Sweet & SourA Chapter by Zephyr Life is sweet and sour! Yesterday I met Jim and today I knew the
truth. The shattering truth that was hidden from me
all these years. It well explained why Jim didn’t make the
slightest effort to reach out to me and also what he meant by the ‘Big Game’
that Life played with him. However, the truth relieved me of all my guilt
for now I know for a fact that Jim has forgiven me and loves me with all his
heart. I also know that he will be with me forever…….
………………………………………………………………..
It was Jim’s idea that I reach out to his
parents. While I was with Jim, I had an on-and-off relationship with them. I
was not all the daughter-in-law they desired for. Along with Jim, they too haunted my memory
lane all these years. I was so perturbed by the fact that I didn’t live up to
their hopes and desires. I wanted to change it. Once and for all. But
when I got the chance, I didn’t have the nerve to show up to them after ten
long daunting years. It was as well probable that they might have
forgotten me for good. And if I do show up, I may scar them with unwanted
memories. But Jim so badly wanted me to meet his
parents. The first thing he asks after a lacuna of ten freaking years. I cannot
turn it down. At least for Jim’s sake. I was so sure of the fact that I can’t do it
alone. So I asked Jim to accompany me. Seeing me with Jim was far better than
seeing me alone. But for some strange reason, Jim wanted me to
do it alone. I tried my best to make him understand that his parents may be
hurt by seeing me. Also there was a huge chance that they may completely ignore
me. After all, who is going to receive a lady who ditched their son and never
really loved them? Somehow I acceded to Jim’s request. I will
never say ‘No’ again to Jim. Once I had done that and had suffered enough. I am ready to do anything for my Love.
……………………………………………………….
As I made my way through the garden in front
of Jim’s house, memories flickered through my mind. His parents were really
nice and tried their best to adjust with my temper tantrums. But I was the one
who gave up on them. The house looked eerily quiet. I wondered if
anybody was living there. And as I moved closer, the fetid atmosphere looming
over the house made me sick. Something was seriously wrong. As far as I can
remember, his parents were sticklers for neatness. Back then, their house was
spick and span. They would never ever leave their house in
such a mess. If they are like this, it must be because of me. I hated myself
more strongly than ever for leaving them in such a pathetic state. It must have been beyond their limits to see
their son suffer. Many a times, I made up my mind to just turn
back and run. But every time I did so, Jim’s innocent face turned up in my
mind. And I turned around and walked towards the damp house. As I knocked on the splintered door, I felt
that my whole body was shivering. I didn’t know why but something nagged in my
mind that I was not at all going to have a pleasant reunion. After about five minutes and when I almost
believed that I came up to the wrong house, I heard footsteps -long drawn out
ones- staggering towards the door. The door creaked open revealing an old woman
with her foggy spectacles. She indeed was Jim’s mother. Only that, she was more
human-looking back then. Now she looked untidy, almost as if she didn’t
have a proper bath for several days. Behind her, with a walking stick,
staggered close Jim’s father. He too was very much like her. I just stood there gaping at them. I almost
forgot for what I had come. I recognized them in an instant but they squinted
at me for a great deal of time before his mother snarled a nasty “You?” That snapped me out of my trance and brought
me back to my senses. “Yes……….It’s me……….I am really sorry”. I
planned to say a lot more, but at that instant, only those few lines choked out
of my mouth. The shock of seeing them was far more than I
had ever imagined. “You don’t have to be!” his father spoke
curtly. Both of them, slowly made their way back,
leaving me at the door. Well that left me in a dilemma. ‘Should I just go back? Clearly they hate me!’ As I was about to retreat, I saw his mother
coming towards me. She stood at the entrance and handed me a worn out sheet of
an old newspaper. It was dated 2007, the year of our break-up. ‘Well did our break-up feature in a paper?’ I
thought to myself while taking it. Then I saw a picture of Jim followed by a
headline in thick black that shook the hell out of me: “MAN KILLED IN BIZARRE CAR-CRASH ACCIDENT”
© 2017 ZephyrAuthor's Note
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