“Look who’s finally shown up!shouted Derek Thompson. You can turn right back around and leave!Dad, what’s wrong with you?
Dad, whats the matter?Andrew frowned. I havent been home in twenty years, and this is the welcome I get?
If it were up to me, Id have met you with my belt!Derek grabbed his waistband. But no matterwell sort this out now!
Easy, easy!Andrew took a step back. Im not five anymoreIll hit back if I have to!
There it is, your true nature!Derek snapped, still gripping his belt. Bullying the weak, running from the strong, deceiving the good, serving the wicked!
Whats got you so mad? What exactly am I guilty of?Andrew shrugged. Even if I *was* at fault, twenty years have passed! Shouldnt it be forgotten by now?
Easy for you to say when *youre* the one who did wrong! Of course youd want forgiveness! Well, Ive got none for you!Derek spat.
What exactly did I even *do*? Back in college, I kept wondering why my own parents branded me a traitor and barred me from home! Not one of my letters got a reply! And I *did* write!
You mean you *dont know*?Derek sneered.
Andrews face was pure confusionhe wanted answers, but before he could press further, the shouting drew his mother out.
Oh, for heavens sake!cried Margaret Thompson. The devil himself walks in! Throw him out, Derek! Shame on us in our old age!
Andrew froze, stunned into silence. His mother wasnt done.
If I had the strength, Id chase you off with a broom! But I see the devils already marked you!She pointed at the bruise under Andrews eye.
Someone landed a good one!Derek smirked. Id shake their hand!
Mum, Dad, have you lost your minds?Andrew burst out. Twenty years gone, and *this* is how you greet me?
Who put that mark on you?Derek demanded. Well send you packing, then thank him when we see him!
How should I know?Andrew snapped. I took the coach home! Our old neighbor, Peter, recognized me, came over to say hellothen some lad jumped me at the stop, punched me, spat in my face, and bolted! By the time I came to, he was gone!
A true hero!Derek grinned. Ill ask Peter who did it!
Dad, is that *all* you care about?Andrew shouted. That Ive been gone twenty years means nothing to you?
And why should a *traitor* matter to us?Margaret shot back.
Traitor? Since when?
Since *always*!a third voice called from the kitchen.
And whos this brave soul?Andrew turned, furious.
A figure stepped into the light.
Thats the little rat who gave me this shiner!Andrew jabbed a finger at the young man.
Good lad, grandson!Derek chuckled. Seized the moment!
Grandson? What the hell?Andrew recoiled.
Thats right!Margaret stepped between them. Your son. Abandoned.
I *dont* have a son!Andrews voice cracked. Never did! If I had, Id *know*!
Then remember why you fled this village twenty years ago!Dereks voice trembled.
***
Andrew never called it “fleeing.” Hed planned to leavejust earlier than expected.
He was heading to college, clear across the country. Going ahead of time meant securing work and a place to stay before term started. His stipend wouldnt cover much, and asking his parents for money was out of the questionthey could only send food, not cash.
But there was another reason. Unrest had gripped the village. Staying even two more weeks mightve trapped him there forever.
Engagement offers had flooded in. Andrew wanted none of it.
Im tying my life to the *sea*! Leaving a wife behind while Im on voyage? Thats no way to live.
The sea had found him by chance. After school, hed enlisted in the Navy. A year taught him land wasnt his place. Returning home, he carried an acceptance letter to maritime collegetrain as a ships engineer, then sail.
Before studies began, he indulged in one last stretch of freedom. Young men fresh from service werent known for restraint. Drink, brawls, fleeting romancesAndrew saw it all.
He watched peers return as proud eagles, only to become clipped chickenstethered to wives, kids, and farmland.
Andrew refused that fate. No matter how wild the nights, he *never* slipped. He even wired his belt shut.
Yet his resolve made him a prize to village girls. Ambitious, disciplined, untouched by scandalparents sent delegations to his own, angling for a match.
Seeing the siege, Andrew knew hed lose. Either his will would break, or his parents would yield. So he leftsix weeks early.
*Better safe than sorry.*
He reached the port, landed a dock job, rented a dorm cot, and mailed his parents: *Arrived. Settled. Alls well.*
Their reply was a scorched page of venom*Traitor. Coward. No son of ours. May the sea swallow you whole.*
Baffled, Andrew kept writing. No replies came.
He graduated, signed onto a ship, and sailed. Every six months ashore, hed mail another letter home. Eventually, he stopped expecting answers.
At forty, he *needed* to knowwhat had he done twenty years ago to deserve this?
But the reunion brought no warmthonly shocks.
Whyd I leave?Andrew mocked. To escape *your* schemes to marry me off! I saw the gifts, the whispershalf the village plotting to tie me down!
We wanted you matched well!Margaret hissed. Instead, you got *Natasha* pregnant and bolted! An *orphan*, no less!
She came to us after you left!Derek cut in. Said she was carrying your child, asked for advice! Were we to abandon our own grandson?
When did she come?Andrews voice was steel. I wrote you a month after leaving. *Your* reply told me never to come back!
Natasha said *she* wrote you about the baby!Margaret cried. That you told her to *get rid of it* and vanish!
Did you *see* this letter?Andrew demanded.
We believed her!Derek shouted. Unlike you, she had *no one*!
Fine. DNA test. *Now.* If hes mine, nail me to the gate.
The test was negative. Andrew handed it to his parents.
Clear enough? Natasha *knew* I wasnt the father. Yet she came to *you*.
The shame isnt that you believed a lie. Its that you *chose* to think your son a coward and a traitor.
For twenty years, you held onto that. Now? Your forgiveness means *nothing*.
Goodbye. Though you said yours to me long ago.
Andrew left. Stan stayedmilking his “grandparents” dry, swearing the test was wrong, his mother a saint.
The apple didnt fall far.
**Lesson:** Blind faith in accusationsespecially against familycan poison years. Truth buried is a ghost that haunts. Dig it up, or live with the specter.
