“Mom, I’m home,” Little seven-year-old Jason called his mother as he came running right where his mom is in the kitchen, hugging her from behind.
Jason’s mom turned her face around to look at the adorable tiny form of her son, squeezing her legs from behind, hugging her, presenting her with the sweetest, most delightful smile for which she could die.
Jason’s mom, Olivia Jane Gray, was a woman with a heart full of love for her family and son. As a homemaker, she spends most of her time at home, caring for her husband and son.
“Hey, guys.,” Jason’s father called from the doorway, coming home early today. Then he usually does.
Hearing his voice, little Jason ran toward him, leaving his mom. Jason’s father picked up his son with enthusiasm, whirling him around in his arms for a while before placing him on the floor and planting kisses on both of his cheeks.
Upon seeing the interaction between the father and the son, Jason’s mother smiles enthusiastically.
Seeing the father and son interaction, Jason’s mother smiled enthusiastically as Jason’s father came standing by her side, hugging her by shoulders, kissing her lips.
Jason’s father, Daniel Samuel Gray, a man of great pride and an honest heart, who works for a large company but in a modest position;
But he never complains and does not ask for anything more than what he already had, living in a small house having barely enough to survive. For him, nothing is more important than his wife and son. He never asks more than he already has, which is sufficient for his family to lead a happy life.
But what he does not know is that the happiness he has always prayed for his family will not last long, and everything will turn drastically;
And the joy he always prayed for will turn into misery, crushing his happy family apart.
The same night, when little Jason was dining with his parents, enjoying a home-cooked meal of his mom, his dad got the call from his boss.
“Hello,” Jason’s father Daniel said over the phone. While Daniel was talking to the person on the phone, Jason watched his father, his eyes anxious, and the food on the plate before him, long forgotten.
As Jason’s father put his phone away from his ear, disconnecting the call, he shifted his attention towards Jason. “Jason, what happened,” said his father, scoping Jason up in his arms from the chair.
“Dad, are you leaving for work now,” Jason’s father nodded at his son’s words. “But dad, today is my birthday, and you promised to stay with us all the time,” Jason spoke, wrapping his two arms around his father’s neck with his head placed on his shoulder, as teardrops started streaming from his eyes.
“Jason, your birthday isn’t until midnight, and your dad will be at home by then, blowing your birthday candle with you, celebrating your birthday.” Jason’s father said, planting kisses on both of Jason’s cheeks before placing him down on the floor. “Now be a big boy, dry off your tears and promise me one thing,…. will you?”
Hearing his father’s words, Jason wiped the tears from his eyes from the back of his hands and nodded his head with a smile.
“That’s my boy,” Jason’s father said, beaming. “Promise me you will always take care of your mother when I am gone.”
“But Dad, I’m not strong like you….., and look, I’m so small,” Jason said to his father in confusion, comparing himself to his dad.
Jason’s father smiled at his childish innocence and spoke. “Jason, big or small, it doesn’t matter, you know a man must protect and treasure women in their lives.”
Jason nodded enthusiastically at his father’s words. “I promise dad I’ll always protect mom.”
Hearing the words from his son’s mouth, Jason’s father glanced at his wife, who’s smiling cheerfully at her son like a parent who is proud of his son.
Jason’s father embraces both his wife and son in his arms and planted kisses on both their cheeks before leaving for his work.
Jason and his mother stood outside the door, watching Jason’s father leave. Both of them waved him goodbye before entering the house to finish their long-forgotten dinner.
After finishing their dinner, Jason and his mother started making the cake for Jason’s birthday while waiting for his father to arrive.
Staring at the clock, Jason’s mother sees his midnight, but her husband has yet to return. With Jason in her arms, half asleep with the two of them lying on the couch, waiting for Daniel to arrive so that all can celebrate Jason’s eighth birthday. Half an hour passed, yet no sign of her husband. Losing some patience, Jason raised his head from his mother’s shoulder and asked her. “Mom, when is Dad going to come home…”
Before Jason’s mother can respond to her son, the sound of the phone ringing disrupts the silence of the house at night. Jason’s mother gently scooped Jason away from her arms, placing his back on the couch before going to grab a phone call. Unaware of the fact that this call will destroy their happy family forever. Make their lives full of misery and pain.
“Sorry, is that Mrs. Gray I’m talking to,” someone on the phone asked Jason’s mother?
