ALFRED

I was still on the couch, lost in my thoughts, when Mum came over and tapped my shoulder.

“You’ve been here all day, Alfred. Won’t you go out and do something?”

Her voice pulled me out of my thoughts — thoughts of childhood, the past, and Valerie.

I sighed. “Mum, please. I’ll sort myself out. Since Dad has already decided I’m not good enough for the company, everyone should just let me be. You must not choke me with your demands. I’m thirty now! I know what’s best for me… Please, let me be.”

“I do not like this, Alfred. I sincerely don’t. How long are you going to keep acting this way?”

She looked worried but didn’t say much. Just then, Dad’s voice echoed from the staircase.

“If you keep acting like a misfit, Alfred, there will never be a company waiting for you. Do something with your life.”

“What else do you want me to do? Take my own life? You told me I needed to finish college before getting the documents for the company in my name…it's 3 years now, nothing!”

“That is because you have refused to live up to my expectations, young man! Live right, get yourself a responsible woman!” Dad thundered.

“Your expectations?” I chuckled, picked up my phone and car keys and walked out. I wasn’t ready for another lecture. Not today.

As I drove, I called Monica.

“Hey… you home?”

Her voice was faint, almost distracted. “Yeah… no…uhm…”

Something felt off, but I didn’t think too hard. I just needed comfort. Monica was good at making me forget my problems, even if only for a while.

She was a random girl I ran to whenever I needed to take my mind off Dad and some other troubles.

I grabbed the pack of condoms in my trunk and parked near her gate, letting myself in quietly. I didn’t want to call or knock. Maybe I wanted to surprise her… or maybe I just needed to feel like something still belonged to me.

“Monica! Monica!” I called endlessly after locking her sitting room’s door. But there was no response.

She was probably in her room, reading books or scrolling through her phone.

But when I opened her bedroom door, the world stopped.

She wasn’t reading or scrolling through the streets of the popular Ringme social media platform like she always did.

She was with Caesar — my friend.

Naked, twirling her tongue around his dick like it was some lollipop and choking while gulping it.

Caesar, on the other hand, was taken over by ecstasy, his eyes closed as he jerked her hair.

“Oh baby, go harder!” My throat clenched as I watched Monica say those words and fix Caesar’s cock into her pussy.

They didn’t even notice me at first. That’s how far gone they were. My heart pounded so loudly I could hear nothing else.

“Caesar?” I finally spoke, my voice dry.

He looked up, shocked. “Shit! Alfred…bro, I can explain…”

Monica pulled a sheet over herself. “Baby, it’s not what you think.”

“It’s okay, Caesar. I see you both are having a good time.” I chuckled and threw the box of condoms in my hand at him.

“You should play safe. These girls go around with different kinds of diseases.” I walked out immediately and shut the door behind me.

That was it.

I had planned on taking Monica to see Dad, as my girlfriend—Maybe, just maybe…the feelings would evolve from there.

Stupid me! What was I even thinking?

A whore would change her ways for me? Never!

I should have known the night we met at the bar and Caesar couldn’t stop talking about how tempting Monica’s ass was.

My trunk was my go-to haven whenever I needed solace too. Monica and Caesar had betrayed me, the bottles of beer in my trunk would definitely not. I grabbed one and opened it while I zoomed off, increasing the volume of my car’s speaker at the same time.

A few hours was all I needed to forget those bastards and a little bit of alcohol too.

“Love is insane! It doesn’t mean anything when your world comes crumbling…” I echoed my favorite line from the song that played.

My vision was somewhat blurry, but I managed to pull the steering.

I was in the middle of a highway when my tires screeched, forcing my car to hit a speed bump.

“Shit! What the hell is…” I couldn’t complete my statement. I had come out to check the damage that had been done to the car when I saw something…

A gory sight.

Human blood spilled all over by the side of the road. A lady laid in a pool of her own blood unconsciously. From the way it looked, she was knocked down by a vehicle and abandoned too.

“Fuck!”I cursed under my breath and bent quickly to check her pulse.

“Thank Goodness! Don’t worry… I’ve got you!” I panted while carrying her into the car.

The hospital was miles away so I kept praying she stayed alive till we got there.

As I drove, my head turned at intervals to where she was at the backseat.

“Please help me!” I screamed, running into the hospital while the nurses brought a stretcher to take her in.

I stood at the reception, panting and gasping heavily like the lady in there was related to me.

“Doctor, how is she?” I asked when the doctor came out some hours later.

“Mr…?”

“Alfred. Alfred Gonzalo.”

“Mr. Alfred Gonzalo…I’m really…”

My chest tightened.