Mr and Mrs Denver

Chapter 15

“All I did was speak out for you, and my relationship crumbled just like that.”

Tommy's eyes lingered on the daffodils fluttering in the keen wind of the night. He stretched out his limbs while rocking the balcony swing chair back and forth. The garden fluorescent light aided the growths around the garden to be visible, preventing the darkness of the mid summer night from swallowing his vision.

“What you're not gonna do is sit on my balcony and blame me for the failure of your relationship,” Catherine pointed out, mindless of her son's feeble state of mind.

Tommy refused to lift his eyes off the daffodils, not wanting to meet his mother's eyes. He could see the irritation ripped all over her face even without looking. Her punim bore so much disdain for his choice of words. He needed a comfort zone, and where else could he find one if not at his mother's.

There's no comfort zone like home, they say right?

Pretty much determined to avoid Catherine's eyes, he left his gaze plastered on the daffodils dancing in the breeze. He was involuntarily concentrated on the number of moths flying over the flowers and pollinating the blooming bud.

“For years, I have stayed out of the way of your relationship ever since you proved adamant to sharing your life with Grace. Now that you're drowning in that relationship, you wanna do what now? Blame me for the failure of your relationship?” Catherine seethed.

“I'm not blaming you ma. All I said was everything fell apart because I spoke out for you.”

“You spoke out for me, but you're only doing so now right? After so many years of humiliation from Kenneth, and even Grace. She subtle drag me like her father did. But I swallowed all the insults for your sake, all for what?”

Tommy managed to peal his eyes off the flowers to look up at his mother. Her eyes were already fixed on him. "I'm sorry if that's how you felt. I'm sorry for everything Grace's father did and said to you. I'm sorry I put you in a difficult situation while trying to work out a relationship with the girl I love."

"Don't you dare do that. Don't you dare do that to me, you hear me?" A bead of tears ran down her cheek, finally falling off her jaw and plashed on her chest. "You really think I don't know how it feels to love someone way out of earth? How did you think I had you if I didn't?"

"This has nothing to do with you and my father, this is just different. He let the world burn you, but that's not what happened with Grace and I." He reported fiercely.

"She might not have treated you exactly how your father treated me, but the similarity is in how we both love our partners. You don't love Grace anymore than I loved your father. But unlike you, I knew when to walk away from a bad relationship, even with all those feelings. It's one thing to love someone but it's another to spend the rest of your life with them. That's where I knew better. I knew love wasn't enough to settle for less, but it took you so long to learn this, that is if you've learnt anything at all. I won't be surprised if you went back to Grace to continue bearing the dehumanising treatment they gave you."

Having said all that there was to say, Catherine picked up the yarn and knitting needle which was resting on the stool beside her and resumed spinning her tablecloth. The air slowly went colder without anyone uttering a word. It would've been deaf silent if not for the low squeaks from the balcony swing chair rocking back and forth.

Tommy felt headshots straight out of his mother's words. His thought grew heavier with the world suddenly whirling by. He was unsure whether Catherine meant he was being selfish or ungrateful.

What was his crime again?
Yes, falling in love with a Christian girl!

He wondered amongst other enigma. Flair of thoughts on the ravelling breakup kept popping up in his mind, taking so many forms like a shape shifter disguising with different identities. Despite the call off, he felt estranged to his own actions as he fought unseen demons to resist the urge to scream 'Grace, what have you done to me!'