บท 182: Recall
<Author's note: The things (racism, sexism, political views, etc.) depicted or mentioned in this story do not reflect the real world and are purely coincidences. If they do, please keep in mind that they are simply for world-building and are only work of fiction. Thank you for your understanding.>
13 years ago.
Nathan, 11 years old.
Latif City, Kulerga, Muwin.
Nathan was on his bed inside his room when he suddenly opened his eyes.
The light coming from the sun through the windows blinded him he had to shut his eyes once again.
Outside of his room, he could hear the muffled sound of the TV coming from outside his room.
He finally opened his eyes.
The first thing he checked was the weather outside his window.
It was sunny.
He glanced at the clock on his bedside.
7:52 am.
His eyes widened.
'I only have 8 minutes left or else father will get angry! Also, Karen must be waiting for me already!'
He quickly got out of his bed.
And before leaving the room, he fixed it first.
Ka-cha!
Nathan opened the door, went straight to the bathroom to do his morning routine.
And given that he only had 8 minutes before 8:00 am, he did his routine as fast as he could.
After doing his morning routine, he went straight to the kitchen to have breakfast.
On his way there, he glanced at the TV in the living room.
No one was there except for the morning news program being broadcasted from the TV.
'Looks like father didn't come home last night. If he did, he would be sitting on the sofa and drinking coffee. Also, given that I woke up almost 8:00 am and even though it's summer vacation, he would scold me.'
He finally arrived at the kitchen.
On top of the dining table, there were 3 plates covered with other plates. There was also a glass of milk that was covered with a saucer.
He went to the cupboards to grab a plate and a pair of spoon and fork.
He grabbed a seat at the dining table, placed his eating utensils and opened the 3 plates.
One plate had rice, the other had eggs and hotdogs, and the last one had vegetables.
He made sure to take from all 3 plates or else he would get scolded.
He also had to finish the glass of milk.
10 minutes later…
Nathan was washing his dishes when his mother, Nadia, came in from the back door.
She was carrying a basket of clothes.
"You're done eating?"
"Yes, mother."
"Did you eat your vegetables and drink your milk?"
"Yes, mother."
Nadia went to the living room to iron and folded the clothes there on the floor as she watched TV.
After Nathan was done washing the dishes, he rushed to the front door.
"Mother, I'm going to Karen's house."
"Make sure the two of you won't go too far."
"Yes, mother," he said as he stepped outside, looked for his slippers and wore them.
Outside the front door, he went to his bike.
He grabbed it and pushed it along with him as he opened the gate…
Ka-gang!
He pushed it.
Brrr…
…and then closed it.
Brrr…
Nathan was already outside the gate and about to hop on the bike when he saw his father, Nazul, coming.
Nazul was wearing a police uniform and riding a motorcycle.
Seeing his father coming, Nathan opened the gate once more so that his father can enter.
Brrr…
Nazul slowed down the motorcycle and stopped beside the gate.
"It's still so early. Where are you going?"
"I'm going to Karen's house, father."
"Make sure not to cause any problems."
"Yes, father."
Nazul revved his motorcycle and entered the gate.
Nathan closed the gate before hopping on his bicycle and then heading for Karen's house.
Karen's house was surrounded by 6ft-tall walls. The bottom half was cement and the other half was white grills with pointy edges so the exterior of the house was visible, allowing people to see the garden and a swing in front of the house.
Karen's father, Kristoff, was outside the house wearing a government employee's uniform and doing a quick check on his motorcycle.
Karen's parents work for the government at the local municipality.
Nathan stopped right outside Karen's gate which was made up of grills.
"Good morning, uncle Kristoff. Is Karen already up?"
Kristoff turned to him, smiled and said, "Oh Nathan, good morning too. Yeah. You guys going to the pet shop again?"
"Yes, uncle."
Kristoff turned to his house and called out, "Dear, we're almost late. We might get stuck in traffic."
"Coming!" a woman responded from inside.
