05: Rare Condition (Part 1)

*** 

THE YEAR 2006 

"What are we doing here, Jane?" Stan asked his ex-wife. Jane held the cup of coffee tightly and looked at him. 

"I need to say something to you. About Justin," Jane said. Stan listened intently to what Jane said. Justin, who is a 7-year-old kid now, is suffering from his rare condition called dyslexia and dyscalculia. Dyscalculia, which is also called 'math dyslexia', is a learning difficulty disorder on counting numbers and solving mathematical problems. 

"About what, Jane? What is it about Justin?" Stan asked and locked his stare to Jane's eyes.

"Stan, Justin is suffering in a rare condition called dyslexia. And now, he has dyscalculia," Jane said quietly. Stan widened his eyes and gasped. 

"Dyslexia? What is that? And dyscalculia, what is... what is that?" Stan looks confused by what Jane said. 

"Dyslexia is a learning difficulty disorder. Justin cannot read, write, and even spell out his name. I used the alternative method, but he should be in therapy. A special therapy for dyslexic kids likes him. I can't even teach him, because I was so busy with work," Jane explained sadly. Stan swallowed and didn't know what to say. 

"Jane, can I---" 

"No. You are not going to be back at our house. I am here because of Justin," Jane said softly, controlling his anger. 

"But how can we---" 

"I am just asking for your assistance, Stan. Not being in a romantic relationship again with bullshit ongoing. Justin needs a dad, but I don't need a cheater like you," Jane said furiously. Stan sighed exasperatedly and didn't want to say something that will make Jane angry at him again. 

"Jane, I know you will not forgive me. I will be a father to Justin, I promise," Stan said. 

*** 

"Even though Jane needed Stan as Justin's father, Jane never forgave him. She is just doing what mothers will do. She didn't want Justin to be away from his father, but Justin is the one who drifted away from him..." 

***

THE YEAR 2006

"Mom, where are we going?" Justin asked her mother while holding her hand. Jane is looking for a jeepney ride that will stop exactly at Stan's office along the national highway of the province of Laguna. It is just minutes away, and she needed to introduce Justin to his father so he cannot loathe him for the rest of his life. 

"Justin, would you like to meet your father?" Jane asked while bending down slightly and faced him. Justin furrowed his eyebrows, squinted his eyes like he is puzzled by what his mother is saying. 

"Father? I have Grandpa," Justin said. 

"Grandpa is your mom's father. He is your grandfather, Justin," Jane said. 

"But he always plays with me. So I think he is my real father," Justin said while looking intently at his mother. Jane sighed and crouched down. She held Justin's shoulders and soothed it. 

"Baby, don't you want to meet your father?"Jane asked. 

"Mom, Grandpa is my father," Justin said again. Jane looked at Justin's eyes and she knew that Justin didn't know anything about what happened when he was 3 years old. She hugged Justin and caressed his hair. The tears brimmed in her eyes, poured down as she saw the man standing across from them. 

It's Stan! 

Her eyes widened as he saw that he was standing there, completely frozen. He heard what Justin said and it feels like daggers have been shot deep to his chest. 

Jane stood up quickly as she wiped the tears and faced Justin to his father. Justin was surprised when Jane hastily turned him around to a strange man standing there and looked at her. 

Jane glanced at Justin and said, "Justin, he is your father." 

Justin looked at him intently. Stan shifted his eyes from Jane and looked at his son. He crouched down, held out his arms, and waited for Justin to come to him. 

But Justin just looked at him. He stood there, not moving, and narrowed his eyes. Jane is observing her son and didn't know why he is acting like that. 

"Justin," Jane called Justin quietly. Justin took a step back from his place while still looking at his father. 

"No. You are not my father," Justin said softly as tears pour down his eyes. Stan gasped and slowly put down his arms at his sides. Justin shook his head aggressively, continuous as if he can't believe that he was standing over there, looking at his father. 

"Justin," Jane called out again. Justin looked at her and said, "Mom, why did you... why did you bring him here?" 

"Justin---" 

"He made you cry every day!" Justin shouted. Jane was astonished to hear that from her son. Stan also stood up hastily. They cannot believe that a 7-year-old kid will say that to them. 

"Justin," Jane said while shaking her head. Justin bit his lip and wept silently. The roads are filled with a few people who look at them when they are passing. But the three of them didn't care about that. This is family matters, and they needed to resolve this. 

"Mom, I know that this is the guy who made you cry every day," Justin said while crying silently. Jane's tears poured down continuously as she gasped. Justin crouched down, wrapped his arms around himself, and sob. He cried as if the candy he wants to obtain has been snatched from him.

Jane cried relentlessly. She knelt and looked upon the sky while the roar of the vehicles boomed everywhere. The rush of the people who will get to their jobs looked upon them for a second and didn't even care about why they were crying.

***

"How did Justine know that his father made his mother cry every day?" One boy asked. Justin smiled and sighed. 

"Class, do you know what it felt like when your mother is crying? Or is she in a sorrowful condition? Being alone, without your father by your side?" Justin asked them all. The children stayed quiet for a minute, but someone caught Justin's attention. 

