Forgetting Dad
Written by Sonia Okehie
Episode 3
Love can be that last straw of hope a person could ever have at being completely happy again. There are people with so much fortune and material things but they are dying within and are totally unhappy. Alot of people have made themselves believe that they don’t need anyone to complete them because they are better off without a companion, but the truth is that they haven’t met the right person yet.
Everyone on the surface of this earth has someone that can touch their soul and spirit in a way no one else can. We all have the missing piece to our puzzle but the only problem is that majority haven’t found that special someone destined for them. The best thing we can do is pray that we never miss out on that person that best completes us, and it seems as though Vera had found hers.
Dennis presence that day at Vera’s school filled her heart with unexplainable joy. She couldn’t explain why she felt so happy and overjoyed. Her heart raced at any little glance at him; It was truly a feeling that was rare and strange to her but it honestly felt good.
On the other hand, Dennis was happy to see Vera blushing because he was used to her frowning face. When he saw her changed countenance, it encouraged him to further press the conversation on. “Were you looking for it?” He asked smiling, “Yes I was” she replied blushing. He handed the purse over to her and she thanked him further.
The atmosphere became a bit awkward for both of them because neither of them knew what to say next. Dennis was actually late for work so he had to inform her that he would be leaving. “I guess it’s time to say goodbye” he said, “Are you leaving?” Vera asked, “Yes I am, I have to get to the hospital before 10am and the drive from here to town is a long distance so I better be on my way” he replied.
Deep down in Vera’s heart, she didn’t want Dennis to go because she liked the way his company made her feel. Unable to hold him back, she bid him ‘Goodbye’ and they parted ways. After Dennis left, Vera sadly walked back to the class and couldn’t concentrate again on what the lecturer was teaching. Her mind was completely on Dennis and she felt sad that he left without them exchanging numbers for further communication.
“How could he not ask for my number? Why do I even care?” Vera wondered all morning. Unable to find an answer to all the numerous questions in her mind, she reluctantly opened her purse to check if all contents were intact. As she glanced through the purse, she realised that nothing was missing but however, she noticed a piece of paper inside that wasn’t there before. Curious to know what it was, she quickly removed the piece of paper and turned it over to see the content.
What Vera saw made her heart skip several beats and it restored smiles back to her face. It read; “If I asked for yours, you wouldn’t have given me so here’s mine. Call when you need someone to make you smile after a bad day”. Lo & behold, it was Dennis number boldly written on a piece of paper, accompanied with a cute write-up.
That little gesture from Dennis lit up Vera’s whole mood and day. She smiled at every little thought of the content on that note. That day was the first time Vera’s coursemates saw her smile in class since freshman year. They were extremely surprised to see her with a happy countenance unlike her 24/7 moody and frowning face. Even though Vera didn’t talk to anyone, just seeing the smile on her face was a Big deal to them.
After class that day, Vera retired tiredly back home. Immediately she entered her room, she laid on the bed with smiles on her face. There and then, it dawned on her that she that hadn’t been that happy her whole life. “What’s wrong with me?” She curiously asked herself but no satisfying answer was forth coming.
Vera brought out the note Dennis wrote to her and kept staring at it. She kept contemplating on whether to call the number or not and found it hard to make up her mind. Unable to decide on what to do, she opened her text book and put the note inside. With that out of the way, she carried on with her day.
Days turned to weeks and Vera never called Dennis. Matter of fact, she had forgotten all about the little piece of note she slipped into her text book. Life moved on for both her and Dennis since they hadn’t communicated again since them. Initially, Dennis was expecting Vera’s call but gave up along the line as time went by. Everyone carried on with their lives until something happened one fateful day.
Turns out that Mr Jones was missing his daughter and wanted a piece of her since his wife was s*xually unattractive to him anymore. He called over a hundred times but Vera wasn’t picking up. Frustrated and angry, he decided to cut all her funds and warned his wife not to send her a dime. When Mrs Jones tried to inquired why her husband made such drastic decision, he told her that they were spoiling Vera and that he heard from someone that Vera wasn’t concentrating on her studies and that she lived a lavish lifestyle in school.
Initially, Vera wasn’t moved by her parents decision to cut her funds, but started getting affected after three weeks of no money. Her parents only paid attention to important things like books and not her personal needs. The worst of it all was that Mr Jones knew someone that worked in the school who gave him accurate information on how much each book cost, so he paid directly to that person and instruct the person to deliver the books to Vera. Just imagine the height this man had to go just because he wanted to s*xually abuse his own blood daughter. Unbelievable!
After over a month of no funds coming in, Vera succumbed to her dad’s advances and he came all the way to her school and slept with her. It was a dehumanising experience for her because she was doing all she could for that never to happen again but unfortunately, it did.
When Mr Jones was done and left, Vera cried her eyes out all night and couldn’t eat or do anything else. She became suicidal and wanted to take her own life because her conscience was dealing with her seriously. What sort of father derives pleasure in ruining his own daughter’s life? Like how does Mr Jones sleeps at night knowing that he was committing such abominable act? Words will fail me indeed to describe how terrible his actions were. God forbid!
Shortly afterwards, Vera’s funds were back again as before and money started flowing in. Her pain was double whenever she thought of the fact that she had to sleep with her dad for the money to flow in. Vera’s hatred for her parents grew the more and she even deleted their numbers from her phone. Everyday was a sad one for the poor lady and it made her hate her life.
Sadly, Vera had an upcoming test that week but couldn’t read. She kept crying and crying due to what happened between her dad and herself. Fortunately, the book she wanted to read was the text book that contained Dennis number but she had forgotten. Tired and sad, she reluctantly flipped through the book to get to the topic she wanted to read on and quickly spotted the piece of paper inside.
When Vera saw the note, she immediately remembered Dennis and the way he makes her feel. She smiled faintly in the midst of the tears that fell helplessly from her eyes as she read the content of the note over again. Without hesitating, she brought out her phone and dailed the number and after ringing for a while, Dennis picked up.
“Hi Dennis” Vera soberly greeted. At the sound of her voice, Dennis could already tell who it was. “Hello, Vera?” He inquired and she replied ‘Yes’. Dennis was quick to notice her sad tone so he knew there and then that something was wrong with her. “Are you ok? What’s going on?” He asked, “Nothing, I’m fine” she lied.
Dennis wasn’t satisfied with Vera’s answer so he probed further. “Are you sure you are ok? Because I just feel you aren’t” he said. Vera couldn’t hold back her tears any longer so she burst into tears. She cried uncontrollably over the phone and that confirmed Dennis doubt that something was up.
“Where are you now?” Dennis asked with all seriousness, “I’m home” Vera replied, “Where’s your home located?” He inquired and she told him where she lived. In an hour’s time, he landed and called her to identify her lodge address and room number of which she did.
Shortly afterwards, there was a knock on the door and it was no other person than Dennis. After several knocks, Vera opened the door and he entered inside. It was a one bedroom self-contained apartment suitable for a student. One look at Vera and Dennis could tell that she had been crying for a very long time. The first thing he did was to give her a warm hug with a light pat on her back.
Vera sobbed quietly as Dennis held her gently. After hugging her for a while, he asked “What happened? Why are you crying?”, and without thinking it through, Vera replied “It’s my Dad”.
Confused and curious, Dennis asked; “Your Dad? What did he do?”.
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