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For the next week, I avoided her all through. I stopped greeting her when I saw her and pretended not to see her on the occasions we met. I didn’t know what to say, and I wanted what happened to be a memory. The sad part was she seemed sad that I was ignoring her. It seemed as if I had used her or something like that. I didn’t understand it. That only strengthened my resolve to avoid her.
Will noticed that I behaved slightly differently and he asked what was wrong. He was very smart and noticed a lot, so when he saw changes, he asked.
“Son, everything is fine. I’m okay. I’ve just been thinking of how many things I had to deal with, and still have to deal with.”
Will nodded as if he understood what I said. I suspected he knew a lot more than I was saying but I let it be. He tilted his head towards me as if he had something to say.
“Dad. We played a basketball game today and won it. I scored the highest points today, but my team helped out more this time. Basketball can be frustrating, but satisfying at other times. I’m happy, Dad. We won today!”
I was happy for him, but I didn’t know what to say to him. My son won his games most of the time. Anytime he talked about winning, it sounded normal to me. It was when he lost that it seemed like something was wrong. I played basketball when I was younger, but my son's passion for the sport was unmatched.
“Congratulations, son,” I said, while giving him a fist punch. He smiled at me and ran off. Will had told me earlier that he was going to hang out with his friends at the nearby park. That meant another lonely day to look forward to for the rest of the day. In truth, I needed a little bit of my time.
I went outside the house to throw away some refuse in the major dustbin in the compound. I figured that I had to get myself doing something to stay busy. I went out and sniffed the morning air. Saturday mornings are usually the best. After I disposed of the refuse, I turned back and saw Claire coming out of her aunt's home. She made a waving gesture and I ignored her, pretending not to see her. I tried to watch her a little from the corner of my eyes, and I noticed that she was still looking at me. I didn’t look back. It was not because of fear though. I just wanted nothing to do with her.
A week passed, and we still didn’t say anything to each other. I didn’t mind anyway because she seemed to be avoiding me too. She had gotten the message, thankfully. I was glad about that.
Will came back home from school one day and told me that Claire told him to say hello to me. I waved the topic off smartly because I did not want him to know anything was happening or had happened between us.
He walked off to the kitchen and put his food in the oven. Sometimes, I wondered if he missed his mother's cooking because I was terrible at it compared to her. But I ate my meals without problems. After all, I didn’t have a choice either. Will came out a few minutes later with his food. He fidgeted a bit as he sat beside me. He seemed to want to get something off his chest, and it was shocking to see that he wasn’t able to confide in me quickly when he did all the time.
“Son, what’s up? Is something going on with you?” I asked, concerned. Will was my greatest weakness after my wife left. Even though I had left her a long time ago, she was still in my memory sometimes. But after she left, all the love I shared within the both of them was concentrated on him, even though I tried my best to make sure he didn’t let it get into his head.
“Dad. I’m fine. I was made fun of at school recently. Everyone was talking about their moms and dads living together in harmony. One of the bullies in the class happened to know more about our family than he was supposed to know. Dad, it got embarrassing,” Will said, dropping on the sofa and staring sadly at the TV. He looked way older than his age at that moment, and I pitied him.
But the emotion I felt right then was anger. My son was getting bullied? They had to hear from me at his school if that was the case.
“You don’t have to say more than that. Does he still repeat those gimmicks on other days?”
“Yes, Dad. The worst part is that he did it today again. I got pissed and wanted to hit him across the face for a good punch, but he has huge friends like himself who would probably beat me up if I tried.”
“Son, you don’t have to worry about losers like that. I will come personally to your school to talk to the authorities who aren’t doing their jobs well. It doesn’t make sense. Bullying should not be in existence anymore, especially in times like this!”
Later that evening, Will came back home from his friend's place looking pumped up and sweaty. He had just come back from a game, and his basketball showed under his arms. He was usually the instigator of such games, and this one was one between Will's friends and some kids two streets away. I was curious to know how it went.
“Dad, it went great! I didn’t score a lot of points, but Andy did. Man! Dad, he’s amazing!” Will sounded so excited and happy for his best friend.
I knew Andy. He is a respectful lad and came from a well-to-do family. He was one of Andy's friends that I liked, and I encouraged him to stay close to the lad as I sensed Andy truly liked him and wanted the best for my son.
“Really? That sounds great son.”
“Yes, Dad. You had to be there, Dad. You needed to see how good he was, dribbling through those fools like they were not there before playing…”
After I had listened to all Will had to say, I told him to take care of the house while I was gone. I was on my way out to get a drink at this new bar that opened up about a month ago and have a little “me time.”
I strolled through the streets absentmindedly. A black Porsche breezed past me at full speed, and another police car followed suit, hot on his heels. It had to be a robbery or a speeding case. Either way, I didn’t think he would be running away for much longer. It was only a matter of time.
The new bar was crowded when I got in. Since it opened it was the most popular bar in town, which was a huge reason I didn’t visit them on a normal day. Immediately I got in that day, I got immediately uninterested. I met two men who knew me at the door, and a few people already started throwing greetings at me. I turned back immediately and headed for Claire's bar. The worst that could happen was us ignoring each other completely.
Chapter Nine
Claire
Iwasshockedtosee him walk in. It had been so long, nearly three weeks, and he was just sauntering in as if it was normal to walk in like that. I was scared, and things had been happening.
Within the past few days, I had gone through a bit of hell. I vomited regularly, and I was getting disturbing symptoms. I was scared to think about it, but it seemed like I was merely avoiding the truth — I was pregnant for Jonah.
It got worse later on, and I had gone for a test that very day to clear my doubts. Now, 3 hours after I left the hospital, he walked into my bar like a king. Maybe he was, as he had done some king shit on me a fortnight earlier. Now I was pregnant, he had to own up and show his kingship, else I was wrong to think he was.
