Coming Home

 

                  

 

 

 

 

 

           I was in the kitchen reading the paper and having breakfast with my wife--a typical Saturday morning for us. When the door bell rang my wife? Thuy and I looked at each other, wondering who could be here this early in the morning.

           “Who can this be?” I asked the question out loud.

           “I didn’t invite anyone to come over today,” Thuy answered.

           My wife decided to get the door. While she was headed to the door, I got back to my paper. The next thing I heard her screaming, “Hey Honey! Come in the living room!”

           “Who is it?”

          There was no answer at all. I then asked again “Who is it?” But again, no answer. What is going on? Why didn’t she answer me? I walked toward the living room to see why my wife had not answered me. What was such a big deal that I had to come to the living room.

          As I walked into the living room, I asked, “Who is it?”

          “Hi Dad!” It was a voice that I had not heard for a long time.

           I looked up and saw my son who had run away from home 15 years ago. “What are you doing here?” I answered in an angry voice.

           “Honey, calm down. See what he has to say.” My wife was trying to calm me down.

           “I’m sorry Dad.”

           “Dad! You still remember me as your father, but the day you walked out of this house is the day that I no longer had a son.”

           “I am sorry father, please forgive me; I was young at that time.” he continued to tell me. “Father, I am sorry for running away from home but at that time it was the right thing to do.”

           “What do you mean?” Thuy asked.

           “Mom, Dad, at that time; I felt like nothing I did pleased you.”

           “What do you mean by that?” my wife asking in a very confused voice.

           “Mom, nothing I did was ever good enough for of you.”

           “Because, we knew you could do better,” I answered.

           “You were never happy with anything I did.”

           He took time to wipe the tears from his eyes. “Every project that I did at school never pleased you; you always found fault with everything I did.”  

         “The reason we were hard on you, was that we believes in your talent. We just wanted to see you do the best you could.” I asked. “Why didn’t you tell me then how you felt?”

        “I was afraid.”

        “Afraid?”

        “I did not know how you would respond.”

        My wife interrupted both us and asked. “What do both of you want to drink?”

        “Another cup of coffee please, dear.” I said.

        “I would love your homemade lemonade,” Thang said.

       Thuy smiled at him and walked into the kitchen, leaving Thang and me to work out our problem.

        Thang continued “Dad, at that time I just felt that nothing I could do would make you happy with me.” He continued to tell me that his best friends persuaded him to run away from home with them, so he did. “Dad, I do understand now. Since that night I have got myself into many troubles. Father, you name the trouble; I got involved.”

       “How?”

       “Right after I moved out of the house, I got involved with a gang. I started using drugs at the beginning. Soon after, I became a drug dealer. After a few months doing this, I was arrested.”

       “Why didn’t you call us?”

       “I did not know how you would respond.”

       “What do you mean? We are your parents, no matter what happens, we are still there for you”

       “The same way you responded to me this morning; that was what I afraid of.”

       “How am I suppose to react; you walk out on both your mom and me for fifteen years?” I then got up from the couch, walked back and forth and continued in a low tone voice “No matter what you do, we still love you,” I continue tell him that “Do you know how tough it was for your mom after you left; every night at the dinner table she set an extra bowl hoping that you would come home for dinner.” I looked over saw Thang put his head down “For the first few months your mother had nightmares every night about you.”

      “Father, now I understand how you felt during that time.” Thang said.

      “Understand?  You think you understand now, how you’re Mom and I felt? Do you understand how your Mom and I had to sacrifice everything so you could have a future here in America? Do you understand that?”

      “Dad, I admit that I cannot understand how you and Mom feel about it completely, but I am a changing man now. I have a family of my own, Dad!”

      “Family?”

      “Yes, Dad, I have family of my own now.” He then took out his wallet and showed me the picture of his wife holding their baby boy. “Like I said before, I got myself involve with the gang. I got arrested in my second year as a member of a gang; I was in and out of jail so often that prison became my second home.”

      I could tell how tough it was for him to talked bout it. Tears of sorrow slowly came down his face. Fortunately, at that time my wife was coming back with our drinks.