“Yes, but who is speaking? ” Jason’s mother responded, urging a question of her own.
The person on the phone, who is a police officer, introduced himself to her on the phone before telling her, “We are sorry to inform you, we are sorry to inform you, but your husband had a car accident.”
Hearing this news made Jason’s mother’s legs jelly, her eyes streaming like a river and her heart pounding rapidly into her chest. All her senses felt numb as she tried to talk, “How is he? ” She spoke, trying her best to deliver her words as clearly as she could.
“It would be great if you could come here and see him for yourself,” the officer replied, giving her the address of the accident site.
Jason’s mother, wasting a second of her time, held her son in her arms, went to the address given by the officer on the phone.
Little Jason, who is sitting on the couch, watched his mother closely when she was talking on the phone, watching how her mother’s emotions turn from cheering and happiness to sad, dull, and depressing.
Jason’s mom, without even bothering to lock her home or take care of her appearance. She ran, carrying her son in her arms as the address of the accident site is not far from her home. She did not even bother to call a taxi. It will only waste her time and nothing else.
Looking at her mother like this, even seven-year-old Jason can notice that something is very wrong. But he didn’t have the heart to ask her mother.
At the accident site, Jason and his mother saw two to three police vehicles stationed by the road with sirens whirring on each of them. The entire area was marked by ‘no crossing,’ tapes as police strolled around the site prohibiting anyone from penetrating the space. An ambulance was also parked on the side of the road and medical personnel caring for a person with a forehead injury, seated by the back door of the ambulance.
And as Jason’s mother was about to enter the restricted area, an officer came in ahead of her, preventing her from going further. “Excuse me, ma’am, but you can’t get into a restricted area like this.”
“But I got a call from around here that my husband had an accident.”
Jason’s mother spoke with her voice full of emotions, holding her son in her arms, staring at the officer.
“Wait, Ms. Olivia Gray,” the officer inquires and strays from her path, letting her in.
Jason’s mother nods to his question.
Olivia stood still for a moment, eyeing her surroundings., without knowing where to go and where to find her husband.
The officer offers help, observing her in an emotional state, and leads her to the area where her husband is.
Following at the area, the officer took her, Jason’s mother shattered down on the ground with her son in her limbs, with water gushing down like a stream from her eyes. Her mind now long-drawn working as all her wits went numbed by the view.
Jason notices that his mother, shattering down, gazes at the way his mother’s eyes, directed.
Jason’s eyes staring at the view that’s so drastic for a seven-year-old understanding on the day of his birthday left a permanent scar on the innocent self of a seven-year-old. So much that even after two decades, the scene is as fresh in his mind as it is now.
The view of his father with his eyes closed, lying on a stretcher, immobile.
Jason’s mother ran to her husband, standing by his side, not trusting the image that her eyes see.
With trembling hands, she reached to grasp her husband’s hand. His hand feels lifeless and cold beneath her touch, with no sign of life in it.
The drastic image in front of her eyes triggered her brain to such an extent that she lost consciousness just next to her husband’s body.
Jason is the most innocent, and the youngest does not shed a single drop of tears from his eyes. He just looked at his surroundings quietly, with much detail.
The trauma affected Jason’s innocent mind so terribly that he somehow lost the sense of working through his own emotions.
Days passed, the person who was the reason for the accident is now in prison for felony vehicular manslaughter and drinking and driving.
But a sentence of a few years in jail can’t bring back someone’s love or mend together the bond of a happy family, which is now ruined by someone’s carelessness.
As time elapsed, everything started to change in Jason’s household. With the death of his father, his mother became indifferent.
Previously the woman whose heart was full of love and happiness for everyone in her life, now lying dull and lifeless on the couch as it has no reason to live in its life.
Little Jason, who is now eight years old and the person whose birthday turns into a funeral for her father,
The memories of that night left a tremendous impact on his life. Even at his father’s funeral, his eyes were dry as a desert, without a drop of tears falling from his eyes, though his heart was full of every kind of emotion.
And Jason’s mother snuggled so deep into her grief that she became addicted to drugs and alcohol to soothe some of her misery.
Jason, being quite naïve, sows on one thing and it is to destroy the person and his family, who is the reason behind destroying his happy family. And making him pay for his mistakes, and all his wrong deeds.