Chapter 13: Fred
"Twen put your head inside," I scolded Twen as he put his head out of the window to enjoy the breeze.
"But the wind is great Mommy," he said with a wide smile.
"Twen, listen to mommy, put your head in," I said, sternly.
This time, he listened to my warning and put his head in while still smiling.
"Which beach are we going Mommy?" he asked cheerfully
"Surprise," I said, flashing a cheeky smile.
We drove two hours to reach the beach, which was almost on the outskirts of the city. Although it was not the peak season, there was still quite a bit of crowd on the way to the beach, so I had to park my car near a small hotel. Twen jumped out of the car and looked around with glowing eyes. I took out the backpack with the things I bought and was about to reach Twen when an old man with a long goatee and thin sallow face came to me with a very greasy smile.
"Sir, would you like a room?"
"Oh no! I just..." I began to refuse but the man continued,
"We have a room with the best view of the beach and we provide facilities regarding the stay of kids. We provide separate..."
"Sir. we are not staying the night" I interjected politely
"Aaahhhh I..."
"Where is the beach, Mommy? I can't see it" Twen said, suddenly appearing beside me
The man's flattering smile turned sour when he heard Twen call me 'Mommy'. I have seen such expressions before. Omegas are not received with respect. Despite giving birth to Alphas, Omegas are seen as filth by most people. I was very used to it, but not Twen. I picked him up in my arm and walked away before he received any burnt of this.
Instead of walking to the beach, I started walking towards Fred's place. It was a long walk from the parking spot, but I was eager to see that place again. Twen noticing that we were not heading towards the beach asked me, in a confused tone,
"Mom, isn't the beach that side?"
I gave him a knowing smile and explained, "Yes but before heading to the beach, let's go to a very special place"
"Special?" Twen asked, blankly.
"Yes. It is the place where you spent your baby days" I said, nudging his cheek with my nose.
Twen looked puzzled but waited with quiet anticipation. After nearly twenty minutes of walking, we finally reached the residential area. It did not take me much effort to locate the small two-story building where I and Twen spent our initial years in this city. The exterior of the building looked quite new but on closer inspection, it was clear that the walls were repainted. The house was built in a very modern Greek style, but it was much too small. However, for a high school student, it was nothing short of luxury. Among all the houses around the area, this stuck out like a sore thumb because of its outer appearance. The first time I saw this house, I was too numb from all the suffering to appreciate its beauty. Looking at it now, I felt an unfamiliar sense of nostalgia.
"Wow, did we really live here?" Twen questioned wide-eyed.
"Yes," I said, gazing at the house with affection, "We lived here for three years with Fred"
"Fred?" Twen asked, frowning slightly
"He is my friend" I answered, shortly.
As I gazed at the house, several memories came back to me. If only 'that' incident did not take place, then I could have continued living here and may have never met Robbie again. I wanted to go in and see if everything inside was still the same but the door was locked. I don't know why I felt like I will meet Fred today but he was not back yet. I have his contact number, though I couldn't bring myself to call him. I wanted to speak to him face to face about whatever happened. Guess, I am feeling too impatient to clear the air between us but oh well...
"Where is your friend now?" Twen asked, his tone tinged with a slight sourness. I looked at Twen and was surprised to find him looking annoyed.
Am I thinking too much?
"He has gone abroad for studies" I replied, "Let's meet him when he returns, okay?"
Twen gave a non-committal nod. I wonder if he has social anxiety. I don't get to spend much time with him so I was worried that I might be missing out on problems he might be facing. I have to keep an eye on him. Anyways, I came here to enjoy myself with Twen and not to drown in past memories. Without wasting any more time, I turned around and started walking towards the beach.
****
"I can see the beach. I can see the beach" Twen exclaimed in excitement, the moment the beach came into view. He ran towards it through the crowd of people.
"Twen, slow down," I said, hurrying after him.
Running and chasing, we both reached the beach passing by several tourists. It had remained the same as I saw it last time. The long expanse of bluish-green, the white waves hitting the sharp-edged rocks, and the foamy white water covering the golden sand in the shore. As I and Twen reached near the sea, I saw people sunbathing, kids playing in the water, and some of them building sand-castles. There was also a small troupe of young men and women playing beach volleyball. Although the beach remained the same, now there were several restaurants newly opened here. I would have liked to stroll around but Twen nudged me,
"Mommy let's go to the beach. I want to bathe in the seawater," he said pulling my sleeves.
"Ok Ok. Let's do that but you must stay close to me ok?" I said, giving up on the idea.
"Okay," he said, smiling brilliantly.
