My dad is a Musician

Chapter 12

Bored and restless at home, I decided to liven things up by surprising Zack. With a mischievous plan in mind, I knocked on his door, ready to catch him off guard and inject some excitement into the dull evening. But the door didn't open. I decided to just go in and hide somewhere and go like,“Boo!”

I hid behind the table and waited for him to come. Suddenly I heard his phone ringing. Ah! He will come down soon. Once the call is done, I surprise him.

I saw him coming down the stairs. It was only a bit of his body that I could see. He had a cloth in his hand. I think since he was up there, he would not have heard the knock. He picked the call, and I could hear another person’s voice. It was an older man’s voice. I think he kept the phone on speaker because he went to clean a vase.

“Hey Kiddo, how are you?” The joviality in the man’s voice echoed through the space.

"Am good, dad. How are you?" Zack replied. Ah, Mr. Carter, his adoptive dad, I noted.

“Am wonderful. What were you doing?”

“I was dusting the house.” What a diligent man… If my dad was not at home for days, I won't even bother cleaning vases and all that.

“You don't need to dust and clean every day, kiddo. We will be moving out in a few days, and besides, you can get tired if you keep this up all day.”

What? They are leaving?

"I'd rather tidy up while we're here, you know? I enjoy it, and once we're back in the main mansion, we'll have servants for everything again. I don't want to get too used to it."

“We can't wait to spoil you. So, it's perfectly fine if you don't do all this.”

“Geez… I'll try to get spoiled then, Dad. But, just a heads up, you might regret it if you spoil me too much.”

“We've got it covered. Don't stress. Just have fun, hang out with friends, do whatever makes you happy. We'll handle the rest.”

“Yeah, yeah. Speaking of which, did you check on the orphanage?”

“The director disappeared a while back, shortly after shutting down the orphanage. It coincided with the time when Leon made it to the news. It seems like he might have been mistreating Leon, but he endured it for the two years you were making regular visits.”

“And there was a time we couldn't visit, and when we went back, he was gone..."

“Did he assume we wouldn't return? Was he enduring the abuse just because we were keeping an eye on him regularly?”

“I don't know, Dad. But it seems that way. He should've told me if he was going through something. Why didn't he?”

“The director must have…”

“Yeah, it must be. Otherwise, he had no reason to abruptly close down the orphanage and vanish. We should also share all this with Mr. Lafelle—how I fled home, reported my dad to the police, ended up in an orphanage, got adopted, but Leon suffered abuse and eventually ran away.”

“That's the right thing to do. Leon probably needs medical attention too; he seems to have no recollection of the past two years of his life.”

I haven't lost my memory... This can't be real! Did all of this genuinely happen to me? Fear grips me as I grapple with the realization that I can't remember anything from the past two years. It's surreal, and the weight of it is overwhelming.

“I'll go in and update Mr. Lafelle on everything.”

“We'll come too.”

“No, you don't need to, Dad.”

“Please let us. Whatever happened to Leon was also partly because of us. Honestly, we didn't want to take care of two kids who have suffered trauma, knowing we couldn't provide proper attention to either. Both of you needed care and love.”

This... really happened?

“"You were already a teenager back then, Zack. We knew it would be challenging to find someone willing to adopt an older child, especially with the common aversion to dealing with teenagers. We thought it was best to bring you into our family. We made sure you could visit Leon every week so that he wouldn't feel lonely, but there was just that one time we didn't go, and..."

“Dad, I don't blame you. I understand how challenging it must have been for you and Mom to take care of me in my initial years. Instead of spreading yourselves thin with too many children, you chose to focus on one, and I respect that decision. I don't hold you responsible for what happened to Leon. It's the director's fault. If it wasn't Leon, it would have been someone else. Please don't blame yourselves. It's not you or Mom. It's solely the director's responsibility.”

“Yeah… But don't worry. I won't let the director off that easily. Just let me find that man once.” Anger dripped from his words.

“"Yes, Dad. None of us will.”

The conversation stretched on into the night. I eventually managed to sneak back out and return home. What started as a simple surprise turned into a shocking revelation. I need to discuss all of this with Dad. It's more serious than I initially thought.

But where is he? He's not in his room, and he's not in the kitchen. He must be upstairs. I should go and check, tell him everything truthfully.