CHAPTER 5: NOT MY FAMILY.
"Smack the shit out of that ungrateful moron. She's made her choice. Be happy that she chose someone like Joey," Mrs Adams said.
"Language Magdalene, language," Mr Adams cautioned his wife this time.
"Oh, whatever," Mrs Adams snorted disrespectfully at her husband. Her attention was on her favorite child, Joey.
Joey and Justin stood, glaring at each other. As face off was imminent. Justin peered hatefully at Samantha and Joey, but refrained from swinging a punch at either of them.
"Because you're all grown now, you think you can take me on? Huh? I don't need all that muscle to beat the living day light out of you," Joey snarled.
Indeed, Justin who was once little had grown up to have a moderately muscular build on his six foot body frame, which appealed to most folks who beheld him. He was a good looking young man, but he lacked the things that would make that handsomeness of his stand out from many.
Justin suddenly chuckled, shaking his head disappointedly, pursing his lips. He finally came to terms with the reality he had always known.
"So, this is what it is huh?" You all- You all turned on me, even when you know the truth?" Justin began speaking, sniffing in, pulling himself together.
"And you, you of all people Samantha, you. God! How could I have been so naive, when I saw the signs clearly, all those vacations I brought you here? I thought you loved me the way I loved you. Hmm... But it's cool."
"Quit the whining boy. This is life, and it is always unfair to the weak," Mrs Adams said. Justin sighed, calming himself down.
"Thank you for doing whatever you did for me, from the kindness of your cold heart. Adios familia," Justin said, walking upstairs to get his bag.
Joey snorted, saying, "Pathetic."
Returning down, he Mrs Adams speak up, saying, "We were never family." Justin halted hearing that, as he got to the front door.
"Never family huh?" he scoffed. Turning to look at them one more time, he smiled, and walked out the door.
He heard the door open and closed and a voice calling his name. Turning around, he saw it was Geoffrey. He ran and hugged him, sobbing.
"Don't go. Please, don't go," Geoffrey cried.
"Hey hey buddy. Don't cry. Handsome boys like you shouldn't cry. What if a girl's passing here right now? And sees you like this, hmm?" Justin tried to console him.
"Why are they all being so mean to you?" Geoffrey innocently asked. Justin didn't know the right answer to give the young boy. He just hugged him tightly, fighting back tears.
"Where will you go?" Geoffrey asked.
"Well, I've got a place at SJC. I'll be there," he replied. "We'll always be a team, okay? Nothing's going to change that. Okay?"
Geoffrey nodded, still sobbing. Justin patted his head and walked away from him. Geoffrey stood there crying. Buy Justin had to harden his heart not to yield to the child's tearful plea.
Gritting his teeth, he walked away from the folks he once held in his heart as family. But not anymore.
Justin went to the bus station to see if he could get a bus back to where he came from, but there no bus available. It was already late. So, he had to book for the next day.
He went to a near by motel by the bus station and got a room to rest for the night. He hadn't had his bath even, after the hectic road journey he had embarked on earlier that day.
In his room, he found that the motel had a tub in the bathroom. So, he had it filled with hot water. Taking off his clothes, he got in, gently placing a bottle of beer he had bought beside the tub.
"Mmm..." Justin's voice trailed off, moaning. The warmth of the water was soothing. He needed it to release the pent up tension within him.
He laid in there, as hurtful memories at the Adams' residence replayed in his head.
"I'll never be the one to suffer such a rejection again. Never!" Justin resolved in his heart, with a tear managing to escape and roll down his cheeks. He wiped it off and gulped down the beer he kept beside him on the floor.
_________
Back at the Adams' residence, they were done eating, and had cleared the table. Except Geoffrey, who ran to his room and locked his door behind him, crying profusely in his room.
"Aren't you going to check on Geoffrey? He didn't finish his meal," Mr Adams asked Magdalene.
"He's your son as well. Why don't you go check on him? Besides, as long as he's crying over that moron, he can cry himself a river, and drown in it for all I care," Mrs Adams replied, totally unconcerned.
Mr Adams stood up quietly and headed upstairs to go check on Geoffrey.
"Hey Julie, come help me do the dishes," Samantha requested.
