Babel Novel
11
11
Josh’s Pov
I got up early and headed to my father’s house. I didn’t want to leave my beautiful lovely wife to be in
bed, but I had no choice. Dad needed to speak with me. I assumed it had something to do with my
mother. Years of preparation and manipulation paid off, and the results were even better than we had
planned. We pulled off the greatest theft ever. If only she was in the right mind to witness it. We went in
looking for lemons but ended up with oranges.
When I arrived at my father’s compound, he was waiting at the gate, like a father awaiting the return of
a son who had gone to fight for his country and whom he hadn’t seen in years. He was unable to attend
the final divorce court hearing, but I informed him as soon as the judge read out the lovely lullaby.
He dashed for me and embraced me in joy as soon as I opened the car door. He murmured, his eyes.
yearly, “I knew you could do it, son.” He said. “I never, ever doubted you.”
Nothing in the world made a man happier than a proud father, so I kept his smile and hugged him
tightly. To be honest, I was against the notion when he proposed taking down the late Charles Nashi
and his daughter. I told him to accept his losses and move on. Grudges passed down through
generations inevitably ended in tragedy. I had no intention of joining his vendetta, but when my
mother’s health and life were jeopardized, I felt I had no choice but to accede to his plans and return
what was taken from us.
My mother, like my father, always enjoyed a life of luxury; my father, Victor Nelson, was a major This content belongs to Nô/velDra/ma.Org .
inventor in medical devices, but his idiotic best friend, Thalia’s father, chose to compete with him.
outshining our gadgets and bankrupting us. We were on the verge of becoming homeless, and Mom
was the hardest hit; she couldn’t handle the shame and turned to alcohol and drugs to cope, sealing
her mind. I saw her deteriorate from a successful entrepreneur to an alcoholic old rug.
Despite all of our efforts, she relapsed, and every time I saw her, my blood boiled causing me to
become even more determined to eliminate the enemies who had put her into melancholy.
“How is she?” I posed the question.
He took me inside, saying, “She was asking for you.” He continued, “Did Jessica agree to combine the
two parties?
“We’re talking about Jessica,” I joked, “and she’s still upset at me for even mentioning it,” I answered,
making him laugh.
“She is a woman of high test,” he replied.
We got to the door, instead of opening it, he paused and put his hand on my shoulder, hist
countenance solemn, He was about to say something I didn’t like, that much I could tell.
“This is your final visit to her in this house,” he said, “I’m going to put her in a decent home
tomorrow.”
My face froze, he was hallucinating, we had unlimited funds to hire the greatest specialist to look after
her, and we had already discussed it. I pushed his hand away from my shoulder and entered the room,
leaving him at the door. Mom jumped up with excitement as soon as I went in. “Josh, are you back from
school?” she asked, hugging me tightly. With questioning eyebrows, I looked at my father. who was
standing at the door.
He began, “She keeps rewinding her memory to eleven or twelve years ago back and forth. Josh, we
need to place her in a facility that specializes in caring for people like her.”
“We need to recruit more specialists, professionals who can work from home, we have all the money in
the world,” I explained.
“What happened to Thalia, Josh? When is she going to deliver those chocolate cookies?” mum
inquired, interrupting us. It seemed her memory had moved up some years. Dad and I froze, even
though she adored the chocolate cookies, she despised Thalia and never addressed her by her given
name.
“Mom, please take a seat,” I stated
“No. I’d like Thalia to bring the cookies to me,” she insisted.
“Okay. I’ll ask her to come with them tomorrow,” I responded as she swiftly moved over to the window,
completely ignoring us.
“She’ll stand in front of that window until her legs give out; it’s time to commit her to a facility. She’ll
never be the same,” Dad stated.
go
“I’m not going to put my mother in an institution! If you want to have sex with your idiot secretary. ahead
and marry her, but I’m not giving up on Mom!” I screamed, my rage audible in my voice. He clearly
desired to be free of her and take the next slat that became available. Even before mom went downhill,
he couldn’t keep his zip closed. I used to think it was his infidelity, not our financial difficulties, that was
to blame for mom’s condition. To be honest I inherited that promiscuous life. though I tamed it when my
eyes set on Jessica. I planned to keep it that way.
“Remember, son, you’re marrying Jessica; it’s a new chapter in your life; embrace it.”
“So you want me to abandon my mother? Remember, we took INC biotech so that everything can go
back to normal,” I cautioned.
He sighed and walked away as if pondering something; he was so selfish; he was supposed to be
throwing a party to celebrate the takeover, but instead, he was ruining my morning.
“You better get ready, the celebration starts in a few hours. But keep in mind that if you want to live with
Jessica, you’ll need to have your mother institutionalized,” he said and walked out of the room. I took a
deep breath and walked up to the window where Mom was standing. I had no intention of putting her in
an institution; I had given up my life to reclaim everything we had lost so that we might never be parted.
I put my hands on her shoulders, but she pushed me away and asked who I was. Alcohol-induced
dementia, that was the bed she had laid herself for. She took a seat in a corner and began playing with
her nails. Dad was correct in one respect; we had indeed lost her, but I was not yet ready to abandon
her even though she was a reflection of what she used to be.