[Story] Intoxicated Romance – S01 E24

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 24

James:

i have to meet my father and end this. I have to know how proud he is

of me now. I killed for him. Surely, i would get a compliment from him

today. I concentrate my foggy eyes on the road. The voices are wrong.

I wouldn’t be caught. My father would be proud and Steven would lose.

I shake my head and take a bend in the direction of my dad’s office

location. Dad has never been proud of me except that fateful day when

i was just eight years old

. I can still remember how it happened.

Flashback:

“daddy loves me. Daddy loves me not, daddy loves me, daddy loves me

not” i recite while plucking the leaves off a small stem and when it

ends at ‘daddy loves me not’ i fling the empty stem in annoyance.

“stupid stem. You don’t know anything” i scream as i step on the stem furiously.

“James!” i hear Diana, our house maid yell my name and i hide behind the sofa.

“where is that little demon” she says and i cant help but laugh. She

hears my laugh then match behind the sofa and drag me out with my

shirt collar.

“why did you do it?” she sneer at me

“do what?” i ask innocently.

“you know, you little shit!. Why did you shred my son’s result?!”she yells.

Diana’s son and i attend the same school

. We collected our results

yesterday and i came out second as always. Diana’s son always comes

out first and no matter how i read, pray and cheat, i always come out

second. Last term, my dad had beaten me with a mop stick and locked me

up for a day without food. He imbibed in me that i must be a winner no

matter the means i use to get it. So, this term i read hard, prayed

harder and cheated but still i came out first. My dad wasn’t home

yesterday and hasn’t seen the result so i sneaked into the servant’s

quarters and destroyed the evidence.

I shrug my shoulders and feign ignorance.

“i know you’ll deny it. You always do. The last time, you broke your

father’s vase, you said it wasn’t you either.”

“that wasn’t me either, it was the boy in the mirror. I saw him” i say

“what boy in the mirror?.You are just 8 years old but you are already

a menace. I am going to teach you a lesson before your parents get

back” she raises her hand to hit me and i smile, ready for the pain. I

am so used to it now. Infact i crave it.

“what do you think you are doing?!” my mom march toward us with my

father behind her.

“i- I’m sor–ry ma. Your son tore my s-o-n’s res-ult. I was just

reprimanding him” Diana stammer out. My mom land two slaps on her

cheeks and i smile. She’s not so smug now. My dad sees my smile and

nods his head.

“how dare you lay your poverty infested hands on my child?. Infact you

are fired! I’ll make sure i fire your whole family from their various

jobs anywhere. Now, get out!” my mother rants. I look to my dad but he

is just nodding his head.

“you guys better get this child help. He isn’t normal. His level of

menace is bordering on madness” she says and that’s the only time i

see emotion on my father’s face. His face distort in anger.

“no child of mine is going to be Admitted in a mental hospital!. My

son is perfectly normal. So you better leave before i calls the guards

to teach you a lesson!” he scream then turn to me.

“come with me” i walk behind him, thinking of the kind of beating i am

surely going to receive. I am both scared and happy.

We enter my dad’s study and as soon as i close the door, my father

beams at me. This is the first time i’ve seen him smile.

“come closer, son. I am so proud of you. You did the right thing by

not admitting the truth. That would have been worse than coming

second. I assume that’s the reason why you tore his result. Am i

right?”

“ye-s dad”

“good. Now, I’ll only give you 12 strokes of the cane but you will be

rewarded for today.” my dad brings out the cane he keeps under his

desk and he flows me 12 times on my back. I don’t even flinch.

“and what are you supposed to say?”he asks me after he is done

“thank you sir”

“you know i am doing this because i love you. I am preparing for the

business world where it is eat or be eaten. You must become like me. I

do anything and i mean anything to be at the top. Do you understand

what i am saying” i nod

“okay you can leave. Your mom would take you shopping tomorrow. You

can buy whatever you want”

i never went on that shopping expenditure because that night, i

couldn’t bear the yearning for pain, i wasn’t feeling anything

especially pain so i sneaked to the kitchen, collected a small knife

and cut myself once. I loved the feeling and i did it numerous times.

Our gardener who came to the kitchen for some milk saw me bleeding out

in the kitchen and i was rushed to the hospital. My parents lied to

the doctor that i had an accident but the doctor suspected something

was wrong with me. He suggested that i be checked into a mental

hospital for help before it got worse but my father who didn’t want

the scandal refused.

Present day:

my hands start shaking on the steering wheel. I pull over beside the

road and walk the remaining distance to my father’s office. I get some

strange look as people stare at my bloody clothes.

I finally stagger into my dad’s office. His secretary tries to stop

me but i push pass her and barge into my dad’s office.

“what the hell! James, why are you bleeding all over my office” he

asks as soon as he sees me. I came here to confront him but again i am

reduced to that little boy who wants his father’s compliment

“d-ad, i’ll get the land for you by tomorrow. I-i-killed them for you”

my ears starts ringing and i clutch them.

“d-ad you are proud right? I am just like you. Right dad?”i ask and he

sneers at me.

“ofcourse not! That’s like saying am crazy. Just like you. I don’t

need you, Steven has already gotten the land.

. Now leave my office. You

are staining the expensive tiles”he says and continue reading some

papers on his desk.

“he is not proud, i told you, Steven won. You are still below”the

voices chant. I stare at my father and my blood boils. After

everything he still isn’t satisfied. I am no longer his puppet.

“After all these years, you still obey him. You are too weak”

“I am not weak!”

I scream. My father looks up at me then shake his head. He reaches for

his phone,probably to call the police but before he types the number,

I grab the phone from him and bash it against his head. He screams but

I continue hitting his head with the landline phone. The sound of his

brain crushing, thrills me and even after he slumps on his desk, I

continue hitting him.

“Who is on top now?”I sneer at his lifeless body.

“Your worthy son.is next”