Ninety-One

Jailbird 91

It is the Sunday after Chris and Junior left the hospital, and dinner is at the Mission Manse.

It had been a very emotional day in church that day.

For the very first time, Reverend Brand Bawa had embraced his whole family who were with him on the podium. The rest of them had publicly apologized to Chris for their treatment of him, and it had been a really deep passionate moment that had brought out tears and unified the family.

After church, they retired to the Mission Manse for a family dinner.

Chris had gone to the kitchen and whipped out a culinary torture that had made them scream to be served even when the food was not completely done.

Dinner itself is nice and deeply fulfilling. 

Apart from the sumptuous meal, there is a deep inner feeling of being complete once again, and everybody is trying to make Chris feel welcome and a part of the family.

After dinner, they retire to the living room whilst the children go out and play. 

Stan Bawa, who had been somewhat laid back during the whole reunion, suddenly gets to his feet and, looking acutely uncomfortable, surveys them with sad eyes.

For a moment he finds it hard to speak, but Esther reaches up and gives his hand a squeeze of encouragement.

"I have something to say," Stan says sadly.

They all stop speaking and look at him.

Effe, who is leaning against Chris and trying to stick a piece of carrot into his mouth, suddenly pauses and sits up slowly.

She casts a furtive glance at Chris.

She knows that somewhere deep down, Chris is still not comfortable with Stan. Even though Effe had told him that Stan probably saved his life the day he accidentally shot himself in the thigh and almost bled to death, he had still not quite completely felt comfortable with Stan.

Effe knows that Stan's treatment of Chris had been very bad, ever since they had been kids, and it will take some time for the scars to really fade. She can now see the sudden coldness on Chris' face as soon as Stan begins to speak, and she reaches out for his arm and holds it lovingly.

"I'm glad we're all here like this, and I'm glad we've found a way around the excruciating moments that almost crippled this family," Stan says painfully.

"I must admit today, that no one treated Chris more terribly than I did. There was no reason why I should've treated my own brother so badly, seeing he wasn't to blame. Diana was also pretty bad to Chris too.

But since we're all here, and since we've decided to lay open our wounds so that we can heal, it is very important that we bring out all our bitterness and hurts so that we can heal together.

Diana and I have hated Chris simply because our mother and Roland loved him so much, and we felt he didn't belong here. Mother, before I go on, I want to ask you, is Chris really our brother?"

It is a staggering question.

Effe feels Chris going absolutely rock-still beside her. 

One look at his face and she knows he has slipped into destructive mood, and she quickly turns to him fully, slipping her arm around his neck.

His handsome face is clouded over, and he seems to be carved from marble.

Mrs. Lois Bawa is so stunned that she is also wearing an expression that looks uncannily like Chris', but there are sudden tears in her eyes. The Reverend Brand Bawa exhales and leans forward suddenly, as if he has just received a massive blow in the solar plexus.

Only Diana, Esther and Kofi Dossah are looking a bit sad, but comparatively not shocked, and it dawns on Effe that they are all aware of what Stan is saying.

"And what kind of foolish question is that, Stan?" the reverend asks explosively. "At this time? What ails you, boy?"

Stan has frustrated tears in his eyes as he looks at his father.

"You know what I'm talking about, father! This family has suffered too much!" Stan says passionately. "There are too many secrets in this family, and it is killing us! We need to address the issues now, father!"

The reverend cuts in explosively, angrily, fearfully!

"Cut out the drivel, son! There's no issue to address! We almost lost your brother, now he's here with us! Stop your bullcrapping!"

Without a word Chris gets to his feet, almost dislodging Effe, and he turns for the door. Lois Bawa is on her feet immediately, and she runs to him, almost falling down in her haste to get to him. She takes both of his hands, and her tears are burning embers that twist her face out of shape.

"Chrissy, please, my darling! Please, don't leave like this! Don't take this to heart! I've lost you all your life, and I've been a most terrible mother to you! But I'm not going to lose you again, do you hear me? Not ever again!"

Stan snorts with fresh pain as he looks at the love his mother is showing Chris.

"You see what I mean, mother? It has always been like this! Chris, Chris, Chris!! He is the one you love most, and you don't even try to hide it from the rest of us!" Stan says passionately. "We're your children too, mother! Goddamn it, no parent has the right to have favorites, and even if they did, it is good to hide it, at least from the other siblings! But you, mother, you make it so plain, so blatant, that all you care about is Chris, Chris, Chris! Even his son is your favorite amongst the grandchildren!" 

