The Midnight Heir

UNCLE ANTHONY

Outside the Grand Blue Restaurant, Anthony brought out the ID card to stare at it, about to make a left turn into the next road.

"Who could have thought that this tiny thing would mean the difference between being jobless and under the control of my f*cking in-laws and now having part-time jobs in three different locations? I could have gotten my share of her hospital bills already if I had just done this since day one" he mumbled, finally turning the corner 

He scoffed "I guess it all happened for a reason because I wouldn't be trying to regain my power if I ha—" out of nowhere, a kid ran into him and fell to the ground.

"Ouch, my butt!" The kid complained, wincing and rubbing his butt "Why don't you watch where you're walking Mr." The kid yelled, not even looking up to see who he was talking to

"Huh? What the hell did you just say to me you stupid brat?!" Anthony was furious, glaring at the kid who finally looked up at him and saw who he had just run into.

Instantly he shriveled, smiling pretentiously and knowing fully well that he was about to be in big trouble "Uncle Anthony, how are you doing?"

"!!" Anthony remained quiet, crossing his arms with a stare that let the kid know that he was about to be reprimanded.

The kid tried to stand up and face whatever punishment Anthony would give him, but…

"Huh? What's this?" the kid saw an ID card on the floor with his attention being drawn to Anthony's face on it so he picked it up.

"Uncle Anthony, why do you have a fake ID?" he looked curious, taking it and showing the ID to Anthony.

"Gimme that!" Anthony swiped it from his hand, looking somewhat guilty and the kid was quick to notice so he grinned mischievously "You should mind your business" Anthony said

"Ohh? It's something you'd like to keep secret, isn't it? Hehehe." The kid folded his arms, smirking confidently.

"What do you think my father, the POLICE CAPTAIN is going to say about you, having a fake ID card, huh Uncle Anthony?! Not good, not good at all" the kid shook his head.

Anthony smacked his tongue. "This brat!"

"Hehehe, seems like I've got you trapped Uncle Anthony so here's the deal we're going to make. I won't tell dad about your fake ID and you won't tell on me for being rude to you, deal?" he extended his hand for a handshake

Anthony shook his head and then went on to connect hands which made the kid swipe underneath his nose, celebrating his accomplishment with a huge grin.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, what are you doing here Samuel? Shouldn't you be in school now? And where's your uniform?" Anthony asked and Samuel jolted. 

"Well, you see, Umm… Sigh! I skipped school okay" he dropped his head defeatedly.

"Why?" 

"Truth is I wanted to see sister and if I was still in uniform the people at the hospital wouldn't have let me in without adult supervision. Not that it worked because they still didn't let me in since I wasn't there with either dad or you" Samuel said.

"So you weren't able to find out how she was then?" 

"Huhn? Who do you take me for? Of course, I did, hehehe" Samuel swiped underneath his nose again but not looking as proud this time.

"So how was she? In stable condition?" 

"Umm, I think so. All the doctors and the machines helping to support sis Amanda were all calm so I think she's fine" Samuel said then quickly became gloomy, lowering his head and clenching his fists "for now at least"

"!!" Anthony didn't say anything back 

"Umm, uncle Anthony, I don't mean to sound rude and you can report me to dad and mom if you want but when are you going to complete your share of the bills for the surgery huh? I keep hearing dad talk about it and even though he doesn't have his complete yet, you have those rich in-laws of yours who could help pay for everything so what's stopping them from helping us?" Samuel's eyes were flooded with tears.

"I know she isn't my biological sister and is only the daughter of dad's dead partner but to me, she's still family just like dad, mom, and you. I don't want to lose her and it hurts that I'm not old enough to help her out" snot started coming out from one of his nostrils which he wiped aggressively, snorting 

Anthony was lost for words. This was the first time he was hearing Samuel speak this way and for a very talkative kid, that says a lot.

Anthony felt hesitant but still placed his hand on Samuel's head "Don't worry about it, Samuel. You're still a kid so keep being one. This is something that we adults should bother ourselves with. I just need a little more time so can you help me out and be strong for your sister? What will she think if she finds out that you were crying like this?" 

Samuel aggressively wiped his tears away "Okay, I'll do that Uncle"

"Good" Anthony smiled, dropping his hand from the boy's head 

"I should start getting back to school now," Samuel said then started to walk around Anthony but stopped when Anthony said one last thing.

"Stop rushing around when walking outside okay? You could trip and hurt yourself" Anthony advised.

"Hehe, don't worry Uncle, nothing can hurt me, but I'll be careful watching where I'm going," Samuel said then ran off.

.

.

Evening came quickly and Anthony had already started work at The Grand Blue Restaurant, wearing their typical waiter's uniform.

Black pants, shoes, and tucked white cooperate long-sleeve shirt. On top is their signature red velvet vest with their name tag on the left chest area, in gold characters.

Anthony has good people skills when he wants to so it didn't take long for him to blend in and get into a good working relationship with all his fellow staff. It also helped that Casey and Michael already knew him so they helped smooth things over with the others 

"Hey Favorite, Michael and I are gonna head out so can you help us take out the garbage? The bin is at the back" Casey asked then both she and Michael waved Anthony goodbye as they left for home.

Anthony took the trash to the waste bin at the back for dumping. It was already night time but this part of town was also very lively.

The weather was nice and he felt like taking in some fresh air before heading back when at the other side of the very busy road, he saw Samuel skipping by the pavement, heading home which wasn't far from here.

"This brat, why the hell is he still out by this time? I'm pretty sure he snuck out. Maybe I should call Mr's Faller and tell her so she knows to keep a close eye on him" he said, walking closer to the pavement, and taking out his phone to call Samuel's mother 

He called and got distracted from Samuel by the voice telling him that the number he had called is busy

"Hmm, wonder what she's doing—" he wasn't able to finish when he looked back at Samuel, and from the shop that Samuel was in front of, the door was abruptly pushed forward.

The door slammed right into Samuel, sending him diving into the road where a truck was driving by. 

"Huh?" Samuel mumbled when all he could see was a truck right in front of him and the headlights blasting all over his body.

"SAMUEL!" Anthony screamed.