Must Read: The Promise Keeper - Season 1 - Episode 10

Episode 7 years ago

Must Read: The Promise Keeper - Season 1 - Episode 10

Shade was sitting at the desk when I returned. “Close the door,” she said, and motioned me to the seat on the other side.
“My husband died nine years ago.” Shade was looking directly at me. “The kitchen was Richard’s creation, the only thing he had done right, he told me. I promised him I would keep it running. I don’t think he envisioned me running it personally, but here I am.” She looked down at the desk. “The whole world thinks you’re dead.” My mind was reeling. She made sense now, her running this place fit. Her telling me about it meant she knew something of me.
“Most of the world doesn’t know I exist,” I countered. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be angry. I just didn’t want more memories. I was having trouble not remembering on my own.
“I’m pretty good with faces, it was your beard and name that throw me off.” Shade tapped the ledger with Dolapo’s and my names. “You just looked the same way I felt when Richard died, David.” I excused myself again. Having Shade know was just as bad as seeing Dolapo’s name in the ledger. I was dousing my face in cold water when I began to wonder how she knew my face. She wasn’t guessing, she knew. I don’t remember ever meeting her prior to a few days ago. Maybe she knew Dolapo that, would explain the donation. I settled my emotions and returned for the second time.
“You knew Dolapo?” I asked, choking on her name.
“Close the door,” Shade responded while shaking her head no. “I know of her. The whole world knows her.” I sat down confused. “I’m sorry, seeing the name in the ledger must have hurt.” I closed my eyes and nodded. I really didn’t want to start crying again. I wasn’t confident my voice wouldn’t crack.
“You can hide here for as long as you need,” Shade offered.
“The police looking for me or something?” I asked with quite a bit of confusion.
“Not any more. They think you are dead.” I shook my head, trying to wrap my thoughts around what Shade was saying. Dolapo’s image kept flashing in my mind. I had an estranged sister, it would have taken her twenty years to report me missing. I had quit my job, they wouldn’t have cared enough to check up on me. I guess maybe a friend, but I hadn’t been gone long enough for them to worry enough to call the police.
“Why would they think that?”
“You don’t know?” Shade seemed surprised.
“Know what?” Shade went to work on the computer as I looked on. A few moments later she turned the monitor towards me. My picture was on the screen under the headline, ‘Promise Keeper Believed Dead.’ The banner across the top was the daily paper’s logo. It was a picture of me, on stage, with my hand held out before me.
“Your song ‘Dolapo’ went viral.” Shade said softly.
“It was just a prelim. It wasn’t supposed to be broadcast,” I said as I leaned into the computer screen to read the article text. The text mentioned finding my wallet in the river.




The fact that it contained money, indicated I wasn’t robbed. Their assumptions were correct, the end result was not.
“How did your wallet end up in the river?” Shade asked softly. I could see the concern in her eyes.
“Fabio fished me out of the river,” I answered. I wasn’t ready to say the truth out loud and probably never would. I skipped over it and then added a weak justification, “It wasn’t a good time for me.”
“And now?”
“Time to think,” I answered, “I just need time to think.” Shade looked like she might have misunderstood so I added, “No more bridges in my future.” She smiled.
“Take all the time you need, Frank.” I smiled at her use of ‘Frank.’
“I’ll figure things out as soon as we get through this FIRS audit,” I said as I continued perusing the article. Shade got flustered again and fumbled her way off her seat. I had no idea what was causing it. I pretended to ignore it for her sake, and mine.
“I’m sorry about Dolapo,” Shade whispered before she opened the door.
“I’m sorry about Richard.” We shared forced smiles. At least we understood each other that far.



Embarrassment was my main emotion as I surfed the web for the first time in a week. My fame was fading, as all digital fads do, but I had shined brightly for a few days. I couldn’t watch the video, not out of shame, but out of fear of the pain returning. Dolapo had always said I had a lovely voice, I had just assumed she was biased. I sang for her because she got a kick out of it. For us, it was like foreplay. I never had a desire to share it with the world. I made up songs for her and her alone. The words were sometimes silly and sometimes nonsense from my heart. Loud pillow talk and nothing more. Now the world knew because of a dying promise I could not deny. I loved her too much for that.
The social media platforms, first of all, N-------d and the likes of LIB, facebook and others were the worst. Half had me as an insane idiot and the others thought me some kind of love god. Offers of marriage and psychiatric help were abundant. It was just a promise, it wasn’t meant to go this far. I was going to have to hide for a while. The story would die a quick death as all things internet-related do. Dolapo would have gotten a kick out of the whole thing, but then I would have had her at my side. I could have weathered any storm with her there.