When my mother returned, she did not speak to me. Her deep black hair covered her fatigued light yellow eyes. Her demeanor was abnormal. She went straight to her room and locked the door. Sooner or later I approached the door, roughly an hour later.
"Mom, is everything all right in there? What happened?" I asked.
"What? Oh nothing. Everything is fine, don't worry about it. I'll be out to make dinner shortly." She replied in a panic.
Something was definitely wrong, but I decided it would be best to leave it be.
"Alright, I'll be playing video games in my room if you need me. Love you," I answered, trying to be thoughtful.
"Love you too," she responded.
I walked away to go do exactly what I said I'd do. I crawled up the stairs on all fours, and entered my room. My mother never came out to make dinner that night. In fact, hours and hours went by until it was eventually midnight. The time had flown by while I was on the game, and I didn't even realize what time it was. Finally, I decided to get up and go check on her again.
I flew down the stairs and towards her bedroom to find the door was open. I darted to her room to find it completely vacant. The room was wiped clean of her belongings and she was nowhere to be found. I broke out in panic to try and find her, but all that was left was a note atop the kitchen counter island. It read…
Neo, I have decided to leave the city on my own. Your father committed suicide last night, and I am currently under no condition to take care of you after these recent events. I have left you the car and sent all our money to you. We certainly won't be needing it anymore. I'm sorry it had to be this way, but I promise that I will return to you in time. Good luck my son, love Mom.
A tear fell upon the piece of paper as I read it, smudging the ink. I was now all alone, with nobody to turn to. My father couldn't bear to go on without pursuing what made him happy. My mother couldn't take the stress and left me with everything they had. What was I supposed to do?
I didn't get any sleep that night. Instead I looked on the bright side of things. Whole house to myself? Hell yeah! I ran rampant that night, eating out the entire fridge. Trashing the entire house playing a VR game. Chasing down our house cat. It went on like this until I tired myself out, and passed out on the ripped up sofa. It wasn't until evening the next day that I finally awoke to the sound of the phone ringing.
Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.
I groggily managed to make it to the home phone in time.
"Hello?" I asked half asleep.
It was the hospital calling to arrange a funeral for my father. They gave me a number to a funeral home, so that I could arrange a time and date. When the bills were paid for, I called the funeral home immediately and requested that the funeral take place this afternoon. I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. I don't respond well to death.
They agreed and arranged the seeing for 6 o'clock. I had roughly 4 hours to get ready. I hung up the phone and made my way to the bathroom. The hot shower washed away everything, physical and mental. After getting out of the shower, I put on my best outfit and headed to the funeral in the car. It was a good thing I could somewhat drive. Especially through the mess that is the Upsilon Sector.
When I got there, there was nobody. Just me and the casket. I walked up to it and the lid was closed. I can only imagine the sight my mom had witnessed when she went to go see him at the hospital.
"Hehe, probably should have invited a few people. Looks like I forgot. I Guess it's just you and me then dad." I muttered to his coffin.
I put my hand on top of it, feeling the slick glossy wood on my fingertips.
"You died a hero, but will remain a legend here in the Upsilon Sector. Rest in peace dad. I love you so much," I ended leaving the room.
I like to keep things short, I was never much of a talker when it comes to expressing emotions.
"Wait, where shall we bury him?" the funeral director asks.
"Just bury him in the Eta Sectors graveyard. Send an invite to anybody who wishes to wish him farewell. He deserves a proper send off," I commented.
"Very well then." She replied.
"I've already sent you the money, plus extra." I mentioned.
"Oh. Well thank you, we really do appreciate it!" She exclaimed happily.
"Don't mention it, have a great rest of your day." I started as I left the room and building with one hand held high and the other buried inside my pocket. Look at me trying to be polite.
When I eventually returned home, I took the time to reset. Cleaning the house, going to buy groceries at Max Mart, organizing my belongings. Anything that could take my mind off what happened. It was Sunday, so that means I had school the next morning.
That night I finally managed to get some rest, and put the past behind me.
The next 5 years were a struggle, but I managed to make it out of school with straight A's. I didn't have to work thanks to all the money I had left. Which meant most of my time was spent working on my craft. That being baseball or video games. I matured quickly, having to handle all the responsibilities that came with living in the city. It was a tough hurdle to jump at first, but I eventually got the hang of it.
But now I'm 20 and I finally got drafted to play professionally for the Upsilon Sector.
There is still baseball being played for schools. Of course, I played for Upsilon University. The only difference being that there were no support items allowed on that level. During that time, I honed my skills to perfection. Following in my dad's footsteps as a center fielder and an excellent hitter. Today is my first day playing with the Upsilon Sectors professional team, the Upsilon Unruly.
Now you may be wondering where these names are coming from, and I'd be happy to tell you. Basically, this city is divided into 4 quadrants numbered 1 through 4. Each quadrant is then divided into 6 sectors. Each being named by a letter in the Greek alphabet, as you could already tell.
Kaiden City is often called the city of change. Getting its name from the drastic change in culture between each sector. Every sector having its own beliefs, values, and atmosphere. Even In baseball, this still holds true. Each team specializing in a certain aspect of the game and using that as a way to victory, accompanied with the use of support items. These factors are what makes the game so exhilarating to play and watch. And now, I finally get to play on one of the teams!
The Upsilon Sector is by far the most chaotic sector of the 24. In short, it is a 24/7 purge in our sector with an extra large police station. The team plays in the same absurd way. Ever since my dad's passing, the sector has fallen back into this state of carnage.
Now you see why he was the Hero.
That brings us to the present! My first day of practice with the new team! So I'll let the narrator take it from here, so wish me luck.
Neo gets dressed in the locker room of the digital field that the team practices on. He slides a clean white cap over his short black hair. Hovering just above his light yellow eyes. Clothed in an all white uniform with purple stripes seemingly gliding across his shoulders. The team name Unruly is stitched in black at the center of his chest. Underneath is a dark gray compression shirt, fitting comfortably to his figure. Finishing up by putting on matching black cleats. Neo leaves the locker room brandishing the only thing his dad left behind for him, the number 1.
He jogs over to the group of roughly 15 different players. Everyone had already lined up their gloves on the foul line, and were waiting to jog to the center. Neo sets his glove down like the rest and walks over anxiously to the group of players. Fearing that they may look down on him after what happened with his father. Except it wasn't like that at all, the majority welcomed Neo whole heartedly. While a small minority simply watched.
The team then ran as a whole towards centerfield to get warmed up for practice. Neo talking with a new friend on the way. Today is the day Neo shows that he's got what it takes to be a part of the team.