Dysfunctional Family - Season 1 - Episode 25

4 years ago

Dysfunctional Family - Season 1 - Episode 25

“Hey buddy, you look gloomy. What’s up?”

Amos looked away from the beer he was drowning himself in for a while and spared his friend a glance. “Take a seat and we’ll talk,” he said. His friend and workmate Mazuba sat beside Amos in the bar and ordered a big bottle of Black Label.
“Talk to me,” he told Amos, opening the bottle using his teeth.

Amos downed some more beer and burped. “I’m useless.”

“Continue saying that and you’ll actually be exactly useless. What makes you even utter such strong words about yourself if I may ask?”

It was an issue which had been troubling Amos for almost a year now. His pitiful state and how he still lived with his parents, under his parents’ roof to be technical, was blasphemous. At the age of 23! Not that there’s a problem with that but Amos did see one though. He wanted to be independent but how would he achieve independence if his wage was too little? Remember Donald had found him a job at a garage four years back? Well, Amos had screwed up by stealing an expensive metal from a car he’d been assigned to fix and when he was caught and arrested, Donald paid bail for him. Not without chastising him.

“I am ashamed to call you my son!” Donald had yelled once they were home. “I find you a job and this is how you show appreciation..stealing from a client?”

“The salary I get is low, Dad,” Amos had shamelessly tried to defend himself.
“You know that’s bullshit, Amos. And save it for interested people like your mother for example.”

“Eh,” Juliet had hurriedly stuck her head from the kitchen where she was preparing a meal. “Please leave me out of your conversation!”

“See?” Donald pointed out to Amos. “Even your own mother is slowly turning her back on you when all along she’s been the one encouraging you to do stupid things. If she says jump, you’d ask how high. Now listen to me and listen good, I did my part and now am done,” Donald actually washed his hands in mid air. “I’m done with you, Amos. Good luck finding a decent job without my help..what with those 9s you got on your grade 9 exams..ha!”

Amos who was too big headed to apologize or show remorse had simply walked out on his father and since then had never been able to find a stable job. He’d go from working at a car wash, to tending to people’s lawns in the suburbs and the likes and now he worked as a ndaka boy(Guys who mix cement with water at building sites) at a certain building site. He occasionally even made blocks and Donald who was too busy with work and tending to Alice’s school fees cared less. Alice was studying Human Resource Management at NIPA.

Now Amos looked scruffy and looking at him always brought pain to Juliet who had several times tried talking to Donald.

“He’s your son, our son.. Why can’t you just forgive him and find him something decent to do cause I know you can pull that off if you want,” Juliet would say and Donald would retort, “So that he can embarrass my name, no way!”
“Donald, please.”
“Juliet, he’s your son too so why don’t you go look for a job for him yourself? At a Beauty Parlour maybe.”
“Don’t insult my son and I, please.”
And the conversation would come to an end.
Now back at the bar, Amos was wallowing in self pity wondering what he’d do next cause he definitely didn’t plan to be making blocks and mixing cement and water for the rest of his life.

Mazuba assuringly said, “You know you can talk to me, right?”
“Yeah, bruv..God, this is hard,” Amos ran hands across his face. “It’s my job, am not happy with it.” “You think I am? Hell no! But we ought to be grateful for the little we have so who am I to complain?” With a shrug, Mazuba began gulping down his Black Label and focused his eyes on the football match showing on T.V. “Cheer up, Amos.”
But Amos couldn’t cheer up. Why would he when there’s this cute girl he was crushing on and single glance at her told him he wasn’t her type. A person like Mazuba wouldn’t understand this. To Amos, Mazuba was one of those people that don’t dream big. Those people that seem too content with the little that they have. That wasn’t how Amos was, he told himself. He liked to dream big and to prove his father and the odds wrong, he promised to better himself come what may.

☆☆☆

Lubesha’s heart was thumping as he opened the e-mail. For a while he even shut his eyes and as had become his norm lately, offered God a short prayer. Once again, Lubesha’s prayers had been answered. He’d scooped himself a spot as a newspaper reporter at the reputed news agency, just like that.

He gave Mark a call and told him they hook up for drinks.

“I am truly happy for you, man. You deserve everything after all your hard work!” Mark beamed as Lubesha ordered their favourite drinks.

