Chapter 94: Jean Broody vs. Bradley Jackson ~ When suppressed desires explode… Giving thanks!

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Bradley began to play the organ, followed by the sweet strumming of strings by Jean. But when Yolanda Jackson began to sing, goosebumps broke out all over Jean. It was the most beautiful voice Jean had ever heard. And the tears never stopped sliding down her cheeks as she sang her heart out;

Thanks, thanks I give you thanks

For all you've done

I am so blessed my soul is at rest

Oh lord I give you thanks

Thank you lord for the strength you give

Simply carry on thru life's toils and tests

The worst and best you never left me alone

You'll always right beside me and hear me when I pray

And since I first began you've been my dearest friend

I give you all my praise

Thanks, thanks I give you thanks

For all you've done

I am so blessed my soul is at rest

Oh lord I give you thanks

When the song ended, Bradley went to hug his mum tightly. “I love you, Ma,” Bradley said shakily. “I never stopped.”

“Thank you, son. I love you more than you’ll ever know.” She choked. “You don’t know how hard I’ve prayed. All I do is ask for forgiveness and pray for your return. And after eleven years, my prayer has finally been answered.”

Jean stood and left the room to give mother and son some privacy to talk. He was so happy at how their visit had turned out. Both Bradley and Yolanda needed what had happened that day, to heal. It was obvious that Yolanda loved and cared about her son. It was also obvious that just like her son, she had a streak of submission within which Bradley’s father had exploited. She’d clearly not been the kind of person who could stand up to another…especially her tyrant of a husband. And that had almost caused her, her only son. At least their story was going to end on a happy note and Jean was happy for her.

Back in the family area, Bradley took his mother’s hands in his and locked gazes with her. “I need you to do something for me, Ma.”

“Anything, baby,” Yolanda said softly.

“I want to take you back to LA with me. You don’t look well. I want Jean to give you a thorough medical check-up. He’s a doctor and has offered to do that for you. Will you come with us?”

“I’ll be fine, Jeffery. Don’t worry about me. Seeing you is all that I wanted. Even if I die tonight, I’ll die a happy woman.”

“Yeah, but you’ll leave me a very miserable son.” Bradley smiled. “I will be very happy if you do this for me. And the house needs some work. So whilst you’re in LA with me, that work will be done.” He saw the look of regret on his mother’s face and assumed she was probably thinking about the cost. “I’ll pay for everything.”

“Oh, it’s not about the money. There’s a lot of that. Your father amassed a lot of wealth. When he died, I transferred the ownership of everything to your name. Although you weren’t here, the lawyers worked everything out. Everything is yours. Including this house. I had faith that you would be back one day. You can choose not to work again and live well for the rest of your life. I’m just sorry I haven’t done any work on the house as I should have. I agree it needs a lot of work.” She glanced around. “But I also knew you wouldn’t want to keep it with all the bad memories you…” She trailed off.

“I also have good memories.” Bradley countered.

“I don’t,” Yolanda confessed. “I’ve hated this house since the day you left. I only stayed on here to punish myself and to also wait for you.”

“Oh, we’re so selling the house.” Bradley drawled, making his mother burst into laughter.

“Good.” She grinned.

“I’ll get you a real nice house before you come back from LA.” Bradley leaned in and kissed his mother on both cheeks.

“Just call the lawyer, Saul Miller. I’ll give you his number. He will take care of whatever you want and get things started. So…you got yourself a doctor.” She whispered, making Bradley burst into surprised laughter.

“Yes, I did.” Bradley chuckled. “And he’s a very good man who I love to bits.”

“I can see that.” Yolanda grinned. “And the feeling is clearly mutual. I’m so, so happy for you son. Now, about this trip to LA. If that’s what you want, then I’ll do it.”

“Thank you, Ma.”

“But we need to plan. I haven’t travelled in years. I don’t even remember the last time I left this house. This is therefore going to take some time since arrangements such as booking of flights etcetera…”

“That’s no problem at all. We will travel on Jean’s private jet so…”

“Oooh… A rich medical doctor who plays a musical instrument. Jackpot!” Yolanda grinned, making Bradley laugh again.

“Ma, come on. So how are we going to do this? Now that we’ve both agreed to sell this house, I suggest you start packing what you need.”

“I can do that this evening.” Yolanda nodded. “But I need to give you something first.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll be right back.” Yolanda stood up and headed up the stairs. When she came back she had a sealed letter in her hands. “Here. It’s from your father.” Bradley took the letter from his mother. “He made me promise to give it to you if I ever saw you again. He made a copy and gave one to the lawyer before he died. This is the original copy. I haven’t read it. But I urge you to keep an open mind and heart when you read it. To err is human, son. And to forgive, divine. That’s all I have to say.”

Bradley nodded as he stared at the letter in his hand. He saw his father’s bold handwriting on the back of the envelope. It was addressed to Jeffery Bradley Jackson…him.

“Thanks, Ma.”

“You’ve made me the happiest woman alive today, baby. Thank you.” Yolanda gave a tremulous smile. “Here is the lawyer’s number.” She gave Bradley a card. “Call him.”

“I will.”

“And Jeffery?”

“Yes, Ma?”

“I’m very sorry for what Wendell did to you.” She whispered, the anguish in her voice, palpable.

“It’s okay, Ma.”

“No, it’s not okay,” Yolanda said heatedly. “Never think that what he did to you was not a big deal. It was. And never think you were to blame in any way. You weren’t. He stole your innocence and for the rest of my days, I’m going to hate myself for allowing that to happen. I’m not going to ask for your forgiveness on that one because it’s unpardonable. Watching you being kicked out and not doing anything about it was terrible but living under the same roof with a molester molesting my son and not even noticing, is unpardonable. That’s how wicked what Wendell did to you was, son. I take full responsibility for what happened and I’m so sorry that you had to go through that.”

“I forgive you all the same,” Bradley murmured.

“The one thing in the world that I should have taken good care of… And I fucked it up so bad.” She shook her head sadly. “There’s no redemption for my soul.”

“The most important thing is that everything turned out just fine.”

“Well, you obviously got lucky because other people would have been fucked up in the head if what happened to you had happened to them.”

‘You have no idea.’ Bradley thought. Aloud, he said. “We’ll leave you to get on with the packing. We need to go find a hotel anyway so… See you tomorrow.”

Yolanda didn’t bother telling her son to sleep in the house because she just knew that he wouldn’t want to. “Yes. Will you come for breakfast?” She asked hopefully.

“If you want us to, we will.” Bradley hugged her.

“I’d love for you to.” Yolanda beamed as she walked Bradley to the door. When the door opened, Jean stood up from his seat on the porch and smiled at them. “Wait, Jeffery,” Yolanda said. “Aren’t you going to take your guitar?”

“No, Ma. Give it away.” Bradley said quietly. “I’m sure it will make some kid happy.”

“All right. Bye Jean.” Yolanda hugged Jean. “Thanks for everything.”

“Thanks for that amazing meal, Ma’am.” Jean hugged her back. “See you tomorrow.”

And as Yolanda watched her son and his boyfriend drive off, she felt so at peace and filled with unimaginable happiness. She had been given a second chance. And she vowed in her heart to make up for lost time by loving the hell out of her son.