THE MISSING KEY.. EPISODE 15-18

THE MISSING KEY
EPISODE 15
Ada was lying on her bed when Mum knocked on her door. She stood up, looking surprisingly at the door.
That was strange, nobody ever knocked on anybody’s in this house. Something was wrong, she was sure. She walked up to the door and opened it, not knowing what to expect. Mum was facing her; they stared at each other for some seconds and mum walked into the room looking around the room like she was seeing it for the first time.
Ada continued to stare at her even as Mum sat on her bed. Mum looked intensely at her from the bed, “Have you been crying? Your face looks swollen.”
“No Mum but…”
“It’s okay, you just have to brighten up… sit down, I will like to chat with you.” Mum quickly said.
Now this was definitely strange. How was Ada going to have a mother daughter chat with mum? That would be weird, she had never seen mum from that angle.
“For how long now have you noticed that you were pregnant?” Mum softly asked.
This melted Ada’s spirit. She looked up at Mum and surprisingly couldn’t hold the stare. She suddenly saw herself as a child.
“I have been late for three days and it has been bothering me.” She replied, her eyes pleaded for help.
Mum could see it.
Mum felt really bad all over again. She didn’t even know the dates that surround her daughter’s monthlies. What kind of mother was she?
But she was a bit hopeful that Ada might not be pregnant after all.
“What has been bothering for the past three days?” She asked.
“I don’t know Mum, I …”
“Don’t be afraid, I won’t scold you,” Mum encouraged her.
“I had unprotected sex with… my boyfriend the last time I wasn’t safe and it had gotten me scared all these while; I have been anticipating my period even before now.”
Mum continued to stare at her, but there was no trace of anger in her face.
“Ada, I must be honest, I have always suspected that you were sexually active and I am very sorry that I didn’t do anything about it. The problem now is that you are doing it without protecting yourself. Why are you taking such risk?” she gently asked.
“I… I don’t know Mum, I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“You are too young to make sex your priority; you obviously cannot handle it. As you can see it is capable of distracting you from your focus in life and by the time you know it, it is already too late as time waits for no one.”
Mums words were really affecting Ada. Painful tears started to flow from her eyes, “I am very sorry Mum, I didn’t know what got over me. I didn’t think anybody cared and got carried away by frustrations. I allowed myself to be deceived by Mike and…” her sobs couldn’t allow her finish.
“It’s okay now,” Mum said and held her onto her bosom, it felt good to have her baby back.
“I promise that you won’t feel neglected again, I will always be here for you. Don’t cry.” She allowed Ada to cry for some time,
“Now I want you to promise me that you will start acting accordingly, No more missing lectures for anything, you party with only my permission, I want to know who your boyfriend is, bring your friends home and make me a part of your life. Can you do that?”
“Yes Mum, I will try,” Ada answered, wondering how she could fulfill the promise.
“Don’t worry, we will work together to bring you to the right path, and I will also like to learn some new tricks you girls have nowadays, you know I am already old fashioned?”
This got Ada smiling, “You are not old fashioned Mum, you are still young and beautiful,” she said, surprised at how easy that came out from her mouth. This wasn’t going to be difficult afterall.
Mum sighed heavily, “Ok, I want you to have a rest, relax you mind and allow nothing to trouble you.” She stood up and headed for the door, she remembered that Ada’s mobile phone was still with her.
“have your phone” Mum said handing over the phone to her.
“Thanks Mum.I love you” Ada said.
“I love you too my dear. Your father and i will be preparing something in the kitchen. When the food is ready, i will call you” Mum said and left.
Ada was really surprised at this. Mum and Dad cooking. What a day.
Immediately, her phone rang. It was Mike.
“helo baby, dress up and come over, there is a party. remember to bring money o” Ada hissed.
“I am sorry Mike, i can’t make it” She replied without any fear of rejection.
WATCH OUT FOR EPISODE 16
THE MISSING KEY
EPISODE 16
John gently raised his head when Dad walked into his room. To Dad, he looked like he was tired of life.
He slowly sat up as Dad entered. He couldn’t understand why Dad was in his room. But Dad wasn’t looking angry and that helped calm him down a bit.
Dad sat beside him, a moment of silence lingered. Dad couldn’t help but stare at John’s childhood picture on mini drawer beside John’s bed. He picked it up, looked at it, smiled slightly and dropped it back.
“You know I attempted smoking when I was quite young.” Dad was gentle, John listened.
“I really didn’t want to do it, but then, my friends would think that I was too dull and wouldn’t want me to continue to be their friends again. But then my grades began to depreciate and luckily for me one of my teachers called me to order. I heard one of them became addicted to drugs and is presently in a psychiatric home now.”