"Stop that idiocy right now, Stan!" Reverend Bawa explodes. "What the hell has gotten into you? Today is supposed to be a happy day, and what do you want to turn it into?"

Diana speaks sadly then, tears trickling down her own eyes as her husband holds her hands tenderly.

"When Stan was a child he fell sick once, father. He was asleep in the attic, and you and Mom didn't know that. He heard you quarrelling bitterly with Mom. You were accusing her that Chris is not your son, that he is the son of someone called Chris Grant. It was shortly after Roland's death when Chris was taken to the correctional institute. It seems this Chris Grant was Mom's lover, and Father caught the two of them in a hotel room and shortly afterwards Chris was born. Father was convinced Chris was the son of this Chris Grant! And of course, it is blatant, isn't it, Mother? Stan, Roland and myself... we look so alike, so like father. Chris, on the other hand, is the odd one out. He is quite tall, quite handsome, lighter-skinned, absolutely different from us. When Stan heard that news he told me, and since then apart from erroneously blaming Chris for Roland's death, we began to hate him, because it seemed you were unfaithful to Dad, mother, and had a son with your lover, and you loved that son more than any of us. It hurt us a lot, mother!" 

"Yes, and even Roland! We were the two eldest sons, but Roland loved Chris so much, more than me, going everywhere with him!" Stan says painfully. "And he left that CD about his death to Chris! Chris, Chris, Chris... always Chris! It hurts, mother! It hurts so bad sometimes!" 

Chris' handsome face is like thunder. 

He steps away from his mother, and his whole frame is vibrating. 

Effe knows he is just a second away from hitting out, from going explosive, from giving vent to that devastating fury he has never learnt to master.

Lois Bawa is looking at Stan with horror.

The reverend is on his feet, suddenly looking old and aged, forlorn and lost, and he rubs his face with a rubbery hand.

Effe gets to her feet and blocks Chris as he heads for the door.

"Chris-Love! Don't do this! Look at me, Chris, please!" Effe says desperately. "Breathe, my love! Breathe! Chris-Love, don't allow that other one to emerge, please, please! Don't stress me out, it's not good for your daughter."

Chris looks at her. 

There are tears in his eyes now, and trembling badly, he grabs her upper arms.

His face is tortured, lost, and frightened. He shakes his head numbly.

"Dear Lord! I'm the bastard of the family, aren't I?" he whispers. "I always have been! It makes so much sense now! I don't have anybody! I can't take this, my love, I simply can't. Let's leave here! Please let's go!"

He turns blindly towards the door.

He reaches for the handle, and Lois Bawa utters a startled cry and drags him back, and then she blocks the door with her back.

"Please, my son, darling, listen to me! Please don't go!" Lois says, her heart breaking.

Chris looks at his mother with disgust and with deep acute pain.

"You better get the hell away from me, woman, before you force me to do something I'll regret!" he says bitterly. "You cheated on Dad? You had the effrontery to cheat on Dad, bring the pregnancy to him, and name me after your damn lover? How the hell could you do that? Get the hell out of my sight. You don't know just how much the sight of you disgusts me!"

There is a deadly silence in the room, and then Lois Bawa moves slowly towards Chris, her face suddenly furious even as tears fall down her face.

She pokes his chest with a stiff forefinger and glares at him.

"You don't speak to me like that, young man!" Lois hisses furiously. "You want to know the truth? Yes, I'm going to give you the truth!"

She moves past him, and there is suddenly a look of fear on her husband's face.

"Lois! No! Please don't! Not now!" the reverend says, looking frightened. 

"Now, Brand, now! They're right! It is time to let the truth out!" Lois says, and it is evident that she is indeed angry.

She turns to Stan and glares at him with hard unforgiving eyes, and she turns the same furious gaze on Diana.

"I'm sorry, Lois, but I can't stand with you on that," Reverend Bawa says.

His wife does not seem to hear him.

The Reverend Bawa then walks out of the living room.

Lois Bawa turns and fixes a devastated Chris with a passionate stare.

"Yes, what Stan heard was partly true. There was a man I was in love with and wanted to marry. Yes, his name was Chris Grant. We loved each other, but his parents wouldn't accept me, because I was the daughter of their maid!" she says painfully.

"They threw me out of their house and sent him overseas just to take him away from me. They sold their house and moved on. Those days were not like today where you have all your Internet stuff and communications! Those days it was difficult to keep in touch, and I lost touch with him!

