Charmaine said she wanted so much to believe in the man who claimed to be her father but his story was beginning to sound unbelievable! Her Grandfather looked as if he wanted to grab Charles by the neck and choke him to death! Florence also jumped to her feet and held on to Stanley Wharbucks’ arms. “Let him finish his story” she pleaded. Stanley Wharbucks pointed his finger in Charles’s face and said, “Your story better add up or else!” Charles turned to Florence and told her thanks for sticking up for him. He said, “I know this may sound farfetched, but I am speaking the absolute truth. I swear on my mother’s grave that I am being truthful." He wiped a tear from the corner of his eyes and said that one of the things he found out when he regained his memory was that his mother had passed away and because he could not be found she was buried in a pauper’s grave. “Oh no” said Florence. “It’s okay,” said Charles. He said the cemetery kept good records so he was able to retrieve her body and give her a proper burial in the style that she would have liked. Continuing his story he said that one day as he was walking on a part of his farm, that he hadn’t been to in years, he saw this bull tied to a tree. The bull seemed to be in distress so he went to see what he could do for it. As he neared the bull he heard Miss Verna screaming in the distance, ‘No Mass Charles! Noooooo!’ he wondered why she was screaming like that. When he looked at the bull, it was pawing the ground as if it was about to charge at him. Luckily for Charles the bull was tied to the tree with a length of chain that it could not break free from. Charles said he looked in the eyes of the bull and his blood ran cold! He said the bull was doing everything in its power to break away from the chain to get at him. That’s the moment, he said, that his memory returned. He remembered that this was the very same bull that had gored him years ago!! However, this time there was something devilish about the bull. It was acting as if it was possessed by evil spirits! The bull kept snorting through its flared nostrils and was stomping the ground underneath its feet! He said he backed away and ran to the house as fast as he could, all this time praying that the chain tethering the bull would not break because he knew he could never outrun that bull! When he reached the house he ran up the steps and fell down on the verandah gasping for breath. Miss Verna came running from the chicken coops and asked him if was okay and he told her he was fine. He asked her why was the bull chained to the tree and how long had the bull been there? Miss Verna told him that after the bull gored him it was sent to an adjacent farm to help with the breeding of the cows there. It so happened that after a while the bull could no longer service the cows and had become more and more belligerent as the years went by. After the bull had gored the fifth person in less than six months the owner of the adjacent farm returned the bull to them two years ago. Not knowing what to do with the bull, Miss Verna had given the order to chain the bull in an abandoned shed at the back of the farm. She did not bother to tell him about the bull thinking he would be upset because he had still not regain his memory. However, the bull had managed to break out of the barn recently so they decided to chain it to the strongest tree on the property, hoping that because Charles was so busy at his job in town he would not discover it. Charles told her he was glad that he discovered the bull because if he had not he would never have regained his memory! Miss Verna was shocked when she heard him say that. They both began to cry and laugh at the same time. Charles said he got up and went inside the house and this time all the sweet memories he had before he lost his memory came rushing in like a flood. He went into his bedroom and took up the picture frame that held Charlotte’s picture and the tears could not stop. He remembered her with so much clarity! He remembered her laugh, her smile and the way her lips pouted when she did not get her way. He cried even harder as he remembered the night when she gave birth to Charmaine and her final words to him as she was dying. Charles took Charmaine’s hands in his and told her how much her mother had wanted her and how she had planned to love and care for her. By this time, Charmaine said, she was crying, Charles was crying and Florence was crying, but when she looked at Stanley Wharbucks he had a look of disdain on his face as he looked at Charles. “Mcheww!” hissed Stanley Wharbucks as he rolled his eyes. “Oh stop that Grandfather!” said Charmaine. Stanley Wharbucks burst out laughing. “If you believe that story then I can surely sell you the Brooklyn Bridge!” said Stanley Wharbucks. Charmaine told her father to tell them what happened next. Charles said that the first thing he wanted to do was to come to St. James right away to get her but Miss Verna persuaded him to wait a little while before going anywhere. “But why wait?” asked Charmaine. At this point Charmaine said that Miss Verna was starting to irritate her just like how Miss Markhums used to irritate her. She wondered if they were related. Charles said that it made sense at the time because he didn’t even know if she or her Grandfather were still in Jamaica or even alive for that matter! Plus Miss Verna reminded him of his job obligations. He could not just up and leave like that, so since his contract was about to end in a few months he decided not to ask for it to be renewed so he would have all the time in the world to spend with her without being distracted with work issues. He also used the time to return to Spanish Town in search of his mother. After she was reburied, he found out that she owned a home in Eltham Park that was going to be auctioned by the Mortgage Company that his mother bought the home from. He managed to get rid of the tenants and paid off the mortgage in full. He apologized to Charmaine for not coming to see her right away. “Are you sure you did not need the time to concoct your story?” sneered Stanley Wharbucks. Charles looked at him and reminded him that the last time he came to St. James he, Stanley Wharbucks, was sending men to find him and murder him. He ran for his life because of fear then, but he was no longer afraid. He was there for his daughter and his daughter only. If it means that he would lose his life then so be it! Charmaine said she was horrified to hear that her Grandfather had wanted her father dead. Florence also seemed to be in shock at Charles words. They both looked at Stanley Wharbucks in disbelief. Stanley Wharbucks looked back at them and shrugged his shoulders and said, “You should be thanking God that my men didn’t find you then.” Charmaine was dismayed at his words but before she could say anything Florence went over to him and said, “I am so disappointed in you Mass Stanley, I am thanking God that my Ben didn’t live to hear you say these words!”
At this moment my phone rang, it was Matron. I wondered what was happening at the hospital!
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