THE HONOURABLE MAN

Episode 45

Time seems to pass by very quickly when people are having a merry time. The Jacob's home is filled with happy noises, the kids are having a fun time playing upstairs and the adults are keeping busy with some grown up conversations as well as jokes and mockery.

Everyone is surprised when the clock reads 'dinner time'

"I really don't feel like cooking for the second time today," Kiana sighs

"Me neither...I'm still exhausted from the last cooking, it's just too hot to stand the heat of the stove," agrees Selena.

"So are you ladies suggesting that we starve this evening?" Pete slumps his head against his chair in protest.

"No Pete...can't you see the ladies are trying to get us to order some takeaways," Bryce confidently utters.

"You have got a smart husband Kiana," Selena mumbles to her. "Don't I know it," she chuckles.

After much deliberation the gentlemen eventually agree to give in to the ladies request. They order a wide range of Chinese food consisting of fried shrimp, dumplings, chow mein, roasted duck and many more.

The children are excited about having takeaways for supper, besides them usually being finger licking good there is the fact that takeaways mean no dirty dishes in the sink. Nobody wants to spend the last hours of the year scrubbing dirty dishes and pots in the kitchen.

Soon after dinner the games begin, they start with a trivia game to accommodate the kids. It gives them a good hour of fun and giggles, the kids are not thrilled when Bryce becomes the winner of the round and so they are relieved and overjoyed when given a green light to head upstairs to play on their own.

"Cool...now the games are going to be fair," Paul mutters as he beckons the other kids to follow him upstairs.

"Now that the kids are gone, it's time to bring out the alcohol....," Selena dances away and returns with a pack of beer.

"Let's start with hide and seek," Pete jokes around. "I bet he would tuck himself in bed while we search the entire house for his sleeping ass," Bryce slaps him on the shoulder.

"You know me too well buddy," he cracks up.

"Lets start with truth or dare, shall we?" Selena enthusiastically proposes.

Everyone's eyes flicker from the next person to the other.

"I hope we can keep the game civil no deep questions or dares," Bryce furrows his brows.

"Aah if we were to do that then they'd be no fun," Selena complains.

"Just have a few shots mate and you won't give a damn what questions are thrown at you," Pete advises as he lifts up his beer.

"Hey...what about some of us who are not supposed to drink?" Kiana throws her hands in the air.

"Your husband will do the drinking on your behalf," Selena chortles.

"Don't worry Kiana we will allow you to skip a few questions," Pete says.

Kiana is pleased to hear that, she smiles from ear to ear, "Okay then let's get started, who wants to go first?" She asks.

"I will start," Selena volunteers.

"Truth or dare?"

Selena takes a sip from the beer bottle and thoughtfully considers what choice to make.

After a few seconds of mulling she answers, "Dare,"

"I dare you to....tell us the craziest place you and your husband got naughty in,"

"Uuuuuuh" Bryce giggles enjoying the thrilling game.

"Oh my goodness...It was in the movie house," she covers her eyes with embarrassment.

"What!!!" Kiana is astounded, "It was back then when we were still dating, we were still young and wild," explains Selena.

"Oooh damn Pete I had no idea the young you was wild and crazzzzy," Bryce slaps him across the shoulder.

"Yeah...yeah...can we move on already," Pete rolls his eyes.

Pete throws the next question at Bryce who went with "truth"

"At how old were you when you broke your virginity?"

"Come on guys...why do you have to ask only s****l questions?"

"Because we are all adults here dah," Selena quickly responds.

"Answer the question buddy," Pete gazes at him.

Bryce gulps down his beer before responding, "I was 15," he confesses.

Selena and Pete share a look before bursting into laughter.

"Hey...what's so funny?" Bryce frowns at them.

"It's not what we expected," she mumbles.

"What do you mean it's not what you expected? Have you guys been discussing my s****l life?"

"Noooo! It's just that before you met Kiana you used to amaze me by how well you managed to abstain,"

"At least now we know its because he started getting some way too early," Selena laughingly adds.

"You guys are sick...can we move on to the next person already," he heaves.

Kiana picks a "dare" and casts Pete a look that says "please go easy on me,"

"Hmmm Kiana Ray..... I dare you to knock on my neighbor's door and speak to him for a minute," he orders.

The neighbor being referred to is a grumpy old man who likes to be left alone and hates to be disturbed.

"Can you see what time it is?" Kiana points at the wall clock.

"It's ten pm," Selena responds wondering what that has got to do with anything.

"Exactly! It's rude to knock on someone's door at this time of the night," she shrugs.

"Ooh you are just being a chicken...quack...quack...quack," Pete starts imitating a chicken flipping its wings.

"Stop! I will do it," she confidently utters earning herself stunned gazes.

"Are you sure?" Her husband asks with concern.

"Yeah...I just have to talk to him for a minute and then I win...right?"

"I hope you are not going out there hoping he won't attend to his door," Selena lifts an eyebrow.

"I hadn't thought of that but if he doesn't open his door it won't be my fault,"

"You will bang the door loud enough until he attends to it sweetheart," Pete states.

"Oooh," she pouts.

