Julius had been suspended from high school the day before (for a couple of reasons but the main one was bullying) for a whole month until further notice but it had only a day into his suspension. He could not survive the previous first day of his punishment he wondered how he would survive the rest. He was nearly jailed but Ricardo, the victim forgave him and disagreed to press charges against him. He was lying down in his extravagant room on the circular velvety bed, scrolling through his iPhone 12 pro- max when his short-tempered father entered his room with his muddy, Oxford's cap toed shoes contaminating his coppery carpet.
His father was an intense man who looked like Justus, except he had more wrinkles and instead of dreamy wavy hair he had a buzz cut instead. He looked furiously at his son and he was angry at his only child for acting on his own accord. He had been the owner and CEO at Zrethe pharmaceuticals for more than a decade but had been selling drugs illegally under the name of his business. He had expectations for his son to succeed on his own and to make sure he never ends up like him. Although he had enough modern houses with beautiful gardens, shares in one of the biggest companies in the world and a patient and perfect wife who devoted her life to him despite knowing what kind of man he was, he wanted his son to be different. He felt disappointed in him but they never actually talked about anything important. His father would just give orders while the son abides them without questioning him. And that is what he wanted, tiger parenting. To him, tough love was necessary to his son up to a point when he never even praised him for his good work.
He looked at his son with a face void of any emotions then lamented "How are you holding up? I must say you know how to disappoint! But make sure you don't do that to your mother, she believes in you. And she's also calling you to have breakfast."
"Am not hungry," Justus answered his father still looking at his phone.
Justus's father, Tyler, bolted across the room to where his son was and held his white T-shirt at its collar towards himself while breathing down at Justus's face.
"You better behave and walk to the table! Do you still dare to talk back to me after what you did? Just because I don't talk about it, does not make it right. Now you better walk and finish whatever food there is on that plate and compliment your mother after it. Do I make myself clear?" he thundered as his blue eyes were wide opened staring directly into his son's eyes.
"Yes, sir."
He then let the white T-shirt off his hands as Justus quickly tidied himself and hurried off to the dining room where his mother had prepared breakfast. As he left the room, his father was watching him like a hawk with his masculine hands in his black suit making sure his son actually heeds his words.
He sat down at the dinner table as they had breakfast. Justus's mother, Samantha, was lovingly watching his son eat the food she had prepared with love. They had well-behaved maids in perfect aligned uniforms who always cooked different cuisines for them but Samantha felt contented with herself when she saw her son eating her food heartily. Her caramel coloured long hair had been flattened and was parted into two ways, rested on her shoulders as her rounded dimpled face was widened by her smiling as she gazed at her son. She was mostly perceived as an endearing person which was true until she gets furious at someone then she totally changes to a different person. She was ten years younger than her husband but no one mentioned their age differences to her face as that is one of the things which got her fuming.
They finished their breakfast and Justus faster than the others. He thanked his mom as he proceeded to his room without saying another word. Samantha then looked at her husband with a solemn expression. Her fit husband who was still cleansing his plate stole glances at her and continued eating. He then broke the uncomfortable silence as he put his fork down, "What happened? Is there something on my face?"
"Are you serious, mi amor? How could you do this to our son? To me? I told you to be gentle with him. Do you really have to try that tiger parenting thing with our only son? You could try it with others. Why do you like ruining the mood? In my village back in Mexico everyone would badmouth you if they heard you were doing this to your son, " she articulated her emotions to her husband who simply looked at her.
"Am going to try to be nicer, I promise. Am going to work now, bye honey," Tyler said while leaving his house for work. He knew arguing with his wife was pointless and although many people feared him, his loving wife always seemed fearless and always voiced her opinions where she needed to. She sighed heavily as she watched her husband leave for work.
Meanwhile, Justus was back in his room making plans with his friends on where they were going to meet that weekend. They texted for a couple of minutes before deciding that they would meet at a cafe Mocha near the school the next day at lunch to decide about their rendezvous that weekend. Suddenly his lustrous door opened and his mother walked in. She sat on his son's smooth-edged fluffy bed as she looked at him with sorrowful eyes.
"What wrong, mom? Are you okay?" he asked disturbed.
"Yeah, am fine. Are you okay? You should not feel too bad about what your dad said. Okay? You know how he is right? But remember that your father loves you, he just has a different way of showing it," she said continuously.
Justus nodded at his mother's words while feeling very emotional but he never had shown his true emotions before. Not to his mother, his father or anyone else. He always wanted to be recognised by his father in whatever way possible. But was dismissed at the end of the day and ended up only saying 'Yes, sir.
They continued talking and joking around while his mother started mimicking her husband. After exhausting all possible scenarios in which Tyler was angry, Samantha asked his son to join him to go shopping. Julius took a few minutes to get ready and joined his mother on one of their overpriced trips to the mall. They spent a few hours in the mall and went for lunch together. It was these few moments that both of them cherished dearly in their hearts. Samantha knew what his son was accused of but she also knew that he would never bully someone for no particular reason. She trusted her son and was ready to end her life for him even if he betrayed her trust.
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Meanwhile, Kaylee spent her day with extreme buoyance and enthusiasm. She woke up at dawn as she hummed a certain tune of her favourite song. She washed up and proceeded to make breakfast. She had never done breakfast unless it was her grandmother's birthday but that special occasion deserved better than a birthday celebration.
As she was making chocolate pancakes on the small electric stove she had an episode. It was about her grandmother giving her a present. It was wrapped in red wrapping paper with glitters on it. It seemed bulky and was in an exquisite turquoise paper bag with a blue twisted handle rope on it. The words,' french' were written on it in italics and underlined. Her dream finished as her grandmother woke up and came into the square tiled kitchen.
"Good morning grandma," Kaylee vocalised.
"Good morning, sweetheart. You seem to be in a good mood today. Oh, and you're making breakfast, is it my birthday already?" she replied as she sat on a chair near the kitchen counter.
"No, I just felt like making breakfast today," she continued while flipping her unevenly shaped pancakes.
Her grandmother looked at her suspiciously and then smiled. "Wow, these days you are having severe mood swings. I was thinking of taking you to a doctor, a....a physiatrist. Or was it a psychotherapist? I don't remember these confusing names. But I was planning to take you to one of those. Are you really okay these days?"
"Yeah, am fine. don't worry about me. Here's your breakfast ma'am. I hope you like it." she said while keeping a plate full of mouth-watering pancakes drenched in syrup on the kitchen counter. "Please excuse me, am going to get ready for school now." she lamented humbly while bowing down like a waitress with a huge smile on her face.
She walked playfully towards the slippery and long stairs while her glossy black hair kept flying with the immense wind from the standing fan in the living room. She wiggled her body and raised her fingers to her chest while moving them left and right as if she were in an orchestra. Her grandmother was watching her while smirking and wondering on a way to annoy her buoyed granddaughter.
She abruptly said with a grin on her face, "What's the point of dressing up to school, when you wear the same boring things? Just go to school in your pyjamas, am sure no one would notice."
Kaylee who had reached the top of the stairs turned back and earnestly looked at her grandmother. Her grandmother then giggled as Kaylee stomped her way to her room.