"You shouldn't have talk to your father that way. You embarrassed him in front of your family." Mrs Mopelola said to her daughter. "You should apologize."
"I will apologize for nothing. Because i don't regret any thing i said to him and nothing you say will change that."
"You are not like this. I don't remember you to be disrespectful. I did not..."
Toun cut her short. "Don't you ever say that again."
"Toun! Watch what you say to me and your father. You're here today because of us."
She chuckles lightly. "I guess you are right. I'm here in the place i never wanted to be, living a life of hostage because of both of you."
"Toun!"
"Listen mom, don't let me lose the last respect i have for you. This is my home, my children and i can do whatever pleases me. Just like i told dad, none of you will ever control my kids not while i am alive. I'm never going to be like you. You watch your husband control every decision you made. You let him take away my freedom, my life, my job, my family. You watch him control everything in my life even if you knew it was wrong. You supported him blindly. You ruin Eunice life because you never scold her. She don't have a certificate nor a good job. She don't have a permanent spouse. And you are here telling me what to do as a mother. You are not a mother. And i am not sorry to say it, i regret you are my mother. You couldn't stand up for your children. So don't tell me what to do with my children. You've trained your children the way it pleases you, let do what please me with my children. So let it be the last time YOU and that man that call himself my father tries to take charge over my children. " She said firmly to her mother.
She saw her eyes become watery with tears that threatened to fall. She stood motionless and shock at everything she heard from her. But she had stop caring about her and her family long ago. She don't care how they feel and she won't be quiet with how she feels anymore. It's time they get it from her.
She is tired of been push around and pretending to be okay. They don't deserve peace and joy because they took hers from her years ago when she was taken away from Nathaniel and Annabella.
"I need to write and i hate distraction. You know your way out." She said coldly to her mother.
She wipe the tears that was now flowing from her eyes with her handkerchief and nodded slowly. Then she turn around and walk out of the room.
Toun sigh with anger and she turn to the books on the table.
******
Hope sat with his mother on the bed. She was typing on her laptop that was on her lap.
"Do you have something to say?" She asked. "You didn't come to give me milk only right?"
He nodded in agreement. " Mom, I'm sorry you have to talk back at grandpa because of me."
"Don't be silly Hope. I did not regret anything and you should not. They should not support every thing you do. Your father loves it and i do too. It's what your heart want and they don't have any right to stop you from doing it."
"Thanks mom. I love you."
"I love you too. So don't worry about anything. I'm here for you." She said rubbing his hands. She smiled brightly at him
"Thanks." He said grinning at her.
*****
"What's wrong?"Mr Joseph asked his wife when he enter the room given to them by their son in law and daughter. She was crying profusely.
He look worried and angry at the same time. He hate people showing weekness. He had always conceived his weekness. And it is one of the reason people call him cruel, cold.
"What's is wrong Mope?" He asked calling her name authoritatively.
She look up at him with her red swollen eyes.
"Am i a bad mother? I tried everything to make my children the best. I did all i could. So why why?" She cried.
"Will you stop crying and talk to me? Why don't you talk to me?" He said.
"I can't believe my own child will say that to me."
"Did something happen between you and Eunice?"
She shake her head. "Its Toun." She said to him with tears still flowing down her cheek.
Mr Joseph thought what could have happened between his wife and their daughter. Toun is recently showing the other side of her. He had not been blind to see all the cover all the past years but she had deny it well and he hope it could be forever. But he was afraid it wasn't going to be forever.
"She hate me Joseph." She cried to him.
"Why will you say so?"
"We've hurt her Joseph and that's what we never know. We hurt our daughter believing we are protecting her. We failed at our duty to our children."
"Stop saying nonsense Mope, we did our best. Toun is just ungrateful like she was after betraying us to marry a low life." Mr Joseph explained to his wife and more to convince himself.
She look up at him with her teary eyes. "We are just trying to lie about the truth and you know that. She had her own thoughts and feelings but we wanted our thoughts and feelings for her and we didn't think about how she will feel. We are bad at our responsibility to our children and now we are going to regret it for the rest of our life. "She look away as the tears still flow down her eyes." If you could hear what Toun said to me ..... she hate me. She hate us but she hate me more because i couldn't help her. "
Mr Joseph said nothing but sat beside his wife and thought about what she had just said to him.
The truth was that he knew about it for a long time. He knew how his daughter resent him for all he did. But he did them because he knew they were right and best for her. He didn't want to lose his daughter. He didn't want her to suffer. He wanted to be known as the best father. He wanted love and absolute respect and obedience from his children but Toun was different. She has always been different. She love to make decisions that were opposite to how she was trained and taught. She love to do things that was different from the family doctrine. She had always been that way since she was little. She had choose to be a lawyer instead of studying business to take over his company but she was so determined and nothing could change her mind about been a lawyer.
He love her but he can never show weekness and accept things that is contrary to his belief, to his principles. He didn't want to tain his reputation among his friends.
He wanted his children to be like his colleagues children who get married to rich men and have expensive weddings most especially his first daughter. He never had a son, so he wanted the best for his children. He wanted everything he expected from a son from them.
But Toun was becoming hard and she was ruining all his thoughts and plan for her and her sister and the best thing was to do it the hard way. He will have his way even if she hate him. And he hope she could move over it and accept who she really was but she never did.
Nathaniel had been right 'their love is not what he can break'. He had taken her away from him but still after Seventeen years Toun had nit forgotten Nathaniel. She will always hate him as long as she love him..... and that is something that he have no control of no matter what he do.
He had always thought everything he did for her was the best for her but he don't think so anymore.
His daughter hate not only him but his wife, her mother even her younger sister.
Eunice don't have a stable job or spouse. One of her fiance had jilted her after taking her money. She want to get married to a wealthy man like her father but she was always easy to decisive by men.
*******
Nathaniel just finished with his work and he stretched. He look at the time and got up from his seat. He pick up his phone and dial a number and she answered on first ring.
"Hello Julia." He said kind of unsure if it was the right thing to do.
"Hi Nathan." He heard her said enthusiastic as ever.
"How was your day?"
"Good and you."
"Just the same... busy as always ." He answered and she chuckles. He smile. He like the sound of her laugh.
"Are you free tomorrow evening?"
"Yes i think so."
"How about dinner?" He asked hopefully. He knew Julia likes him but he had reject her a number of time.
She was quiet. He think she find it a surprise he was asking her out for a dinner. He only invite her if he have a party to attend because she love party.
" Okay. "
He sigh with relief. And he feels scared about how he will feel if she had rejected him. He think he really really want this date.
"Alright then. I'll pick you up tomorrow at 7pm."
"Okay. See you tomorrow. Goodnight."
"Good night." He said and hung up.
He smile at himself. It was not a bad thing to do afterall. He have a lot of friends that date different women but he does not enjoy such things. But Julia was different and that's what he had been blind to see.
She is younger than him with seven years. She is forty and she is a successful woman. She had boutiques in New York and Texas, her hometown. She also have a son who is still in high school, an eighteen year old boy. She had him with her first husband.
She had got married to her first love at eighteen. But things didn't work out well. He was getting tired of the marriage and he decides to divorce her after eight years of the marriage.
He will try to make this work better than the last time. Julia didn't deserve to be hurt. She was still a good friend even after he broke up with her.
Its time he move on and be truly happy.