Unrequited Love

56

"Do you mind telling me why you've been sulking all day?" Dana sat beside her son. Faridah had taken them to an arcade and the girls had gone crazy, running in different directions.

Dana had sent Faridah to retrieve them while she had a quick chat with her son.

"I haven't been moody."

"I'm trying to meet you half way Brian, please meet me there. I'm not in a very good mood but I want to communicate with you so you know that I see you and I hear you."

After a minute of chewing his lip, he asked "Why did you make us go see dad?"

"Because he wanted to see you." Dana replied truthfully. "And your grandparents too, they wanted to see you."

"I don't mind hanging with gran gran and pop but you and dad are apart again, the last time, he was gone for so long I stopped counting."

Dana played with his hair, it'd grown and was covering his eyes a little. "Your dad and I got into a fight, and I was the one who left this time around."

"Why?"

The genuine curiosity in his voice broke her heart. "I don't know how to explain some things to you, because you're too young to understand but I felt like we needed something better. Me, you and your sisters needed someone who was going to be available."

"I didn't want to see dad today." Brian looked at his mom, like he was afraid she wouldn't like what he'd just said.

"Why's that?"

"He's never around and he misses all my games day. When he is around, he locks himself in his music room and beats his drums so loud the baby cries."

Dana had tried to make him watch the kids and she had learnt her lesson early. "He's your dad, I know he's not perfect but he's always going to be your dad."

"I don't want him to be my dad anymore. Damon said it's better to be an orphan than have a dad who doesn't show up.". Brian's lower lip trembled but his eyes was dry.

"Who's Damon?" Dana asked, pulling her son into her lap.

"He's in my class and everyone likes him." Brian protested weakly to his new position. "He's always picking on me during lunch time and everybody laughs."

"Why didn't you tell me this?"

"Cause that was last year, now he just pushes me around or takes my apple."

"That's bullying baby, there's nothing great about that. Boys like Damon aren't as perfect as they claim to be, it's the bullies that have it worse at home."

Brian shrugged. "Nobody cares about that, he's the cool kid and I'm a loser."

"You're not a loser baby, I'm sorry I wasn't aware enough to know something was going on at school but I'll follow you to school on Monday and we'll iron everything out."

"You can't come to school! Damon always said if I told anyone about it, then he'd do something worse."

"He's going to do something worse anyway. He's scared, that's why he said that and if we don't snip his bullying at the root, he's going to grow up to be a rotten kid."

Brian deflated in her arms. "Everyone's going to know I told you and laugh at me."

Dana kissed his head, annoyed she'd been too lost in her own world to realize her baby boy was suffering too. "They're laughing because there's nothing else for kids to do. It's always the bystanders that find bulling funny, never the bullied."

"I have rounded up the minions." Faridah panted, one girl locked in each arm.

"Aunt Fari is going to take you guys to play some games, do not try to run away from her, we do not play hide and seek in public places and if anyone strange approaches you; what do you do?"