THE ONLY HEIR

I wasn't the only heir

I layed on my bed and stared at the ceiling, I stared at the ceiling but I wasn't seeing the ceiling.

I was reminiscing about what my dad had told me earlier. I was trying to piece the puzzle to get a vivid picture, my dad had cheated on my mum and he got a pregnancy case out of his affair, the only thing to save the marriage was to leave the waitress and her unborn baby, just leave them and go down to Florida, raise me and then come up to Detroit and it was all my mum's idea.

How unfair was that?.

All these while I had a brother, and I was raised alone, in a giant house, amongst maids and artifacts…and they claimed they loved me and I had believed them, they lied to me, told me I was special, I was the only son, the only one to succeed the family and all it's riches.

I tried to put a face to Hensley, how would he look like, talk like, how would he act like…. surely he would want his revenge.

I hated competitions, I'm always the best, I didn't need to have to be in competition with him to know that I was the best son.

What if he was better, smarter, more good looking…what if he was better than me.

I walked briskly to stand in front of the mirror, nobody could look better than this without professional help.

What if he did?.

I was still not contented, I still held doubts, his mum is pretty, my mum is pretty…what if his mum was prettier than mine, then he would look better…he would come work in the company and I wouldn't be the only boss…

I went to take a bottle of martini, wasn't it alcohol that started all these?, Alcohol does crazy stuff to people but I drank it nevertheless.

One day I was the only son and the next day I had a brother that happened to appear from no where, one day I was the only heir and now the will would be split into two….this wasn't amazing.

The next morning, I woke up with a hangover, I walked downstairs to get coffee when the doorbell rang.

“Who would be at someone's house this early?." I asked myself.

I turned the door knob and I opened the door to see Mark standing there.

“Mark?."

“Howdy, I heard what happened, I've been calling you since yesterday, you've not been picking up."

“Mark, it's kinda early for serious talk."

“What do you mean by kinda early, it's past twelve already, have you been drinking?."

“I took a little drink, yes, what do you mean it's past twelve, I never sleep in…” then I saw the clock.

" Are you okay?.“ Mark asked with concern.

" I'm fine.“

" You know I can see through your shell, but, it's fine, you don't have to explain yourself to me, you're an adult.“

" Did you actually expect it from someone like him?.“ I asked knowing he would understand that I was talking about my dad.

" People do stuff, nobody is perfect, especially the ones that seem perfect.“

" How could they keep something like that from me, all my life, I've been living in luxury while a brother of mine has been in Godknowswhere…”

" Half brother.“

" Whatever, it still makes him family, half or full.“

“They were trying to protect you."

" That's just the thing, that's the thing, they try to protect me, shield me from the real world, keep me locked up, I'm a fucking adult, people face life, what makes me different.“

" Billions of dollars, Darwinson, you're a Billionaire's son, you come from a generation of Billionaires, it's a long line that dates back for ages and it wouldn't end here…”

" Well, there's someone here to split the fortune with, at least, I wouldn't die from overthinking of how to distribute the wealth.“

" Darwin, I'm here because we have a plan."

“What do you mean by we have a plan, who's the we?."

“Your mother and I."

“Okay."

“Okay?, That's all you got to say?."

“What else should I say?"

“Don't you want to hear the plan?."

“Okay, go ahead, I'm going to hear it."

“That's much better. I and your mother, we've come up with a plan, right now, nobody knows that Hensley is your dad's illegitimate son, the press doesn't know, nobody knows, it's better we eliminate him before someone finds out."

“What do you mean by, eliminate him?."

“Fuck, do I have to explain everything to you."

“You can choose between these two things: explain what you mean by eliminate him or you can fucking leave my house."

“Kill him, we'll hire a hitman to kill him and his mum."

I stared at Mark for a really long time.

“I was about to have coffee before you came, would you prefer I made yours?."

“Darwin, I didn't come here to have coffee."

“No coffee for you then." I said walking into the kitchen.

“At least for once, act like the adult that you claim to be and hear me out."

“If actually acting as an adult means I sabotage someone else's life, then, count me as a child, please."

“You've always had the heart of a dove, you don't have fucking guts."

" I prefer to stay that way than to have a heart like yours and my mum, you know something? Until yesterday, I saw my mum as perfect, unique, saint like, she was the purest thing on earth and I was glad that she had birthed me, but, right now the way I feel about her…she's even more worse than goons, she's meant to be and prison, and she's meant to die in prison and my dad would die alongside her and maybe you too, because I feel like you've not about this longer than I do and now you want to just kill Hensley, like just wipe him off the face of the earth and that would be that, how do you even sleep at night thinking of such things, Mark?.“