     “Here are your drinks guys; sorry it took it’s so long; I had to make a brand new pitcher of lemonade. I made your favorite lunch. You will stay for lunch?” 

   “Yes, Mom, and thanks for the lemonade.” He took a sip of the cold lemonade.

     She then walked toward the kitchen with a big smile on her face. My eyes followed her until she disappeared into the kitchen. “You know what; this is the first time since you left the house that I have actually seen your mom smiling.” I moved closer to Thang, put my arm around him and continued. “I can see that you have gone through some tough time. I only wish I could have been there for you. We only want what is best for you: I only wish you had talked with us before you ran away. Your Mom and I only want what is best for you; you know your mom and I had to leave everything behind to come to America so that you could have a better life here.”

     “Yes, I know father.” He continued the story “Ten years ago, the last time I was out of prison, I met a gentleman who saved my life. He was an ex-member of a local gang; he helped me to get out of that lifestyle. He helped me get a job and start my life all over again.”

     “So how long have you been married?”

     “Eight years, I met her while I tried to go back to school.”

     “So you got back to school?”

     “Yes father, I’m an accountant right now; one of reason why I am back here. First, I wanted to come back to apologize for running away from home and to introduce to you my family. Second I have a college buddy who has an office few minutes away from here; he wants me to help him out.”

     “Where are your wife and kid?”

     “Oh, I was not sure how you and mom would react to this. They are at a motel close to here. I wanted to make sure everything was fine between us before I introduce them to both of you.”

      “Why don’t you bring both them over for dinner tonight?”

      “Sure, Dad. That would be great!”

      He then whispers into my ears “Every experiment does have a price, right dad! If we learn from it. Then it would worst the price.”                

      “I agree, it only when you fall it short; you stand up and walk again.” I laugh with him and continue told him. “Why don’t we go into kitchen and tell your mother that she is a grandmother now.”

    

 

 

 

 

        

      

   

    

     

  

                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                  

 

Reviews

[Jamie Fantasy]

[NOTE]
The following review is just my opinion for improving your piece. I always have the writer's best interest at heart. Please take what you think you can use and discard anything you can't. No one knows your work better than you. If you would like to discuss this review, feel free to send me a message.

[CONSTRUCTION]
Everything seemed good in this department.

[INSPIRATIONS]
I liked the topic a lot. It's unique!

[IMPROVEMENTS]
I think the dailogue could stand to be a bit more realistic. It seemed a bit odd that one minute the father didn't have a son and the next, he was so welcoming and understanding. I think there should be more that tells us why he changed his mind. Also, some more detail about where they are, what they're doing and how they're feeling would be great.

[OVERALL]
I think this has a good base to start with, it just needs some work.

[Chillbear Latrigue]

This is a very touching story. I think that these stories are like little lessons on life, but they aren't preachy. They also don't claim to have all of the answers. I find this author impressive. There are several typos and omissions. These should be cleaned up to make for ease of reading.

[Emily B]

A sad but very real story for many families. . .

Great write!

[Serendipity]

This is a very sad but happy ending type of story. 15 years is a long time of wondering if your child is alright or even alive. But I am glad you had your happy ending.

[Marie]

Nice story. Thanks for sharing.

[Amor-de-angel]

I agree with the other reviewers,I couldn't stop reading it either. I so wanted everything to turn out good. I am happy it did. I guess he found out his own mistakes and came home when he had learnt from them.

[Theta S. T.]

You really have an art of hooking your readers! Within the first few lines I couldn't stop reading. It's a really great write! You have a way of telling a story, I felt as though I was in the room watching this as it happened. Really great job

~~Theta

[Lia]

Nice piece. Thanks xx

[Michaela Maloney]

It was a very intense story and very interesting, but there were a few parts that were hard to understand. Other than that it was a terrific story.

[THERISA]

Reading your story, i know how Thang felt about telling his parents about the path he walked after leaving home. Scared how they would react in a negative way, when they learned the truth. Only wish, all story are as hopeful and full of familiar love. Thank you for posting this story for us. Welcome to the Cafe and hope to read more of your writing here.

Therisa