Such A Silly Game We Play

The Truth Came Out

"Leena, could we talk to you for a minute, please?" I heard a strange, deep and serious voice as I passed by the family room towards the kitchen to get me some of that delicious cream pie daddy brought home yesterday. It was my dad, sitting together with Uncle Joe and Jeff. I saw their car from my bedroom window enter our driveway about 2 hours ago, and they have been talking for a very long time now. Well, Uncle Joe and dad. Jeff sat a little far away from them, probably since he didn't need to listen.

Uncle Joe has been coming to our house very often now. I don't know why, but, every time I passed by dad's home office they were always talking about something and checking out lots and lots of papers. Dad's a litigator, so maybe it probably had to do something about a case? Or business matters? Oh, I don't know.

"Uhm, sure?", I said with a questioning tone. "What's going on?"

"Uhh, Jeff could you come here too?" Jeff stood up and sat beside his dad.

"So", dad started talking with a very serious voice, "are you guys doing anything this summer? Summer classes or something?" Jeff just moved his head to say no, and I just said that the two of us, together with our other friends were just planning to visit the gym every other morning. 

"Oh, that's good. So you've been hanging out lately? That's great", dad said and Uncle Joe nodded his head. Wait, don't tell me this would be the same talk that mom gave me. Hell no.

"Actually, we're just going to ask the two of you for a favor", Uncle Joe said nervously, "Why don't you sit down, darling?" I smiled and obediently followed him. "You've probably noticed that your dad and I have been frequently meeting here talking about serious matters, and to tell you honestly, our family has been facing a huge problem recently." I looked at Jeff, and I could tell that he was very nervous and he didn't know what was going on. 

"What kind of problem?", Jeff asked looking a little mad.

"Son, we've been losing a lot of money for these past few months now, because of our house loan. We just loaned money from the bank to pay after 5 years by installment to build it, and we just couldn't keep up with the monthly payments since, well, our business isn't really profitable enough. And now, they're planning to take it away from us. Our house...", Uncle Joe looked really sad. I never even saw him like this. And when I turned to Jeff, his expression was just a mix of sadness, nervousness, anger, and worry. I decided not to say anything, I mean, I don't even know what to say in situations like this. 

"What?!", Jeff said angrily, "Dad, you didn't even tell us before? Does mom even know?"

"I'm really sorry, it's really hard, and I didn't want you guys to feel... you know... pressured or something! And you kids were so happy when you saw our new house, we didn't want to disappoint you again. And yes, your mom knows, I told her before we left to go here. Your sister still doesn't know though, and especially Marion. And, well, since your sister is in college now, we really went short." Jeff was just speechless.

"But don't worry, your dad and I have been working hard for months now to solve this problem, and there may still be a chance to save your house. It's not over yet, don't worry. I know you guys had a rough start in life, and then you finally had the chance to build a house of your own, that's why I will not let this happen, don't worry." Dad said that a lot, but still, Jeff's face didn't change. I just stayed quiet. "Which is why we are asking you to help us."