Chapter 3
"I really wish I understood what is going on around here!", Felix complained as he paced around in Victor's living room, his hands on top of each other behind his back, "what is happening?! Who was that guy?! Where were you!?"
Victor rubbed his temple tiredly as he took a deep breath, "Felix, please sit down".
Felix sat himself down across Victor, "well, what did he look like?", he insisted.
"Felix, calm down.", Victor said as calmly as possible, "he looks like my dad."
"He WHAT?", Felix exclaimed, jumping up from his chair, "your
dad?!"
"Yes... but I don't know why... I just have this terrible feeling that we have met before somewhere. But that might just be because of the mugging last night!"
Felix rolled his eyes at Victor and sat back down, sighing heavily, "well, what did he say? What did he say to you?"
Victor sighed once again and ran his fingers through his hair, "well, he's a lawyer. He claims that I have no business being in this building and claiming that I'm trespassing. That I should leave or face consequences. It's probably all bullshit but...", he paused and stared off into space for a moment, "it' feels so wrong to have a stranger come into our house and accuse me of something like that!". He finished, shaking his head.
"Well, maybe he has a good reason why he thinks you shouldn't be here".
"What kind of good reason could possibly justify telling us about a possible assault on our personal property while knowing full well that we have nothing to do with it? It doesn't make sense! We haven't done anything wrong!", Victor protested angrily.
"It doesn't mean you can't defend yourself", Felix pointed out, "and besides, your wife is a highly respected attorney, you can totally prove their point!"
Victor groaned loudly and collapsed back onto the couch. He massaged his temples again, "do you think I'm crazy?", he mumbled under his breath.
Felix shrugged, "maybe"
Victor stared off into space for another minute. It was beginning to get late so he decided to call it quits. He got up from the couch and headed towards the bedroom, "I'm gonna turn in for the night", he said as he started to climb into the mattress.
"You sure?", Felix asked.
"Yeah, I'm exhausted. Thanks for the company though".
He climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to his neck. A soft yawn escaped his lips as he settled down, closing his eyes. Soon he fell asleep.
Meanwhile downstairs, Hugo and his father were still standing next to each other. The young man was hugging his knees to his chest as he quietly listened to Victor rant and rave about his troubles with his job. Although Victor seemed to have given up trying to find any sort of solution, Hugo didn't want to admit that he was afraid that Victor might eventually end up getting fired. After all, the young man had worked incredibly hard in order to pay for his tuition and bills. Not to mention that he also worked really hard during the week to pay for both him and his mother's meals. He had been working his ass off in hopes of saving enough money to pay for the medical treatment. He just hoped that he wouldn't end up getting fired due to him taking advantage of people. However, he didn't dare to say those words out loud.
"I've been thinking", Victor mused as he stood up straight and stretched his arms above his head.
"About what?", Hugo wondered curiously.
"How much money we have to use during the holidays. Do you think we could possibly save it?", Victor questioned, "we don't have much money but if we buy some Christmas presents then maybe we could get something extra."
"That sounds pretty reasonable", Hugo commented.
Victor nodded, "yeah, I guess. I'll go talk to my dad later. Maybe he'll have an idea too."
"Sounds good", Hugo murmured as he hugged his knees tighter and laid his chin on top of his knee.
Victor hesitated for a second. Should he tell Hugo that he was worried about his mother too? He was starting to worry as well about how things were looking up in his own situation and he didn't want Hugo to take the news the wrong way. He didn't really want to burden anyone else with whatever trouble he was going through. But then again, Hugo deserved to know that he had been worrying too. So he swallowed down all of the doubts that were growing up in his heart and said what he had been thinking about earlier.
"There's something else that I need to talk to you about."
"Oh yeah?", Hugo asked with a confused frown on his face, "what is it?".
"Remember the last time that we met someone who looked so much like my father?", he asked carefully.
"Oh yeah, that guy who was harassing me on the street outside", Hugo confirmed.
Victor nodded, "yeah, that was him. He was wearing all black, had dark hair and a scar on his left cheek".
Hugo thought about the description for a few moments.