you have forgiven. I just want you to live the best remaining years of your life happily and not in sadness or bitterness. I want you to be happy my child because you have been sad enough. Thank you for not letting what I did to you determine how you turned out in life. I’m so proud of you, have a great life” he soberly said with tears in his eyes.

Finally, Vera could now breathe properly after so many years of suffocating herself with anger. She was happy her dad said the things he said but still kept her distance from him. She checked his drip and made sure he was stable before finally bidding him ‘Goodbye’.

As Vera walked away from the hospital room, she could still hear her dad crying. It melted her heart when she heard him sob but knew for sure that they could never have any sort of relationship together forever. She knew he was sorry for all he did to her, but it was better they stayed apart with little or no contact as possible.

It was such a sober day for both Vera and her dad but at least she was glad they had that conversation. After work, Vera headed home without stopping by to check up on Mr Jones to inform him she was leaving; little did she know that it was going to be the last day she was going to ever see her dad alive.

Turns out that Mr Jones had a severe heart attack that night and couldn’t make it out alive. The doctors on duty that night tried their very best to save him but all efforts proved abortive. It was quite unfortunate that Mr Jones couldn’t make it out alive, but thankfully he made peace with his daughter before departing.

The sad news was communicated to Vera the following day when she passed the ward her dad was initially admitted in but couldn’t catch a glimpse of him. She inquired from her colleagues of her dad’s whereabouts and that was when they dropped the shocker on her.

At first, Vera didn’t know how to feel but gradually broke down within due to the sad news. Immediately afterwards, she called her mum and Dennis to informed them what had happened. Vera’s mum was slightly touched because that was her husband for many years. Everyone felt a little sad that day but moved on as time went by.

The burial arrangements were made by Mr Jones siblings and relatives. Vera and her mum were invited but only Vera showed up with Dennis because her mum refused to go. The funny thing was that no one from Mr Jones family knew the atrocities he committed but Vera mum’s family was aware. People at the funeral wondered why Vera’s mother didn’t show up, regardless of the fact that she and Jones were divorced but they never said it out loud or confronted Vera to ask.

Matter of fact, Vera came very late for the funeral and sat at the extreme end with Dennis. No tribute from her to her late dad. It was such a cold day and she felt numb all through. Two hours later, she took her leave after greeting some of her aunties.

Imagine all Mr Jones brought upon himself that his own daughter wasn’t too moved or broken after his death. What do you expect from a lady he never showed love to and was never a good father to? We all reap what we sow; so you can’t sow hate and reap love in return. Impossible!

After the burial, Vera started seeing life from a whole new perspective and stopped getting the hunting memory flashes she initially used to have. Life moved on eventually and everyone quickly adjusted and became used to the reality that Mr Jones was gone.

Days passed, same with weeks and months and Vera was on her way to clocking 26 years. She wasn’t a celebration type of person and usually liked low-key birthdays. Without her knowledge, Dennis planned a surprise birthday party for her and invited some of her colleagues she was close to.

The D-day finally came and Vera was in for multiple surprises. Before that day, Dennis pretended to get into a fight with her and they had a huge quarrel afterwards. Vera came to work angry on her birthday; which was the following day. Unknown to her, Dennis had taken permission to use her office for the surprise.

Everyone was already inside Vera’s office waiting for her to show up. There were two cakes and drinks for merriment but Dennis kept the biggest surprise of all to himself.

“Surprise! Happy Birthday!” Everyone shouted immediately Vera walked inside the office. She was indeed surprised and was so happy to see so many people she loved together in one place. “You, You!” Vera referred to Dennis blushing. He walked closer to her and planted a soft kiss on her lips and before she could get over the kiss, he knelt down and brought out a ring case from his pocket, opened it and said; “Vera will you do me the honour of being your husband? Will you marry me?”.

Oh my! At that moment, Vera died a thousand times and could hardly breathe. She covered her mouth with both hands because they were wide opened. It was such a moment she never believed will happen to her. Words will truly fail me to properly describe how Vera felt at that moment. With her whole heart, she screamed “Yes, Yes, Oh my God! Yes!”.

Dennis put the ring into her finger. He got up afterwards and planted a soft kiss on her lips and everyone congratulated them. Life was evidently going towards the right direction for Vera and one couldn’t be more happier for her; not after all she went through.

Thanks for reading this piece but before I finally drop my pen, let me chip in this.

Dear mothers and future to-be mothers, let’s try and be vigilant when it comes to both our male and female children to prevent saying ‘Had I known’ later. These kids are depending on you to protect and shield them from the dangers and corruption of this world, please don’t let them down.

People shouldn’t have access to your kids that easily, even if you live in a one bedroom apartment. Check your children’s private part every now and then when they are still little so as to detect any slight clue of molestation but while doing this, its better mummies check on their female children while daddies check on their male children to avoid negative thoughts. Teach them to speak up and make them comfortable to tell you anything.

Don’t let your kids live the rest of their lives without ever knowing what being a virgin feels like. Don’t let someone take away that precious moment from your kids by molesting and deflowering them at a young age before they could willingly give their body to that special someone they love when they eventually grow up.

Molestation is more real than anything you have seen today so take it very serious. Also, to the people that survived molestation, you all are heroes and are stronger than you ever know. Don’t let that past experience define who you truly are because it wasn’t your fault. Pick up the pieces of your life and turn it into something beautiful. It gets better as far as you remain positive. Bless you!

THE END???