John shifted uncomfortably on the bed.
“And if I hadn’t changed from bad ways, I wouldn’t have been able to have a wonderful family and even be able to carter for them.” He stopped and stared directly at John “Why did you do it son?”
John looked up into Dad’s face in confusion.
Then in a very soft tone, “Why did you make the choice to start smoking at a very young age?”
“I… I don’t know Dad. My friends were doing it and… , I wouldn’t be their friends if I didn’t join them.” John stammered.
“But didn’t you know it was wrong?”
“I… I knew it was wrong Dad but… I didn’t have anybody to talk to. I was afraid of losing my friends. I couldn’t talk to you or Mum and my teachers are always mean; I couldn’t possibly talk to them without getting my friends into trouble.”
Dad sighed “I am really sorry son for not being there for you. But always remember that there are times when you must make decisions on your own. the fact that you are just 14years old does not mean you should not be wise in making tough choices”
“I am sixteen Dad,” John injected, but with a smile. He was already overwhelmed with the way Dad was talking to him.
“sixteen? Wow!” Dad was really surprised.
“When did you get to sixteen? My little boy is almost a man,” he said, hitting John lightly on the head.
“We all have conscience son and we always know when we make the right choice. And if you are confused about making any choice, come and talk to me.”
“But you are always at work Dad.”
“I promise you that as from today I will always be there for you to talk to. Don’t worry about my work; I will work out something that will be fair to every one of us.”
“Thanks Dad,” John said, he was deeply glad.
Dad stood up and stared at him for some time, “You know I can’t believe how big you have grown.”
John smiled sheepishly.
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
John looked sharply at Dad, “No”
Dad regarded him for a while, wondering what he was doing with a sachet of condom.
“Girls don’t like me and I am scared of talking to them” John found himself saying.
“That’s not true; you are a very handsome young man. You see, girls like intelligent and confident men. That’s why you must concentrate on your studies and build your self confidence. All these you can’t achieve by missing classes. Right now your only priorities are your studies. If your friends can’t accept this decision then you leave them. People will respect you more when you make the right choices always. Thank God you were even thinking of protection, but can you handle the consequences? No. it will only succeed in distracting you from your studies.” Dad preached.
“I am sorry Dad,”
“I want to trust to make the right decision and talk to me when you are confused. I want you to promise me that you will concentrate more on your studies,be a good boy and make better grades this term. Will you do that?”
“Yes Dad, I promise,”John said with a smile. Dad patted his back and left.
John felt happy for the first time in a very long time.
WATCH OUT FOR EPISODE 17
THE MISSING KEY
EPISODE 17
Mum was very busy in the kitchen that she didn’t notice Dad standing at the door, and carefully observing her.
“How did it go?” Dad asked.
Mum quickly looked behind her, “Oh, you startled me,” it was not every day that Dad comes around to meet her in the kitchen.
“Well, the response was fine and I am glad I talked to her, I don’t really think she is pregnant, she is just anxious that all.”
“Wow, that would be a great relieve. I had a long talk with John. Hopefully if we play our parts right as parents from now, we will witness a positive change in them soonest.” He slowly walked up to her and held her by her waist, “What are you preparing” he asked in a soft husky tone.
“Your favourite, do you want to join me?”
“Of course…” he looked at Mum deeply in the eyes “Do you remember when we used to cook together?”
“Yes, it was one of the memorable times of my life,” Mum replied as she chuckled and laughed out softly.
“Then the kids started coming. And we shifted focus from us to them.”
“We wanted to give them the best in life but we had to go through a lot of pressure to keep up our desire.” Mum added.
“As a result of this pressure we lost communications not only between the two of us but even between the kids.” Dad put in again.
“It’s about time we have a real family, you know,”
“Yes and thank you very much for coming back to us, I have missed you,” Mum whispered as they both shared a warm make up kiss.
***
I was sitting in my room, still wondering what I was going to do about the key in my possession. I was really scared and needed someone to talk to. The only person I could think of was sister Ada.
I was sure they would get angry with me and blame me for causing them get into trouble with Dad, but I’d rather prefer making them angry than having dad mad at me, not even today. Beside if I could tell them, then automatically I wouldn’t be alone in this crime, we would all be in it together. With the bunch in my hand, I hurried into Ada’s room.
Wow, she looked different. There was just nothing to fear in those eyes. In fact from this new look of hers; I instantly knew I could confide in her. She just stared at me, expecting me to say something.
“The key is with me” I cried.
Her eyes opened up wider in shock.
“You have been with the key all these while?” she asked, obviously trying to understand what I was up to.