We went to the nearby stall which was lending swimming clothes. There were changing rooms too, so I paid for using one and quickly changed to my shorts and put one on Twen too. Twen and I put on some sunscreen before going to the beach. We both played on the shore, wrote our names on the sand, and bathe in the seawater for a few hours. Afterward, we were both very hungry, so we went to a nearby restaurant to eat. The restaurant wasn't big but it was spacious as it was not enclosed in four walls. It only had a cool straw shade and tables and chairs neatly arranged. There were plenty of customers crowding in front of the ordering area. I luckily got two seats empty and asked Twen to seat and wait, before standing among the crowd to order. I had to wait for a quarter of an hour just to get to the counter. A bright-eyed, tall fellow in the counter asked with gusto,
"Sir, what would like to order? Would you like to cool off with a drink? We have mocktails, juices, sodas, shakes, and our special Coconut milkshake which we serve in an unripened coconut, or would you like to grab a snack? We have sandwiches, fries, burgers,..." the guy at the counter kept chanting the menu like some Buddhist mantra
I quickly stopped him by placing my order, "Two orange juice and two ham cheese sandwiches" I ordered, looking at the large menu chart behind the man
"You got it, sir," he said quickly making a receipt and giving me a token, "You have to give it in that second counter to get your food," he said
After taking the token, I left the throng and went to the next counter. A very tall, well-built guy with ginger hair, amber eyes, and tanned complexion was receiving the token. I placed the token on the counter and repeated my order. Despite serving another customer, the man gave a slight nod to confirm he had heard me. Once he finished, he turned to me and started,
"Two ham cheese sandwi-" but stopped abruptly, when our eyes met, 'To-Tony?" he asked, his amber eyes reflecting disbelief.
My surprise at hearing my name from this guy was the same as his surprise at discovering me. Did I know him? He didn't look familiar at all. I carefully inspected his face again,
"Who- Do I know you?" I blurted out
"You are TONY," he exclaimed, his face lit up with a broad smile
Wait a minute!
I know that smile? It can't be!! He doesn't look like him at all.
"Fred," I gasped in shock
"I can't believe it's you," Fred said looking slightly awkward but happy
"Look who's talking," I said, lamely, staring at Fred's familiar and yet new visage.
Fred gave bark-like laugh at my confused look before jumping out of the counter and almost crushing me with a bear hug.
Chapter 14: Reminiscence
Although I don't mind Fred hugging me, his bear-like structure was such a contrast to my slim frame that it almost crushed my ribs. I regained my life after he released me. This man always had an enormous structure but why was his face so different. I studied his face again but except for his sunny smile and amber eyes, there was literally no similarity
"Why is your face so different?" I asked bewildered
"Long story," he said, smiling sheepishly, "Where's Champ?" he asked, brightly
"Oh! He is waiting for me over there" I said, pointing at the seat he was in.
"Great" he exclaimed, "Wait there, I'll get your food," he said jumping back inside the counter.
I was still in a little daze but I did as he told, strolling back to my seat. I can't help wondering if he was really Fred, but if he wasn't, he wouldn't have known about Twen and wouldn't have called him 'Champ' as he used to. I sat down at my seat only to see a pouting Twen.
"Mommy, you didn't order food?" he asked, massaging his stomach
"Of course I did, Munchkin. My friend is going to bring it" I smiled at his swollen look.
I had just finished soothing Twen when Fred came with three orange juices and two ham cheese sandwich. He served them to us and took one of the orange juice for himself. Since the restaurant was so full, he couldn't get a chair and remained standing.
"How did you get so skinny?" he asked, eyeing me with displeasure
"Work" I answered, shrugging
Fred frowned before looking at Twen with bright glowing eyes, "Woah! Goddamn, I can't believe how much champ has grown. The last time I saw him, he was a baby"
"He was 3, a toddler not really a baby" I laughed
"Mommy, does this uncle know me?" Twen asked, eyeing Fred, with slight apprehension.
"Oops, sorry!! I forgot to introduce you to him. Twen, this is the friend I was telling you of. His name is Fred and he is the one who took care of us when we came to this city" I told him, before sipping on my orange juice.
Fred looked a little shy from the introduction I gave and patted Twen to distract himself from the embarrassment.
"How you're doing, Champ?" he asked with his usual infectious smile
For some reason, Twen looked mightily upset. He eyed him with round beady eyes before blasting off in a high-pitched irritated tone, "If you are here to take my Mommy, I am not giving you"
That was the last thing I expected coming out of his mouth. I almost spilled my juice in surprise, "Tw-Twen, what are you saying?" I stammered, turning scarlet.
However, Fred was not at all bothered instead he laughed boomingly speaking in a highly amused voice, "You got a straightforward kid there!! At least he knows what he wants" he kept chuckling before speaking to Twen, "Don't you worry, kiddo, your Mommy is already taken. I can't have him" he grinned at Twen, earnestly
"WHA- FRED, not even you!" I said, annoyed.
Fred shrugged non-chalantly. Twen turned away, munching his sandwich sullenly, as he looked confused by Fred's words.
After a while, Fred finally found himself a chair and took his seat beside me. Subconsciously, I stared at Fred's new face and wondered what happened for him to change it. Being an over-thinker, I ended up wondering if it was my fault. Fred felt my stare and looked at me before his face broke into a familiar cheeky smile,
"Do I look that handsome?" he asked, jokingly, winking at me.
