'What happen, Brendan?' she asked in her usual Russian accent, her hands on his shoulders.
'Nothing,' he answered bluntly.
'That definitely did not look like nothing. Why Thomas want to fight you? Was it something you did?'
'No, it's actually something I didn't do.'
'And what did you not do?'
'I didn't wait to fight him in our last encounter.'
'Wait to fight him? And why would he want you to do that?'
This conversation was becoming uncomfortable for him…and weird. 'It's actually a long story, Miss, I can handle it.'
'Well…if you say so. But remember, if you need anything I always here for you.'
'Thank you, Miss Putin.'
Brendan and Simon met by the gate and they both left for home.
'So…what was Miss Putin saying?' Simon asked him. He had seen them talking while he stood by the gate.
'Nothing important.' Brendan was not in a talking mood, the cause being his confrontation with Thomas in the corridor.
Simon shrugged.
'Where's your mom anyway?' Brendan changed the subject.
Simon's face turned morose. 'She's in rehab.'
'You think she'll do fine?'
'Yep. If she keeps taking dru…gs, no offence…she could end up like your father…Dead!'
'I think that's the best decision you could make. Did your dad make this decision?'
'We both did…for the best.'
When they approached where they parted ways, they bid each other goodbye and both left for their separate homes.
When Brendan got home, he went straight to the safe. This was where the money was kept. The safe was built into the walls beside the kitchen. It was the size of the top of an ordinary lunchbox in diameter. Howard had trusted him enough to entrust him with the codes to the safe even before his death, but then of course, Brendan was no thief.
'Oh, man,' he sighed angrily as he swung it open. Only a hundred Gems and a few qrots laying at the edges of the safe were left. Gems and qrots were the currency for GEM. The gems were gold colored paper money with the picture of the Bradwield Forest at the back and the picture of David Bradwield, the previous and first mayor of Bradwield on the front. Each bill was designed like this. These were the highest currency of the city. There were ones, fives, tens, twenties, fifties, hundreds and two hundred gem bills.
The qrots, on the other hand, were silver coins with a small, flat emerald stone in the middle. Ten qrots were equivalent to one gem.
As he pulled out the last twenty gem note, an envelope fell onto the floor.
The envelope was blue in color and he could not recall it ever being in there. Still holding the money in his right hand, he bent down and picked it up and tore it open. There was a small note inside. It read:
Money is probably running out, right? I was afraid it would. Go into the attic and remove the red carpet from the floor. Enter the door beneath the carpet and you will find what you need. Don't bother wondering how or why it's there
Howard.
'You never run out of surprises, do you, old man?' He murmured to himself as he returned the money and the note back into the safe and locked it. He headed upstairs for the storeroom then straight into the attic. Maybe I won't need a part-time job after all, he thought to himself.
He opened the attic's doors with a candle in his right hand. It was so dark and dusty because no one had cleaned it in a long time. He saw the red carpet and went straight for it. He knelt beside the carpet and pulled it away, encouraging a small cloud of dust which caused him to cough briefly. He soon recovered from the effects of the dust and looked where he had pulled the carpet from. There was a door in the floor!