"Thank you very much, Mr. Ave as always for helping our company."
"The pleasure is all mine, sir. I hope you will contact me again, if there is any fault with the code I sent."
"That is for sure. I also hope that you will continue to help us in our endeavor to provide the greatest service to all our customers, including you. Oh! By the way, Mr. Ave, have you ever heard of the game called The New World?"
"Ah! That online, ultra-real game, yes, I've heard of it. Why do you ask?" I ask inquisitively.
"Oh! It's nothing. I just wanted to say that I recently purchased a gaming set of it and am happily playing it after my work. I thought that even if we might not be able to catch up in the real world, we might be able to do so in the virtual world." The contractor asked while rubbing his nose but I declined politely.
"I'm sorry, sir but my financial situation isn't really good now and can't afford it. But I'm very thankful for the offer." I reply in my professional tone.
"Oh!... I'm sorry to hear that. Anyway, have a nice day."
"Thank you very much," I reply as I close off the inline meeting.
'Damn! It's just a game dammit!! Why does he need to sound it like he got himself a new girlfriend!! Anyway, I'm unsubscribing from their service as soon as their free service period expires.'
Shaking my head, I opened my official mail but it was filled with offer letters and work emails. It was so much that it gave off a sense of doom from its virtual cloud space.
'Ugh… let's just leave it for today.'
Looking at the clock, it was already twelve, I promptly decided to take a shower and make lunch for the girls who would be returning from schools at 3 pm. Time passed quickly, like always, as I immerse myself in cooking.
Within moments, the noon became 3 and those little devils came back from their schools in all their devilish glory!
"Get off my back, you little pest! Why do you always have to know what I'm doing in insta! Can't you just open your own?!"
"Me! Open an account in insta and then become a self-absorbed slut like you. No thanks. By the way, what did Oberon say about that sexy dress of yours? He must be bleeding tears of blood when you deleted it, didn't he?"
"Get off, asshole! And why do you have such an interest in him anyway!"
"Duh! There's a guy in this world who will date you and as such, I, your little sister, definitely need to check whether he is capable or not."
"And what are you going to do after that?"
"Duh! Steal him from you, are you an idiot?!"
"You bastard!!"
"Enough! Both of you!" I cried loudly to stop them from their incessant bickering. "Go and change. We're having lunch in fifteen minutes. Be late and you won't be served food."
"Tsk!" Alia clicked her tongue and in a fit of fatherly rage, I pinch her ears till it turned red.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!!!!!"
"What did you say, little girl?"
"Heh! Sis got punished," giggled Anya but like thunder, my talon-like fingers swooped down and pinched her ears.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!!!!"
After making them suffer for a minute, I released them and ordered them in an angry tone, "Break my rules and you will get my justice."
"Tsk! What a bully…"
"Pedo…"
Both of them cursed me as they went back to their rooms. See, this is why I call them the devils' spawns. They are incorrigible!!!
'Sigh…'
But alas, I'm powerless. A househusband and daughters are mortal enemies, there's nothing that I can do about it.
What?
Get a job and stop being a househusband?
And what? Let my daughters walk down the path of delinquency (like me) or a Net weeb (like me)? Bah! Ptoot!! Never!
I would never let my daughters go down the path of failure. I-I'm f-frickin' s-serious…do-don't look at me like that…please… okay, fine. I admit it. I don't want to eat takeouts for my entire life and neither do I want to flirt with any delivery boys for cheap changes okay, so why should I get a job and destroy the only 'good' food that I can get?
Also, I don't think I'll be lucky a second time to get a job that I like, so no frickin' way.
Shaking my head at the inevitable routine of my life, I served food in plates and all the side-dishes that I had prepared beforehand. After doing all that, I sat down on my chair but the girls still weren't here. I looked at the clock and it was already twenty minutes since I gave them the lecture.
Late… well, they are girls. It takes time for them to change, I guess.
25mins… I bet they are taking a shower before coming.
35mins… I bet they are reviewing their lessons—
"GET YOUR DARN ARSE HERE!!!!!!!"
…
"Geez dad, no need to shout like that."
"Yea, you woke the neighbor's dog, Pochi from his afternoon sleep."
Both of them chide me for shouting at them as they rest on the dining chairs with their hands on their bulging stomachs while I'm washing their dishes. Say about laziness…But thinking about the afternoon nap of Pochi… I'm a little jealous of that dog. Dammit!!
"By the way dad, I'm going to Mike's house to do our project, alright?" said Alia as she straightened the dress she wore before coming down for lunch.
"Woah! Are you two-timing, now?" said Anya with an aghast face but I just rolled my eyes.
"Yes, you can but remember to come back before 6."
"Alright, I will. Thanks dad." She said as she dashed towards the door with skipping steps. After she left, Anya turned towards me with an expecting gaze and like always, I scoop out my smartphone and say in an experienced tone, "Gary, turn on Observation Mode on Device Alia."
"Turning on Observation Mode on Device Alia. Do you want me to go Incognito, sir?"
"Yes, please."
"As you wish."
"Wait, you aren't putting her on Parental Mode?" Anya asked in a shocked tone but I only glare at her, "Do YOU want to be in Parental Mode?"
