Family tradition 5
Steve slept off on the couch, while David sat on the couch with his phone in his hands.
He dialed Dorothy’s phone number one last time, it connects. ” It’s ringing” he muttered with a smile.
She picks up the call reluctantly.
” Hello” she spoke first.
” Hi, dorathy”
” What’s the problem”
” I just wanted to greet you goodnight and ask if we could meet tomorrow morning”
Dorathy sighed before hanging up the call and going to bed. She lay on the bed with a pink pjamas given to her by Lisa.
She looked at the ceiling fan as it sway slowly, it screeched.
Some many thoughts and unanswered questions flooded her mind, *should I forgive him?, no one is perfect, they say the Devil you know is better than the angel you don’t know, but if I forgive him so easily, he will cheat on me again and expect me to forgive him*
Lisa walked into the room, ” you left the door open?” She asked while pulling the door close, but did not get a response from dorathy. She walked up to dorathy who’s eyes were wide open.
She gently tapped on her while calling her name ” dorathy, dorathy, dorathy”
Dorathy replied with a ” hmm”
“You should stop thinking too much, it’s not good for you considering the condition you are in” Lisa spoke softly.
” I know, but David is not giving me a choice.” Dorathy replied looking gloomy.
“You just have to be strong, I will leave you to sleep now, it’s well past 11pm. Make sure you get some rest”.
” I will” dorathy replied while cuddling two pillows to make herself comfortable.
The next morning..
Dorathy finished preparing for work before 6:30am, she drove down to their house to get her clothes.
Sam the gateman, opened the gate after he heard the honking.
Dorathy drove in, he quickly closed the gate and hurried back to meet her.
” Good morning madam” he greeted her.
” Is my husband at home?” She asked curtly.
” No, he just left for work”
She felt relieved he was not at home, she can not condole his drama.
The house was quiet as she walked up stairs into their room.
She opened the door and was dumb-struck at the change of decoration, the walls were coated in red linen.
The floor was covered in red roses. The fragrance filled the air. She picked up the card from the bed. It read.
“Please forgive me..”
She felt disgruntled reading the card, so she drops it on the floor and turns to leave, when David walked in and knelt down.
” I know this is the second time it’s happening, I promise to be better, it won’t happen again, please”
” David you hurt my heart, and I don’t think the wound will ever heal”
She walked out of the room without getting her clothes, she was amazed to see her Mom, Lisa and the entire Williams family waiting downstairs.
” I am not ready for any of this drama, I have called my lawyer to prepare the divorce papers.” She spoke arrogantly, the room was silent, no one wanted to piss her off the more.
Her mom is the only person she would listen to.
Dorathy was about entering her car, when she heard her mom’s gentle voice, “dorathy wait.”
“Let’s talk”
” Mom I am late for work, maybe when I come back”
” Just call in sick, tell them you can’t come today.”
After contemplating for a while, she made the call.
They walked down to relaxation spot behind the house and sat down.
” I know you want to advise me about David but my mind is made up, I can’t condole infidelity. This is the second time he is doing it,
what is the assurance he won’t do it again.”
” No one is perfect, just give him a second chance.”
” Second chance, you mean a third chance. What is the assurance he won’t do it again?”
” Calm down and listen to me, I know you are hurt. You might think i do not understand how you feel but I was in your shoes once.
I never told you this but your dad cheated on me after 1 year of being married. I moved out of the house and told him it was over, I was very angry and bitter at him. i had moved on with my life but after 5 months he kept calling and begging, he had not signed the divorce papers, so we were still married legally. My mom called me one day just like this and advised me.” She paused and drank some water, then she continued
” If I didn’t heed to her advise, I would not have had this beautiful family i have now.
The day I forgave him I looked into his eyes and saw he was a changed man. Today i looked at David’s eye and saw that same change I saw in your Dad 28 years ago. If not for anything but for your child, please forgive him. Don’t deny him the right to be the child’s father.”
” I am just confuse, I need more time to think about this.” Dorathy replied.
” You have all the time you need, think about it.”
Dorathy’s mom went back into the house, where they sat and waited for Dorathy to give them a feedback.
The day was gone, it was almost 4pm and Dorathy had not come in to give her final decision.
Mr and Mrs Williams got into their car and drove off with Steve, dorathy’s mom was about leaving when dorathy opened the door and walked in.
” I have forgiven you.” She said.
David rushed to welcome her back, he spread his hands to give her a hug but she took two steps backwards dodging the hug.
“David just listen to me. I am not saying i have full forgiven you, it’s like you are on probation, if it happens again i won’t think twice about it.”
©️ Christian Ngei Laleobe