The Ferrari, Kid and a Phone

We lived in a pretty normal suburbs intended for middle class working families. There was my brother, me and my dad. Both my parents had pretty solid jobs. My dad was a lecturer at a university and my mom was a doctor. This could’ve been the perfect family with enough capital for all of us to live comfortably. But it wasn’t the economy that was bothering us. It was my parents.

                                                                        My father was a well-mannered man with principles of his own but my mom was not the same. She was an unpredictable woman. She was talented in arts and crafts as well as his doctor practice yet she was always bothered by the devil which is alcohol. Some days we discovered her wasted on the dining table or in her room. She would skip work just to get drunk. My dad was tired of this and his advices and scolding would often end up as a fight. My mom who was always drunk out of her mind would cause a scene in the middle of the night waking up all neighbors. So my dad decided not to make contact with her when she is drunk in order to keep the peace and almost ruined dignity of the family. My mom would always yell out how much tired she is with the family and her marriage. She didn’t hate us she loved us. Not a love that would cook us food, put us to bed and take care of us but a love that kept us going to school every day and not being ignored by her. Her alcoholism wasn’t cured by my dad’s effort it just made it worse. Soon she lost her job due to this factor and left her home with more booze to consume. We never knew where she got money to drink after losing her job but it was evident she was drunk out of her mind 24/7.

                                                                        It was a March morning when my brother came to me and woke me up earlier than usual. I opened my eyes with big yawn.

“What do you want Alex?” I asked while adjusting my pillow and getting comfortable.

“Hey you know everybody in my class have phones and I just realized I don’t have one. I told dad about this and he promised me to get one today.”

“Okay…So?”

“Well he has already left for work. Do you think I should remind him about that or…”

“Alex! Did you just woke me up so early just to ask me that??” I was so angry although it was about 11 am and it was a Saturday.

“Oh come on. We all know he likes you more than me and he thinks you are mature so I thought if you tell him about this he will get me the phone today”

“Well…If he promised you, he will get it. Just ask him when he returns home.” I said while closing my eyes and getting back to my precious sleep. I didn’t wanted to waste my Saturday with Alex’s requests.

                                                            The whole day I saw how excited Alex was. He was counting down hours till dad gets home. I didn’t see my mother the whole day and it was about 9pm when Alex realized that dad is going to be late than usual. He sat on the couch and started playing with his GameBoy.
“Why do you think dad is late today?” He asked me.

“I have no idea kid. Maybe he got unfinished work. Still at the university working.”

“I think I need to go out and find him. He said while getting up from the couch.”
“Are you insane? It is so late. I can’t let you out now. Plus you don’t even know where his campus is.”

I didn’t want him to go out at night. And I was sure that dad comes home before 12 am. I went to my room and left my brother in the living room who was still playing with his video game.

Time started passing by quickly. My brother was getting more intense with each tick of the clock.

“I am going out.” He said while putting on his jacket.

“Are you insane?” I yelled at him. “It is almost 12 am. You can’t go out now.”
“Don’t worry. I will just be by the road and catch up with him.” Alex disappeared through the front door before I could say anything else.

I ran to my mom’s room just to inform this. It was more secure to inform the adult in the house about it but alas I was wrong.

I witnessed my mom asleep. Still wearing her evening dress. It was evident she was at a party or at a bar. The faint smell of alcohol was scenting the room. It was the main reason my dad would sleep on the couch most times. I realized that there was no use of waking her up. Which would never happen

A noise of a car engine startled me. I recognized the sound straight away. It was my dad. I walked to the living room not only to greet him but to fill my hunger urging stomach with some snacks.

“Hey dad how was your day?” I asked while helping him to get rid of his bag.

He shrugged his shoulders to gesture it was fine. I wasn’t expecting much more. He was always a man with fewer words.

“Did mom come home?” He asked while collapsing on the couch. “She is drunk and asleep?” My dad asked while unbuttoning his shirt. He read my face. “Where is your brother?”

That’s when I had to answer the serious question.

“Umm… He went out to find you. Because you were late” I uttered slowly while looking away.