"Well, I don't do dishes. Perhaps that's why you're here," Juliet replied. Samantha gasped at the level of disrespect Juliet expressed towards her.
"No worries. I'll just take care of it myself then," Samantha said, smiling. But she was pissed and couldn't do anything about it.
Joey and his mother sat in the living room, watching TV.
"I'm glad that son of a bitch is out of our lives," Joey said.
"Well, he's like a leech. I won't be surprised to see him coming back after all this," Mrs Adams said.
"If he does, we'll make him know he's not accepted here, once and for all. We can't keep carrying that dead weight," Joey said, gulping some wine he took from the dining table.
"It was really smart move to come at the exact time he came, and put him in his place," Mrs Adams commended.
"All thanks to you, letting me know early enough," Joey said, as they smiled at each other.
Mr Adams returned and sat down quietly in the living area, sighing.
"How'd it go?" Mrs Adams asked her husband.
"He's still locked up, refusing to open the door," he replied.
"When he's really hungry, he'll come out," Juliet responded. Joey smiled at her.
Just then, Joey's phone rang. He got his phone and looked at it. Suddenly, his demeanor changed, but he quickly tried to mask it with a smile.
"Um, I need to get this business call. It's a client of mine," he requested.
"Sure," Mrs Adams acknowledged.
He walked outside the house and towards the garage to pick the call. Everyone wondered why he'd have to go that far to answer the phone call.
CHAPTER 6: THE BIG APPLE."Dude, what those folks did is outrageous. Jeez," Duke said over the phone, speaking with Justin. He had arrived his shared apartment at SJC a day after the altercation he had with his foster family. "Tell me about it," Justin retorted, snorting detestably."It makes me wonder how you were ever raised by those maniacs.""Point of correction, I wasn't raised by them, I only lived with them," Justin pointed out."That's about right," Duke agreed. "So what are you gonna do now?"He sighed, and replied, "I don't know man. Well, am thinking I should just take up Professor James' offer. What do think?" "Hmm," Duke pondered for a bit. "You have big dreams man, and I know you have a shot at pulling it off and getting your footing in the big apple, unlike some of us who've been tied down to run the family business. So I think you should give your dreams and aspirations a shot.""You really think so?" he asked."Mm-hmm. Despite all that you sacrifed for that self ce
CHAPTER 7: THE INTERVIEW.Justin hurried to his apartment and locked the door behind him. He leaned on it as he inhaled and exhaled, doing his best to calm his nerves down as his heart raced. He quickly went to his window which faced the street and hid by it's corner to have a look at the street. From the angle he stood, he didn't see the vehicle. So he went to the other side, and slightly parted the curtain. Peeking through, he found no trace of the car that followed him.He sighed in relief, and sat on his bed. Anxiety had made a bit sweaty, so he wiped it off his face. "What the hell was that? Am I being followed or what? But- But, I didn't offend anyone. Did I?" Justin questioned himself, trying to be certain he wasn't just being paranoid."Could it be the pick pocket?" he pondered. "Or, could it be the Adams?" Those were the two folks that he could come up with in his wildest imaginations that would want to hurt him. But he did nothing wrong to them, so that made him even the
CHAPTER 8: OUT COLD"What?!" Justin gasped at what he heard. His name was the last to be mentioned to not have passed the second phase of the interview. The man who had tried to sow a seed of discouragement in him blurted out a laughter, but crossed his hand over his mouth to prevent it from being audible."Am sorry, but it's time for you to take your leave," the interviewer who called out the names instructed, unapologetically. Disheartened and disappointed at the turn of events, Justin got his bag and walked slowly out of the interview hall. Gloominess was written all over his face. He had high hopes, and all of a sudden now, everything seemed bleak.Mr Frank Alvaro watched Justin as he walked out of the interview hall, walking behind all the other disqualified candidates, heading to the elevator. He shrugged, pursing his lips, and faced the remaining candidates who made it to the third and final phase of the interview.Justin disappointedly walked out of the building, wondering
