Unfulfilled Promise 2 episode 35

Unfulfilled Promises

SEASON 2

Episode 35
Eric (Jnr) actually found himself enjoying
his stay with his mother and sisterTrue
to his words, his father had taken him to
his grandmother’s house every day to see
if she was back They had even asked the
neighbors about the gateman but no one
had seen him either, There was no way to
communicate with his grandmother
because no one had her phone number
and the one he knew by heart was forever
unreachable The one his grandaunt had
was always unavailable also He had to
give kudos to his parents though,They
really tried to get him back with his
grandmother Watching his dad who came everyday, his mother and Erica and the obvious love they all shared, made him feel left out. He didn’t know how long he could pretend he wasn’t affected by them.
It was getting h-rder and h-rder to be cold to his mother when she was so loving and caring.

She never allowed his rebuffs put her off
her caring nature She had made him talk
to his grandaunt on the phone and she
had explained to him everything that
happened He was getting confused
Surely his grandmother couldn’t have lied
to him To gain what?His love for her
alone? He wished for the umpteenth time
that she was back He had like a
thousand and one questions to ask her
Oleng watched her son from the window
the living room as he sat down on the
swing outside staring at nothing in
particular, deep in thought. She sighed.
She so wanted to go and hug him but she
didn’t want to smother him She had tried
her best to show him love but he had
remained unyielding Mrs Akpan had
really sown bad thoughts into him She
was amazed that she wasn’t back by
now, knowing she couldn’t communicate
with her grandson It was hærd to believe
all her son had told her about his
grandmother The loving and caring
picture he had painted of her was too
good to be true. But for the obvious fact
that her son loved his grandmother
deeply, she would have said he painted
such a picture just to rile them.
She shook her head While he was
comfortable around her and inseparable
from Erica due to the immense love he
had for his sister, he wasn’t so around his
father He never stayed in the same room
with him Once Eric was around, he would
retire into his room except for when they
went to check if Mrs Akpan was back and
went shopping for his clothes and shoes
Eric said he hadn’t said a word to him at
those times.She knew it was killing Eric
because he wanted so much to
communicate with his son.
She shook her head again.

She felt time was running out for them. She believed Mrs Akpan would show up any day now to take him away. She was already thinking of getting a lawyer so they could
fight for custody but Eric had refused
because he said it would be their son who would suffer the messy custody battle due
to the fact that he actually loved his
grandmother She felt so frustrated!
She however smiled when her sweetheart
entered the compound Immediately her
son saw him, he got up and made to go
in,side but Eric stopped him.
“How are you today? Is your hand still
hurting?” Eric asked as he came closer to
his son.
“I’m fine and my hand is no longer
hurting,” he quietly informed his father.

“I need to talk to you,” his father firmly but
gently told him. “Let’s go in,side.”
Eric (Jnr) was surprised His father had
never asked to talk to him before After
asking him if he was okay whenever he
came, he would concentrate on Erica He
didn’t want to ascribe the feelings he felt
at such times as jealousy He squelched
the little joy that he felt right then as they
went in,side.

“Hello sweetheart How was work today?”
Oleng came to hug Eric as her son closed
the door.
“Hectic as usual. We’re almost through
with the Elele road,” he remarked as he
sat down and dropped his bag.
“That’s great. Meaning we’ll be seeing
more of you,” she chirped as she sat
beside him.

“Not really,” he replied, holding her hand.
“There’s still that bridge to complete in
Bayelsa.”
Oleng pouted and he laughed.
“You build bridges?” Eric (Jnr) asked in a
surprised tone making his parents look at
each other.

“Yes,” Oleng replied, “He’s a civil engineer.l
You didn’t know?” She mentally kicked
herself for asking because he had always
gone to his room anytime his father was
around, so he was never present when
they discussed his work.
The stunned look on his face made
Oleng ask him what was wrong.
He lowered his eyes before he blurted out,
“That’s what I want to become in future.”

Both his parents inhaled sharply Then
Eric smiled“That’s a perfect choice.”
Eric (Jnr) forced himself not to smile He
shouldn’t be happy at the tone of approval
he heard in his father’s voice.
“Let me go and get your food,
sweetheart.” Oleng got up
“Not right now, sunshine. I need to talk to
Eric,” he said and she smiled at that
“Where’s Erica by the way?”
“She’s sleeping.”
“At this time of the day?”He was surprised as he looked at his wrist watch which revealed it was almost 7pm. He chuckled
“Well, get ready to have a sleepless
night.”
“I’ll bring her over to your place then,” she
retorted and they both laughed She went
in,side.

