The Painting

chapter 9

So, I’ve decided to make peace with North. Nothing’s gonna change if we keep going at each other’s throats. Also, I hate weekends. My part-time job, which was supposed to make me rich, is probably going to be the reason I write goodbye letters to my loved ones before leaving this world. After a whole week of college, I had to survive—literally survive—the weekend. Yesterday, North told me in a spooky voice, “I’ll be talking to you about the dark world of multi-millionaire companies,” and I got no sleep.

“Morning, Night. You look awful,” P'Jack greeted as I walked in.

“Thanks, P’Jack. I appreciate it,” I replied sarcastically. What a great start to the day.

I headed straight to the changing room, ready to switch into my uniform. As I was changing, I saw North walking in from the other side, unaware I was already there. His eyes landed on me, and he reacted like he’d just seen a ghost.

“The hell are you covering your eyes for? I haven’t even started undressing,” I said, holding my jacket and I was still wearing my black tank top.

“Yo, don’t say it like that,” North said, peeking through his fingers.

“I didn’t think a shameless guy like you would freak out at seeing a friend change in the dressing room.”

“Friend, huh?” he moved closer, smirking and tilting his head. “So, we’re friends now? You don’t hate me anymore?”

“When did I hate you?” I said, rolling my eyes.

He laughed sarcastically. “You want me to start naming—”

“Here you are,” a voice interrupted. North turned around, and I peeked over his shoulder. It was the same guy we’d seen the other day, this time with a different bodyguard. North gave me a quick signal to stay behind him.

“That must be Night,” the man said. “I heard he’s the new member of the family.”

“Your jokes aren’t funny. What do you want?” North replied

“I’ve got a task for you well more like your dad wants you to finish a tiny task and take Night with you.” He said handing a piece of paper to North and simply walked off, hands in pocket.

I personally, don’t like him.

“Night, guess you have gotten into some real mess, you gotta wait till I clear things up”

“Yeah, sure thing,” I said. “So, uh………can you give me a tiny bit of insight into how much of a mess I’m in? I mean, the company gives off a pretty nice vibe. The staff and my boss are chill. I don’t get it.”

North gestured to a seat beside him. “Sit here. I’ll tell you.”

“Remember I told you my foster dad took me and my little sister, Moon, in when we were really young?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, at the time, he had just inherited all the properties and businesses from his own dad. Thing is, his dad’s business was almost bankrupt, and he was desperate to make money fast. He started doing some fucking shady, messed-up stuff, I was 10, and Moon was only 8 when he legally adopted us with his wife. She lives abroad now, handling one of the business oversea, only comes back once a year. So he started by asking me to make friends with a kid at school. Harmless, right? Except he told me to get invited over to that kid’s house and steal some documents from his dad’s office. I was so damn naïve; I didn’t see anything wrong with it. I ignored all the red flags.

I remember once, he asked me to go along with one of his bloodhounds. I was 12 at the time. We went to this run-down building, and I saw a man in his 40s getting beaten senseless until he passed out because he couldn’t pay back the money he owed. My foster dad makes these shady loan deals with desperate people, traps them with misleading terms, written so twisted that unless you're well-educated, you'd never see through it. The guy who took me there looked me dead in the eye and said, ‘If you ever betray the boss, that old man’s fate will be yours. Only difference is, we won’t stop until your body goes cold.’ I’ve seen him try to get his hands on illegal drugs to sell in those casinos too.

I’m a coward. I’ve seen all this, and I can’t stop it any of it. I’m so desperate to get out, to protect Moon from all of it. If anything happens to her, I swear I’ll kill everyone involved. And then I’ll end myself.” He finished, looking at the ground.

I reached over, gently grabbing the nape of his neck, massaging it slowly. “It’s not your fault, none of this is. You were just a kid, North. You weren’t meant to know what a bloodhound was, or how to use a knife, or what it means to protect someone with your life. You should’ve been playing tag with Moon, skinning your knees from running too fast, getting stomach-aches from drinking too much soda. You were supposed to know what dreams felt like, what holidays were about, and what your favorite cartoon channel was. You were just a kid. It’s not your fucking fault.”

For a moment, he let himself lean into the touch, we both kept silence for as long as North needed it to be and I stayed there, offering what little comfort I could.

“Night, what you doin’ boy, don’t plan on working” p’Jack called out for me.

“I have some business with him so you may continue without him” North answered getting up, “you don’t have to change, grab your bag and come with me” He said both hands in his pocked, and waked outside