章節 53: A LESSON LEARNED THE HARD WAY
A month to Denzel's birthday, he requested Phyllis to escort him to his parents house. They passed by the mall to shop for them. Phyllis bought two matching outfits for Mr. and Mrs. Jonesand gave them to Beryl to present them to her grandparents. Phyllis did that as a form of training for Beryl develop the habit of giving so that she would grow with it. As soon as they got to the Jones' house, Beryl happily rushed to hug her grandfather and said "he-ll-o grandpa, good morning. How're you doing, grandpa? Eii, look at your beard. Why is it white? And where is the hair on your head? I miss you o. Grandpa, where's my grandma? I miss her too." Her grandfather looked happily at her because he realized that his granddaughter wasn't only asking intelligent questions but she also was observant. "Well baby, I am very fine. How are you doing? My beard is white because I have grown old. The white hair is called grey hair. Say after me, grey hair." She laughed at him while repeating it. Hair doesn't grow on my hair because I have alopecia." What's that, grandpa?" She asked and her grandfather told her it was the loss of hair.
"Grandma, grandma, grandma! Beryl shouted as Mrs. Jones entered the house. Good morning, grandma! How are you?" She burst into laughter and when her grandmother asked her what was funny, she mockingly said " grandma, how can you apply makeup on your face when you're old?" They all burst into laughter and her grandmother held her cheeks, " princess, I am fine just as you're. Makeup isn't only for young people." Grandma, then please do me some. Mama, says it's not for kids so she doesn't do some for me." She rushed to the car and brought out the present she got for them to where they were seated and handed it to Mr. Jones. "Grandpa, see I got something beautiful for you and grandma." Mr. Jones took the present and happily said "thank you, baby! That's so thoughtful of you. God bless you."
Mrs. Jones and Phyllis went to the kitchen to prepare lunch so that the men would have time to talk. Phyllis thanked her mother in law for the advice she gave her during their time in Australia. Mrs. Jones laughed and hugged her saying " I had always seen greatness and determination in you and I have always wanted you for a wife for my son. Thank you too Sweetheart for being a good woman to this family. I read and hear about the good work you're doing and I am so proud to be your mother in law." "Dad, I hope you're doing well? It's been a while since we met because of work and family. I'm sorry for not being able to be frequently visiting you." Denzel said. Mr Jones laughed for a while and said " Denzel, your mother and I are doing well and we have never been bothered about your not being able to be visiting frequently. After all you make time to call us and you even give us the opportunity to build a relationship with our granddaughter. Look at her. Did you see how happy she was to see me? I understand you, that's how marriage and family make you. Besides, we're proud of you and Phyllis and we couldn't have asked for a better wife for you."
"Dad, I am grateful for your understanding. I came here today to have a delicate discussion with you and I hope I don't offend you." Mr. Jones quickly interrupted him saying " don't be silly, boy. What could you possibly do to offend me? You are my son and fathers don't get offended by the mistakes their sons commit, we only get heartbroken and I know you wouldn't go to that extent." Denzel was quiet for a while and then continued " you are a good father who's raised me with so much love and sacrifices and I want to say I am grateful and I really am proud to be your son. Dad, I have been struggling to tell you something for more than two years now but I haven't been able to because I didn't want to hurt you but being with Beryl and seeing how she makes me feel has given me the courage to do so. I found out that Mr. Richards is my biological father some few days to my wedding but I didn't know how to tell you." Mr. Jones interrupted him again " don't worry boy, I have also known for years now. Your mother told me few days to your wedding and I accepted it in good faith. Would I be that wicked to stop a father from knowing a son? What makes me happy is how you still relate to me knowing that your father is this wealthy and affluence man, yet you still have that regard and love for me. You even didn't take the opportunity of being your father from me during your marriage rites and that's something I won't ever get over."
"Wow, dad! You never seize to amaze me." How do I tell my wife? I don't know how she would feel if i tell her especially knowing that i have kept it from her for all this while." Denzel asked Mr. Jones. " Grand-pa, Daddy, please come inside. Lunch has been served. Grandpa, you haven't given me any juice and chocolate yet. Only grandma has baked chocolate cookies for me." Beryl said and then her grandfather carried her on his shoulders and promised to give them to her. As they sat down to eat, Mr. Jones congratulated Phyllis for the good work she had been doing and for making them proud. ",My dear, there's something I want to tell you on behalf of this family. I first would like to apologise for keeping it a secret from you. Kindly forgive us." Phyllis was confused and funny enough the first thing that came to her mind was, Denzel had either impregnated someone else or has had a child with out of wedlock. So she was fuming with anger until Mr. Jones tapped her and said " Denzel, is Mr. Richards son." "What? Is that why Mrs. Richards tried to have us killed? Is that why he is so kind to us? Does Amelia know?" Phyllis questioned. Mr and Mrs Jones jumped out of their seat with fear and anger. "Did she really try to have you killed?" Mrs Jones asked panting heavily.
