My dad is a Musician

Chapter 10

Dad leaves for work again today. The plan was simple. Dad would leave for work and then Mr. Felix comes in an hour after he leaves. The time in between, is when my brother sneaks in by the window. The window in the living room has a pipe attached to it from where he can easily sneak in.  Everything will go well. I am sure that we won't get caught this way.

"Bye Leo," Dad said. He was leaving now. It's almost the time for Zack to come in too. I can't believe this is happening. Dad should leave quick so that both Zack and dad can avoid seeing each other.

"Bye dad. Goodluck with your practice." I said as I sent him off. He smiled at me and closed the door. Wooh! Finally now I can wait for him.

Soon, 10 minutes had already gone by. I wonder why he is late? Suddenly the bell rang. Huh? Who would have come at this time? I checked the cam and it was Mr. Felix. But he was supposed to come in an hour. What is he doing here?

I opened the door for him. My brother has not even come in at the moment. What if they both come in at the same time? What if they meet? Oh my God! I am not opening the door. But then he will call dad if I don't open the door.

Ughh! Geez! Fine, I will open the door. Whatever happens, happens. Please save me this once, oh Lord!

"Hey, Mr. Felix." I said as I opened the door. "How are you?"

"I am doing good Leon." He said, coming in, "Did you do your homework?"

"D-Did you come early today?"

"Yes. We discussed this last week, remember?"

"Oh!" I completely forgot! I would have never asked my brother to come in at this time otherwise! Oh no! What have I done? If he discovers my brother sneaking in here, he will surely tell dad. What will I even tell him then?!

"What happened? Did you forget to do your homework?" He said, chuckling.

"Yeah…" That is also one thing but, my brother… Oh no!

"Ah…" He started, and then got down on my level, "So… Do you always do your homework at the last moment?"

"N- No. I was a bit sick, so…"

"Are you lying to me?"

"N- Nope." Stay confident. Stay confident…

"Should I ask your dad then?"

"N-No!" It would be very bad if my brother enters while he is on a call with dad. "I lied. I always do homework before the classes. I understand the concepts better that way…"

"Leon," He started, his tone was empathetic, "While I do appreciate you telling me the truth, and also that you have a solid reason for your actions, I would suggest you to never do things at the last moment, okay?"

"Yes."

"And did you forget about our classes today?"

"Yes."

"It's okay. It happens. I won't tell your dad about you not doing your homework today, but don't repeat it again, okay?" He ruffled my hair and he got up.

"Yes. I won't." But that doesn't worry about me at all. What is worrying me is my brother.

At that moment, Zack came in through the window. Me and Mr. Felix were both shocked. "Geez, I'm like never doing this again–" Zack began to say, but then he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted Mr. Felix.

Oh no! My worst fear just came true. What should we do now?

"Uhh, bye," Zack quickly muttered and tried to sneak back out of the window, but it was too late. Mr. Felix was on to us.

"Get down right now!" Mr. Felix ordered, and Zack obediently clambered back into the room. It got all awkward and scary. I've never seen Mr. Felix this mad before. I knew we were in for it, and Dad's lecture would probably come right after.

Mr Felix scanned Zack from top to bottom. Zack glanced at me. I am scared as hell. "You are Matilda Carter and Vincent Carter's son, aren't you? Zack Carter, right? Nice to meet you."

"You… Know me?" Zack asked, seemingly impressed as well as scared.

"I know your mother. We both attended the same high school. Also, me and your father were in college together. You can ask your parents or see their wedding photos to check whether I am telling you the truth or not." Mr. Felix said. He is so straightforward.

"So did you attend the wedding from the groom's side or the bride's side?" Zack asked. ARE YOU BEING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!

"Excuse me?" Mr. Felix started, "Should you not be worried about answering me why are you here? And about your question, a simple call to your parents would clear that up." He was in no mood for jokes.

Fear crossed Zack. He looked at me asking for help. If he says the truth, I will have to talk to dad about everything that happened in the past. I am not ready to have that conversation yet. What should we do?

"Leon?" Mr Felix asked me finally. I gathered my courage to look at him. He desperately was looking for an answer. He looked angry as well as disappointed. "Your dad is also just a phone call away. Will you tell me the truth?" He asked.

"Yes. He was grounded and we recently became friends but then I could not meet him and so we decided on this. I am sorry. We won't do it again."

"Why won't you repeat it?"

"Because it's not good to sneak in and off time and again."

"No, he could have fallen right now and it is actually just very unsafe."

"Yes."

"Leon and Zack, never do it again."

"Yes sir." I said, while also hearing my brother say something along the same lines.

"Good." He said finally.

However, Mr. Felix, wasn't pleased with our little stunt. He made Zack and me write a reflection letter about what we did. We sat there, penning down our apologies and promises not to do anything like that again. It felt like ages, and when we finally finished, Zack didn't waste any time. As soon as we handed in our letters, and got a green flag from Mr. Felix, he bolted out of there like he was being chased by a ghost. He didn't even bother coming to my place afterward.

I was left alone to face the consequences, and that felt pretty lousy. Mr. Felix didn't teach anything that day. He was clearly upset, even though I apologised to him again before going. I felt guilty and hoped he would not tell dad about this all. It had been a week and neither me nor Mr. Felix, nor dad talked about the incident again. I think I am safe now. Mr Felix didn't tell dad.

However, I didn't even get to talk to Zack. I wondered if Zack was avoiding me or if he just didn't want to deal with whatever would come next.