No milk for the evening tea

David had just come back home from school. It had been a rainy afternoon and by the time he had walked the not so long stretch to get home, his socks were drenching wet and his navy blue cardigan soaked in the wetness of the rain. He ran up the short fleet of stairs and stopped in front of their apartment. He peeped through the small square opening on the door and saw that the door wasn't locked. His mum must have been home. He gently pushed it open and went in, closing it behind him.

David's mum was in the sitting room, lying on the sofa. She had been feeling unwell this particular day and therefore had not reported to work. His dad was still at work and would be coming back home later in the evening. His mum was dealing with pregnancy complications and had had to miss work on a number of occasions lately. David would in a while be having a baby sister although his mum was yet to be given a maternity leave from work.

"My son, you are back." His mum lifted her head from the sofa and turned to him as he walked in.

"Yeah mummy, I'm back. I've been rained on." David answered, bending to remove his shoes by the door.

"You should have taken shelter from the rain. But anyway, this rain falls constantly and you never know when it will stop so you could perhaps have gotten home after dusk and I never want you to get home then. Anyway, remove your wet uniform and place everything in the laundry basket in the bathroom. I will wash clothes tomorrow. There is a clean shirt and a clean pair of shorts which you'll put on tomorrow." His mum replied.

David walked into his room, changed into a blue tracksuit then walked over to the sitting room to join his mum. He went and sat on one of the armchairs. His eyes fell on his mum for a while and he remained silent. He was thinking about her, he hoped she was not in pain. He loved his mum. He loved his dad too. He was always there by his dad's side whenever he felt he was in need. His dad loved him too and sometimes would take him along with him to meet his friends. His dad would usually come home in the evening after work.

David and his mum stayed in silence for a while then his mum broke the silence by asking him if he was hungry. Without waiting for him to reply, she sent him to bring her her handbag from the bedroom and handed him a 50 shillings note to go and buy milk from the shop. She was going to make them tea and chapatis for the evening. She was out of appetite herself and feeling sick but she wanted her husband and son to have something to eat. She got up and headed to the kitchen to knead the chapati dough as her son stepped outside into the rain, clad in a hooded raincoat to buy milk for tea.

Outside, the rain had subsided a bit but the wind was blowing with a wild fury. David clutched on his hood, quickening his pace to reach the corner shop on time and go back before the wild wind wrecked havoc on him. He was a few metres away from crossing the roadside footbridge when suddenly the wind began blowing in his direction with increased vigour, rendering him motionless for a while. The rain which had moments ago been barely there now fell almost with a thud. David's first instinct was to turn back and run back home and so off to his heels he took, the wind after him in all its vigour and might.

David ran and ran, past apartment blocks, past little grocery kiosks. He ran, the pounding rain and wind robbing him of his breath but still he ran. At the right turn towards their flat, powerful hands grabbed him and together they paced the few remaining yards and up the stairs to their flat. When mum had opened the door and the strong hands placed him down finally, it was then that David turned to see his father. He was drenching wet. It had turned out that his dad had bypassed him as he ran to the shop but had not bothered to delay him in that kind of weather by stopping to talk to him. Besides, David had rushed past him without even noticing him. Just as dad was about to step onto the staircase, the wild weather had crept in and he had turned back to go get his son.

That evening as the three of them sat at the table taking supper, there was no milk in the tea but all three of them were glad that David was there, safe and sound and now warm.