Someone in the corner of the room raised his hand and was a ghost for an hour since they started their discussion and storytelling. Justin held out his hand, about the child who wants to answer his question. He stood up silently as everybody in the room waiting for him to talk.

"Sir, I felt the anger," the boy said. He is a small kid, with his hair covering his forehead, and his face looks emotionless. Justin was shocked by his insides, hearing that from a small kid like him, but something in his mind said that these children are now all 6th-graders. Their ages range from 11 to 12-year-olds. 

"Anger with?" Justin urged him to continue. 

"I felt angry for myself for not forgiving my father," the small boy said. Justin was stunned by what he answered but still nodded. He said 'thank you' to the kid as he sat down and became a ghost again, quiet and still. Justin looked at the children and started to walk in the center of the room as he started talking again. 

"Justin felt exactly like that with himself. Do you know why guys? Because Jane is starting to forgive his ex-husband. But Justin is betraying himself. He wants to reconcile, but he doesn't know-how. He doesn't know how to forgive," Justin said. The class listened intently to what he was saying. He walked quickly towards the blackboard and wrote the word 'forgiveness.' 

"Forgiveness is one principle when it comes to love. When it comes to loving your special person or your significant other, you always forgive them. What I said earlier: Do not judge people who did wrong deeds in your eyes, hence, try to understand why they are doing it," Justin elaborated. 

"How they come up with that decision, for whom they are doing it. Those are the questions you should start to ask yourself. If the reasons are not valid enough to support that, it means that they are walking through the spiky road that they didn't know what will be the end," Justin finished his explanation. The class nodded while still looking at him with every word he said. 

"Love is for everyone. Each and one of us felt that. In our family, in our friends, and even another person. Love is what makes this world balanced. Because without that, every one of us will be strangers forever," Justin said. The class applauded at what he had said. 

Justin quieted them down again as he said, "I will continue the story after you all take a snack for 30 minutes. We still have three hours to finish the story of Justin."

The class snickered and they all stood up from their seats. The whole room got noisy when everyone talked simultaneously. Every child went outside to buy some snacks in the cafeteria at the end of the hallway. Mr. Ramos sat down on the chair at the front of the room and rummaged again with the lesson plans. 

'Do I have the right decision to talk about my story? Or not?' Justin thought anxiously while looking at the papers.

*** 

THE YEAR 2006 

Justin locked himself in his room. He ran towards his bedroom and placed the thick comforter over his head. He howled like there is no tomorrow. He knew that his father would be running back again to his mother, and he knew that his mom will forgive his dad for him. 

Justin doesn't want to be like that. He doesn't want his father back. He heard his mother and his Grandpa Jordan talking about his father cheating with another woman when he is still a child. He wept silently as someone knocked on his bedroom door. 

Even though he is still a 7-year-old kid, he will not forget how his mother cried every day. She is not sleeping at her bedroom, just howling her eyes out, lonely, without Stan by his side. As Justin grew up, he knew that he was sick. He knew that he can't read, he can't write, or even spell out his name. And now, he can't count numbers. He didn't even know how old he was.

"Justin. Open the door, it's your grandpa," Jordan said through the door, making it like a mumble to Justin. He wiped the tears silently and removed the comforter. He climbed down his bed and opened the door. He saw his grandpa standing close at his door.

"Grandpa," Justin mumbled as tears started to fall again. Jordan patted his head and walked inside. He closed the door gently as Justin sat down at his bed and cried. Jordan sighed and took a chair. He placed it in front of Justin. He sat down slowly and placed his cane on the desk table. 

"Justin, do you know why your mother did that?" Jordan asked him softly. 

"Grandpa, it's not good for me. I watched her cry every day, every night when she was sleeping. My father is a bad person," Justin said while weeping loudly. Jordan sighed and caressed his hair. 

"Do you know why your mother wanted you to know your father?" Jordan asked him again. Justin shook his head, never wanted to know the reason behind the situation that happened earlier. 

"Justin, it's because she wanted you to love your father," Jordan said while looking at Justin's eyes. Justin got astonished by that and froze. 

"Grandpa, he wanted me to love my father?" Justin asked. 

"Yes. She is teaching you to love your father even though he did something terribly wrong," Jordan said while smiling sadly. Justin looked down and tears started to pour down again. 

"But, Grandpa, he always made Mom cry. I don't want to love him," Justin concluded as he sobbed and lay down hastily at his bed. He tugged the comforter over his head, crying over and over again.

"I don't want to be with a father who always made us cry," Justin whispered. Jordan heard it and sighed. 

"I don't want to be with him that brings so much pain to us. The unbearable pain that Mom cannot overcome," Justin mumbled while his back is facing his Grandpa's. The door opened silently, and Jane peeped with her one eye and saw that his father was talking to his son while laying down. Jane saw that Justin was covering his whole body with the comforter. 

Jordan looked at the door and sighed. Jane's tears fall once again, his eyes were now puffy.