When he came back several years later, I was already married to your father. Yes, I met Chris Grant in his hotel. His mother got to know Chris Grant had come looking for me, and she called your father.

When your father got to the hotel room I was already leaving. He was quite angry, and he said very bitter and painful things to me in public despite the truth I told him. I told your father that nothing happened between Chris Grant and me.

I told Chris Grant to move on because I had moved on! We cried a little bit, Chris Grant and myself, and yes, we shared a kiss! But that was all! When I met him I was pregnant with Chris, and after he was born your father doubted me, especially when I named him Chris! He fought with me, and that was the fight you overheard, Stan!" 

The Reverend Bawa now comes back to the living room, and he is trembling a little as he walks up to Chris. 

He is holding three sheets of paper which he extends to Chris.

He looks shame-faced, and he is trembling a little.

"I hated you, my son. I just couldn't get past my jealousies, and I realized I was ever getting closer to getting physical with you or doing something to harm you. And so I took you to the hospital and did DNA tests," Reverend Bawa says, shame-faced.

The people in the room are stunned. 

The reverend extends the sheets, and a dazed Effe takes them.

She notices from the dates on the sheets that the tests had been done when Chris was five, eight and ten years, all at different labs.

All three prove that Chris is the son of Reverend Brand Bawa.

"What?" Lois breathes, shattered. "You carried out DNA tests on Chris? Oh, Brand!"

She comes forward and takes the sheets from Effe's hands.

She glances at them, and then something inside her just dies.

It seems as if a light within her soul has just been put out.

She looks at her husband, and her eyes are dead.

The man of God looks down, and there is shame on his face.

"I'm sorry, darling. I'm very, very sorry!" the man of God whispers tremulously, looking every bit his age as his face sags.

The beautiful woman's lips tremble, and she cannot speak for a moment. 

Without a word, she turns and walks up to Stan. She throws the DNA test results at his chest, and there is no love on her face as she looks at him.

"You want more truth, Stan? Are you sure you can stand the truth, baby boy?" she asks icily.

Quickly Reverend Bawa follows his wife and takes her arm.

She shrugs free as if there is venom on his fingers.

"Please, darling, please –" he pleads.

She glares at him with unrestrained resentment.

"Don't you dare darling me, Brand! DNA tests? You went too far there, Brand! You bloody well went too far, and because of that everyone present here deserves to know the truth!"

She moves away from him and comes back to Chris, whose face is awash with remorse.

"I'm sorry, Mama. I bitterly regret my words. Never meant to hurt you," Chris says softly, his expression remorseful.

The woman, broken and haggard, places both of her hands on his shoulders.

"Marriage has been difficult for me, Chrissy. Yes, I named you after a man I once loved, and who is now dead. He never married, Chris. He just could not move on," Lois says as tears fall down her face. "He died on the day you were born, alone. In the end, his mother's interference robbed him of all happiness, despite all his riches. And yes, because he died, I named you after him. You want to know why Roland loved you so much, Chrissy? It is simple, really. It is because he knew the truth. He knew that the two of you came from the same parents."

She stops.

"Lois. Please. Don't!" the reverend cries, broken.

She turns and fixes her husband with a baleful look. Stan is trembling as he walks on unsteady legs towards his mother. Diana too is standing up now, and her face is now suddenly scared.

"What? What do you mean, mother?" Stan asks, stunned. "What do you mean by Roland and Chris came from the same parents?"

Mrs. Lois Bawa smiles sadly, but she does not drop her gaze from Chris' face.

"Well, your father, who is now a man of God, was once a man with an insatiable thirst for ladies. Roland was five years old when a woman came to our house one day with a baby girl. That woman was called Martha, and she was your father's girlfriend.

Apparently, your father had a child with her, and she was not prepared to be an unmarried mother since a man wanted to marry her but wasn't interested in her child. So she brought the baby girl to me. That girl was just a year old. I had no option but to accept that baby girl as my child, although she was the daughter of your father's girlfriend. We named that girl Diana."

Diana gasps with a sudden shock and clutches her heart, and then she sits down slowly and bursts into sudden tears. Kofi Dossah, her husband, takes her into his arms, but he cannot speak, because he is equally shocked by the turn of events.

The Reverend reaches for a chair and sits down, covering his face with his hands.

Mrs. Lois Bawa now walks towards a devastated Stan, and looks at him sadly.

Stan shakes his head and takes a step back, shaking his head numbly, his face twisted with passionate fear.

"No, mother, no, no, no, don't say it! Please don't say I'm not your child too!"