Return the hope

Chapter 14. Troy.

Troy began each day by teaching Hope the basics of survival in this troubled world. His whole life revolved around this boy. His goal was to help him by teaching him everything he knew so that he could swim in this rocky ocean full of sharks and other evil things.

Even though he wasn't his biological son, Troy had called him that on the first day they met, when he'd saw what he was.

It had been four years ago when the new tenants had moved into the small house next door-a woman in her fifties, a tall boy with a sad expression, and an old dog. They had surprisingly very little belongings: three small boxes, a couple of bags, and a potted flower.

"Why do you sit hunched over as if the weight of the whole world rests on you?" - Troy walked over to the kid and sat down next to him, as there was no fence between their houses.

"That may be so, Khun," the boy took a quick glance at the man next to him and lowered his eyes again.

Troy didn't notice the distrust in his face at the stranger sitting down and asking questions, and it gave him a pleasant response in his heart:

"Wow! You think highly of yourself, I see. 'Whole world' must not be easy! If so... Have you heard the song Weight of the World by Jon Bellion?"

"No," the boy was interested and looked at the man carefully. His neighbor had kind eyes, gray in his hair and well-groomed beard, and a pumped up strong body.

"Now, listen to this, 'But since you and your hands saved me... I no longer hold the weight of the world on me. I don't have the weight of the world on me anymore," and then this - "I'm brighter than the LEDs on your TV, I'm as sharp as a dagger, ... in the name of honor, every day I get stronger, no one can shock the world, but I'm charged like Blanca," - the man sang a little falsely, and then read out bits of recitative, while swaying to the beat and moving his arms like a real rapper.

The guy laughed, but in a good way, he hadn't seen such positive adults in his path in a long time:

"Yeah, 'your charge' is awesome! That was a good one. I'll listen to it."

"Just not bad?! I'm a rap god among the local elders! Hahaha. Cheeky boy," the gray-haired handsome man laughed, then added: "My name is Troy! What's yours?"

"I'm Hope, nice to meet you, Khun Troy!" - The kid smiled so genuinely that Troy immediately decided for himself that he would try to help this child whenever possible.

Present time. Monday morning

"How hard it is to bear children's illnesses! Oh. He's never been sick like that before... That stern look in Coach's eyes! I'll meet him and rub my fingers in those evil eyes," Troy thought as he made cereal for Hope. He'd already taken the boy the books he'd asked for and planned to move the TV into his room so the boy wouldn't ruin his eyes at the small tablet.

When the food was ready, he went up to the second floor and as usual, without knocking, he entered the room and saw Hope lying staring into the screen of his phone:

"I made porridge for you. I know you don't like it very much, so I added fried tiny shrimp to it. Chew it well!"

"Thanks, Grandpa!" - he heard back.

"Something interesting? You won't get off the phone," Troy put pillows under the guy's back, who had already sat up, but kept typing something into his cell phone.

"I told my friends in the general chat room that I'm sick. They're worried. Also got into a chat with Green," Hope spoke and typed at the same time.

"Listen, if I go out for a couple hours, can you handle it alone?"