It was Karen's mother, Krishna.
"Also, tell Karen Nathan is already here."
"Coming!" Krishna said once again.
Kristoff smiled and shook his head before turning back to Nathan.
"Do you want to come inside to have a drink or something while you wait for Karen?"
Nathan shuddered for a quick moment before answering, "Thanks, uncle, but I just ate breakfast. I'll just wait here."
Unfortunately, there was someone inside the house he didn't like to see.
"Well, okay," Kristoff said and then glanced at his watch before deciding to open the gate and then moving the motorcycle outside.
Finally, Krishna came out the front door along with the maid who was carrying a bag of folders filled with papers.
"Make sure to keep an eye on Kara. Don't let her play with anything dangerous. Last time we had to rush her to the hospital because she swallowed one of her toys."
Kara was Karen's younger sister and she was 3 years younger.
"Yes, ma'am," said the maid.
Nathan looked at the maid who looked like she just graduated from high school.
'Oh, they already have a new maid?' Nathan thought.
Two weeks ago, while Kristoff and Krishna were at work, they received a frantic call from their maid that Kara swallowed a piece of clay.
Fortunately, Kara didn't choke but they still sent her to the hospital just in case.
And of course, because of the incident, they fired the maid right away when they got to the hospital.
And while they were looking for a new maid to hire, Krishna asked one of her cousins who was still in college to babysit Karen and Kara.
Nathan turned to Karen's mother who was heading to her husband.
"Good morning, auntie Krishna."
"Oh, good morning too, Nathan. Give me the bag," she said.
The maid passed her the bag.
Kristoff got on the motorcycle and switched the engine on.
Krishna sat at the back.
"Goodbye, sir, ma'am. Please take care," the maid said and smiled.
"Make sure not to let the kids play with anything dangerous, especially Kara," Krishna said.
"Yes, ma'am."
Kristoff revved the motorcycle and off the went.
Nathan and the maid were left alone.
The maid looked at him and asked, "Oh hello, little boy. Who are you? Are you waiting for someone?"
"I'm Nathan and I lived over there," he said as he pointed at one of the houses down the road.
"Ah…"
"I'm waiting for Karen."
"I see. Would you like to come inside and wait for her? She's still brushing her teeth."
"No, I'll just wait --"
"Oi, look who's here. It's lover boy #2!" a female voice suddenly said.
Nathan frowned and looked at the opposite side of where the sound of the female voice came from.
A female was standing outside of the front door of Karen's house and was chewing gum.
Her name was Lisa, 18 years old and was the cousin of Krishna.
Lisa smiled and said, "Why are you not looking to the person who's talking to you? Don't tell me you don't like being called Lover Boy #2 and want to be Lover Boy #1?"
The maid threw Nathan a puzzled look and said, "Lover Boy #2?"
Hearing what the maid said, Nathan's cheeks turned red.
In this period of his life, as far as romance was concerned, his mind was still too underdeveloped to handle or understand such intricate feelings. All he knew was that he really enjoys hanging out with Karen and Vincent. And because of this, whenever Lisa teases him about being Lover Boy #2, he just gets annoyed and embarrassed.
"Auntie Lisa, stop it!" Karen said as she came out of the front door.
Lisa pinched Karen's cheeks and then said, "You're going to have one very exciting romantic situation when you grow up."
"Eww~!" Karen said as she pushed away Lisa's hand.
"Lover Boy #2, where are you going? You're not going to get the girl if you keep acting like that," Lisa said and smiled.
Nathan paddled his bike a couple of feet away from the gate of Karen's house and was already close to the edge.
Karen grabbed her bicycle and pushed it outside the gate.
Once she got outside the compound of her house, Nathan immediately paddled away.
"Nathan, wait!" Karen said as she quickly got on her bicycle and immediately started paddling.
Lisa and the maid were smiling as they watched the two kids bike away.
*********************************************
Author's thoughts:
Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading!
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