WARMING UP THE BILLIONAIRE'S COLD HEART

TRAGEDY

Connor threaded the path home from school which was a silent as a graveyard as always but he couldn’t even care less about the silence, all he wanted was to get home and have a spoon of the warm bone soup his mother promised him for his birthday before he left for school that morning.

He held unto the straps of his brown school bag which was extremely dirty thanks to the rough play he had with his friends during the break period, he had taken his school bag along because he knew they would have filled it with different pieces of papers and trash just to prank on him since it was his birthday and that was the normal way of celebrating it in their own school and his friends especially take it serious amidst them.

Thinking he had escaped tradition, he kept his bag hidden on the highest shelf in the locker room after the break and went back to the classroom with some of his books to finish the remaining classes for the day. As soon as the bell for closing time rang, he ran back to retrieve his bag before anyone else but couldn’t find it where he kept it

“Damn it! These people are so bent on doing this” he cursed before running around to look for his bag wherever they might have dropped it.

After walking all over the school all day, he finally saw it hanging on the tall mango tree sitting in the fruit garden at the far end of the school. He finally brought it down with the help of a long stick, opened it and he was greeted with different trash which he took out one of by one before he saw the birthday letters and gifts they had donated there for him in the deep part

“at least they left behind gifts, I would have killed them if they didn't” he muttered with a faint smile before picking up his bag and ran back to the classroom so he could catch up with the friends going his way but to his surprise all of them had gone home

“Not even one person could wait for me?” he sighed before turning on his heel and walked out of the gate

His friends must have thought he has gone home since he couldn't stop singing about the food his mother promised to prepare for him but they didn't know that he was still looking for his bag that they hanged in the garden

“Connor, why are you still in school? It’s Friday when everyone rushes home, I hope the path wouldn’t be too lonely by now because no one is in school anymore” the old security man putting on a black trouser and navy blue uniform with some strands of grey hair practicing social distancing on his head called out to him from the side of the gate

The old man walked closer in his navy blue uniform and his smell of tobacco graced the whole atmosphere, it was a little uncomfortable for little Connor but closing his nose right there might deemed disrespectful so he just tried to suck it in even though it was killing him

“It’s okay! I will catch up with them if I run fast” he answered with a faint smile showing his crooked teeth

“I don’t think you can though, they left a long time ago, they would have gotten to the road by now” he replied scrunching his big nose sitting hugely on his square face

“I will make sure to catch up, I’m in the running team for a reason. Don't worry about me” he insisted before turning to walk out of the gate, he was tired of his rant, the time he was using t delay him unnecessarily is enough for him to have caught up with them

“See you on Monday and happy birthday Connor” he said to him before choking on his tobacco but Connor didn’t even stop to give a reply, all he wanted was to get home on time and gulp down his food

The security man wasn’t lying earlier when he said the path will get lonely in no time since it was weekend so he had to hasten his step in order to pass through the forest of tall and big trees before the sun closes its eyes. The path was so quiet and lonely but Connor wasn't bothered, all he wanted was to get home quickly so he hastened his footsteps

He was few meters close to his house when he began to jump on in happiness while he clutched his hands on the straps of the bag he had on his hand, the beef bone soup was all that was on his mind as he hopped home to meet his mother.

Finally he got to their small house situated in the middle of a flower garden and he opened the strong door made from the Douglas fir wood but he was greeted with silence as soon as he came in which was odd because he should have been hearing the sound of either cutlass or hoe since it was evening. His mom works around this time in the greenhouse but he guessed maybe she decided not to work today, she needed some rest anyway

“Mom! Mom! Are you in? is anyone in?” he called out matching to his room but got no response no matter how much he called

He went to drop his school bag at the laundry room since it was so dirty thanks to his friends and went to check the kitchen when he met his mother collapsed on the floor. He ran to her to check her out but no matter how his hands shook her, she wouldn’t budge

She was as cold as ice.

His father, Richy Owens came in at that instant with a small bouquet of flower he had stopped to pick for his little boy like he had loved to call him even though Connor was not a little boy as he was coming in. Connor ran out to alert him and the flower fell from his hands as he raced to the kitchen, they both rushed to help her but they were too late, she was dead.