CHAPTER 9: QUESTIONS UPON QUESTIONS.Justin was suddenly awakened as a result of his head bumping hard into the car seat in front of him. Shards of glasses were scattered within the car as the car was ran into by another car as his abductors conveyed him.An unknown group of men had kidnapped him, having paid off the neighbor some reasonable amount of money to have him sedated.Gaining a bit of consciousness, but drowsy still, he could hear an exchange of heavy gunfire for some moment. He could see some figures falling to the ground, as they were shot. But he had no strength, neither was he cognitive enough to do anything to keep himself safe from harm's way.After a while, the gunshots stopped. He saw the figure of a person approach him, flashing a light right at his face. Examining him, the man found that he was okay, except the concussion in his forehead."Wh- What's happe- What's happening?" Justin questioned faintly, squinting his eyes as he blocked off the light from entering hi
CHAPTER 10: MOMENT OF TRUTH.Justin looked at Mr Bishop, wondering why he smirked."Why did you do it, sir?" Justin enquired.The men standing guard were sulking, wondering who the hell that Justin was, that their boss allowed him to speak freely with him."Well, let's just say they were suddenly interested in what I've had my eyes on for a while now," Mr Bishop answered.Justin raised his left eyebrow, looking intently at Mr Bishop. He knew Mr Bishop's answer was way too bogus. He could sense there was more to it than meets the eye."You think I had a hand in your abduction?" Mr Bishop said. "Here. Why don't you have a look?"He handed Justin his cellphone after he flipped through it, showing him a surveillance footage of the rescue. Justin played it and saw that he was actually resued."I truly am grateful sir, for the rescue. But, who are those folks who came after me? Why me, of all people? What did they want?" Justin asked.Mr Bishop sighed softly, and looked at Justin."This was
CHAPTER 11: SETTLING IN.Gomez headed out of the study, in obedience to Mr Bishop's instruction. Making his way through the main entrance, he sighted Justin standing outside the house.He stood there for some minutes, Justin couldn't take notice of his presence. And for a moment, he noticed how Justin was troubled. He had both his hands on his head, squinting his eyes, and sighing frustratedly.Immediately, Gomez returned to the study. He was granted permission to enter the study by Mr Bishop."Anything the matter?" Mr Bishop asked."Justin seems restless and unsettled.""Mm," Mr Bishop sighed, tapping one of his fingers on the table. "Go and get him settled in.""Right away sir," Gomez responded and bowed as he exited the study. He quickly sent one of the guard to go fetch the chief steward of the Bishop estate, summoning him immediately. Shortly after, the chief steward arrived with a sense of urgency. He bowed his head then said, "You called for me, sir?""Yes," Gomez responded.
CHAPTER 12: THE INFORMANT.Gomez walked into a restaurant in Chinatown, alone, while his men waited outside. He was in a turf he had little leverage in. Standing at the entrance, he scanned and assessed the room. It was filled with Asians. They threw stares of disgust at him, but he ignored them. Adjusting his suit, he walked straight to the bar, and sat on a stool. A male bartender stood behind the counter."What can I get you?" the bartender asked."Tequila," Gomez said simply. "Coming right up," the bartender nodded, as he went ahead to serve Gomez the drink. Gomez received it, and chugged it down with one gulp, gently placing the cup on the counter. And took a deep breath.'Where could he be? I've looked round this bar and there is no sign of him,' Gomez reasoned within himself."Am looking for someone, the informant. Do you know where I can find him? Gomez asked the bartender."I don't have any idea," he replied sluggishly."You sure don't know where he is?" Gomez persisted.
CHAPTER 13: PROGRESS REPORT. Gomez and his men returned to the Bishop Estate that evening. As they park the SUV at the usual spot, one of the men came down and opened the door for Gomez, bowing slightly as Gomez came down from the car.Gomez walked through the entrance, heading straight to Mr Bishop's study, wearing an unpleasant look on his face.On entering the living area, Gomez bumped into Frank, the Chief Steward, who was on his way to check on Justin. Frank bowed his head as Gomez walked past him.Seeing Gomez's demeanor, Frank could tell something unpleasant was up.'Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be sorted out. Gomez is capable of handling any situation,' he said within himself, continuing to Justin's room.Gomez stood before the door of the study. He took a deep breath in, and exhaled heavily. Then, he pressed onto a button on a control panel outside the study as he spoke into the mouth piece."Sir, it's Gomez."Mr Bishop unlocked the door from his own end within the study,