They all exit the house and find a spot to hide while watching Kiana march up to the neighbor's door. She clenches her hands into fists and breathes out as she tries to steady herself.

She glances over her shoulders to check if they are watching her and indeed they are onto her.

She softly knocks on the door and gets no response. She begins to smile at the thought that maybe there is no one at home.

As she is about to knock one last time, she is startled when the door is swung open and a very tall and large built grey haired man scowls at her with his dark eyes burning a hole onto her forehead.

She almost screams and runs away but she gathers the strength to face the vicious looking man that she has just disturbed. "Who the hell are you and why are you knocking on my door at this time of the night," he thunders at her.

She almost pees on herself, "I...I'm sorry...I thought since it's new year's eve you would be up waiting for the count down like everyone else," she stutters.

"Well you thought wrong. I am not like everybody else and I never will be. Now what is it that you want?" He folds his hands against his chest and arches his eyebrows at her.

"I was wondering if...uh...," her mind suddenly goes blank.

"Listen here child...I don't have time for this rubbish. Go and wonder somewhere else," he slams the door shut on her face.

"Damn...that seemed intense," Pete bites his lower lip as they head back inside the house.

"You think," Kiana blinks.

"I can't believe he called me a child," she adds sounding offended.

"Damn girl...you have got some serious guts...even I myself can never dare to disturb that vicious looking grumpy old man with a venom tongue," Selena comments.

"He sure is grumpy...no kidding...what's his problem anyway?" Kiana questions.

"Word says he lost his wife and child in a bus crash and ever since then he has always been angry at the whole universe," Pete answers.

"That's tragic...Now I understand why he is so mean but you guys shouldn't have made me disturb the poor man's peace," she frowns.

"Don't worry about it you actually did him a favor," Selena giggles.

"How so?" Kiana creases her forehead wondering what she is talking about.

"He loves having someone to bark at and you gave him just that now let's not dwell on the sour subject. Who is next?"

"It's Pete and I get to give him an order," Kiana grins maliciously.

Pete decides to play safe and goes with "truth"

"What would you rather do...have a three some or make a s*x tape?"

"Ho ho I didn't see that one coming," Pete slumps back into his seat, his hands behind his head and his legs crossed.

His wife impatiently stares at him to answer,

"The truth please," Bryce encourages.

"I would make a s*x tape with my gorgeous wife...that would be pretty fun to watch," he clears his throat.

"Hmmm why do I get the feeling that someone is lying because his wife is right here?" Kiana places her finger under her lower lip.

"Okay Pete...let's rephrase the question. If you were not married would you choose a three some or a s*x tape?" Bryce rephrases.

"Definitely a three some," Pete shouts as he springs up from his chair and grabs a beer to gulp down.

"Ha! I knew it!" Kiana yells.

Selena seems unhappy with her husband's response. Her face falls and crooked lines begin to appear on her forehead.

"Cheer up sweetheart it's just a game," Pete gets her on her feet and twirls her around in hopes to cheer her up.

"What about you Bryce...would you choose a threesome?" Selena throws the same question at Bryce.

"I'm so not going to answer that sweetheart because that was Pete's question and his alone. Tell you what how about we switch to a different game huh?" He suggests.

"With pleasure...I have had enough of truth and dare to last me the whole year," Pete agrees.

They settle for a poker game and it carries on for a while and by the time they are exhausted enough to call it quits its already a few minutes before the clock strikes 12 midnight welcoming the beginning of a new year.

The children gather their fire crackers and rush outside to set them off the minute the clock strikes 12 midnight.

"Please be careful," the adults yell in unison after the giddy children.

The count down begins from 10.

"10....9....8....7...6...5...4...3...2....1... Happy new year," triumphant screams fill the entire neighborhood with what seems like every living creature shouting "Happy new year," at the top of their lungs.

The fire works begin to set off in every direction in the sky creating a beautiful sight. Loud car honking can be heard coming from those who are on the road.

Kiana and Bryce pull each other close as they share a heart felt kiss and Selena and Pete do the same. Thereafter they exchange hugs with everyone in the house wishing each other a happy prosperous new year.

Their phones start buzzing from messages and calls from their friends and loved ones wishing them a happy new year. They take sometime to respond to them before putting their phones away.

A couple of minutes later Selena's daughter comes running to their side, "We can't find Sam," she pants and tries to catch her breath.

"What do you mean you can't find him, you were together outside just now," Bryce tries to calm himself and not panic.

"Yeah but he has just disappeared, we have searched for him everywhere but we can't find him," Lena frantically explains.

"It's okay...I will look for him," Bryce states and he promptly jumps to his feet and disappears as he begins his search for Sam.

After a few minutes of checking literally every room in the big house he finds Sam dolefully curled up on the lower roof. He climbs out of the open window and sits next to him.

"Sam! Didn't you hear us screaming your name in search of you?"

"I'm sorry...I just didn't want to be found," he buries his face into his palms.

"What's wrong Sam...you can talk to me," he implores.

He tardily looks up at him contemplatively with tears welling up in his eyes.

Bryce gently squeezes his shoulder reassuring him he can confide in him.

