Episode 5 - The Plan

James tiptoed his way into the room, slowly creaking the door open. He gazed at the sleeping form of his wife and child. Slowly entering the room, he closed the door without making any noise, so as to not wake them. Going over to his wife’s side of the bed, he checked if she was truly asleep, heaving a sigh of relief as he became sure. Rachel and Benny breathed slowly, indicating that they were fast asleep. James gently lifted his son up from the bed and took him in his lap. He walked over to the door, without making a sound and opened and closed it all the while being as quiet as a mouse.

Leaving the room, he walked over to the couch and then set his son down slowly on it and spoke, “Benny? Darling? Are you okay? I hope mom didn't scold you much”, he said gently in an attempt to wake up his son. Benny, still half asleep, opened one of his eyes slowly and said, “Dad?”, “Yes my son.”, he said comfortingly. Benny slumped over and laid his head on his father’s shoulder. “Dad, can I go back to sleep?”, Benny said. “Yes my son but you have to tell me the truth right?”, James said, wiping his little son’s eyes slowly. “Can you tell me if a man truly visited our home in the morning?” Benny nodded sleepily. “Okay. Can you tell me more about that man? Anything else that you can remember?”, he said gently. Benny’s face showed signs of fear as he spoke, “No, dad I can’t tell more about the scary man. Mommy told me not to or else she would punish me”, he said as tears started welling up in his eyes. Remembering the handprint on his son’s cheek, he gently urged, “It’s okay my son, I won’t let anything happen to you. Mom is not gonna punish you anymore, I promise”. Benny seemed to get comforted by this. He eased up and said, “Promise?”, to which James nodded, “Now tell me everything without fear okay?”

In a gentle, innocent voice, little Benny said, “Mommy let him in the living room and they hugged each other. The man called Mommy sweetheart too and mommy went to him. When I stopped the scary man”, Benny stopped and massaged his cheek, “He hit me. But mommy said no to the scary man and took him to the room. Then I went and called you from the trinny phone here.” He pointed to the landline in the room that he called the trinny phone because of its ringtone. “Alright Benny. Thank you so much for telling me everything sweetheart”, he said, hugging his son. “Let’s get you to bed okay?”, Benny nodded and James picked up his son, slowly going back to the room. He tucked him in the bed, beside his mother who was luckily still sleeping peacefully. “Good night son”, James said, kissing the top of his son’s head as he slowly fell back to sleep.

Exiting the bedroom, he walked towards the couch and lit a cigarette. Through billows of smoke he thought about his family that was falling apart, his fall from grace and now, his wife’s betrayal. What enraged him further was the fact that she was terrorizing their son as he told the truth to his own father. James shook with anger. His whole world had once again changed in just one day. When he attempted to sleep, he lay tossing and turning throughout the night, his mind plagued with negative thoughts. He didn't keep track of time and soon it was dawn. His mother, who was used to waking up at the crack of dawn, was already walking about the house. Seeing her, he called out, “Mom?”. “James? Why are you up so early? Did you even sleep properly?” she asked inquisitively. James shook his head, “No, Mom I couldn't sleep. The whole night was weird to say the least”, he said. “Well, son, I hope you’ll get some rest soon. By the way, I had to speak to you about the countryside house James. It’s being sold off to the town mayor as part of this big town development project. It is probably going to fetch a few hundred thousand dollars for the property and the land around it. You should come look into it when you visit me again ”. James was puzzled, as he asked, “But, where are you gonna live mom? You hate city life so this place isn't really suitable for you. Where will you go?”. “Oh don’t worry about me, the authorities are gonna shift me and the other neighbors to newer apartments elsewhere in the town” , she said, “But, son, I know that you want to start the business again. Take the money that comes from the house and use it for your benefit and for getting on your own two feet.” James’s eyes filled with tears yet again at his mother’s selflessness. He nodded and replied with a gentle,”Thank you.”

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“I have also spoken to your wife about it. You might want to run this over by her too”, she said gently as she got up from the sofa. “I’ll fix breakfast for everyone before leaving. Pancakes for little Benny and Avocado Toast for Rachel right? And a simple rice porridge for my little boy”, she smiled at him. He smiled back warmly. It felt as if in this whole world, it was only her who cared about him. His mother was packing up once again to leave for her home, she insisted that the animals at her farm needed to be fed. Deep down James knew that she was upset with her house and her farm coming under government control, because she loved her farm. Losing it would mean losing her beloved animals too. But, she didn’t let it show on her face. James dropped his mother to the bus station on his electric bike. He felt really guilty about the farm, the money and Rami treating her so horribly the whole way there and helped her up to her bus. He didn’t leave until he saw his mom’s bus pull away from the shed.

As the bus left, so did he, on his bike. On his way back, he made a concrete plan that he promised to follow through. He resolved to find out if his wife was truly cheating or not. Then he would proceed to catch her red handed in the act of infidelity, leading him to file for divorce, and since she was an adulterous one in this relationship, the ruling would be in his favor. He planned to ask for the three hundred thousand dollars back from her parents, and he planned on selling away the apartment, clubbing the money and investing the result into building a business. It was high time that he stood on his feet financially. He also wanted custody of their son, which might be a difficult task but not an impossible one. With all the plans clear in his brain, he drove on towards his apartment determined to change the course of his bad luck.