Eric (Jnr) had to stop himself from
laughing too. He liked their camadarie
The love they had for each other was
glaring for all and sundry to see
Eric opened his bag and brought out his
laptop.He talked to his son as he put it
on. “I haven’t really been talking to you
because I wanted to give you time to
adjust Though a week is a short time for
you to loosen up towards us, it’s all I’m
willing to give because I know time is
running out. I believe your grandma will be here soon.”
Eric (Jnr) kept him quiet. What could he
say? I miss her but I want to stay a bit
longer with you guys? He couldn’t say
that, which was what he really wanted He
didn’t want to give them hope.

“I believe you’ve heard my own side of the story from your mum but let me show you
the proof I have,” his father began as he
pushed the laptop towards his son. “This
was the message I got from your mum I
had no reason to doubt it then because it
was sent from the email address she was
using then. What does it say?”
Eric read it in silence before saying out
loud, “She doesn’t want anything to do
with you anymore because she can’t wait
for you.You might marry someone else,
an American like Damian’s neighbor who
she knew is fond of you yet leave her
waiting all her life. She has found a
replacement for you. You should have a
good life but forget about her.”
“Thank you. I was devastated when I got
the message. I kept sending messages,
asking her what was wrong but the
messages always came back undelivered.
I nearly failed my first exams because of
the trauma I went through As soon as I
could, I came back to Nigeria but I
couldn’t find her and her friends wouldn’t
talk to me It was a hellish period for me
then Your mum and I would have been
married a long time ago if not for her late
husband.I bet she told you all about him.”

Eric (Jnr) nodded slowly Wow! What was
he to believe? Could his dad have made
up all these? Computer hackers could do
anything these days but could they have
manipulated the date It was dated back
about fourteen or fifteen years ago
“Why did you impregnate my mum? You
were just sixteen, weren’t you?” Eric (Jnr)
shocked his father with his question.
Eric was flustered for a moment because
he hadn’t seen it coming “We were very
much in love but naive I believe you were
conceived the night of my graduation
party, our own kind of prom night here,
though without the school authorities.
We were more or less drunk and had her
wh0le house to ourselves.” He smiled in
reminiscence.
“My grandmother’s house?” his son was
astonished.

“Yes, you were conceived there.It wasn’t
planned or anything and the only regret I
have now concerning that night is the fact that it broke your mum and I up But
having you here now is worth the years of
heartbreak and pain we went through.”
Eric (Jnr) kept quiet again, lost in thought.
“I can understand that I was conceived
then, but what I’ve been trying to
understand right is Erica How come Erica
is your daughter when from my
calculations, she was given birth to when
mum’s husband was still alive?”
Eric couldn’t help smiling Oleng had
warned him of their son’s brilliance. “Son…

err…Eric, there are a lot of things I can’t
explain right now Perhaps when you’re
older, you’d understand All I need for you
to understand and believe right now is the fact that I didn’t abandon your mother
because of a pregnancy I knew nothing
about.”
“Then who sent you those messages and
who sent her that one with your line?”
“I really don’t know. I don’t want to
believe your grandmother is capable of
such; not that I’m trying to make her look
bad or anything but I really can’t think of
anyone else.”

“My grandma can never do such a thing!”
Eric (Jnr) vehemently stated
Eric raised his hands in mock surrender.
“Whoa! Fine! Tell me one thing though,
how come you have a strong American
accent? You’ve been there for like six
years or so and I believe you had your
primary school education here in Nigeria
and must have learnt how to pronounce
words like us.”
He shrugged. “Grandma made sure I had
a voice coach She didn’t want me to be
ostracized by the other kids in school You
have the accent too.”

“Yes, but not as strong as yours I was
born there though We came back here
when I was five though we still went over
there for hols I left when I was sixteen
and returned here last year.”
“Really? What state did you live in?”
Curiosity made him ask.
“California”
His son laughed. “I went to Disney land
two summers ago.”

“No kidding! Damian, your uncle took me
there when I was a kidHe took me to
Cedar Point in Ohio also.”
“No way! I’ve always wanted to go there
but grandma didn’t have the time to take
me Had I spent my vacation there, her
friend would have taken me there.”
“Really? Where I’ve always wanted to go
to but never had the time is Miami I
believe I’ll go there some day I want to go
there to lie on the beach and drink
mohitos all day, though I’ve been to some
beaches in Cali; long beach and others.”
“I want to go to Las Vegas to gamble.”
Eric (Jnr) ins**ted and burst into laughter
at the look of disbelief on his father’s face.

Oleng couldn’t help smiling like a ninny as
she eavesdropped on their conversation
from the kitchen They had finally found
common ground to forge a relationsh¡p;
their stay in America She had to go and
lie on her bed when the conversation
continued for two hours From her room
she could hear their laughter It brought
joy to her heart.

To be continued