"It's my mother...this is going to be our first year apart and it's just hard for me to make peace with her being behind bars," he tearfully gasps.

Bryce is not surprised, Sam has always had a soft spot for his mother. He respects the unconditional love that he has for her even though he doesn't understand how he is able to love her. He personally does not believe he would have loved a mother like Janet but it's a good thing Sam is not like him. Perhaps there are some things about Janet that are loveable although he didn't come across them during the time he lived with her.

His heart tears up for Sam, he is too young to be having such a hard challenging life. It's bad enough that he lost his biological father and now his mother is in prison. It makes Bryce feel good about being Sam's guardian as he believes things could had been worse for the poor child if he was thrown into the foster system.

"Would it make you feel better if I took you to see her later today?"

Sam's eyes quickly light up as he stares at Bryce in disbelief, "You'd really do that for me?" His eyebrows wrinkle with astonishment.

Bryce chuckles lightly before answering him, "Yes Sam.. I care about you and I hate seeing you this downhearted. I would do just about anything to cheer you up and if seeing your mother is going to help then we can go,"

Sam cuddles up to him, "Thank you Uncle Bryce," he gratefully utters.

After a long moment on the roof Bryce talks him into heading back inside the house. "If it's okay I would like to get some rest," Sam requests.

"That's okay... go and get some rest we will head back home around 6 am in the morning," Bryce says.

Upon hearing that Sam makes his way to Paul's bedroom to crash there but before he walks in he pauses at the door and turns around to face Bryce.

"Happy new year," the corners of his mouth crease into a smile.

"Thank you Sam, happy new year to you too," Bryce reposts.

Once he reunites with everyone downstairs they gaze at him expectantly, he informs them where he found Sam and that he just needed sometime to himself.

"Poor kid," Selena whispers

"That's what you get when women like Janet are allowed to conceive," Pete sneers.

"It's a good thing she never brought another child into this world to suffer at her hands," Kiana adds.

"Guys...don't you think you are being a little too harsh," Bryce reluctantly speaks up earning himself stunned gazes from all eyes in the room.

"I'm sorry...are you defending Janet?" Kiana crosses her hands over her chest and lifts up one eyebrow.

"Oh no he didn't," Pete smirks.

His wife jabs him on the chest with her elbow before shushing him. She drags him out of the room to give the couple some privacy. Pete reluctantly follows his wife out of the room.

"I'm not defending her sweetheart but she is Sam's mother and he loves her the way she is. It would hurt him if he heard us talking about his mother like that," he explains.

Kiana blinks her eyes and swallows the lump in her throat. She understands what her husband is saying even though she doesn't like the fact that it sounded like he was protecting her.

She reminds herself that Bryce lived with Janet for six years so if there is anyone who knows better all the horrible attributes she holds then it would be no one else but him. He is just being a civil man who is concerned about Sam.

"You are right...it's a new year and a new day no need to waste it away chattering about Janet. Today we can forget that  she even exists.. I made plans for us and the children to travel to Bahida," she squeals and shakes her shoulders with enthusiasm.

Bahida is a tourist attraction place located ten hours drive away from their town. Kiana secretly purchased plane tickets for the whole family to go there to spend their first days of the new year. There are a lot of beautiful places to visit and fun activities for children like horse riding, swimming at a beach and building sandcastles.

Kiana is bewildered when her husband doesn't seem enthusiastic about the trip.

"What's wrong...I thought you'd be excited?"

"A trip to Bahida...wow!" He tries to sound excited, he shifts uneasily for a brief moment.

"Is there something you want to tell me Mr. Adams?" She squawks at him.

"Well...I had promised Sam we would go visit his mother later today," he grits his teeth in anticipation of his wife's unpleasant response.

"What! Are you kidding me?" She huffs.

"I didn't know you had plans for the day!" He raises his hands.

"Oh so you thought it's okay to make plans with Sam to go visit his mother in prison before discussing it with your wife first?"

"I didn't think you would have a problem with it," he blinks.

"You know what... you can go ahead and visit Janet. I will fly to Bahida alone with my kids," she pushes past him and he grabs her hand to stop her from leaving.

"We don't have to fight over this...I'm sure we can come up with a solution...What time are we supposed to check in at the airport?"

"11 am,"

"Damn that's too early," he frets.

To get to Janet he would have to drive two hours and spend at least thirty minutes there before driving another two hours back and to make matters worse the prison visits are scheduled from 10.00 am. As much as he would love to keep his promise to Sam he can't afford to disappoint his wife by missing the family trip.

"How long are we to stay at Bahida?"

"Two nights," she curtly responds.

Bryce meanders around the room before stopping to exhale heavily. "I guess I will have to talk to Sam about visiting his mother on the 4th,"

"Yeah...I guess you are going to have to do that. I'm heading to the guest bedroom upstairs to take a nap," she informs.

He blankly watches as she saunters away, he lingers in the room for a few minutes before following his wife upstairs.

Sam is already asleep now there is no point in waking him up for news that will only sadden him. He can only hope hearing about the trip to Bahida will lighten him up and make him feel better.