Hello again.. enjoy the next chapter!

CHAPTER-2

Daddy.

His lovely daddy.

As far as he could remember, his daddy was his best friend. Yes, his best friends were Allan, Chuck, and Kim, but still daddy was his BESTEST friend in the world. His daddy and he used to go to late night strolls on the street outside thier house. He would clutch daddy's little finger and, bursting with childlike enthusiasm, narrate his daily batch of happenings- what happened at school, at home and his corresponding feelings. Daddy would patiently listen to all his stories, displaying a wide array of emotions just for his sake- sometimes eyes wide in surprise, sometimes excited with suspense. However, at most other times, a genial, indulgent friendly smile played upon his lips that nearly made him burst with happiness everytime he saw daddy's face. He liked his daddy. Daddy and he were crazy about baseball. They would often plonk on the sofa in front of the TV on lazy afternoons and binge watch matches, high-fiving like over-excited boys!

It was not very long ago. He remembered all these memories with a pang of sadness and knew only one thing- he missed his daddy. Although now, the pain had dulled a little. Earlier his eyes would water, merely on hearing his friends talk excitedly about their outings with their mom and dad and siblings. His little family was now only his mom and his little cozy Detroit home..

Oh! Very soon even his home was going to be a part of distant memory!

He sighed, pulling himself out of the painful memories, and made the final entry-

"MOVED TO CHINA"!


He was jolted into reality as he felt his mom shaking him by the arm. She asked, with lines of consternation apparent on her forehead,"Dre! Our flight announcement has been made. We need to board!"

It was then that he realised she had been shaking him for the past five minutes, worrying over his non-reaction. Next moment, he had to get up immediately because his mom practically screamed,

"DRE! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? GET UP!"

Dre started collecting his luggage. As he reached the line in front of the luggage check-in counter, he finally realised; everything that was his life was breaking up slowly. First his dad, now their house in Detroit and family and friends. He was leaving all behind.

Luggage cleared and dispatched off, Dre and his mom followed other co-passengers to the boarding gate. With suspense on what awaited them in China, and a very heavy heart at leaving everything behind, he plodded after his mother through the jet bridge, the noises of the terminal fading with every step.


Dre's mother had been keenly observing her only son ever since she had broken the news a month ago that they would move to Beijing. She had despaired as her boy went from confusion, shock and anger to reluctant acceptance, to finally dejection and utter sadness. Seeing him go through such a negative roller coaster emotional ride, she would feel pangs of panic and guilt. She felt as if everything was going wrong. But she never felt more right in her life about any other decision either.

Her life, like most mothers on this planet, was centred around her child Dre. After her husband's death, she realised that now she had an tricky responsibility to ensure that Dre never suffered without his dad being there to groom him.

She knew her husband connected better with Dre; they were like close friends rather than a usual father-son duo. She knew her son loved her too, but the connection was not as strong as with his father.

Hence, she was not particularly surprised when Dre became very quiet and reserved after his dad's death. She ignored her own grief at the time, and tried giving more attention and quality time to him.

But even after more than a year of Dre's dad's death, he had not recovered to his original cheerful and excited nature. He even ignored his favourite sport, baseball and lagged behind in studies. A smile on his face had become a rarity. Her son was now a sullen and depressed young boy.

But she believed that every problem had a solution. She encouraged him to spend more time with his best friends. She went to festivals, parks and baseball matches with him, even though she herself had very sober tastes in life. She often burst into childlike enthusiasm in an unfortunately, futile attempt to transfer some of the infectious emotion to her son.

In one-and-a-half years after her husband's death, she had exhausted herself and was then seriously concerned. She finally confided her worries to her closest people; her sister and elder brother-in-law supported, guided and counselled her. It was then that she had taken the life-altering decision of moving to China.

Her decision had surprised some and shocked many people. She had been toying with the idea of moving houses after her husband's death. Dre had been totally against it at that time and she had dropped it. But recently she had been offered a promotion and a handsome pay raise for a respected position in Beijing.

The idea had taken root. It was a challenging position at work so when it was offered to her, she saw her financial position become better in the coming years; that would secure Dre's future. She considered rejecting it for it would be too tumultuous a change in their steady lives, thinking of choosing a less lucrative but domestic position in Manhattan instead.

After weeks of pondering over it, she talked to her friends about her predicament. And the result of all those endless discussions with her sister and brother-in-law that Dre was getting suspicious about was- they were moving to China. She accepted the position three weeks ago and rest had been a haze of exhausting preparations.

Today morning she had not been able to control the tears that spilled off while removing the last photo frames that captured their many special moments in the home. She would miss everything about the place. The kitchens shelves that she used to scrub every weekend, or the almirahs that housed her husband's clothes, or the bed on which her little boy Dre overslept everyday.

She would not bid a tearful goodbye but a cheerful farewell to the beautiful times spent in the house. Their bye was full of love, thanking the house for being their abode yet apologizing sincerely for parting ways, just like they did to their other friends and family members.

She thought with some anxiety yet anticipation as they took their seats on the plane,

CHINA, HERE WE COME!