“I didn’t know I was with it, I must have ‘sleep walked’ it into my bag last night before going to bed.”
John must have heard me from his room, because he rushed out of the room to make further enquiries.
“Did I hear you say you have the keys with you?” he asked as soon as he approached me from behind.
“Yes, I mistakenly put it in my bag while parking my books last night before going to bed.”
“But why didn’t you bring it out all day,” Ada asked.
“I found out when it was already too late and I was scared of letting anyone know.” Tears filled my eyes.
But surprisingly they were staring at me thoughtfully, no mean face and no rude words.
“What do we do now?” John asked Ada.
‘We?’ I wasn’t sure I heard him right.
“Give it to me, Mum and Dad are in the kitchen right now and once they are through they will call us to eat. I will open up that I am with the key.” She looked at me and drew me closer, “Stop crying, Dad is not going to be mad at you.”
I later went back to my room to lie down; feeling like a heavy burden had been taken away from me. I couldn’t believe Ada was going to take the blame on my behalf. I resolved that I wasn’t going to allow her to do it.
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THE MISSING KEY
FINAL EPISODE
3.00pm
It was time for lunch. The whole house was famished, and even though Mum had asked Ada to wait unto her call before coming to eat, Ada had decided to come down and help. Dad was obviously not being very useful in the kitchen; he was just distracting mum. Both were trying all afternoon to reason out what happened to the key. It was really surprising to them.
In no time John and I joined them. The kitchen became.filled up. Everybody wanted to feel the new vibe in the house. It was just warm.
I was no longer afraid of telling Dad and Mum that I was with the key. There was something in their faces that calmed me for the mean time.
Soon, lunch was ready. It was strange having everybody on the table, eating together!! Dad was all smiles. He looked more handsome in his mood.
“Let us pray,” Dad said after the food had been served.
“Linda, pray for us.”
Somehow, I just knew Dad would call me.
“Thank you, father in heaven, for this meal. Thank you for today and using the lost key to bring us all together. Dear Lord, we ask that you sustain this new atmosphere of love you have bestowed unto us. We also ask you for forgiveness of our sins in the past. Forgive me specially for being responsible for the lost key. I believe that if you forgive me, my parents will also find it in their heart to forgive. Thank father for answering my prayers,”
Everybody chorused, “Amen”.
I didn’t open my eyes immediately, but I could feel pairs of eyes staring at me. Then I opened my eyes and looked straight at Dad. He was smiling.
“Why did you take the key?” He gently asked, he wasn’t going to allow this spoil his mood.
“It was a mistake Dad; I mistakenly put it in my school bag last night before going to bed. I was feeling so sleepy that I didn’t know when or how I did it” I said, with genuine remorse.
“But why didn’t you say anything about it since morning?” Mum asked, she was really surprised that of all her kids, I was the one in possession of the missing key.
“I was scared Mum. It was already too late when I realized that it was with me. Moreover i was afraid of what Dad would do to me ” I answered.
“It’s alright, you don’t need to be afraid of me again, do you understand?” Dad said, with the smile still on his face. I guess he was amused by the fact that I had included the issue in my prayers. “Alright then, give the key to me.”
I looked at Ada, who was at first concerned that I had rattled myself out despite promising me that she would take the blame.
“I have it with me,” she said as she brought it out of her pocket.
“You knew about this too?” Mum asked.
“Yes Mum, she told me not quite long ago.”
“Can we now eat our meal? I am starving,” Dad said.
It was wonderful having the family come together and eat. Even though the eating session was somewhat awkward, but it sure looked like something we would get used to as long as it was done more often.
After meal Dad said, “I want to apologize for not being there for you all in times past. I promise to be a better Dad as from today.”
I can’t explain how warm and comforting it was hearing those words from him. He looked like a changed man.
“Let’s all try and ensure we have dinner together more often. I want you all to feel free with me. We are one family and we must act like one. Am I understood?”
“Yes Dad,” we all chorused, looking at each other amusingly.
“Finally, every Sunday will be our family day out. We will eat outside and visit exotic places in town. But for today, we can also take some time out. So I want you to decide where you would like to visit this evening. Go get dressed up, because I will be taking you to any place of your choice.” We all smiled and giggled excitedly as we dispersed from the sitting room. Ada helped Mum pack the plates while I and John rushed into our rooms to dress up.
The lost key had turned around to be a good thing after all.
The next day
Dad got to the office, He was ready to resign. He knew he would easily get another job with his credentials. But to his suprise, he was allowed to state his working conditions in order to make time for his family, because of how useful he was to the company.
Mr.Ikedi’s family turned a new leaf.
THE END
Thanks for following the story. I hope you all learnt from it.

The End..