Well, look who decided to show up! barked David Thompson. You can turn right back around!
Dad, whats going on? Andrew recoiled in shock. Twenty years Ive been gone, and this is the welcome I get?
If it were up to me, youd get a belt to your backside! David snapped, hand twitching toward his waist. But no matterwell settle this now!
Hold on, easy there! Andrew stepped back. Im not a child anymoreI can defend myself!
There it is, your true nature! David snarled, still gripping his belt. Bullying the weak, running from the strong, lying to the decent, and groveling to the wicked!
Whats this really about? Andrew threw his hands up. What exactly am I being accused of? Even if Id done something wrong, twenty years is long enough to let it go!
Easy for you to say when youre the guilty one! Of course youd want forgiveness! Well, Ive got none for you! David shot back.
What did I even do? Back in college, I spent years wondering why my own parents branded me a traitor and barred me from home! Not one reply to my lettersnot one!
Dont play dumb, David sneered.
Andrews confusion deepened, but before he could press further, the argument drew his mother into the room.
God help me! Margaret Thompson cried. Just my rotten luck! David, throw him out! The shame hes brought on us in our old age!
Andrew froze, stunned. His mother wasnt done.
If I had the strength, Id thrash you with a rolling pin! But I see fates already marked you! She jabbed a finger at the bruise under Andrews eye.
Someone landed a good hit! David smirked. Id shake their hand.
Mum, Dadhave you lost your minds? Andrew burst out. Twenty years, and this is how you greet me?
Who gave you that shiner? David demanded. Well chase you off soon enough, but Id like to thank them first.
How should I know? Andrew snapped. I took the coach home! Some bloke named Peter recognized me, made a fuss. Then at the stop, some lad sucker-punched me, spat in my face, and bolted!
A true hero, David chuckled. Ill ask Peter who did it.
Thats all you care about? Andrew exclaimed. Not that your sons been gone two decades?
And why should a traitor like you come back? Margaret cut in.
Traitor? Since when?
Since always! a third voice shouted from the kitchen.
And whos this brave soul? Andrew turned, furious.
A figure stepped into view.
Thats the little rat who punched me! Andrew pointed.
Good lad, grandson! David grinned. Didnt miss your chance.
Grandson? What rubbish! Andrew recoiled.
Hes yours! Margaret blocked his path. Your abandoned son!
Ive never had a son! Andrew shot back. Id know if I did!
Davids voice cracked. Then remember why you fled this village twenty years ago!
***
Andrew never called it fleeing. His departure was plannedjust moved up. There were reasons.
He was heading far, nearly cross-country, for university. He left early to settle in and find work before term started. His stipend wouldnt cover much, and asking his parents for money was outthey could only send food. How?
But there was another reason. Strange tensions had gripped the village. Delaying meant risking conscription. Better to leave.
When asked why, hed say: I want a life at sea. What kind of man leaves his wife alone for months?
The sea came by chance. After school, hed served in the navy. A year showed him land wasnt his place. Returning home, he carried papers for maritime collegetrain as a ships engineer.
Before term, he partied hard. Young lads fresh from service know no limitsdrinking, brawling, chasing skirts. Andrew watched themproud eagles clipped by marriage, chained to wives, kids, and farms.
He vowed not to end up a plucked chicken. Even drunk, he kept his trousers onliterally, wiring his belt shut.
Yet village girls swarmed him. Eligible, ambitious, with a plan. And crucially, no scandals.
Delegations even visited his parents, angling for matchmaking.
Andrew saw the trap. Either hed waver, or his parents would cave. So he left early.
Better safe than sorry, he figured.
He arrived, found dock work, rented a dorm bed, enrolled, and wrote home: *Arrived safe. Settled in. Alls well.*
Their reply was fury. No explanationsjust *traitor*, *coward*, worse. They disowned him. *Rot at sea*, they wrote.
Baffled, Andrew wrote back, begging answers. Silence.
He couldnt visitclasses held him.
At graduation, one last letter came. A half-sheet: *Drown, traitor!* Signed *David and Margaret Thompson*not *Mum and Dad*.
No clearer, just colder.
He signed onto a ship. Every six months ashore, hed mail a letter home. Stopped expecting replies.
At forty, he needed answers.
But home held surprises.
Ran off, did you? Andrew mocked. To dodge your village matchmaking! I saw the gifts, the promises. Knew I was leaving, still schemed to trap me!
We wanted you well matched! Margaret spat. Instead, you got Natasha pregnant and bolted!
Natasha? Whoswait, when?
She came a month after you left, David said. Said shed written you about the baby. You told her to get rid of it!
Liar. I wrote you, and you told me never to return.
She had no one, Margaret said. We took her in. Raised your boyStan here.
Call Natasha, Andrew said. Lets settle this.
Cant, Stan said. Shes been dead ten years. Gran and Grandpa raised me.
Andrew scoffed. And my *son* greets me with a punch?
You deserved worse, Stan shot back. Abandoning Mum like that!
So youre all saints, and Im the villain?
A coward too, David added. Ran from responsibility!
Natasha swore she wrote you, Margaret said. We believed herunlike you.
Did you see this letter? Andrew demanded.
She had no reason to lie!
Fine. DNA test. If hes mine, nail me to the door.
The test proved negative. Andrew handed it to his parents.
Clear now? Natasha knew. Came to you anyway.
They had no answer.
Twenty years, no forgiveness. Well, I dont need it now.
Andrew left. Stan stayed, milking his grandparents dry, insisting the test was wrong, his mother a saint.
Like mother, like son.
What do you make of the parents actions? Share your thoughts below.