“What?? You let him walk out in the middle of the night?”

“Don’t worry he said he won’t go far. We could go out and look for him. He’s probably around the neighborhood.”

“Okay then go out and look for him. I never saw any kid around the neighborhood when I drove home.” He said while waking at his room muttering under his breath.

                                                            I went out to the street and started walking. It was pitch dark except for the streetlights. I yelled out his name but dad was right. There was no one in the street. I came to the junction where there is the main road which leads to the city. Unlike my street, this road was populated with a handful of cars. Coming from the city and out of the city. If my brother wasn’t in the neighborhood. The only way he could go is walk to the city.

I sighed, I couldn’t go back without him. I knew my father is going to trip over this. Was he kidnapped? Lured into a van? Many scary thoughts started haunting my consciousness. I had already spent over 45 minutes just sweeping through the streets looking for my brother. It was time to go home and appear empty handed.

I wasn’t sure how my dad would react when he saw me coming home alone but his eyes showed the signs of anxiety and fear.

“You didn’t find him did you?”
I nodded and sat on the couch.

“Do you think we should call the police?” I asked.

“Let’s call his friends. Maybe he went to their houses?” said my dad. “Do any of his friends live nearby?”

“I am not sure. There is one kid he usually hangout with. He lives maybe 2 or 3 kilometers away from here. Maybe he went there.”

“Why did he go out to find me? Why the hell would he do that and why did you let him go?” My dad asked with an irritated tone.

“He wanted to ask you about the phone you were going to buy him. That’s why he came to find you.”
“Oh for god’s sake. You know what, get my jacket. Let’s go out and find him.” He said while getting up.

I went to my parent’s room and I still found my mom asleep. I was ready to grab and run my dad’s jacket when I saw my mom’s phone, which was already on the table was ringing. I realized that the number was unknown yet I saw that the number had tried calling over 4 times, maybe it was an emergency.

“Mom wake up you got so many calls from this number” I tried waking my mom who was obviously way more drunk and sleepy than usual.

“What is taking you so long?” I heard my dad yelling at me from the living room. I went back to him with mom’s phone in my hand.

“Hey this number had called mom so many times. I am not sure if it is an urgent call but mom won’t wake up.” I told my dad while handing over the phone.

He was examining the number when the phone started ringing again. It was the same number as before.

“Hello?” My dad answered.

I saw his expressions change as he talked with the person on the other side of the phone.

“Oh okay thank you sir. I really appreciate it.” He finally said after a while and hanged up the phone.

“Who was it?”

Dad was taking his jacket off. I realized it was some sign that the phone call was about my brother.

“It was a man called Gustavo. He said Alex is with them, apparently, he had offered Alex a ride in his car and now they are in the other side of the town. Alex had told them he wanted to inform us and he only remembered your mom’s phone number to call.”

“So, who is this Gustavo guy??”

“Well he is this really rich business guy. A CEO or something. He said he will drop Alex home and they will send him with his bodyguard.”

Well that was perhaps the most exciting this Alex did this week. My dad was still a bit nervous about the guy who called but we waited another 45 minutes until we heard a car stopping outside our lawn. Me and dad both got up to get the door and viola Alex was standing there with a bottle of lemonade on his right hand. There was a man in a black suit behind him.

“I am sorry for any inconvenience sir. But it took him so much time to find his parent’s number. Are you the father of the child?” The man asked politely. He was extremely well dressed for a bodyguard and the smell of expensive perfume gave an illusion of what his paycheck might look like.

“Yes. I am sorry you guys had to go through the trouble. I could’ve come picked him up. But honestly you should’ve considered twice before taking a 14-year-old child in a car ride to the other side of the city.” My dad was a little angry at the guy.

“It was his request and my boss always ensured his safety.” The man didn’t blink an eye while declining my dad’s accusations. “Have a Good night sir”

The car drove away and we were still standing at the doorway. When my dad closed the door, his priority was starting to yell at Alex. It was evident Alex wasn’t harmed by anyone judging on the stupid grin he had on his face. He was always happy to get in trouble and he was used to my father’s hours of lectures why childhood mistakes can lead to life long depression in later years and other psychological facts.