"Nope! I'm fine."
"Good. Now go and do whatever the fudge you want to do?"
"Okay!"
…
Rearing children is tough. Impossibly tough but also pretty satisfying. No, not seeing them in some high-end colleges or getting married, that's some bullshit only old and senile people would think of. To me, the best part of rearing children is the afternoon naps. Completing all the freelancer missions, doing all the household chores, cooking and taking shower and finally making those damned pests eat and stay alive is all part of life. And afternoon naps are the sweet, sweet nectar of life.
And therefore, thinking about my sweet reward of the day, I wash my hands and face as I head towards my bedroom. As I enter my bedroom, my eyes are dazzled by the soft white quilt and rabbit-printed pillows. I hurriedly close the curtains and all of a sudden, a nervous aura spread around the room. My eyes hallucinated and it felt like I saw my wife laying down on the bed in her sexy lingerie, cutely posing towards me. Just like how I saw her when I first met her in my college years.
Feeling the blissful moment, I spread my arms and leave myself to aunty gravity as I freefall towards my bed.
Creak!!!
My bed protested with a loud creak but I take no mind of it. Caressing it like how I caressed Indu back then, I slowly sunk deeper into the soft embrace of my bed when suddenly something horrible happened.
TATARRATTATTATATATARRATATATTRAARTTATA
My eyes shot open at the sudden intrusion of my dreamscape and I looked around like a cat whose tail was stepped on. I knew exactly from where the sound was coming from and after looking around for a few seconds, I get a hold of my smartphone. Looking up, I saw the caller id.
Eric.
…
Peep!
Disconnecting the call, I lay back down and was about to fall asleep when—
TATARRATTATTATATATARRATATATTRAARTTATA
"Your bloody—" I cursed under my breath and about to cut again when I calmed down.
'It must be because he's in some kind of trouble. I'm sure.'
With that thought, I took the call and a virtual screen appeared above my smartphone from which I could see the face of a pale and skinny man with bloodshot eyes, similar to my age. He was Eric, one of my college friends.
"AVE, COME QUICKLY TO GAME AVENUE NO. 97 IN THE CITY CENTER. QUICKKKKKK!"
Peeeeeeeppppp…
I looked shocked at the extremely short message for a few seconds before bloodshot towards my brain.
"YOUUU BLOODDYYY SONUVABITCCHHH!!!!!"
….
"Woah, dad! Where the hell are you going with a bat?!!" asked Anya when she saw me. Currently, I was wearing a red jersey and track pants with a bat over my shoulder. And not a simple bat at that, I took the one with nails hammered at the top. It was a deadly tool that I once used when I was a reserve member of an international gang.
I turned towards her, my bloodshot eyes staring at her like a madman and I said in a gruff voice, "Go back to your room and don't open the door until I or your sister returns. Alright?" my voice sounded extra scruffy because I wrapped a wet handkerchief around my face.
"Absolutely!" Anya nodded her head like a pecking chicken. Assured, I opened the door and left the house.
Closing the door after me, Anya rubbed the sweat off her forehead and mumbled to herself, "Today, dad is definitely going to be arrested by the police. I should probably inform mom to ready a bailout check."
…
"Woah! Look, a gangster…"
"Hey, are you insane? He will beat you up until your momma can't recognize you!"
"Mom, look at that uncle. Is he on drugs?"
"Shhh! You devil!!!!"
"Should we call the police?"
"Do it… but discreetly."
Within moments, a police car arrived at the place and two policemen dressed in yellow uniforms dashed out of their cars. They had been informed that there was a delinquent armed with a nailed bat walking in the public roads. It didn't take them long to find the suspect. It was a middle-aged man with not a particularly gangster-like physique but as the report said, he was armed with a nailed bat. He was wearing a red jersey and track pants with curly hair, which looked more like bed hair, and face covered by a checkered handkerchief.
In a split second, their ' righteous' mode was turned on and they dashed towards the man with their 9mm projectile pistols in hand.
"Freeze! Hands in the air. You are under arrest of the Fortune City Police Force!!!" shouted the elder police officer of the two but the man didn't oblige. Instead, he clutched the bat with two hands and turned towards them.
"Huh… what did ya say, asshole?" almost immediately, a dangerous aura swept past the two officers and they felt like they were being stared down by a tiger from the wildlands.
"H-hii-hii!" cried the elder officer as his face turned pale and his hands started shaking like a vibrator. It seemed like he knew the guy very well.
The younger officer was similarly affected but like any young calf unafraid of the old tiger, he aimed at the man and said in a threatening tone, " H-h-hands i-in t-the air!! I said, hands in the air!"
The man looked at the two of them for a moment, his bloodshot eyes swept past them three times before he turned his head and walked away, directly ignoring them.
"H-hey, wait up!!!" shouted the younger officer but the older officer slapped the young officer's hand immediately. "Lower your gun," he whispered cautiously to his junior.
"W-what? Why? Why're we letting a criminal get away?"
"He is not a criminal, you idiot!"
"Huh! Then who is he?"
"It's not who! It's what! That man is the Red Devil of Avenue.1312."
"Who…."
…