“Thanks, Mark. It’s you I ought to thank seeing as you’re the one who introduced me to that scholarship agency, I’ll forever be indebted to you.”

Mark who currently was unemployed smiled. “You don’t owe me anything..Let’s just say God used me to fulfill your destiny.”

Friends like Mark are rare, this Lubesha knew and for this reason he was going to cling to him and somehow repay him in one way or another for all he’d done for him.

A few days before reporting for work, Lubesha decided to pay his aunt and uncle a visit and ask for their blessings. He already felt guilty for not seeking their blessings before leaving for Australia. And four years had passed since the Alice incidence so he only hoped they’d forgiven him or at least Alice’s conscience had finally prompted her to tell the truth. Lubesha put on his best clothes and wore an expensive cologne he’d managed to purchase in Sydney. He was looking as handsome as he could at his best when he left his new apartment and booked a taxi to drive him to his uncle’s place. He only hoped they’d not moved.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he got off the taxi and saw Juliet reading a novel on the porch. She was too engrossed in the book to see him.

With a little humour, Lubesha read the author and title of the book aloud, “If Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Sheldon..” he added, “Great book.”

A startled Juliet leaped to her feet and a scream caught in her throat. Her facial expression was that of someone who’s seen a ghost.

“Lubesha?” She eyed him from head to toe. “You’ve been missing in action for years such that I thought you’re dead or something.” she’d been secretly wishing he was indeed dead. Gaining composure, she crossed her arms and scowled. “What do you want? Have you come to rub your success in our faces?”

“Actually, it’s the opposite. I’ve come to seek your blessings instead.”
Juliet laughed, mockingly of course. “What makes you think we’d give them to you, huh?”

Lubesha patiently said, “I was just hoping.. Anyway, is uncle around?”
“He’s out of town. Now leave my house and never come back.”

The door opened just then and Alice showed up in the doorway. She too looked like she’d seen a ghost.

“Lubesha? You..You look great.”
“You don’t look bad either.”

Alice sheepishly said, “Please come in.”
Lubesha looked at Juliet who was shooting daggers at him so he said, “Pass. Just tell uncle am back from Australia where I went to study Journalism and I came to ask for his blessings seeing as I’m starting work in a few day’s time. I’ll be back though. Have a nice day, aunt and Alice.”

It was long after Lubesha was gone that Juliet found her voice. “Did he just say Australia?”
“Yeah..what’s wrong with him going abroad?”

Everything! Wanted to scream Juliet but she forced a smile and sat, opening the novel. “Nothing.”

On his way back to his apartment, Lubesha spotted someone who looked like Amos. It took him a long time to finally decide it was indeed him so he told the driver to stop.
Lubesha got out of the car and called, “Amos?”

Amos turned and came face to face with his cousin. “Lubesha?”
Lubesha was looking and smelling great while Amos was the total opposite.

He was dirty, looked stressed and could easily be mistaken for a thug or something.
Amos took one long look at Lubesha and took to his heel, leaving Lubesha calling after him.
Amos ran like he was being chased by a murderer when in actual sense he was just too embarrassed to face Lubesha.

Where he stood, Lubesha shook his head in shock. “That was odd.”

☆☆☆

The fourth test in a roll came out positive and as usual, Juliet dumped it in frustration. She knew she was overreacting but had every right to. It’s not everyday a 45 year old woman falls pregnant, is it? A woman who has a 23 year old son and 21 year old daughter. It was a shame.

And she had been pregnant three times before so she knew she definitely was this around.

She washed her face and looked at herself in the mirror. Her pimples would definitely multiply now that she was expecting, she feared. She popped one and winced.

As she left the bathroom, she muttered, “Crap. I gotta tell Donald.”
And tell him she did later that night. Speak of dropping a bomb on someone’s head, that’s how she did it.

Donald was tucking himself under the sheets when she announced, “Am pregnant.”

He gave her a long stare. “Who’s the father?”

“What sort of stupid question is that? You of course.”

“No..” He slowly shook his head. “I am 99.9 percent certain am not the father so kindly do me the honour of telling me who knocked you up.”

Juliet began perspiring. How could he tell the baby wasn’t his? Was he some witch doctor or something?