Denzel calmed his parents down and explained all had happened to them and assured them that, that was a mistake Mrs. Richards made and had already apologised to him. It took him time to convince them that the Richards especially Mrs. Richards wasn't a threat to his life any longer so they should allow him build a relationship with his father because Mr. Richards had emotionally suffered for his sake. He also told Phyllis that Amelia had no knowledge of them being half-siblings and he expects her parents to inform her. They had a lengthy discussion on the issue before Denzel requested for permission to go home. Beryl broke down when they were leaving because she didn't want to leave them behind but Mr. Jones calmed her down with a bowl of ice cream and a bar chocolate before she quietly sat in the car. She waved them goodbye and they drove off.
Phyllis refused to talk to Denzel for days because he had kept such a secret from her. She would cook and perform all her responsibilities towards him with the exception of talking or having sex with him. Denzel was being suffocated by her behaviour and yet he didn't know what to do. The reason for Phyllis' attitude towards him was that she felt betrayed by her husband because she had never kept anything from him and was expecting him to reciprocate. Besides, to her, that was a matter of his identity and no matter what he thought, he should have told her about it. Not because she's interested in their property but even for her to know how to handle her daughter because of genes and heredity. Beryl has an allergic reaction to peanut butter and she is also asthmatic which is a hereditary transfer from Mr. Richards because he has the same condition and yet she has always wondered where she had those medical conditions from. "How could he do that to her? Is it that he doesn't trust her or what?" She constantly kept beating herself about it.
Two weeks after the incidence, Denzel left earlier than usual to the office because he had a case scheduled for the morning. After few hours he heard his phone ringing and when he responded to it, it was Amelia on the line. " Denzel, can you leave whatever it is you're doing and rush to the South Hospital right now. Please, it's urgent. She hanged up because she didn't want him to be asking her questions. Denzel requested his supporting lawyer to stand in for him and since the case was yet to be called. He rushed to the hospital to see their three families, the Richards, Mensahs and Jones all in the waiting room looking very worried. "What's going on? Where's Beryl and Phyllis? He started shaking and sweating instantly. Mr. Mensah took him outside and sat him down before he spoke to him.
"When did you leave the house this morning? And where was your wife when you left?" Mr. Mensah questioned him. I left around 6:47 am which is earlier than usual and Phyllis was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Did you see her when you were leaving?" Mr. Mensah asked him. "No, I didn't see her because she hasn't been talking to me for two weeks now and I am tired trying to get her to talk to me so I stopped trying. He painfully told him. Hmmmm! Mr. Mensah sighed. Both o you are so stupid and that girl hasn't learnt to control her anger. I think she feels betrayed because that's one of the two thing she finds difficult to forgive. The other thing is when she feels you're insulting her intelligence." Mr. Mensah continued. " I told her that Mr. Richards was my biological father and I had known for two more than two years now and she got angry with me for keeping it a secret from her. "Really? She almost lost her life and that of her daughter's because of this?" My daughter is in the operating room because she was found unconscious in your bedroom and Beryl was found lying near your water heater because she had been electrocuted. Melanie called the ambulance as soon as she got to the house because she was now coming home after writing a paper. Nobody knows what happened and the doctors are yet to tell us their diagnosis. Be strong for the both of them. We are all here to support you. Mr. Mensah said and then hugged him. Denzel broke down and cried like a baby. Mr. Mensah allowed him to cry the pain out and he wiped his face when he was done and thanked his father in law.
Amelia rushed to where they were to call Denzel because the doctor had called for him. The doctor offered him a seat and waited for him to be relaxed before he spoke to him. " Your daughter has been resuscitated and she is responding to treatment. She keeps calling for her mom but unfortunately her mother is still in coma because she suffered from ectopic pregnancy which caused her to bleed for a long while before she was brought here. We would have to operate on your wife and also give her blood infusion so I need you to sign the consent form. Your wife has been pregnant for four months but she doesn't seem to have known about it because she's currently in sanitary pad which means she had been bleeding and mistakenly took it for her normal regular menstruation. Denzel was very sad and felt foolish because she's seen her moaning in pain with her hands on her lower abdomen but he felt it was her normal menstrual cramps and ignored her because they weren't talking. I almost killed my wife, he thought.
He went to see Beryl after signing the consent forms and rushed to see her daughter who was lying weakly on the bed and crying for her mother. The nurses couldn't calm her so Denzel took over and was able to calm her down. Amelia came inside too and Denzel left Beryl with her after informing her of the doctor's diagnosis. Amelia told Denzel that, Phyllis had been avoiding her for a while now and had no idea of what she had done wrong. Denzel told her everything and she broke down into tears because she could understand how Phyllis felt. She hugged Denzel and told him that she was happy they were family because she loves him and his family.
Phyllis responded to treatment and was discharged after a week but she was assigned a nurse to be taking care of her. Her mother requested to take her to the Mensahs home so that she would be able to take care of her daughter and also help her to get over the trauma before depression sets in. The Richards also took Beryl to their house so that Mrs. Mensah would be relieved. Phyllis stayed with her parents for about two months and went back to her matrimonial home. She and Denzel reconciled and they were both assigned a counsellor till they had recovered because they both felt guilty and responsible for what had happened and they both learned a tough but good lesson from it. They both resolved never to keep secrets from each other again not to talk of being at loggerheads so far as they continued to be married. They worked on their differences and their relationship became stronger than before.
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