Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason waited nervously as he sat down at the dining table. His mom had gone to speak with his father and so far over ten minutes had passed.

While Jason was messing around with his phone to pass the time he heard the voices of his mom and dad as they left the room.

Jason saw his dad as he looked at him with somewhat of a nervous smile. He took a seat across the table from Jason. "Well this is going to be one hell of a talk.

All I can say is that I hope that you don't look at me or your mother any differently after today.

What you're about to hear might be shocking, disappointing, infuriating, or any other combination of emotions.

But just know that your mother and I did what we thought was for the best. Your mother and I tried to do what we thought was best for our family." 

Jason's mom pulled out the chair as she took a seat next to her husband. She looked at her son with a complicated swirl of emotions.

"The reason that I didn't want you to go to New York was because..." She seemed to struggle as she tried her best to push the next words out.

Jason's dad patted her on her back a few times. After a few moments of silence she bit her lip before finally managing to continue.

"The reason that I didn't want you to go to New York was because that's where the rest of your family is. Me and your dad are from New York."

Jason felt as though he was in the middle of a bad car accident. After he heard what his mom had said he felt as though his body was being violently shaken side to side as he momentarily lost his sense of self.

It took a few moments for him to process and digest what his mom had just said 'Mom and dad are from New York?

The rest of our family is there? Why don't they want me to meet them? How come this never came up in my past life? Why don't the two of them have a New York accent?'

One after the other questions began to pop up in Jason's mind. He had to push all of the questions to the back of his mind as he tried to get a better understanding of just exactly what was going on.

"I don't understand. So you and dad are both from New York?" Jason's mom and dad both nodded their heads.

"Your father and I are both from New York. We both decided to leave after I found out that I was pregnant with you."

Jason leaned back into his chair as his head began to hurt. He took a deep breathe "I know that you guys wouldn't have left without a good reason.

The fact that you guys don't want me meeting them combined with the fact that you guys have never talked about our family before this tells me that there has to be a reason behind it."

Jason's mom was about to start talking when Jason's dad held his hand up "Wait a second Naomi." He then stood up and walked to the kitchen.

When he walked back to the dining table Jason was surprised to see that his dad had two bottles of soju in his hands.

Jason had only ever seen his dad drink in social settings. He had never seen his dad drink in the apartment when it was just them.

His dad opened up the bottle of yogurt flavored soju as he then proceeded to chug down half of the bottle in one go.

He then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before looking at Jason with an apologetic expression.

"I want you to know that drinking is okay Jason but you should never use it as a coping mechanism.

If you and your mom see me drinking more often to deal with things I want the both of you to stop me.

The only reason that I'm doing this tonight is because I really don't want you to see me angry.

I hate the person that I can become when I'm really really angry. And if we're going to be talking about this then I know that there's no way for me to stay cool headed."

Jason's mom sighed before continuing "You're right Jaya. There is a reason why I freaked out about you going to New York and why your father and I left.

On my side of the family my dad is a lawyer that has his own successful law firm. Growing up I can say that we were very blessed in terms of our financial situation as a family."

Jason's dad took another swig from the soju bottle "On my side of the family both of my parents are doctors who are also part of the hospital's board of directors.

As you could easily guess we were loaded growing up. Me and my siblings were pretty much wiping our asses with hundred dollar bills."

Jason's mom glared at her husband "Watch your mouth!" Jason's dad smiled "My bad baby. Make sure you don't talk like that Jason. Unless the situation calls for it."

Jason's mom face palmed before continuing "Anyways, your dad and I both were lucky to grow up in financially stable households.

But that was about the only good thing about our childhoods. In both of our families growing up our parents were the stereotypical tiger parents.

Your dad and I both grew up in families where it was normal to be beaten for getting bad grades or even for something as small as missing curfew."

Jason's dad burped "And for our parents anything less than an A counted as a bad grade. It was either be the best or be a failure in their eyes."

Jason's mom nodded her head in agreement "That's exactly right. Our parents wouldn't accept anything but 1st place.

There was a time when your father got a black eye for not getting an A on one of his finals. Even though he already had a high enough grade in the class where even a C would have given him an A in the class."

