TOUCHING WRONGLY

It took Delilah less than a minute to be shattered completely and to get a feeling to be on the other side. She certainly had her own reasons to have been involved with the handsome hunk from the neighborhood, but that was only because Mr. Jones was always at work. Delilah’s age was such that her hormones had been bursting to flow out, but Mr. Jones never really cared.

Maybe that was because he never really loved her and married her for mutual understanding. Seeing that reason failing in front of his eyes, possibly he could never give her the attention she wanted. Mr. Jones must have had a grudge against Delilah for the separation she caused between him and his daughter because no father will want to stay away from his own daughter whom he brought into this world.

Had Rebecca also been sent to the hostel, it would have been a separate thing? But she was unlucky to get admission to the school in which Marie was studying. Delilah had openly asked Mr. Jones to pull Marie out of that school and put her with Rebecca in a school which was not known very well for good students and good results.

In fact, the news of teachers doing illegal things in that school had surfaced many times. Unfortunately, that was the only school where Rebecca passed the entrance exam and interview round. It was a sure shot jealousy in Delilah’s mind for Marie to study in one of the best schools of the town in which her own daughter couldn’t get through. That might have got bitterness in her mind.

This whole scenario was her own doing. So, there was no point in complaining about it. Rather, she didn’t even have the right to feel sad also. She very well knew that Mr. Jones was in no way physically involved with her. They were married and lived under the same roof, but Mr. Jones did not feel anything to do with ‘love’ for her. He continued to stay married because, according to the things that he was told, it was difficult for a single father to raise a daughter by himself, especially in the country that had very conservative people.

Now that Delilah had already reached the house with Rebecca, Marie and Jean without having blinked her eyes even once, as soon as Mr. Jones saw her, he said, “Come, come, Delilah. Meet Angela. We work together.”

“Angela, that’s my wife Delilah,” Mr. Jones said just as Angela started walking towards Delilah to greet her. The smile on Angela’s face was as wide as she had it while she hugged Mr. Jones. That at least cleared the doubt Delilah had on seeing this female smiling from ear to ear as Mr. Jones hugged her. She understood that the lady naturally had a broad smile. One part of the misunderstanding in her mind regarding an extra big smile Angela had while Mr. Jones came close to her was clear.

The next point of dissension was the reason why Mr. Jones wanted to welcome Angela without his family being at home and having gone to the market. As a matter of fact, he asked Delilah to take the girls shopping after she denied taking them because she wanted to stay at home when the “female friend” of Mr. Jones came. More so because there wasn’t any other way in which she could judge the bond that her husband shared with his “female friend”.

But then standing there, she came to the conclusion of not creating any scene in front of his friend for now because as husband and wife, they had only one string which was still attached in their relationship. Delilah was scared about Mr. Jones leaving her because if he put an end to their marriage, she would have no money.

Working was something which she didn’t want to do. Basically, it was easy money that she wanted, and it was working very well in her present setting. Mr. Jones stayed out most of the time, and Delilah got her privacy to do whatever she wanted at home.

Also, the official tours Mr. Jones had were very often, and all that she had to do was to take care of home. For that there was anyway a domestic worker who was hired to do the cleaning, washing and mopping. So, she only had to make sure that the work was done.

Instead of creating a scene in regards to Mr. Jones and his friend, she thought of playing her true self, which was to make Marie look bad in front of her father. She thought that it was a perfect moment since a friend of her husband was also present, and the least that a father would like is his daughter’s mention in an act pertaining to something unacceptable in the country. She pointed at her and said, “Something is wrong with our daughter.”

All eyes turned to Marie, and that is when Mr. Jones saw her with someone who didn’t really look like a girl. Her hair and attire could confuse anyone, and that is what happened yet again. Mr. Jones thought Marie was with a boy, and he was just about to lose his temper because he thought that his daughter did something she shouldn’t have done in the market.

He was losing his cool more so for the reason that he asked for her help to do just one thing and that she couldn’t do it properly; she got herself stuck in some different thing. But then for once he thought of not reacting to his assumption and clarifying the thing that Marie did. It was an achievement for Marie when, instead of turning to Delilah, he walked straight to his daughter and asked, “What happened, Marie?”

“I met my friend Jean in the market, and she joined us,” Marie replied. Delilah was enraged at this and for this time, no one was worried about her and neither did they bother to ask her for an explanation about anything that she said.

“That’s wonderful,” Mr. Jones said and put his hand on Jean’s head to show acceptance.

He asked, “Marie, is she the friend you were telling me about? Would you be staying at her house?”

Jean turned to Marie excitedly, and Jean answered, “Yes, dad. She is my friend, Jean, I told you about.”

“It is very nice to meet you, Jean,” Mr. Jones said and brought his hand forward to shake hands with her after he saw Jean doing it.

“Nice to meet you too, uncle,” Jean replied and smiled so genuinely to automatically create a bond with Marie’s dad.

It was a moment of joy as everyone was happy. Mr. Jones finally turned to Delilah and asked, “What is wrong with my daughter?”

Delilah was furious to see the way her husband was supporting Marie, and it seemed to her that her plan failed. So, when Mr. Jones asked her the question at last after doing all that, which he wanted to do, Delilah blathered, “Ask Marie what she was doing with her friend.” “Is she really her friend or they share something more?” “Tell her we won’t accept anything like that.”

The things which she was saying didn’t make sense to anybody standing there. After a break of a few seconds, Mr. Jones requested, “Calm down, Delilah. Calm down and tell me what happened?”

Delilah took a deep breath and explained, “Marie and her friend have been touching each other wrongly. They fell on each other and were loving it, and now they were holding hands like a couple and walking. We will not accept this.”

She looked at Mr. Jones and questioned, “Am I right?”