Forgiveness in Denmark

 

“Thank you for your help, perhaps this amount will make you understand how precious is my grandson,” Mr. Rimas said as he handed me a check.

There is something on his lap, hidden by his other hand. I tried to ignore it, so I smiled and nodded as a sign of thanks. He looked at the clouds outside the window the plane, seemed to be very excited to see the grandson he had never seen for five years.

“Mr. Rimas, your grandson according to our sources is now in Denmark living with his boyfriend. In less than an hour we will be there, the paradise of people like Fret because of the availability of-“

“I don’t need more information about him, all I want is to see him. I don’t care now if Fret is still now with my ex-nurse. I would accept him for what he is and then maybe he could also forgive me.”

There, I finally recognized the thing he was holding tight – a shirt. Although it was a branded shirt, it was old. He smiled at me realizing I was observing him, holding the shirt. He started sharing his life.

“When he was young, he gave me this shirt as a birthday present because he won in a bible contest in the church he used to attend. He is a faithful Catholic, but I felt something unusual when he transferred to the Metropolitan Community Church in his teenage years. ”

“Mr. Rimas, why did you suddenly decide to see your grandson after five years of forsaking him?” I thought it sounded too personal, but my words already came out.

“That is not your business anymore Mr. Pio, but I will answer you. It is simple; I need an heir because a year ago, those know-it-all doctors told me that I would not live another year. Well, they said that they are not even so sure about the time span they gave me. My money seemed worthless for them when they told me that they cannot do anything.”

I can feel the pain that he feels through his voice, the pain in the truth that he couldn’t buy everything after all. I doubted the reason of him wanting an heir. Then, the truth came out.

 

 

“I had countless plans for Fret, those plans vanished when I discovered the truth about him. However, those plans are coming back again now. I hope that Fret could forgive me in what I have done to him. It was wrong when I called them using offensive words and insulted them. If talking to someone I hated for sixty years would help me to acquire Fret’s forgiveness, I am willing to do that. Believe me, I would rather die than see him hating me.”

 

We were interrupted by the voice that informed us that we are about to land. Then there was silence between us.

 

“Mr. Rimas, we are now here in Denmark, famous being the first government to recognize same-sex marriage. You would see Fret at last. From where we would land, it would only take us a few minutes to go to your ex-nurse and your grandson’s condo”, I said while keeping the check he gave me.

“Could you please go and tell my bodyguards to prepare my wheelchair. Hah, even though sitting in that wheelchair is so exhausting, tell them that I need it again. I will just talk to someone that I never talked to for almost sixty years. Maybe He could help me with Fret. You know, He is my last resort.”

At that moment, his hold to the T-shirt on his lap became tighter, then I saw him bowing his head and closing his eyes. I followed what he ordered. I walked and went to the place allocated for employees like me.

After a while, I came back with his bodyguards. His eyes are still closed and somehow still holding tight to the old T-shirt. But now, he looked pale and lifeless. Someone called the doctor. The doctor rushed and checked his responses. There was no response. His eyes are still closed and it never opened again.

The bodyguards were here to put him to a stretcher, not on his wheelchair. He can now take rest in sitting on that wheelchair. However, his continuous grip to the shirt would never give him serenity. [728 words]

Tags: bodyguards, church, condo, denmark, Flash Fiction, forgive, forgiveness in denmark, fret, grandson, grip, mother, pain, Prose, shyne, stretchers, t-shirt, years