The Single Mother

Chaper 2- Phoenix King: The Favourite

Growing up, I was always my parents favourite child, probably because I was the youngest and more mature son. In saying that though, Nathan did become Dad's favourite when he began training, at the age of 15, to takeover Dad's position for the CEO of King Enterprises.

I was jealous of my older brother, but not for the reasons that everyone thought. I was jealous because I began craving my Father's attention. One thing that I would always hold over Nathan's head was the fact that I wasn't a party person. Or a drinking person. I was driven, I was eager to have my go at the business and I was the type of person who paid attention to the cases and the courtroom.

While I was the prodigy. Nathan was the more liked brother. He had more friends than me due to him being more charming and charismatic. And was more athletic than me. Nate had all these scholarships for college lined up, in case becoming a lawyer didn't work out- which he always said would be the case anyway.

The night that Nathan died in the car accident was the night that my once perfect family, silently fell apart.

I received a phone call at 1:39 in the morning on a Sunday. And to no surprise, it was Nathan- he was too drunk to drive home and needed me to pick him up from his best friend's party. Looking back, I now hate myself for agreeing to pick up my drunk 19-year-old brother and should have told him to crash at his friend's house, he was already there after all. I was 17-years-old and still struggling to find my confidence behind the wheel of a car, so when I had my intoxicated brother leaning in and chatting in my ear, distracting me from the road, I was too slow to notice that a car was driving on the wrong side of the road.

I did manage to swerve so that my own car and the car opposite didn't have a head-on collision, but the crash that did ensue had enough power to cause both cars to spin out on the side of the road and the opposite car's engine was steaming with an unnatural black smoke.

My head was pounding, I knew that I had hit it against the window, but not with enough power to knock me out. I turned to check on Nathan, but I didn't see Nathan's body resting against the seat, where it was moments ago. What I saw instead was scarlet blood smeared and splattered on the window. My anxiety skyrocketed, and all I could think about was my brother lying dead, on the road with his body twisted and distorted unnaturally.

A glimmer of hope pumped in my veins when I spied, out of the corner of my eye, a hand that was slightly twitching. The twisted and distorted body that I imagined lying on the side of the road was pushed to the back of my mind... until I saw Nathan slumped against the dashboard, and all the blood sprayed against the windshield.

There was a large gouge on Nathan's head, presumably were his head collided with the window- based on the blood smears and the windshield mess was created when we came to a screeching holt. The scariest part of the whole mess was when I noticed the twitching of my brother's hand begin to fade. Without even having to check his pulse, I knew he was dying from his injuries- and I could do nothing about it.

                                          ~~~
"The jury have come to a decision, that Mr. Smith's client, is guilty of selling drugs to minors in the Brooklyn vicinity." The judge proclaimed and the urge to smile exploded in my chest- it wasn't often that I won against my rival in the court.

Camera flashes documented my client and I leaving the courtroom and exiting the building. The case had been a long one, probably my longest, and one that hit closet to home.

"Mr. King! Mr. King!" One journalist in particular called out after me on the courthouse's stairs. "Can I please ask a few questions on today's winning case?" She asked, a pen and notepad already in her hand.

I didn't even have to answer before she was shooting questions at me and scribbling down the answers.

"How does it feel to know that you potentially saved a number of people from having the same fate as your brother?" It took a moment for this question to register, like most questions revolving around my deceased brother do.

"Yeah. Yeah- it's a victory I obviously take very seriously. No one deserves to be killed on the road due to the fact that some asshole has taken drugs and thinks that they're sober enough to drive." It's the same answer I give every time I win a drunk driving or drug driving case. No matter the country or state I'm in and who I'm defending, the mention of my brother dying to a case similar to this always comes up with the press.

"Thank you Mr. King. And congratulations again- you've just saved a bunch of people from having a horrible death due to the expense of others." She smiles at me while she shoved her notepad and pen into her handbag and walked away, her heels clicking against the stone stairs.

The case that I had just won... it had left me up most nights rethinking the tragic night. A young girl and her father were fatally injured in a car crash due to a drugged up driver on the highway. The driver had gotten their drugs from a local drug dealer- who they refused to name and are facing extra consequences- at a bar, and thought they were sober enough to drive home on the busy roads.

My Dad's car was already waiting for me by the entrance to the courthouse. I knew Mum would be proud of my win today... but Dad was a harder book to read. And since that night- he did anything in his power to put me down.

~~~

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Like the last chapter, I do not encourage drink driving and/or drug usage.

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