The sun was still a little bright at 5 p.m. and it scattered its rays across every corner of the city. Bruce leaned back into his car seat as he listened to some music while waiting for the traffic light to turn green. It has been a long day. After receiving the latest autopsy results, Bryan had suggested for the chief to do a re-investigation of all the critical points, which he agreed. To be frank, the police had done all that only giving up on filtering out all the doctors in Haston city. The reason was that at the time of the murders, either the doctors had an alibi or were on duty. Since the murders were done randomly, it was difficult to screen out the doctors. Now that Bryan opened up another perspective, he was open to it partly because they might be able to get to the nitty-gritty of the whole thing and also because Bryan had asked him for permission. This wasn't much to anyone but to Bruce, it was the last shred of self-esteem he had. He liked that Bryan didn't assume full authority over the case and still regarded him as the leader, although his duty was to "take over" all investigation.
The traffic moved and he started his car and drove along. He still had a lot to handle at home. He was pressured by the government and media. The latter utterly defamed the police's ability to handle the crime and had subtly hinted for the case to be transferred to the State Security Department, or even the Special Crimes Unit. It was frustrating and took a toll on him. He tightened his grip on the wheels as he drove forward, his blue eyes focused on the road.
....
He parked his car outside and went into the house. And here in lay the next problem: the kids!
Ever since the twins could speak and walk around, they constantly pulled pranks and played all sort of games in the house. He loved his children but their constant bickering, senseless questions, and occasional worrying wore him down. Last time they pulled down the TV because they had an argument about what made TV show images; the cables or the screen. Leon said the cables transferred the images to the screen while Dorita said the images were pre-installed in the screen. After several bouts of arguments, they finally pulled the cables and down came the TV. It broke!
He had tried his best to lecture them but was constantly lost when it came to their disputes. He couldn't choose sides.
"Whoosh! Let's hope they behave tonight." Bruce silently prayed. He opened the door and went in but jerked back as if by reflex. Just as he expected, the twins were at it again!
They were arguing over something pointing at each other. Bruce decided to not intervene. He slowly tip-toed to the rear and made his way towards his room. Dorita, who was at the verge of tears, spotted him and ran to him complaining, "Dad, Leon doesn't want to admit it!" She looked at her dad expectantly.
"Is this my 'welcome home dad? Anyway, admit what?" Bruce pinched his nose bridge and resigned when he saw the unrepentant look of his daughter.
"He failed his test today but doesn't want to admit that am better than him!" She yelled pointing at her brother who had joined her.
"Who are you better than? I only failed a math's test!" Leon yelled back. Bruce's face crunched up.
"Enough! You failed your tests?" Bruce's voice was lined with annoyance. Dorita felt elated as she thought her father was going to school Leon.
"Dad, only one test." Leon mumbled.
"Fine, why did you fail it again?" Bruce's voice calmed.
"I can tell it for you!" Dorita offered.
"Keep quiet! I can defend myself!"
They started bickering again ignoring their father who felt a headache coming in. He could have easily left them and gone inside but somehow these two adorable trouble makers couldn't continue like this. He stopped them and asked Leon to explain why he failed, "was it too hard or did you not study hard enough?"
"Dad, can we sit down and talk this over?"
What?! Sit down to talk it over? You're only 5 and you want to reason with me? He took a deep breath and brought the twins to the sitting room; he sat down on the sofa and gestured for the boy to begin. After giving each other death stares, Leon began to explain himself.
"Dad, you know I've never failed my math courses, right?"
"Yes, that's why I want to know why you failed this time." Bruce assumed a more fatherly tone. He was eager to hear what this boy would say next.
"The thing is, the questions were just too off the books!" Leon said with a melancholic look on his face.
"How?" Bruce asked confused. Did he mean off the book because it wasn't in their syllabus or off the book because he couldn't understand it?
"What he means to say is..."
"Quiet, young lady," Bruce cut Dorita making her pout and shift uneasily.
"Dad, well, the teacher just went berserk. She removed me from my spot, and separated me from my genius friend who had been helping me pass my tests!"
"-"
This....
Bruce could only slump into the sofa and cover his face with his hands. Wasn't this too shameless? Being proud of relying on others?
Then again this could be his fault, he always emphasised teamwork to the twins.
"What did your mom say about this?"
"She said, 'it's fine as long as you did your best, I'm proud of you'" Dorita chipped in mimicking her mother's tone.
Bruce's eyes bulged as he heard that. It was a zero score for the test she should at least scold him or something! He had to admit, he didn't know how to handle kids and he would often push most of their cases to Rachael, his wife, to handle, he should have expected that this would happen given how she was so lenient.
Sigh!
Seeing her dad's expression, Dorita again felt pleased. He was in for it!
"Let me talk to your mom." Bruce got up and went upstairs.
"But dad, he hasn't admitted!" Dorita shouted.
"We'll settle this later!" Bruce waved his hands as he turned to his room.
He found Rachael tapping on her laptop.
"Hi, honey, you're back!" She raised her head and beamed. Bruce leaned in and gave her a light kiss on the lips.
"How stressful was it today?" She asked and started massaging his shoulder when he sat by the bed.
"Very tiring." He tersely remarked and rubbed his wife's bulging belly. She was pregnant.
"This little pumpkin has been kicking real hard," she said holding his palm over her belly. They talked about other things before Bruce finally asked, "why didn't you scold Leon for having a zero score today?"
"Come on Bruce, he's just a kid!" She said tapping his shoulder playfully.
"I know but telling him he did well?"
"Okay, first I remember you failed your maths courses three times straight back in high school, you would even copy my answers back then. So why would I scold a boy who takes after you?" She smiled and covered his lips with hers in a kiss to prevent him from speaking.
What?! Bruce felt that his wife and children were ganging up on him now. He didn't have any argument as he shut up. All he could do was wish that this unborn foetus would not come out like the twins, if it did, he was sure he would die young.