Look whos turned up the one we never thought would walk back in! I shouted, trying to keep my voice steady. Then you can just go and get lost again!
Dad, what are you doing? Andrew stammered. Ive been away for twenty years and you meet me like this?
If it were up to me, Id have you in a belt right now! David grabbed his own waist. Never mind, well sort it out later.
Take it easy, please, Andrew backed off. Im not a kid any more, I can answer for myself.
Thats exactly the kind of attitude youve got! David sneered, leaving his belt alone. Pick on the weak, run from the strong, trick the good and serve the wicked!
Seriously, why are you so angry? What are you accusing me of? Andrew shrugged. If I ever did anything wrong, it was twenty years ago. Time has washed it away.
Easy for you to say when your guilt was fresh! Of course you want everyone to forgive you. Ive got no forgiveness left for you, David declared.
What could I possibly have done to you? I spent my whole apprenticeship thinking why my parents branded me a traitor and wouldnt let me come home. You never answered any of my letters, even though I kept writing!
Dont you know? David asked mockingly.
Andrews face showed pure confusion, he wanted to press the point, but the shouting between father and son was interrupted by their mother.
Enough of that! Mary shouted. Youre causing trouble! Send him packing, Mitchell! Shame on our family!
Andrew was stunned, frozen like a statue. Mary added, If God gave me strength, Id grab you by the throat! Id use every ounce of power I have! But I see the devils already marked you, she said, pointing at a bruise under Andrews eye.
Someone really made a mess of you! David chuckled. Id shake that persons hand.
Parents, whats wrong with you? Andrew yelled. Have you gone mad? Ive been gone for twenty years! Why this treatment?
Who tipped you off? David asked. Well kick you out now and thank the one who helped us later.
I dont even know who that is, Andrew snapped. I was on the bus heading home when a neighbour, Pete, recognised me and ran over to say hello. The bus stopped, a young bloke jumped out, shoved me in the face, spat on me and ran off. By the time I recovered, he was gone.
An unknown hero! David smiled. Well have to ask Pete who gave you that shove.
Dad, is that all you care about? Andrew shouted. Just because I was away for twenty years, you think I can just disappear?
Why are you even here, you traitor? Mary retorted.
From where? Andrew asked, bewildered.
Because! someone shouted from the kitchen.
Whos the brave one? Andrew growled.
A figure stepped into the light.
That kid over there slapped me! Andrew pointed at a lanky teenager.
Well done, lad! David beamed. You didnt miss your chance!
What grandson? What are you talking about? Andrew retorted.
Exactly this, Mary blocked him with her body. Your son! Abandoned!
Ive never had a son! Andrew said, his voice shaking. Never. And if I did, Id know about him!
Remember why you fled the village twenty years ago? David pressed, his tone cracking.
***
Andrew never called his departure a runaway; it was planned, just a bit early. He had several reasons.
He had to travel almost across the whole country to attend a naval academy. The scholarship barely covered a modest life, and asking his parents for money from so far away was awkward they could only send food, and shipping provisions was a nightmare.
The second reason was the villages growing unrest. If hed lingered a couple of weeks, he might never have left at all. The women there were pressing; thats why he chose to go.
When asked why, hed say: I want my life tied to the sea, not to stay at home while Im off on a voyage. The sea only entered his life by chance.
After school he enlisted, thought hed serve his country, then realized land life wasnt for him. When he came back, a posting to a marine engineering course was waiting, but he decided to have a few months of freedom first.
He partied like any young soldier returning from service not a single dull moment, whether at a table, in a brawl, or with a girl. When he finally started to understand what was happening, he saw the typical drifters: a proud exsoldier dreaming of overturning the world, then shackled by a wife, kids, and a farm.
Andrew didnt want that fate. No matter how wild the nights got, he kept his belt tight and his bootlaces secured.
There were a few hiccups with paperwork, but better to suffer there than be stuck for life. He became a bit of a catch among local girls young, promising, with no scandal attached.
Everyone tried to court him, offering hospitality and affection, while other families tried to arrange matches through his parents. Andrew realised he couldnt defend his own ground; either hed be pushed aside or his parents would be swayed. So he slipped away from the village a month and a half early.
As they say, Better safe than sorry.
He reached the port, got a berth in the dormitory, submitted his enrollment, wrote home to say hed arrived, settled in, and everything was fine. His parents sent a furious letter, calling him a traitor, a coward, and all sorts of nasty names the paper would soak up any apology.
They even wrote that he no longer had any parents, that there was no home for him, and that a man like him belonged in the deep sea.
Andrew was baffled, writing back for explanations, but they never replied not even a telegram.
He could have turned around, but the studies kept him busy. He kept writing, every chance he got.
When he finally got his diploma, a single, crumpled note arrived from home, half a sheet of paper: May you drown, traitor, coward! Signed not by his mum or dad, but by David and Mary.
He never figured out why, just that he wasnt welcome. He signed a naval contract and stayed at sea, returning to shore only every six months to send another letter, never expecting a reply.
At forty, he finally cared less about figuring out which of his parents had cursed him twenty years earlier and more about the next deployment.
The meeting turned out not just cold but full of surprises.
***
What were you running from? Andrew mimicked. From the fact we never married me off? Did you think I didnt see you plotting with half the village to find someone easier for me?
I saw the gifts, heard the promises! You knew I was going to study, yet you still tried to rope me in!
Well, we wanted a good match for you, but you made Emma heavyset and ran off! Mary hissed. Found who? An orphan!
Shed come to us right after you left, saying a child was waiting for you, asking for our advice. And we thought wed just toss our grandson to fate?
When did she show up? Andrew asked. A month after I left I wrote you, and you told me not to come back!
Emma told us she was pregnant! And you told her to have an abortion and disappear from your life! David replied.
Interesting, Andrew said. What about after you banished me from home?
We took her in! Shes an orphan, no one else, and shes carrying our grandsons child! Thats how we raised Stuart!
Call Emma over, Andrew demanded. We need to sort this out.
Theres no one to sort with, Stuart answered. My mum died ten years ago. Grandma and granddad raised me.
Right, Andrew shook his head. And the son met his dad eyetoeye!
You killed my pregnant mum, thats enough! Stuart shouted. At least my grandparents were decent people!
So youre all the good ones, and Im the only traitor? Andrew laughed bitterly.
And a coward too! David added. You were scared of responsibility and fled, then sent the poor girl for an abortion!
Emma wrote you saying shed given birth to a son, yet you called her a liar in the last letter!
Did you see the letter? Andrew asked.
Unlike you, we believed the poor girl, Mary said.
Fine, if youre all about truth, lets do a DNA test, Andrew suggested. If Im the dad, you can crucify me at the gate!
The test came back negative. Andrew handed the results to his parents.
Clear as day, he said. Emma knew I wasnt the father, but you still blamed me. The real mistake was calling your own son a coward and a traitor.
You didnt forgive me for twenty years, and I dont need your forgiveness now, Andrew said. I might feel sorry for you, but I dont. So goodbye, even though you said goodbye to me twenty years ago.
Andrew set sail again, and Stuart stayed behind, still milking the old folks, insisting he was their beloved grandson, that the test was wrong, and that his mother was a saint.
All thats left is the story of a traitor who finally walked away.