Jason's dad finished off his first bottle of soju "My old man gave me a shiner that lasted a few weeks for getting a B on a finals when I already had a guaranteed A.

And things weren't any better for your mom. Her parents didn't even like her going out of the house for anything that wasn't related to school."

Jason's mom added "Our parents were strict and they had one thing in common. They cared about their pride and public appearance more than anything else.

The reason my parents didn't want me going out was because they were afraid that I would do something that would ruin their reputation."

Jason's dad opened up his second bottle "That's what I hated the most about our parents. They cared so much about face and pride.

I know that some parents still use physical discipline. I know that some parents use it because that's the most effective parenting methods that they believe in.

But I also know that those parents that do that are doing it because they want what's best for their kids and that they treasure them above all else.

I won't try to tell those parents how to raise their kids. But what I can't stand are parents that hit their kids because it's the easiest way to deal with them!

I can't stand parents who hit their kids out of anger or frustration! And I sure as hell can't stand parents that care about their reputation more than their fucking kids!

We didn't ask them to bring us into this world! How the hell are you going to beat a kid for making a mistake or doing something wrong?!

That's what your there for you fucking pieces of shit! Parents are supposed to be there to support and guide their kids not just fucking punish them!"

He then began to chug his second bottle of soju. Jason's mom looked at her husband for a second before sighing.

"I hope you don't look at your dad any differently after tonight Jaya. Just like how I made a mistake in hitting you what your dad is doing right now isn't a representation of the kind of man that he is.

You know your father. He's always been the sweetest person on the planet. It's just that your grandparents and his childhood are sore spots for him."

Jason gulped and nodded his head after hearing what his mom had to say. Right now was honestly a surreal moment for him.

Jason had always looked at his parents as the perfect example of what good and honest people should be like.

In his past life he had never seen his mom or dad act in an unbecoming way. But tonight he had that perfect image of them shattered.

It wasn't that he wanted to look down on them. It's just that he had always looked at them the same way that a child would look at a superhero.

He had always thought of them as these perfect individuals who had the kind of character that was without blemish.

And now he saw them for who they really were. They were just two people who made mistakes just like everybody else.

They were just two people who despite their flaws and mistakes were trying their best to provide a good life for themselves and their family. They were just human.

Jason felt his stomach churning and tightening, threatening to eject everything that he had inside him, as the image that he had of his parents for over three decades began to crumble.

But amidst the disorienting sickness that he was experiencing he could also feel something different blossoming within him.

He could feel the admiration and love that he had for his parents growing even more. Knowing that his parents had made their own fair share of mistakes while also experiencing their own difficulties just made Jason appreciate the greatness of his parents on a whole new level.

Both of his parents gave him a few minutes to process everything that they had told him so far. After a bit Jason raised his head as he looked at both of his parents.

"I understand that you and dad grew up with some difficult family conditions. Even though you guys had money it sounds like you guys still had it rough.

But you guys still didn't tell me why you had to move all the way to California or why you freaked out about me going to New York.

Did mom get pregnant before you guys got married? If your guys' parents were like how you described them then I guess they wouldn't have liked that.

But it's not liked they would have been able to do anything too bad right? I don't think that they would hit mom knowing that she has a baby inside her.

And it's unlikely that I would run into them while I'm in New York. But even if that did happen what could they possibly do?"

Jason's dad finished off his second bottle of soju "You're right Jason. Even if your grandparents or anyone else from our families saw you they wouldn't be able to do shit.

That's why I had no problem with you going to New York unlike your mother. But to answer your first question.

Let me start this off by saying that I have no problems with people who decide to have an abortion or put their kids up for adoption.

Sometimes people have their own situations that make it impossible for them to take care of their kid.

But me and your mom came from rich ass families. Sure me and your mom made a mistake and got pregnant while we were still young.

But we had all of the money and resources to have had you and still be able to go to school and get our education. 

So there shouldn't have been any problems. But your grandparents cared so much about their reputation and pride that they demanded that your mom get an abortion!"

Jason's dad slammed his fist on to the table "They cared more about their face and what other people would think than their own flesh and blood!"