Time to see the aftermath of that unpleasant reunion. What’s happening with the three parties involved?

As boys got ready for lights out, James looked down from his bed and saw Nana laying on his bed, with a facial expression that made it clear that he was not in the mood to talk or be disturbed in any way.

He chose to leave him in his current position.

What a day it had been for Nana Opoku!

What he had expected would be a good day, seeing his mother and her new man, and getting the stuff he needed, turned out to be quite a huge stunner. After having to grow up with stories of how his father had no desire to be a father to him and had walked out, he came to discover that the man he had been chatting with for a while whilst he worked was his own flesh and blood!

He had not been able to go for entertainment after the family left; he was too stunned to do anything else or chat with anyone.

As he lay there, that indwelling bitterness that had always lain at the bottom of his heart towards the man he was supposed to love and admire and respect the most had risen to the very top. If there was anything he was feeling at that point for sure, it was resentment. Especially as he considered all the foolish frivolities his dad had chosen. At that point, the thought of Paa Yaw hungrily hammering his cousin came to mind, and he felt physically sick. He shook his head and turned on his side, his mind a buzzing highway with angry thoughts racing up and down.

I hope your wasteful activities were worth more than being a father to a son who needed you, you selfish asshole!

***

As the Land Cruiser moved into the house, Henry looked at Evelyn one more time. He felt sad inside as he noted the expression on her face.

Broken.

You didn’t need to have prophetic powers to know that seeing her baby daddy for the first time since he had run away had resurrected a lot of emotions. All the hurt, all the grief, all the pain. All visible on her face.

As the car came to a stop, Henry gently said to Mack, “I’m taking her inside.”

Mack nodded. He had already seen enough. No need to say anything.

Ben was sitting in the living room, watching the highlights of the day’s football matches as they walked in. He turned to see them enter, and looked alarmed as he noted Henry holding Evelyn as if he was helping her to walk, with a stricken expression on her face. “What’s wrong? Did something happen on the way?” he asked worriedly.

“I…I-I… I saw him,” Evelyn stuttered.

Ben looked confused. “What?”

Henry sighed. “Um, so we had quite a shock when we went to visit Nana. Sooo… it turned out there’s some guy staying there… and we met him there… and, well, turns out it’s the guy who got her pregnant and ran away.”

Ben’s eyes grew wide. “WHAATT!! You saw Chris?”

“He… he messed me up,” Evelyn muttered to herself, barely paying attention to what her brother had asked. She looked at Henry, a rather accusatory expression on her face. “Why didn’t you let me teach him a lesson?”

“Evelyn, there was no…”

“You’ve should’ve let me deal with the piece of trash,” she continued, totally disregarding any attempt of his to respond, and beginning to scuffle with him.

“Baby, please…”

“YOU SHOULD’VE LET ME TEACH THAT SON OF A BITCH A LESSON, DAMMIT!!”

In full voice, it was obvious the rage was still very much present. Practically pounding Henry with her fists, she continued screaming, oblivious to the attempts of the men to calm her down.

“I SHOULD HAVE KILLED THAT STUPID BASTARD! I SHOULD HAVE SHED HIS BLOOD! HE RUINED MY LIFE! HE RUINED MY LIFE…”

The last two statements seemed to bring a sudden switch in her temperament. Red-hot rage suddenly turned into heart-wrenching grief. Lowering her voice, she whimpered those words again, and then started wailing painfully, slamming her face into Henry’s shoulder as she cried her heart out.

Hugging her tightly, Henry could feel his tear glands getting to work. It was just so painful hearing her weep. There could be no doubt about how awful an effect Chris’ actions had on her, and seeing him was the trigger she didn’t need.

As she continued crying, he signaled to Ben that he’d take care of her, while wiping away the tears that were forming in his eyes. Ben nodded, and left.

Taking their place on the couch, Evelyn seemed content with just crying bitterly while leaning on Henry. Sighing as he tried to imagine the kind of pain she was experiencing, he took out his phone, and dialled a number.

“Yeah, Mack. Chale, you can go home, okay? The way things are, I can’t leave her tonight…”

***

The Yeboah household was a quiet one.

Alfred sat in his chair, clearly at a loss of words. Araba, who had witnessed everything, also sat in her chair, a glum expression on her face.

Paa Yaw was in his chair, his face buried in his hands, sobbing as he recounted the day’s events.

After a long silence, Alfred leaned forward and said, “Hmmmm… I just don’t know what to say. This is like a movie to me. I mean, never in a million years would I have suspected anything like this.”

“Hmmm, Alfred,” Araba added. “I still can’t believe it. I’m still in shock.”

He shook his head. “Crazy how things happen. It’s just crazy.” Looking at Paa Yaw, he called out, “Paa Yaw!”

The weeping man looked up at him, his eyes puffy and red.

“Hmmm, Paa Yaw. This is not a time where I’d be blasting you over your life choices. Your tears alone are enough to show how this thing has been a nasty slap for you. I don’t know if this is what you’ve been running away from, but… that’s another topic. All I know is, you have to set things right.”

Paa Yaw rubbed his eyes and sniffed as he looked at the older man before him.

“This won’t be easy. From what Araba said, Evelyn would probably have hacked you to death on my verandah and have no regrets; she’s still hurt by what it turns out you did to her. And the boy by now is probably feeling bitter. If I tell you it’ll be as simple as a quick “I’m sorry”, that’s a lie. They more than likely hate every cell of yours right now. But listen to me, at some point, you need to set things right. You can’t leave it as it is; that will only complicate matters. I don’t know how you’re going to do it. But you have to resolve this issue. You must!”

But how will that happen? Especially at this time. It certainly won’t be easy, will it?