Meeting my son

 

★★★★

Zac Bratva

"Fuck, I want to go there as soon as possible. How the hell does a mistake like this happen? You are aware of the situation. Was I not clear when I told you how crucial the time is?" I shouted at the driver, losing my temper. I saw the driver shiver in his seat as he swallowed but kept his eyes straight rather than answering me.

"Boss, I checked the car thoroughly but I don't know why I couldn't start the car," the driver said in a fearful tone as he tried to kick off the engine. But the failed attempt caused my head to burst up in flame.

As a result, I shoved the door open and got out with my phone pressing to my ear.

'I trust Carlo is going to settle everything. Otherwise, I am going to lose my fucking mind.'

"Pluck his eyeballs out first if he does not spit out. I want to know where he kept my drugs," I threatened Carlo; at the same time, I coldly watched my driver struggling with the ignition. The engine coughed, then fell silent again, which almost rattled my last patience, making me want to do something.

"I know, boss, I have got plenty of ways to make him speak. You don't have to lift a finger. I feel like someone has been keeping an eye on you because..." he paused, his voice cutting off abruptly.

Frowning, I sharply looked behind and noticed a boy standing behind me, looking at me with a strange look as if he wanted to say something. Simultaneously, I heard Carlo saying, "The car was thoroughly checked before you climbed in it."

Before I could reply to Carlo, I saw the boy approaching me.

"Your driver is wasting his time because it is not the engine that is making trouble. Rather, it is the rear tire!" He said with confidence. His posture was straight and elegant; it did not make me feel he was just a boy.

"Who is that?" Carlo asked me as he was still on call.

"I will talk to you later!" I said to Carlo as I cut the call. My eyes stared down at the boy, awestruck by the similarities in his posture and face. He seemed more like... more like! Me?" I shook my head, throwing off the thoughts, and asked, "Who are you?"

"Do you care?" The boy replied to me with the same coldness I used. Consequently, I narrowed my eyes and looked down at the boy to scare him away, but he stood firm and said, "The tire has a bulge and it happened because someone tried to do something with the tire. I trust this is a fortunate moment for you that the car stopped running before you got onto the busy road. Thank you," the boy said and turned around to leave, forcing me to look at the tire, and indeed, there was a bulge.

As a result, I looked back at the boy who was walking ahead, but what caught my eye was that despite the red light on the street, he stepped off the curb and started crossing the road.

I stood in my place and had my eyes on the boy as I expected that he would notice the traffic light. But he didn’t, while a speeding car barelling toward him.

Instinct took over. I released my fist and ran toward the boy. My long strides were fast enough to reduce the distance between us and I grabbed hold of him from behind. Since I failed to control the speed holding the boy I fell forward.

I went down. Hard.

But before the boy could hit the pavement, I swooned him around, and my back hit the concrete pavement first.

"Fu...." I almost cursed out loud but swallowed the word just in time, masking my reaction when I felt the softball in my arms, "Are you okay?"

"I am fine!" He said in a guilty tone, but before I asked anything he said, "Sorry, you got hurt because of me!"

"Let me help you, Boss!" The driver’s voice came next as he leaned forward to help me. But I did not need a hand to stand. Hence I stood up, holding the boy in my arms.

"Why didn't you stop when you saw the red light?" I asked. I could feel myself getting concerned for him while the frown deepened on my forehead.

"Ummm... I am color blind," he said, with hesitation as he stepped away from me. I could see he was a little ashamed.

"Hmmm!" I nodded, deciding not to dwell on it. "Where do you stay?" I asked, changing the topic as I did not want him to feel troubled because he had a situation.

"There!" He pointed toward the house a little distance from where they were standing.

"What were you doing this far?" I asked, looking at the small face. A light pinching feeling felt in my heart as if I cared. I could not tell if it was because I had never encountered such a close interaction with children, but I did care whether he was hurt or not.

"I lost my new drone somewhere. I chased it, but unfortunately, I lost it. That was when I noticed your car," he said with a sigh as he looked back at the house. I hummed, reaching out for his hand, but before I could grab it, the driver interjected, "Boss, let me help him?"

I looked back and gave him a silent yet cold stare, conveying the answer that his help was not needed. I grabbed the boy's hand who showed reluctance to hold mine. Though it would displease me, for some reason other than to protect him, I felt nothing.

His small hand gave me another unexplainable peace as I stole some glances from the boy, but his straight expression caused a frown on my face as I said, "I need to talk to your father."

"That's impossible!" The boy said as both of us stopped in front of the house. But before I could ask what he meant, he let go of my hand and turned around, saying, "I don't have a father, sir. And thank you for walking me home. I hope you are not planning to talk to my mother." His eyes were blank, and distant, making me wonder how a boy at this age could be so mature.

Momentarily, I just stared down at the boy without mustering a word to speak. In the end, I turned around and started walking. I heard the door unlocked as I stopped on my way, but I did not look behind. Rather, my sight was caught on something- something that made my eyes narrowed dangerously.