I rolled my eyes before asking him with a straight face, "When did you return? You did not even contact me"
Fred's smile vanished on my question. He looked away before muttering, "I thought you do not want me to contact"
Silence greeted his reply. It was true. I was the one who tried to distance myself from him. I wish I could have told him the whole reason but…
"I am sorry about everything, Fred. I should have explained to you the issue" I said, quietly
"Sam gave me a pretty good idea of the situation and even without him saying, I am not dumb enough to not figure it out" Fred replied in a neutral tone.
I nodded as I was not sure what else to do. Fred was not even to blame but he was the one who suffered the most due to the 'incident'. I thought I was doing everything for the best of everyone but it ended up hurting Fred.
"I do not want this misunderstanding anymore" I suddenly said in a guilt-ridden tone, "Fred, it was-"
"I know," Fred said, "You don't have to recall all those terrible memories. In the three years, I was with you, I knew you enough to not misunderstand you."
"But Fred, I should have-" I started, swallowing back another wave of guilt.
"Tony, calm down" Fred sighed as he swallowed the last of his juice and spoke with a warm smile, "I know that the mess was my dad's fault and I never blamed you"
I blinked in surprise, "Then, why did you never say so?"
"I tried Tony, but you were too busy trying to distance yourself. You never gave me a chance. Ultimately, I decided to not inconvenience you and respect your wishes" Fred explained
I looked down feeling extremely horrible to have treated Fred with such disregard. If only I had explained the issue properly, we may have not been so distant after all. I almost lost a precious friend due to my bullheadedness.
"How's uncle?" I asked, hesitatingly
"PFFTT" Fred guffawed, "You are amazing. You still care how's he doing after everything?"
I had nothing to say to that, so I just kept quiet though Fred continued with a sigh, "He's amazing!! He is in Hawaii, enjoying with his new wife" he said, casually but there was a slight bitterness in his tone.
My eyes widen in complete surprise. I can't believe that uncle Fernando actually married at this age.
"You- you are ok, right?" I asked Fred, gazing at his face for a sign of sourness.
"Yeah, I am. Though, I am not staying with him any longer. You see, he wanted me to acknowledge that woman as my mother, but she was barely 2 years older than me as if I would ever do that. We had a huge row and I got so pissed that I got myself drunk and drove past the speed limit ending up in an accident. That's how my face changed" he said, grinning with a sour look.
I was stunned. This guy is so damn reckless. How can he so casually talk about being in an accident?
"You are seriously so reckless. What if anything happened to you? Didn't the cops get into the issue?" I glared at him.
"Yeah! I heard from dad that cops were all over the accident. The punk driving the truck that crashed into me had his head bashed too. Oh-chill--he didn't die" Fred quickly added seeing my eyes about to be popped off in shock, "I heard that the injury was not even that serious. Instead, my car got rolled off, throwing me down, and then blasted. My face was badly damaged. It was huge, even got the media involved. My old man almost got a heart attack on hearing about my accident. When I woke up, he was a changed man, he promised to divorce my stepmom and even confessed about-" he stopped, abruptly.
I looked at him, waiting for him to continue but he remained silent. I guess he did not want to continue with the topic so I adjusted my expression, ready to ask something random when he suddenly said in a muffled tone,
"I couldn't get mad at him. I knew how much it took for him to confess that, and I understood why you always wanted me to not isolate dad. He got this slimy little lawyer to help my case and paid a hefty fine to cover it all. Afterward, we came to a sort of understanding. I decided to not involve myself with his personal issues neither will he interfere with mine"
I took a deep breath of relief on hearing this. Whatever happened in the past, uncle Fernando always loved Fred and did whatever he did, good or bad, only for him. Being a parent myself I knew that uncle was only thinking of Fred. Still, I can't believe it took an accident for both of them to forgive each other. What a stubborn son and dad pair!
"So, now you work in beach restaurant's counter?" I asked, smilingly picking up my sandwich.
He looked at me and said softly, "I own this restaurant"
Was today a day of being stunned? My mouth that I opened to take the bite of sandwich reminded open in shock. "Woah! Where did that carefree high school kid go?" I teased
He slightly blushed, "Come on I am 23 already. Stop treating me like a kid!"
"I should have taken this meal as a treat, had I known," I said, faking my disappointment.
Fred and I laughed at our own dumb joke. The only person who did not seem happy was Twen. He glared at Fred even when we were leaving. Fred waved at us and asked us to visit again. He wanted us to stay but I can't. I have to return and arrange my room and also think about the job. It was good to see Fred and I am glad that he is happy and healthy. I, somehow, felt my stress wane away. I picked Twen on my arm and started walking back towards the changing room to get dressed.
"Mommy, you won't choose that uncle over me would you?" Twen suddenly asked, looking at my eyes intently.
So, this was the reason for him being so upset with Fred. I laughed at his baseless childish insecurities and said, kissing his forehead, "Twen, I would always choose you no matter who the other person is"
Hearing this, Twen smiled and put his hand around my neck, hugging me tightly. Nothing in this world is more important to me than him, though he doesn't know it.
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