Oswald (Wozwald)

Ch. 3 Foolish

As I fully opened it the only thing in the drawer was what seemed to be my mother's pearl bracelet.

" Speak of the devil," I muttered slipping the bracelet on. It was very feminine but I didn't care, it was my mother's bracelet and my father told me she gave birth to me while wearing this bracelet for good luck. Turns out it had the opposite effect for her, I hoped it wouldn't be for me however. I hope to god I won't die early like she did. My father would want me to live as long a life as I could.

In fact, I didn't want to die at least not yet anyways. People say that I have my whole life ahead of me, they're not wrong about that but I just hate how old people keep reminding me about that. Yes, I've heard you the first hundred times you don't need to be repetitive. My ears would explode if another lecture came out of an old person, and I'm not exaggerating anything.

But why did my dad keep my mom's bracelet in a locked drawer with nothing else in it. I mean it would make sense if he didn't want to lose it or get it stolen but he should make the most out of that drawer by filling it up. Maybe I just didn't understand what went on in his old man brain. I knew that we didn't mind me wearing my mom's bracelet, he'd probably want me to wear it. I'm pretty sure my mother wouldn't mind either, at least I'll put it to use and not let it rot in the drawer. My father probably was planning to give it to me when I turn 18, it's the most probable thing.

It's a shame he never had the chance to. I actually don't know what to look for but, that didn't stop me from trying my best to investigate. It was frustrating having to search alone but I didn't want any of my friends to get caught up in this. This is my problem and I have to figure it out for myself. It's such a challenge though but I forced myself to just finish it off by myself.

I left the office and locked the door on my way out. I knew there was a place underground in the carnival I was never allowed to go but, I wanted to check it out since it would most likely help with what my father was doing exactly here. At first I didn't know where to look and I was starting to grow tired of looking around for it when I saw a couple go down a couple flights of stairs.

I made sure to follow them quietly and there I was. It was like a grotto, a bar and a nightclub all in one place. It was like a large basement or like an adult clubhouse. I probably stuck out like a sore thumb but, I really couldn't care less.

" What's the park's owner doing here?" One of the adults sitting in a chair with a glass of what appears to be gin muttered to the woman he sat across from. They knew that the own owner of this amusement park didn't know of this place. I found a seat as quickly as I could and abruptly sat down with my head down slightly glancing up at the people staring at me.

The person working at the bar was looking at me weirdly, he seemed to know who I was.

" What are you doing down here, kid? I thought you didn't know where this place was," He went out of his way to sit across from me as if to interrogate me of my knowledge of this underground bar.

" It was easy actually, to find this place. I just wasn't all that interested of finding it until now," My eyes darted towards the collection of various drinks in the bar. He asked if I wanted a drink but I said no, I wasn't too into drinking. In fact I'm still underaged so I was taken aback at his offer which could've landed him in the joint.

" You're looking for something aren't you?" He immediately figured me out. I didn't know whether to confirm it or not because he may be a suspicious character of my father's death. It's best if I was careful with my words and body language.

" I never said that, I was just curious of this place because now that I own it I should be able to recognize every corner of this place," I hope he'll just shut up already, every time I speak it's like a cactus is being forced down my throat with a hydraulic press. I furrowed my eyebrows a little bit to show hints of annoyance and hoping he'd take a hint.

He chuckled before giving me a glass of apple juice. He set it down aggressively, I was surprised the table or the glass didn't break. I think he was even gritting his teeth behind his mouth. I didn't want to drink it, God only knows what he might've put in there. I mean the guy looked like a straight up pedophile so I wanted to keep as much distance as possible. Or he didn't want a child bossing him around after all I am his boss now although I didn't know about his existence until now. I slid the glass aside as I continued examining the room.

It was dimly lit and I remembered walking in the hallways while I was walking down the stairs were plastered with various of posters several years old of shows formerly shown in the amusement park. They all had Wozwald, on the top of the posters. That was the name of the amusement park, my dad thought it was a good name. Then I remembered, my dad's office also had several posters on the wall. Some of the posters were even dusty and hung crookedly on the walls. He really was a poster enthusiast, so much for Mother Nature.

I felt my hands grow tense from nervousness. My hands were cold but somehow they were still able to manage to work up enough intensity for sweat to form beads sliding down my flesh into my sleeves where they disappear from being absorbed by the material of my jacket. I thought about maybe how all this investigation might end to my death like it was in the movies but, my father couldn't have been that secretive, could he be? What else could he be hiding? I mean he was just a silly amusement park owner..