Searching for Love, Found Wealth

I wanted to ask Fredrick if he could change the song, I looked at Fredrick, he wore a straight face. From where he was going to seemed he was taking me to mom’s office. I calmed my nerves. What could go wrong?

All of a sudden, he made a diversion. My eyes remained glued to the right route till it was out of sight. “Um…sir?” I muttered. “I’m taking the back” he answered hoarsely.

I nodded, my mom once told me about the back route that worker took. The front gate was for front gate so I have never been to the back route before. I calmed my nerves again and enjoyed the ride.

The music stopped. He parked his car. A man got in.

I tried to keep calm besides the man. I noticed he was looking at me steadily but I dare not look up. My mom called me. “Don’t answer it” Fredrick ordered “I’m taking you to her”.

At that point, he made another diversion, I wasn’t scared this time because I could already see the company now – it’s back view.

When we got in, I quickly reached out to open the door but the man in the car stopped me. He looked very familiar.

“Give this to your mom” he said kindly. I hesitated but took the bag from him and left the door. Soon Fredrick left with his car. My mom was a single mom, random men shouldn’t take interest in her. I frowned.

There were still some people at work. I knocked on my mom’s office. She was a senior worker so she had an office of her own.

I guess her company is the only company at Cornfest that I know judges their employees based on their capability and not by skin color.

My mom’s application had been turned down many places without definite reasons till a friend introduced her here. I knocked again. I tried opening. Locked.

I had had a bad, good but very tiresome day, today. “The best thing you’ll do to me, mom, is to pick up your phone now” I said as I called her.

“Yes, dear” she answered. “Where are you?”

“At your office. Where else?”

“Really? Wait there for me. Don’t move”. Call ended.

I glared at my phone. How long was I going to wait. “Hey, you there” a woman walked to me. She looked me over. “Get out” she hollered.

Before I could explain myself, she was dragging me off to the exit. Other colleagues kept quiet, none of them knew me.

Those were the night workers. “Wait, please, I came to see someone” I said amidst holding unto a pillar. She was twice my size and had a lot of prowess.

“Babies aren’t allowed here!” she replied back. She pointed at the exit, “Wait outside” and went back to her work. “Babies?” I repeated.

I was a young adult, for crying out loud, and should be treated with respect. I have human rights. Babies was an insult.

If I was a baby then what would she call a real baby? Tiny human? I giggled again at my lame joke.

“And what’s so funny” Mom asked behind me. She was sweating like had she run the cross country marathon? “You ran all the way?” I blurted without thinking. She frowned.

I immediately brought the package that the man earlier gave me to her face. She took it from me and made a face.

“I couldn’t say no to the guy who gave me. He could have been Fredrick’s friend who was interested in you” I said in my defense.

“Also, you might need to get remarried” I added in a low tone. She didn’t hear me. Good, I didn’t mean it anyway.

There were two nylon inside the package.

On one nylon, my name was pasted, the other one had “mom”. I held unto her. Whoever was that man, how did he know my name? We walked the way home.

He was dangerous. The content of the nylon that had “mom” was a gun – a very short pistol. Mom had screamed when she opened it. I was scared to open mine. What if it was a bomb?

Mom looked at me and then at the nylon. I ran with it to the dustbin but mom called me “open it, he won’t harm you”.

I gazed down at my nylon. But what if it’s a bomb? And it denotes right here in front of my mom? The whole Cornfest could be in danger!! Was feeling like an action movie now.

And how did she know he wouldn’t hurt me? Who was he?

Well, the nylon answered me. In there were two pictures – one of three year old me and my dad, and the other, my parents on my naming ceremony.

The man at Fredrick’s car became familiar. Memories flooding in. HE WAS MY DAD. The pictures fell of my hands. My dad was still alive since all these years. Eleven years past.

My mom was crying. Why? Did she miss him? Wait, does this mean he’s coming back to us? I was supposed to be happy but I didn’t feel happy.

He left and now he wants to casually come back. And the gun? What, was he threatening mom? Did he just need me and not mom? No way, he’s not going to get me.

Our lives isn’t just something you leave and take when you want. To add, I didn’t need a father anymore. I stepped on the pictures on my way to my room.

Nothing happened. I don’t care about our memories, he killed them the moment he left without a reason. Single mom is hard but we lived through it.

My mom followed me to my room. I thought of slamming the door on her face but that would be rude. Also it was my “father” that I should express my anger to and not my mom. “Dear, are you okay?” She asked searching my face. I met her gaze.