A Tortured Soul

Chapter 22

Justin now twelve years old began making his own way in the world, it was crazy to think a small twelve year old child wanted to get a job and start making money for himself but that was Justin. He wanted to be remembered, to make his mark in this world in some way, his parents obviously didn't want him and hated him with a passion but Justin wanted to be loved and remembered when he left the world. By the aid of Johnathan's dad Justin was introduced to some high rank people with connections that would allow Justin the opportunity to start learning early about running his own business someday.

Running his own business was great but there was something else that was at the very top of his list. He wanted to learn a trade that sparked his interest so while he was working towards building his own empire (of what he wasn't sure of just yet) he could work and enjoy the ride to the top. He didn't want to be like other people and hate going to work. So Johnathan's dad introduced him to two major people. The first was Dennis Bates, he was a tradesman master and could teach Justin any of them he wanted.

It didn't take Justin long to figure out which one he wanted to practice, welding. He loved fire and he loved melting things, he also considered himself to be a bit of a pyro so that trade fit perfectly. Dennis started him off with the basics like learning to read the symbols and what they stood for, then reading blue prints, and finally learning to identify different types of metals. When he mastered those the next step was learning the different machines and the different types of welds. He learned the basic four ways of welding starting with stick, moving up to mig, tig, and arch.

The next person Justin was introduced to was a man that new how to run businesses. His name was Max Arnold. There was a bunch of controversy when the two met because Max and Johnathan's dad thought it was amazing that the two looked almost exactly alike. Eventually it blew over and Justin thought nothing about it. Besides he knew who his dad was and it wasn't the man standing in front of him. Max taught him little by little how to run a proper and highly successful business. He also took things a step further and offered to shadow Justin for as long as he needed to make sure his dreams became a reality.

Now that Justin has been living with Johnathan and his dad for four years, nearing five. He decided to throw a thank you party for the man and Johnathan for taking him in and showing him what a real family was all about. He planned everything out and on the day of the five year mark he was going to execute the plan and surprise them both. Johnathan and his dad always came home around the same time so it would be perfect. Two days away from the party they came home as usual but something seemed off about the man. His head was hung low and his skin (although Justin couldn't see in color) seemed pale. Justin thought back and realized the man has been progressively getting sicker and sicker as the weeks passed.

He was so caught up in learning about welding and running a business and putting this thank you party together that he failed to realize there was something wrong. "How could I be so stupid" Justin whispered to himself. Johnathan ran passed Justin and up to his room, he didn't seem to happy. The man threw himself down in his chair and kicked it back propping his feet up. Justin walked over and placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "Is there something wrong with you that I should know about?" Justin asked. The man looked at Justin with a slightly forced smile. "No son, I'm going to be fine."

"No your not. Have you been to the doctor?"

"Yes."

"So what are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding anything."

"Don't lie to me." Justin said getting aggravated. "It's nothing Justin I'm fine." The man said calmly trying to make his forced smile bigger to ward off Justin's suspicion, but it didn't work. "Tell me now."

"Persistent little bugger aren't you." The man laughed, now his smile was real and Justin noticed the change which confirmed he was lying, so Justin pushed harder. "You have helped me so much in the almost five years I have been here. I was going to throw you a thank you party but now it seems there may be a different way I can thank you. Tell me what's wrong with you so I can try to help you." It was a guilt trip. "Justin, son I love you as if you were my own, and I'm very thankful that I was able to help you and bring you this far in life and I pray that I can continue to guide you through, but I'm afraid there is nothing you can do to help me. Just knowing you are turning out to be an amazingly smart, strong, young man is thanks enough for me. You are a blessing that fell in front of me and I'm honored to have you in my life."

Guilt trip back fired and now Justin had tears developing in his eyes, he had no idea the man felt that strong about him. All this time he thought the man was helping him just to be kind, but he wasn't. He was doing it because he loved him like his own son. Justin wrapped his arms around the man and let a few tears fall to the floor before standing back up. "I love you, I wish you really were my dad. You are an amazing person. I just wanted to do something for you to show you how much I appreciate what you have done for me." Justin said fighting off the hard lump forming in his throat.

With that the man broke down into tears and wrapped Justin into another hug, this time slightly tighter than the one before. "My liver is failing and if I don't get a transplant in time I'm not going to make it. I didn't want to tell you but now I feel it would be unfair if I didn't."

"Have you told Johnathan?"

"I was planning to tell both of you at the same time later on, not today, not tomorrow, or maybe not even this week or next, but eventually I was going to tell you two. I haven't told him, he and his girlfriend hit a rough patch and he is a little upset right now so I will wait to tell him. Promise me you won't say anything."

"I promise."