Right after leaving Simon’s school premises, neither parent said anything to Simon. Vera and Dave had already decided to say nothing lest they express so much disappointment in Simon or anger or any other emotion but their sincere love.
As agreed, Mummy Pastor dropped Pastor Dave at the church entrance while she and Simon went off. The twins wouldn’t be closing from their school for the next two hours. They had an extra mathematics coaching class.
Vera first thought they should head to the mall, but she did not feel interested in somewhere crowded. She kept driving towards the mall anyway until her eyes caught the signboard towards her left on the other side of the lane. She almost missed it. She thought she saw wrongly and parked just a stone’s throw distance from where she saw the sign.
Taking a brief excuse from Simon, she stepped out, crossed over, walked right to the building, and saw Some Peace and Quiet.
How funny, she thought.
She walked into the building, and what she saw wowed her!
This place really exists? Why haven’t I ever noticed it?
Walking into the long walkway, she was first welcomed by the array of natural plants on both sides of it, and the further she walked, the number of plants around her increased. It was a whole different world from where she stepped in from. She spotted a reception lounge, and there was just a middle-aged woman who reclined on a comfortable lounge couch.
“Welcome to Some Peace and Quiet. How may I help you?”
Vera simply asked, “What do you do here, ma?”
Such a wonderful smile the elderly woman had.
“We simply offer you a comfortable booth where you can have some peace and quiet for at most 12 hours a day. We offer books, music, and mini snacks for the stay. We also have a mini garden with a water fountain in case you want nature around,” the woman replied.
“How much do you charge for the service?” Vera asked.
“It depends on the service you would require,” she responded as she began to show Vera their catalogue.
To Vera’s surprise, it was simply affordable. In fact, it was very affordable.
Excusing herself, she went to bring the vehicle into their premises, and together with Simon, they opted for the garden area and some light snacks.
Mother and son sat together in some true peace and quiet. Vera tried many scenarios in her mind to bring up the matter at hand, but no matter how much she thought about it, it always felt off. It seemed the more she picked on the matter, the more her son would withdraw from her. She just seemed at a loss.
Munching on her popcorn and sipping her punch drink, she still didn’t say anything.
Neither did Simon.
He simply sat there, nonchalant. He had made up his mind—there was nothing to say to either of his parents. He sat, waiting, expecting his mom to say something. She did not.
Simon had expected some extra rebuking from his dad and perhaps some tears from his mom, but both would do nothing of his expectation.
While waiting in the car for his mom, he was beginning to think they had given up on his matter. But sitting here with his mom, he knew her tactic—she wanted to use some unexpected means to make him say what he really felt.
I will say nothing! Simon said under his breath.
Suddenly, Vera spoke.
“Have I ever told you how growing up was for me?” she said, looking at Simon.
Simon, not meeting her eyes, shook his head.
“Yes. You told us that you lived with your uncle and aunt.”
Smiling lovingly at her son, Dave’s carbon copy, “Yes, I did tell you that. But there are so many other things I didn’t tell you, but I think you are old enough to know about it now. However, not today. We will come here again. Hopefully tomorrow.
“But while we are here, let’s enjoy some of this peace and quiet. At least we paid for it,” Vera said while laughing.
Simon felt somewhat uneasy with what she had said.
What could be so special about Mummy’s growing up?
She had said some things to them occasionally about it, like whenever they wanted to waste food, she would refer to how that was never an option for her while growing up.
Honestly, she rarely spoke about her uncle and aunt other than that she lived with them while growing up.
Did she have it bad for her to speak with such seriousness?
Especially needing peace and quiet for it.
He glanced at her and saw that she was doing what she would always do in a difficult situation—pray.
Even though she was casually munching on her snacks, he saw her legs do what she did when she was praying inaudibly in the company of others—shaking.
Slowly.
Almost dismissible.
But a closer look, and her legs were shaking.
Simon also refused to consider his bad behavior. He continued to push the guiltiness of his conscience to the back, focusing on some other thought.
Actually, the magazine was not his.
He did not even know who it belonged to, and he was not willing to explain himself to anybody!
He saw the magazine in some hole close to his school’s incinerator.
He had gone to dispose of his classroom’s waste, then his eyes caught something poking out of the wall.
He picked it up and knew someone had hidden it there.
He wanted to give it to his room teacher, but he got caught up in the various graphics he saw, and honestly, he was fascinated.
It made him feel funny, and he guessed he liked it.
Hence, he decided to keep it for himself.
A classmate noticed it in his bag when he was searching for a blade for his pencil.
The poke-noser grabbed it hurriedly and ran off to the teacher.
The teacher had been especially hard on him since his first suspension, hence he took it personally and headed off to the vice principal admin, who was another unnecessarily hard teacher.
That’s how it grew till he was suspended that same day, according to the punishment in the student’s handbook.
Very unjust!
Still, he was not interested in explaining himself.
If they say I did it, I did it.
Simon did not explain himself while he was being prosecuted at the vice principal’s office.
While he was ruminating on all this, Vera tapped him and called that they should head to his sisters’ school.
As he stood up, he saw his mom try to link her fingers with his, and he let her.
He had missed his mom’s comforting touch, actually.
He looked up and saw her smiling at him.
They were just about the same height, but he surely would be taller than she was.
Looking at her loving face, he knew he had to protect her from getting hurt to the best of his ability.
And he would do it, no matter what.
———
Wheeeeew!
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Checkmate Episode 8
