Henry Stickmin: Secret Criminal (Mr Henry Toppat Book 1)

Chapter 14- Rainy Days Will Stay (Part 1)

I was glad Charles managed to recover in time for him to come with me to visit mother and father as I was nervous. He was still suffering from headches, but he insisted that he would be okay.

"Don't worry, Hen. I bought my medicine." Charles assured me. He then saw my face with a worried expression.

"Aw, you were worried for me."

"Of course I was! Worried sick!" I shouted.

As we were packing for the day trip, I noticed my eyes kept shifting towards Charles, and he finally caught wind of it.

"I heard what happened."

I widened my eyes. I wanted to try to keep the bank incident from him as I didn't want to place him under more stress when he was in the hospital.

"Galeforce visited me when he had the time and told me what happened. I had to comfort him more than he comforted me. He's been feeling very depressed these few days." Charles' voice turned serious and deep. "I'm worried for him. He has been acting weird and his thinking in fast paced situations has slowed down rapidly. He is so sleep deprived."

Think about it, I caused all that. I caused all this trouble for him! Well, I just couldn't help it. Go ahead and be mad at me if you want to, Hubert! Go ahead and be mad for all I care!

Because I guarantee, you won't be able to find me.

Why's that? I rather not explain now.

"Lily cried. She felt like a failure. Mearui just, kept that face he has but I'm sure he is feeling down inside too." I explained, picking up my car keys.

"This whole incident has left a lot of people down." Charles replied softly. Thanks to me, a lot of Toppat operations have been successful in the past few days. These few days wrecked hell on the government.

If I didn't switch sides, this sadness wouldn't be lingering around. Well, too bad, I have my own goals to pursue and I will make sure to have it in my hand. I've walked down the beaten path for so long now, and it's too late to turn back.

Grabbing our things, I opened the door to the apartment building corridor. From there, you could see the sky. It was 7am, so we still felt a little be tired. Charles spent the night again. It will be good to have more of these moments to keep and reply in my head over and over again.

We had to travel a little bit far. Mother and Father lived in another city. When I left home to do my criminal biddings I fled my hometown to separate myself from that place. I didn't think I would be going back after working so hard to distract myself from it.

"So Hen, how long has it been since you last saw them?"

I gripped the stearing wheel tighter. I was driving because Charles wasn't in the best condition to drive.

"If I'm not wrong, about 5 to 6 years."

"No wonder you were such a master criminal!" Charles exclaimed happily. I didn't see why he had to be happy over my master criminal status, but at least he's happy, for now.

"Nah, there are some true masters who have been criminals since very young, always able to evade law enforcement."

"In my opinion, criminals are actually very smart!" I was taken aback by that answer, curious at why he would say something like that.

"W-why?"

"You know, they can go so long without getting caught, and do their work flawlessly. It's pretty impressive."

"Well, I had a good run. The things I did back then could get me the death sentence."

"I remember that Galeforce was very desperate. He had no choice, and was under a lot of pressure."

We drove for about 3 hours. My parents had offered us breakfast, but I guess Charles couldn't wait, so he looked through his stuff and found some of those biscuits he liked.

My childhood home was one of the many houses along the road. It was very different than what kind of house I live in. I live in an apartment.

I parked the car on the side of the street, starting to feel nervous. As Charles was getting out of the car, I stayed frozen in the driver's seat.

"I haven't seen them in so many years, maybe I'm not ready for this! We should just postpone." I reached for my phone.

"Henry. You not seeing them for years has opened up new opportunities for your relationship to grow. And if you're scared, you can always stay by me." I took in a few deep breaths, and finally picked up the courage to get out of the car. Charles saw the time, hinting that he needed to take his medicine soon.

The old house looked exactly the same as when I left, but it showed signs of wear and tear. This place really held different types of memories.

I rang the doorbell, and that was when my heartbeat accelerated. Then I felt Charles' hand on my back. The door swung open, and there were the two faces I haven't seen in a long time.

There was mother, with a smile I rarely see. Father was also smiling, something I have never seen him do before.

"Henry! You've came!" Mother exclaimed, and pulled me in for a hug. Instead of embracing the warmth, I struggled against it, my body shuddering. It's not that I don't favour hugs, it's just that she never gave me any, so I wasn't used to it.

"Hey Henry." Father said with a smile. The two welcomed us in. The interior has not changed one bit. I wonder if they still kept my childhood room.

I remember that if I had some extra money, I would buy some sweets or small toys to smuggle into my room after school. Those things made me happy when I was going through things.

"Come, come, I have made breakfast. You two must be starving." Mother asked us all to sit at the dining table. We were given glasses of orange juice, but Charles asked for plain water. He took out his pills, popped two into his mouth and gulped it down with the water.

Mother observed this act, and asked something that hit me like a bullet of horror but at the same time relief.

"Oh, is he ill too?"

Why relief..?