Chapter 3: Chapter 3 - Remembering the Past 2
It was an ordinary weekday evening.
- (Me). "Damn it! How am I supposed to solve this problem?"
I was at home doing my school homework alone.
For the past two years, my relationship with my father had been on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He was hardly ever home, and his financial situation was getting worse and worse.
I didn’t know many of the key details at the time, but later I found out that my father had started spending all his free time on gambling, alcohol, drugs, and prostitutes.
He was rarely at home, and when he did come home, it was unclear whether he had spent the entire evening partying in nightclubs or other establishments.
My father never came home drunk, but he always smelled of a mixture of expensive alcohol and women’s perfume.
When he was at home, he would just cook himself a quick meal and go to sleep. At that time, I was no longer given any money for my living expenses, so I had to steal money from my parents’ wallet.
I regretted doing something like that and sometimes even hated myself for my actions, but in the end, I calmed down and understood even then that my father’s actions were unfair to me.
Sohen is just a child who is ignored by his biological father and treated as if he were insignificant.
Thanks to the support of Nanako and her family, Sohen was still able to live, dream, learn, and believe in a better future, but...
( ~ doorbell rings )
- (Me). "What? The doorbell? Did my father forget his house keys?
I got up from my chair and went to the front door. Through the peephole, I could see the silhouettes of two people in similar uniforms, and after a few seconds, it became clear that they were police officers.
I opened the door and saw a man and a woman who were police officers. They showed me their badges, and the female officer crouched down so that our faces were at the same height and told me the shocking news:
- (Policewoman). "Sohen, I’m very sorry, but your father won’t be coming home anymore. He... has gone to the other world to be with your mother..."
After these words, it seemed to me that time had stopped.
- (Me). "WHAT?"
The policewoman hugged me and cried.
- (Policewoman). "I’m sorry, Sohen, I’m so sorry..."
I knew this woman; she was one of the first people to learn about my difficult situation. She was involved in several court cases regarding my father’s incompetence as a family man and tried to help me, but she couldn’t do anything because she didn’t have the authority or rights to do so.
This woman came to my house once a month, asked about my health, collected evidence of my father’s irresponsible actions, and gave me a large amount of delicious sweets, which lasted for several weeks.
- (Me). "..."
Shock and disbelief appeared on my face. It was clear what had happened to my father.
- (Nanako). "Sohen? What happened?"
A minute later, Nanako approached us and began asking about the police presence near my house.
The policewoman moved away from me, stood up, and with tears in her eyes told the truth. A few minutes later, Nanako also began to cry.
After that, my thoughts were clouded, and I couldn’t remember what happened next.
Soon after, I was sent to an orphanage. I spent six months there until one day I met two women named Runo and Karin — my future grandmother and my future mother.
Grandmother Runo and Mother Karin already knew my story, as the news of my father’s death had caused a great stir throughout the city.
Karin said she wanted to adopt me immediately after my father’s death, but for certain legal reasons it was impossible to do so. Only after six months, with the help of a miracle, did I manage to find a new family and experience the concept of a "real family" for the first time.
Since then, everything has changed for me. I got a mother, a grandmother, and even a younger sister.
I felt like a member of a family that truly loved, respected, and appreciated me. There was no more ignorance, hidden hatred, or misunderstanding.
For the first time in my life, I felt the comfort of a family home. My psychological state stabilized, and I was no longer in "survival mode" or haunted by the constant feeling of death that had followed me for years.
Perhaps Sohen reacted too emotionally to certain things, but thanks to his past experiences... he managed to grow into a normal and social person who does not dwell on the past and is moving forward into the future.
Also, quite by chance, in a mobile phone accessories store, I ran into the same policewoman whom I hadn’t seen for about eight years.
We fondly reminisced about the past and talked about the present. She had recently become a mother, and I told her that I had become a happy member of my new family, whom I would love forever.
The conversation was slow-paced until, at some point, it turned to past events related to my father.
From that day on, I knew almost everything my father had hidden from me, both in writing and verbally.
It turned out that my father had been killed during a fight at one of the local nightclubs. He met people who were involved in crime and became their friend. They spent time together every day, drinking alcohol and gambling, and at some point, my father owed a significant amount of money to these "friends," which he did not want to pay back.
The alcohol took effect immediately, and they started a fight. As a result, my father was severely beaten and threatened with death if he did not return the money within a few days.
These criminals were confident that their words would have an effect, but they did not know that my father’s health was already poor at that time and that the injuries they inflicted would be fatal for him.
My father left the nightclub, and fifteen minutes later he lost consciousness and never woke up again.
That is how my father died, but that was not the end of it.
The criminal degenerates still wanted their money back, and they didn’t care whether he was alive or dead.
Thanks to their connections in the criminal world, they found out everything about my father and what he had. The financial savings he had earned during his lifetime were spent over several years on drugs, women, gambling, alcohol, and medical bills.
My foolish father had nothing left... except for the house that his grandparents had given him as an inheritance many years ago.
The house was worth enough to cover the debt, but the only problem for them was me, as the one who was supposed to inherit it.
In the end, they managed to take it for themselves, and that was the main reason why Karin couldn’t adopt me earlier. There were many legal problems involved in taking possession of my house and then selling it.
I couldn’t understand the legal terms the policewoman was using, but I wasn’t sad about losing my inheritance. That house had a lot of bad memories, and I’m even glad I didn’t live there anymore.
The only thing I regret even now is that I was unable to say goodbye to Nanako and Maria properly. I miss them every day and would like to see them again at least once.
Thank you, Nanako and Maria...
Still, I hated the bastards who killed my father, but...
Perhaps these are the wrong words, but regardless, I would hardly have met my new family in the future, and according to the story of this beautiful policewoman, those criminal degenerates still received their just punishment.
In fact, there were quite a few people like my father who were "friends" with them, and once they met a person with whom they had to be careful.
This person was the son of a very influential politician, and the degenerates did not know this. That man spent an incredible amount of money on nightclubs and entertainment, and they decided to use him for their own purposes, but nothing came of it, and the man was simply killed.
When the politician-father learned of his son’s death, he was in uncontrollable rage and within a few weeks, using his authority, he found out all the information about these freaks, and as a result, half of them were killed, and the other half will spend their lives in a prison controlled by people associated with this politician. Their stay there is pure hell, which takes away a piece of their health every day.
- (Me). "Thank you, auntie. Thanks to you, I know the whole truth and will continue to live with peace in my heart."
- (Policewoman). "You’re welcome, Sohen. I am glad that I could see you again, even though it is probably for the last time."
- (Me). "I understand. Thank you, and I wish you all the best."
After this conversation, I never saw the policewoman again, as she had to move to another country with her husband and son that very day.
It was a pleasant and memorable conversation.
Thank you for everything, Auntie Police Officer...
Four years have passed since then, and many different events have occurred during this time, but the most important thing has remained unchanged — my friendly and incredible family.
