Keystone is back>>>>>>>
Keystone stepped down from the car and waved at his buddy,Pete.
" Will see you later this evening. Grab six bottles of drinks and get ready. This night we going to celebrate."
Pete laughed loudly flashing his teeth at Keystone." Now that is the sound of a king! Of a king who came back to dominate his land!"
Keystone laughed loudly and slapped Pete's shoulder.
"See you at the bar tonight."
Pete hailed Keystone one last time before driving off. Keystone sang drunkenly as he staggered into the house with a bottle of beer in his hands.
Gwen poured herself a cup of coffee to at least ease off the stress. She should be picking up her father but she needs to first clear her head before she deals with her father's issues. She turned as she heard the front door open. Maybe it was Gwen or... or Gilbert. She made her way to the living room to see her father stagger in.
"Home at last!!!" Keystone shouted excitedly before drinking from his bottle of beer.
Gwen looked at him irritatedly. Is this the sober man whose son is locked up somewhere because of a game he lost to Mr Carnegie? Is this the feeling of remorse she was expecting?
"And the first thing you could think of doing is grabbing a bottle of beer to celebrate with no sign of remorse for your actions? "
" You do not have an idea what it feels like to be locked up in a cell with those bunch of criminals. I could not wait to get out. "
" Of course you couldn't. You knew what you were doing when you placed Roy as a collateral. While you come out of cell, he goes in. Your freedom for his bondage"
" Look, Gwen. I just got back and I need to have like seven hours of sleep with no disturbance."
" You want to sleep? When Roy is the hands of Mr Carnegie without you having an idea whether he is still alive or not? Whether he has eaten or not! "
" I did all of this for both you and Roy. I took that risk for us,don't you see?"
" No I don't!" Gwen yelled back angrily," All I see here is greed and selfishness! So don't act like you ever thought of Roy and I in the first place because you never did! Even when you are able to win one of your numerous bets,the money never comes to this house. All you do is spend and get more bottles of beer for you and your friends just to get dead drunk. So don't act like Roy and I have ever been your first priority."
" That's just it! All you know how to do is nag like your mother! Nothing else!!! Every little opportunity you get,you use it to give me headaches."
Gwen chuckled in disbelief. She could not believe her ears right now. This was the same man she had been worried about and how they had beat him up in the prison. Tears rolled down Gwen's eyes as she stared at him in shock.
"I nag like my mother? Well at least my mother would not go around betting and having people clear off her debt. My mother would not be holding a bottle of beer singing loudly while her son is somewhere in a stranger's home being treated like a slave!! My mother stands up for herself and won't let people clean up her mess!!! She would not cut her son's dream and chances of furthering his education because of some stupid mistake she made in a bar!!! She would never play with a dangerous person like Mr Carnegie. So before you drag my mother's name into all of this,you should know you both had nothing in common."
And with that,Gwen stormed out of the house to the backyard. She just kept on walking till she got the little garden her mother had always nurtured. Various Vegetables and plants sprouted out from the ground. Whenever her mother wasn't baking, She was here tending to her little plants.
Her mind quickly flashed to the days she and Joanne has spent side by side with her mom helping her plant some seeds and water some of the vegetables. She also remembered the day she brought Gabriel and Roy out here to help her water the garden and the two boys had played with each other splashing water on themselves,making a mess of themselves.
Gwen fell to her knees crying her eyes out.
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Gwen looked up from where she sat sipping from her cup of coffee lost in thoughts as the front door pushed. Joanne stepped in and hanged her jacket on one of the worn out sofas.
" Gwen,how are you holding up?" Joanne asked taking her seat beside Gwen.
"I honestly feel empty, Joanne.My mind has been racing on how to raise up the ten million dollars."
Joanne sighed deeply as she reached for Gwen's hand."You need some rest,Gwen. Your eyes are swollen. Have you even slept at all since all this started?" Joanne asked with concern in her eyes.
" How can I sleep, Joanne? All I have been doing since this whole thing started was drink coffee every night and day. I have lost my appetite. I have lost sleep as well. How do I sleep not knowing what Mr Carnegie intends on doing with my brother?We have both heard stories of how he treats his workers like they are some sort of slaves.I have been racking my brain on how to help my brother but nothing just seems to click."
" I understand Gwen. But Roy needs you the most now. You won't want to break down or get sick at this moment."
" You know what hurts the most is that dad is not even bothered that Roy has not been home for about two days now.He is not even going around in search of who can help him. He has been drinking all in the name of celebrating the fact that he just got out of prison."
" Gwen, let's leave him out of the matter now. No matter what you do or say,he would never feel remorseful about his actions. So we should not let that get to us now. We need to sort ourselves out first and find a way to bring Roy home."
" Okay. I...I heard you right. So is there any new developments?"
" Uhmm...Gwen,I don't think you would want to hear this now."
" Just go on with it. No matter how bad it is. It is not like I haven't heard enough bad news for the past few days.This wouldn't change a thing".
Joanne sighed and shook her head sadly,"The folks refused to go with us to protest."
Gwen shut her eyes and took a deep breath trying to hold back her tears.
"I really tried to convince them, Gwen. But everyone is so scared of Mr Carnegie and in as much as they send their condolences,they don't want to get involved in all of this drama."
" So what do we do,Joanne?"
" We try option two which is me going to speak with Coach Green. Maybe he will offer to help more once he gets to know it is one of his favorite player on the team."
" I am sorry I'm putting in this position,Joanne."
" Come on....we are best friends and best friends stand by each other through thick and thin. You have been there for me during my dark days. Even when Jeffrey left,you stood by me and even took turns in taking care of Gabriel. You saw him as your little brother and your son. Gabriel and I, we are here for you."
" Thank you Joanne." Gwen hugged her tearfully. There is nothing more than having that friend who can stand by you when you are in your lowest.
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