ZACK’S POV
"I actually don’t know a lot about his high school adventures but just some of it as I never wanted him to be reminded of his family. It was really tough for him to leave his home and family and make his career. I knew he missed them a lot. Reminding him of his home and family would be what could hurt him the most and I never wanted my love to feel it. But I surely know about some of the things" mom broke the suspense and her voice and eyes trembled with the grief that was caused by remembering old days and dad too.
I got to remember sometimes when dad used to avoid or ignore the situation where he had to talk about his family and had always asked me not to worry about it. That was the main reason I never used to force anything on him. Now I understand why he never did that. Poor my dad!!
Then mom started to tell me about dad and the town....
“Your grandfather Samuel was a well-known sheriff of the town. He was very strict on discipline. Grover was his only son. Lisa, his mom, was a housewife and took care of him while Samuel looked after the town” she took a deep breath and reminisced dad’s town life and my grandparents. This was the first time I was hearing about them and that reason was enough to keep me intrigued into the tale.
“Samuel wanted his only son to have a steady career so he never really supported nor encouraged Grover in any of his dreams of becoming an athlete. When he used to win races and tournaments in high school, Samuel was not happy about it as he didn’t want his only son to take up his passion as a career because he believed that such careers didn’t have a future. He wanted his son to have a respectable job in the society” as she continued the story, her tone began to change into a grieve stricken one. Was the story going to enter a terrible phase??
“As Grover grew up, his passion too started getting brighter and it was the thing in which he was very interested in doing the whole day. This had started causing troubles in their relationship. He used to balance between studies and athletics only to please his dad. Still Samuel was adamant in his decisions. Once, as he was preparing for the biggest tournament in the town high school, the GYT, Samuel had given him an ultimatum to choose between his passion and his family. Samuel wanted him to do the military training” she paused for a second and a sudden memory flashed on my mind.
“Is that when it happened?” remembering how dad had once ousted me for giving up my passion when I had once lost a match, I realized why he had showed his fury on me when I was adamant in giving up athletics. Oh, how guilty I felt now!!
Mom saw me growing anxious and she took my hands on her and consoled me telling it was okay and she continued.
“Grover had a lot of pressure in him. He couldn’t stand up to Samuel’s dreams. They had a lot of family issues. That’s when Lisa had a severe heart attack and was admitted to the hospital. She couldn’t see her family breaking up like this. The father and son had to make a decision for her. She had always supported Grover on his passion. But then she too didn’t have any option or choice. Both of them were not ready to sacrifice their decision for the other’s happiness. Hence Lisa had to make Grover promise Samuel about him joining the military training after high school” her tone was shattering the more she talked about dad but there was nothing I could do to help her. Till today, I had never interfered in their personal matters but to survive in the town, I had to.
“Grover had to accept it as it was the first time his mother had wished something from him. It was his last chance to participate in athletics so he participated in the GYT with all his strength and passion, won the tournament with a record and became the champion. It had given him the stepping stones to the career he wanted. He couldn’t let go off such a chance. His win had changed his will. He denied his father’s wish and told him that he couldn’t give up his dreams only to fulfil Samuel’s wishes. He did love his father but it was up to him to choose what he did with his life and not his dad. He wanted to live as he wanted to and take up a career in which he had his passion in” till now what mom had in her tone was a grief of what all dad had to suffer from grandfather. But when she spilled out how dad had shown courage to go behind his dreams, both me and her were extremely proud on the man he had turned into. Who can deny the fact that he was a man of honor!!!
“What’s next?” eagerness and curiosity were fogging me to hear more and she again continued.
“This had broken out a war in their house. While Lisa was trying hard to convince Samuel about their son’s life, to give him a chance, Samuel didn’t let go off his ego and had thrown him out of the house for taking a foolish step on making such a career. Grover was really depressed about leaving his family like that but he was so determined to prove his dad about his views on athletics as a waste of time. He left the town and went to the university from where he became a successful athlete and coach” a smile brew on her lips and I felt too good knowing the adventures of my dad who went behind his passion. The rest of the story was quite predictable as that included their love story also which I was well aware of.
“Shall I predict the rest?” in a wicked tone I asked mom and she was challenging enough to let me do it. No mom, I would never disappoint you!!
“He didn’t have any contact with his father in all those years. But his mother used to send him mails every day and she was the only being who supported him in all stages of his life. That’s where he met you and you guys fell in love. After 2 years of being in a relationship you decided to get married” I joyfully told out my version and she liked it as it was true. To be honest, that was the only part I knew about them in the first place!!
“Son, that’s not the end" when I had finished bragging about my imaginative skills, she brought me back to earth. That was wondered when she said that seriously there was more to it??
“This was just the beginning; climax is yet to come son" the way she that rose my heart beat. Fuck, what the hell happened after that??
“After our marriage, He missed his family a lot so he took me to meet his family back in the town. When we reached home,Lisa welcomed us so happily. It had been years since she had seen her son. She had grown old. Samuel too was there but he was so immersed in his ego that he embarrassed Grover of his foolish dreams and being such a son in front of me. His words had been struck in Grover’s heart so hard that he decided to leave and never return. Lisa was the one who suffered between the father and son. Then you were born but by then Lisa had passed away and with her a piece of Grover’s heart was also taken away. She was the person whom Grover loved most in the world” eventually her tone changed into a depressed on when it came to the part of the family breaking apart.
“Samuel too was in a state of numbness. He was left alone in the town without his wife and son. Even though Grover was not on a good terms with his dad, he never wanted to leave him alone to suffer. So, we visited him and asked him to move to the city with us. Samuel was lost in his own world. Lisa always used to make him realize his mistake on leaving their son and when he finally realized his mistake, she had left him alone. Samuel apologized to us for what all he did and asked us to stay with him in that house for some time. The house had lots of memories and he didn’t want to leave it. So, the father and son bonded after the long struggle. Samuel welcomed us to the house after so long and gave us all the love he couldn’t give. But it was short lived as Samuel also passed away in short time” she let out a huge sigh and I passed a glass of water to her.
I never knew that my dad had suffered so much depression in his family life and the amount of happiness he got was just a tiny portion of what he had always given me. Why dad, why had you never shared all these with me ever??
“His demise had made a grave impact on Grover. He didn’t get enough time with his dad in all those years and when he finally got it, it was short lived. He couldn’t stay there anymore so we shifted back to the city and after that we never came back. He had lost his parents together so it was really tough for him to handle it. In his will, Samuel had written the house in your name so that’s why after Grover left; we could shift here as we had our own home” finally, she finished narrating her husband’s life story to me and I fell back on my chair bewildered.
So much had happened those days and I never had a clue that my dad has passed through such days of his life and still kept his spirits high with the smile he always had on his face. It’s a true fact that a smile can hide so much!
This was the moment when I finally realized why I was so famous in the town even before I arrived. This was why the house was left inhabited all these years...
I didn’t know how to react to dad’s story anymore. He was truly a great man. And he had suffered everything just for fulfilling his passion and that was the biggest lesson any son could learn from his father. Just imagine, if I couldn’t bear the pain of the loss of my dad then what all would have dad went through???
“Don’t stress yourself. Give yourself some time son. Your dad trusted your talent a lot and I know that you will become just like him” mom held my hands and consoled me.
I wanted her words to come true but who knew my fate had other plans for me????