A Beautiful Mess.

47.

3 weeks later.

I sat at my usual spot and waited for him to arrive. My foot kept on tapping against the side of the table as my nerves grew more and more obvious. I couldn't sit or stand still and every single second that passed grew more longer. There were countless times where I felt like leaving but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I mean if I don't do this now then when?

I downed my third glass of iced tea when finally he arrived.

"Hi" I said taking a deep breath, trying my best to put on a smile that hid my nerves.

"Hello" he smiled back but I could tell that he was nervous too. "Thank you for calling me"

"Thank you for coming"

We remained silent. This was awkward. I didn't know how to act. The one moment I was never prepared for, the one moment I would never be prepared for, facing my father face to face.

I hadn't spoken to him since that day when I found out and the last time I saw him was at the disciplinary hearing. The last couple of weeks have been extremely hectic and I needed time to digest everything and decided to tackle everything one at a time.

The disciplinary hearing went well and I was not expelled. I was given a written warning however but I was glad that my scholarship was not revoked and I could stay at Kingston another year.

Mak's drama has also died down. Andre was expelled and Bradley was suspended and kicked off the soccer team. Mak has been back to his old happy self and it makes me happy to see him happy again.

Nonhle and I have been avoiding each other since the disciplinary hearing. My reason for avoiding her was because I couldn't quite wrap my head around the fact that she was technically my step sister and I just felt awkward around her. I think she also knows and is finding it hard to wrap her head around that idea too.

Senzo finally faced his parents and got them to understand his point of view. From what he told me they were working on making things easier for both him and Nothando. Working things through while keeping their interests at heart. They also decided that they wouldn't fight over custody over them anymore and instead would try to make things work so that they could see them equally as much. He seems much happier now and his grades have dramatically improved. Improved to the point where his getting an award next term. Yeah, I did that.

Everyone seemed to have faced their Goliaths except for me and now it was my turn.

"Turns out mom also wrote me a letter" I said looking down at my fingers.

"Is that so?" He asked and I gave a nod.

"What happened? I mean why would she say you should stay away from me" I asked. I was still nervous but somehow I got the courage to ask. I had to ask. I needed to know the truth.

" *Sigh* My parents, your grandparents never seemed to like your mother. No mattered how hard I tried they never seemed to get along.They claimed she was not good enough for me because of undisclosed reasons...not once did I stand up for her when they ill treated her and I regret it every single day because they must've been the reason why she kept me from you all this time. She was trying to keep you from them, from my parents judging you as much as they judged her...I'm sorry Melo, I'm really sorry my cowardice cost you a father...I don't know if you'll ever find it in your heart to forgive me but I want you to know I'm going to make things better, I'm going to do things better...just grant me this one wish, to finally be the father that you deserve.Will you do that for me?" He asked and I looked away. I didn't know if I could forgive him but being here, sitting here with him, talking to him knowing that he's my father brought about some weird feeling within me. A feeling which was very new to me. A feeling I couldn't quite describe.

It wouldn't be fair of me to not give him a chance. I had to give him a chance even if it was one chance.

"Okay" I whispered as I wiped a tear from my cheek. I knew this wasn't going to be easy and it was still yet to be another bumpy ride but if he means what he says then at least I wouldn't be fighting on my own. At least I wouldn't have to face my grandparents and his family on my own. At least I wouldn't have to face the world alone.