When she left, she never knew she was coming back. Grace sniffled as the wind whistled past her ear, causing her to draw her scarf tighter around herself. She wasn't sure her father, who she felt must be old and graying, would curl his lips in the satisfactory smile he was known for when she brought an A+ result home.
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She knew her mother would scream and drag her into her arms, that was the one person who made her consider going back. Whatever happened, she had prepared herself for the worst.
“Thank you, Tom” she told the driver as he opened the car door and reduced his torso till his head almost touched his knees.
She was taken aback when the first person she set eyes on was Henrietta, doing her rounds with the flowers, just like 14 years ago.
“Holy Mary, mother of God!” Henrietta let the watering can slip out of her hands and onto the ground with a loud thud. Grace allowed herself to smile, then opened her arms to Henrietta who was already walking hastily towards her.
“I thought about you this morning, and here you are!” Tears were rolling freely down Henrietta's eyes, “I waited and waited, telling Pastor Hannah that you would return one of these days. She stopped waiting after 10 years, but I just knew. I knew you would return, oh, Grace!”
Grace couldn't speak, for some reason there were no tears running down her eyes, but there was a strange feeling in her chest.
“Come in, the table is just being set for breakfast. I can imagine how Pastor Hannah would react seeing her only daughter here. Oh, what a blessed day”.
It was 14 years ago, when she was only 16, that Grace had taken her orange carry on and left the house.
“I want to do music, dad”
“Yes,” Pastor Gabriel had curled his lips again, “which is exactly why you're in the choir”.
“Dad, being in the choir doesn't teach me music. I want to go to a music school and do professional music”
“Yes, Grace. You will, after you go to college and become a lawyer”
“But I don't want to become a lawyer!” tears were brimming in her eyes. Her father was like that, she never wanted to be in the opera choir of his church but because she had a beautiful voice, he forced her into it. It was the same way he banned her from attending musical training with an upcoming musician, Shawn. Her father said the guy was doing the devil's music.
“Speaking back is a form of insubordination, Grace. The bible says to….” She didn't wait for the last part, she whirled around and stormed out of his office. It was that same Shawn who had told her about a slot in ‘The Lively band’ in California, the information that made her take that decision to leave home for good.
“Pastor!” Henrietta's voice brought her back to reality “You will not believe who the Lord has blessed us with this morning…”
Her father's fork clattered to the ground as she walked into the dining room, there were tears in her mother's eyes instantly, as if she had been waiting for Grace to walk in.
“Sweet Jesus, my child” Pastor Hannah rushed with her arms outstretched and grabbed Grace before she could take a good look at her. She watched her father from behind her mother's head. His lips were clenched together, quivering as if he had just seen a ghost.
“What are you doing in my house?” He thundered when he finally found his voice. She was not shaken one bit by that question. Infact, she felt it came way too late.
“Gabriel, our daughter is back. You cannot surely ask her that…”
“I can ask her whatever I please…” he was interrupted by a cough that threatened to rip his chest apart. Alarm flew into Grace's eyes. Her mother was at his side within a second, handing him a glass of water. “Take her out of here, back to the pit of hades where she has come from!” He said with the little strength left in him, heaved himself from the chair and trotted up the stairs. Grace noticed he was limping.
“I’m sorry, He doesn't mean that…” her mother tried to explain him, just as she had done all these years. Grace waved the explanation aside.
“Oh, I don't care. I'm no longer a teenager, mom. Dad doesn't scare me”.
“Please, come and tell me all about your life as Grace the superstar. There was no year I failed to watch your concerts on TV…” her mother steered her towards the stairs, leading her far away from her father, into the comfort of a room that was once hers.