                                                            However, Alex revealed his part of the story to us after my father cooled down his temper. When he went out to look for my father he had seen this red Ferrari. I didn’t believe him at first. I lived in the lower middle class suburbs and we were way more rich than our neighbors. And seeing a Ferrari in my neighborhood was the closest thing to seeing a unicorn. Luxury wasn’t something that was around our neighborhood. When he saw the Ferrari he had the same thought. How did it come there? And that’s when the natural curiosity of a 14 year old came out to play. He had gone around the car, inspecting it and by the way of description he provided me I was pretty sure he was paying attention to every single tiny detail. I wasn’t surprised since he always had a knack for automobiles. He was about to peep in and get a view on the interior when a man showed up and claimed that the car was his. According to my brother Alex he was good looking and dressed very casually. He had asked Alex if he wanted a ride. The 14 year curiosity and his love for cars made him say an overwhelming yes. They had driven over to his house which was on the other side of the town. They had a few sandwiches and he had shown him the rest of his exotic cars. During my brother’s story my father kept asking if the guy touched him in any way, but he said no. Turns out it was just a good hearted guy making a little boy’s dreams come true.

                                                                        This incident soon became outdated news with time. Things moved on, my brother got a new phone, my father paid more attention to my brother’s whereabouts and gave him curfew hours. But there was something wrong with my mother. The woman who would usually crash in all drunk and sleeping till night. She just disappeared. First day when she didn’t came home we weren’t much worried. My father knew he might’ve getting drunk in some place and couldn’t drive back home. But he didn’t even get a call from a friend or her to ask her to pick her up like it happened before. This day was weird. All her clothes were home and it didn’t appeared to be like she just abandoned the family and left which might make a valid point considering all the fights between her and my father. We soon got worried. Just like the day my brother was gone. We had to look for her all around the neighborhood, call her friends. But nobody had seen her. By the next day morning we were all waiting for a call from the police or from a hospital. It had been 24 hours and there was not a tiny evidence that might tell where she is at. It was time to call the police.

                                                            A cop came to the house and got statements from each of us. Of course this wasn’t the first time the police came to our house considering all the disturbance calls they responded at our house. They knew well the state of our house and the state of the relationship of my mother and father. Statements were written. Clues weren’t found. Nothing was able to tell where she is.

                                                            Days passed. My father was depressed and he was maxing out all the day offs he requested from work. Although he fought with my mother a lot. He still loved her. The disappearance of a mother of two kids started to spread like fire. It was about to be broadcasted on media when one day there was a knock on the door. It was my mother.  She was looking healthy and well. My dad hugged her involuntarily when he saw her. He didn’t smell the usual alcohol and just as usual she didn’t seemed to be all merry to see us.

“Where were you??” asked my father.

“I was with him. I am sorry.” She replied.

                                                            It was a puzzle. Who was him? She was a drunk alright but she never cheated on my father. My father started digging the story when everything was revealed. The man who took my brother in the car ride weeks ago. The man who gave his phone to my brother to call his parents in which my brother dialed my mother’s number. Well that was not the last outgoing call made to my mother from that phone. It turned out my mother had called him again and they had quite a conversation over phone with followed by a date. A date she went out on deciding never to come to this house. She said she was fed up with the house anyways. She never cared for the missing notices we posted all over. She was having a ‘wonderful’ time with that man. But it wasn’t too late when her habits started to kick in and she started getting back with the alcohol. She was drunk out of her head in his house. These habits caused chaos with him too and within a few days he decided to kick her out of his house. And thus, she showed up at our doorstep.

                                                                        I couldn’t imagine the disappointment, anger in my father’s mind. He was speechless but she wasn’t. She didn’t hesitate to tell the whole story. She had the words ‘I am sorry’ in her eyes but she never made them into words. She was always tough and stubborn.

“Why did you do it?” My father; a man with a very controlled temper and a problem solver asked her calmly yet with eyes filled with rage and anger.

“He was rich. I always wanted a life like that.” She replied.