The Amazing Doctor Irvington

Chapter Five

Derek stood in the kitchen, leaning against the worn counter as he watched his mother stir a pot of stew.

 The warmth of the small stove filled the room, but it couldn’t melt the heaviness in his chest. The years apart had been brutal for his parents.

As Judith turned to give him a taste of what she was preparing, Derek feigned a smile as he stared at the lines on his mother's face. 

They were deeper, her hands more frail, and her movements slower.

“I’m just so happy you’re back, Derek." Judith said softly, her voice thick with emotion. She glanced over her shoulder with a smile that reached her tired eyes.

 “I’m going to cook you something special. You’ve been away too long. You must be starving.”

Derek smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. He watched her hands tremble slightly as she chopped vegetables for the stew.

 His heart ached, knowing how much his parents had sacrificed during his imprisonment. “You don’t have to do that, Mum."

Judith paused, her shoulders slumping for a moment. “I know, but... you’ve been through so much. Just allow your mother to take care of you It’s what mothers do.” She turned back to the stove, blinking away tears.

Derek could not stay there any longer. Every minute was suffocating.

 He excused himself and walked down the narrow hallway to his old room.

 As he opened the door, the scent of old books and faint traces of his childhood hit him all at once. 

The room was immaculately clean, just as he remembered. His bed was made with the same blue quilt, and his few belongings were neatly arranged on the shelves.

 Despite everything they had been through, his parents had kept this room just as it was, waiting for his return.

His fingers brushed over the edge of his desk, the wood smooth beneath his touch. 

He sucked in a deep breath as his eyelashes kept batting to hold the tears that welled in his eyes.

A sudden soft knock interrupted. When he turned, the door knob twisted and his mother entered the room, holding a small envelope.

Derek's brows furrowed as he watched his mother stretched an envelope to him.

"What is that?" Derek asked confused.

 “Derek... I know things aren’t easy right now. I want you to have this.” She held out a crisp $200 bill, her hands trembling slightly. “You need new clothes... shoes. This room has only your old clothes. You seem to be more of a slightly smaller size now. You need new clothes." 

Derek stared at the money.

He could see how her hands were shaking and the tears she was holding behind the beautiful smile on her face. 

His heart arched. 

He knew his parents barely had enough for herself, and was trying to give him what little she had left.

 “Mum, no,” he said gently, pushing her hand away. “I don’t need it.”

“But—”

“I’m fine,” he interrupted, trying to keep his voice steady. “I met someone in prison, a generous person. He gave me a bank card, enough to help. I’ve got money, Mama. You don’t need to worry anymore.”

Judith’s eyes widened. “Oh, Derek, thank God. I’ve been praying for a miracle, and here it is...” Her voice cracked, and tears spilled over her cheeks again.

Derek swallowed hard, forcing a smile as he pulled her into a hug. “It’s going to be okay now. I’ll take care of you and Dad. One day, we’ll move to a big house... a villa, just like you always dreamed.”

Judith pulled back, wiping her eyes. “You’ve always been so good to us. I just want you to be happy.”

Before Derek could respond, the door creaked open, and Maurice walked in. His father’s broad shoulders were hunched with exhaustion, his hands red and chapped from another long day at the construction site.

 He carried cardboard boxes, but upon seeing Derek, Maurice smiled.

Derek quickly ran to his father and helped him placed the card boxes on the ground.

"Why do you carry these boxes?" Derek asked as he stared at his father waiting for his response.

"Don't you know selling these boxes is a lot of money. Your mother and I have been living in this. The money made from this boxes is enough to feed us for a week." 

He eruits into laughter. 

"I'm telling you Derek, card boxes are real. It's good money. If can last your mother and I for a week. And I bring these boxes daily." 

Derek knew all his father's trick.

He smiled sheepishly pretending to believe him as he watched his father move with so much difficulty.

Judith interrupted, "Dinner is ready." 

"I'll wash up and come right out."

Derek took his seat on the dinning area as Judith placed the stew in front of him.

It didn't take long for Maurice to join them.

Derek couldn’t help but notice how thin his parents had become. Their clothes hung loosely on their frames. He could see the toll life had taken on them.

As they ate, Maurice muttered, “We’ve been doing alright. Eating meat every day, you know.” He chuckled, but Derek caught the glance between him and Judith.

Derek didn’t push it. Instead, he smiled, raising his glass of wine. “I’m just glad to be here with you both. Everything else... we’ll figure it out.”

Before they could drink from their glasses, Derek noticed an envelope by the floor of the front door.

He quickly stood up and picked it up. When he opened it, it contained a hundred bills of one thousand dollars.

"Where did this come from?" Derek asked.

Judith stood to look at the envelope. "It's the same." She muttered underneath her breath.

"The same?" Derek asked.

"Derek, we've been receiving this same amount of money from every month accompanied with a note of how you were doing in prison." Judith RE responded as she opened the envelope for a letter but there was none.

Derek frowned, unable to recall anyone who might have done such a thing. “I don’t know who that could be,” he murmured, more to himself.

Maurice shook his head. “The person said he is your friend. Don't you know any of your friends that could actually do this?."

Derek frowned worsen. "I don't." 

His gaze fixed on the envelope, noticing the pattern on the white envelope.

It had a star shaped red sign by the left edge side. 

The mystery of the letters gnawed at Derek. Someone had been watching out for his family. For some reasons, he felt uncomfortable about it. 

"It's none of our relative?" Derek asked but all he got was his mother's hiss.

"Our relative was nowhere to be found when you went to prison. It was only Aunt Marie who kept loaning us money but we couldn't pay back." 

 Derek's jaw tightened, his fists clenching beneath as they spoke of the same relative that he had taken care of before he went to prison. 

“I'm back now, I will pay Aunt Marie back." Derek vowed, his voice low but firm.