Connor didn’t utter a word ever since the burial and didn’t even cry a drop of tear, he was just looking like a kid possessed with silent spirit and wouldn’t open his mouth no matter what anyone said to him. As they came back from the funeral on the third day, he went straight to the kitchen and sat with the spoilt bowl of beef bone soup his mother had made on the birthday that he couldn’t eat.

“Why would you eat that? That’s spoilt” Richy scolded him but he just continued to stuff the soup down his throat without stopping

His father ran to retrieve the bowl from him but he fought with his hands and only left the bowl when the dad delivered a smack on his back which finally brought the tears he had bottled up inside out of him

“why would you eat something that has gone bad? Are you trying to kill yourself?” his dad yelled at him while dumping the food into the sink

“What am I to do when that was the last gift she left for me? she had put her everything into the soup so who cares if it has gone bad? It’s as hot as a newly made dish because mom made it for me. who are you to pour it out? Who are you to pour it down the drain? That is my own food! Mom's last gift” he shouted back at his dad who could not even scold him anymore because he could feel his pain

He just went closer to him and hugged him while patting on his shoulder before Connor felt the urge to throw up. He ran to the bathroom to throw the food his belly had rejected out when he heard so much noises coming from the sitting rooms. He washed his mouth and went to check what was happening but to his surprise, everywhere was being scattered

“You should vacate this house by tomorrow or else we will drag you out with nothing” he heard a thick voice coming from a large corpulent man with huge rounds of steamed buns called cheeks talking to his dad who just stood there saying nothing.

The man whose body was having a fight with proper clothes was on a white torn singlet which was trying hard to hold his big pot called belly, his handlebar mustache which was long as the tail hair of a cow was covering both his upper lips and the whole of his chin

He was ugly!

“You either leave this house or we take your boy” the voice resonated again before a house shaking laugh followed his words

“no! not him! You can’t take him” Richy cut in immediately and the man moved closer to him before whispering what no one knows to his ears.

His big belly couldn’t allow much close contact but they could still communicate easily while both Connor and others just looked at them exchange words slowly and lowly.

“I must not meet you here tomorrow, you know what that means right?” the man said after shifting back and flashed his brown teeth that was so disgusting to see before going out of the house with his men

Richy drew Connor closer and told him not to be afraid and trust him, he will make sure nothing happens to him and protect him well. He could not sleep that night and was busy thinking about where to go with his kid when the idea popped up in his mind, he knew someone in Prattville who could help them for the main time.

Immediately, he picked up his phone and called the friend he had there but he was told they had relocated to another country. The good news was that they haven’t sold their house in Prattville so he was free to move in till he can afford his own house.

He left their house as early as possible with Connor the next day and after ten hours of a long drive in their rusty truck, they finally got to Prattville in the evening just as the sun was about to close its eyes and pulled their truck in front of the bungalow few meters to the bridge in town.

“I’m so hungry I could die” Connor complained as soon as they got down and Richy looked up to check the sky which was now orange as the sun slowly closed his eyes

“Let’s pack the necessary things for now before we go find something to eat, we will offload other things tomorrow” he told him and they got to offloading some of the boxes behind the truck

“I saw a bakery on my way here, we can go have some bread and milk to sustain us through the night, or do you want something different?” his father informed him but he wasn’t even interested in all that anymore, he was extremely tired

All he wanted to do was fill his stomach, wash up and rest up, he was not in the position to choose a menu right now.

They were half way through when a rope landed on the truck exactly in front of Connor which made his stagger back in shock, he was terrified for a brief moment before he could realize that it was just a skipping rope and looked up to see where it was coming from

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry! It flew off my hand by mistake as I was skipping” they both heard the high tiny voice cut through their moments of horror

The tiny lady scurried into their compound to pick up her flying rope with a smile just enough to let her off the hook while the two men just stared at her in disbelief, she was about to run out of the compound before she paused to take a good look at them

“You are just moving in today right? That house has been empty for some months now” she remarked but got no response from both men

“if you are just coming then you will be famished, how about some bread and milk? I can help you get some so you can feel refreshed” she asked with a bright smile and that was enough to get Connor interested.

Nothing mattered at that moment, he was hungry and here is someone offering him exactly what he needed.

Food!