The Missing Key

Episode 10

. "But seriously, you must learn not to be afraid of your friends leaving you and most importantly, you must learn not to be afraid of making the right decision." "But how do I know I am making the right decision dad?" John asked with a childish innocence written all over his face. Dad saw it and felt worse. How had he allowed this young man wonder off all alone? "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 to 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. Just yesterday you were my little boy and it hurts me to realize that I have missed out thought out your period of transiting into a man." John smiled sheepishly. "I know at this stage in life you are filled with so much energy and excitement about finding out much about you and the world at large. You are filled with so much curiosity and you will want to do everything and feel like an adult. But remember that you must be responsible to make the right decision and be mindful of the information you get, how you get them and what you do with them. 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 as you discover your strengths. All these you can't achieve by missing classes. You must be focused and know what you want. And by the time you know it you will have as many girls as you want. But you must realize that for you to indulge into sexual relationship you must be matured and responsible. You are way too young to even start thinking about that. 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; you are only a fool when you always make wrong choices. 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 and make better grades this term. Will you do that?" "Yes dad, I promise," Dad stood up. "On your own, you must know how to handle your friends. I won't follow you to school to stop you from being their friend, but you must know what to do to make you a better person from now on. No more smoking, no thinking about sex and always study your books." "Yes dad" "I believe we are all starting afresh. Please do not disappoint me." "I won't dad." Dad walked out of the room leaving John feeling more relieved than ever
3.00pm Ada walked into the kitchen, went straight to mum and whispered "I am on" into her ear. Mum looked at her and both of them smiled at each other. "What are you ladies smiling about?" Dad asked from the door. "Nothing" both ladies chorused. "Okay, okay, that's none my business, I understand." Dad said and walked out of the kitchen. 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; I joined dad and John on the dining table. 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".