Chapter 51 His Past (Part I)
“As a child, the only family I knew was my mother and her brother, whom I used to call ‘uncle’. My mother never spoke about my father and I still know nothing about him. My uncle provided for us with the salary he got as a research scientist. He worked for the government and was so dedicated to his field of nano technology that he didn’t bother to have a family of his own. Most of the time, he behaved like a mad scientist and it often crept my mother out. But I enjoyed giving him company in his lab.
By the time I turned eight, he was promised a huge sum from the government to work on a project in the defense wing. Since it was a highly classified program, me and my mother had no clue about it. I assisted him by delivering materials via driving and in return, he taught me a thing or two regarding the principles of nanotechnology.
We were a middle-class family, but my mother didn’t have to work because his salary was more than enough for us. I only went to school till I was ten years old, because of an unfortunate incident that took place in our lives.
It happened on a Christmas eve. My uncle was very confident with the research results and the prototypes that he had submitted to the government and we were all excited for the call back from the defense academy. He received a phone call, but bad news awaited us on the other side of the line. Not only did the government rejected his proposals, they also cut him off completely because they lacked the funds to support his further researches.
Shattered by this, my uncle told us that he was going for a long drive to cool off and would be back by the end of Christmas day. But he never came back. He died after his car lost control and fell into a river. But we knew that it was a suicide because his autopsy reports proved the presence of alcohol in his blood, and he never drank in his life before.
Following this incident, my mother struggled to pay the bills and we were totally helpless. On top of that, my uncle was declared bankrupt, as he had used most of his savings to create the perfect prototype because the project was his brainchild. We gradually lost everything, except for the small garage that contained my uncle’s stuff.
Eventually, we became homeless and were forced to live on the streets. But even at those hard times, my mother had hope and was determined to get us a job at a place that had more power than the government – The Bratva.
Your father was a very powerful leader at that time and my mom begged him to provide us with work, and he turned away from us because he didn’t trust us. Your mother on the other hand was very welcoming. I still remember the day your mother handed you to me for the first time. It felt....magical. You were the sweetest little bundle of joy that filled everyone with ecstasy.
When your mother passed away, I saw your father becoming weak and, in the mafia, weakness for family was a vulnerability that equals certain death; Nevertheless, your father stayed strong for you.
Your father’s hatred for me was loud and clear from the very beginning itself. He made sure that I was trained so hard every day until I blacked out. It was a kind of torture, but I persisted, for my mother. I hated the idea of becoming homeless again and begging for food to strangers. During certain days after my harsh training, she would fill me up with words of courage and push me to give my best next time. She was the main reason that I didn’t quit the job in the beginning.
And slowly, birthed another reason for my stay – You!!!
When I took charge as your round the clock bodyguard, I thought that you were going to stay sweet and soft forever and I couldn’t be more wrong! You were a restless child. Handling you was like trying to capture smoke in a bottle; It was impossible! It was a huge task, but I enjoyed taking care of you and you too, trusted me with your safety.
Once you and I were playing hide and seek, and it was your turn to hide. But unfortunately, no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find you anywhere. I finally had to tell your father because you were just 3 and was easy to be drugged and kidnapped. The entire house began searching for you, while your father contacted every Russian leader to help him find you because he was sure that you have been kidnapped. And entire hour of paranoia whipped the mansion, but we finally found you – Sleeping peacefully inside a kitchen cabinet, behind the refrigerator!
There was not even one day that we spent without playing.
One afternoon, I decided to take a nap because of the work overload and I woke up to your giggling face. I was confused at first, but then I understood what you did. You had my hair tied up in tiny pigtails here and there using rubber bands. And that wasn’t the worst part. I had to stand up and salute your father, with the funny hairstyle you had given me, but thankfully, your father didn’t say anything.
During the days I fell ill, you refused to eat anything until I took a bite. And at the times when you were sick, you would only eat from my hand. We made the best team and you gifted me eight wonderful years of my life. I thought that it was going to be like that forever, but everything changed when my mother died unexpectedly.
She was everything to me and it hurt so much when I looked at her pale face in the coffin because all those memories that contained the sacrifices she made for me rushed to my mind. When we were homeless, my mother and I got very little food to eat, but since I was young, she made sure that all the food went into my belly and starved herself for days. She taught me the value of work and never begged for money. She took only what she deserved. She even used to sooth me whenever I had nightmares while sleeping on the streets.
The moment the realization hit me that she was not going to come back, ever, I felt like being dead, even though I was alive. I was broken inside out. I could no longer find peace. Even in those tough times, you kept on trying to cheer me up, but I just couldn’t react to your shouting anymore. I needed a break from everything, especially the mansion, that constantly reminded me of her. So, I finally quit the job as your bodyguard.
It was painful to leave you, but I had no other choice. I took a lot of pictures of yours with me to keep as a souvenir of our happy times together and left the mansion.
After a week of grieving, I went back to my uncle’s garage that contained the ideas for his future inventions with the application of nano technology. His ideas were worth so much and since the government refused to accept it, I gave it a try. It proved as a perfect distraction from my inner pain.
Taking the guidance from his notes, I designed the prototypes of basic weapons and presented it to a local manufacturer. He helped me design tiny weapons of destruction, that were modelled on everyday objects. For a year, I worked on many projects he dropped and was able to create lethal weapons that could be sold to the mafia.
I needed a fresh start and so I decided to take my inventions to the Italian mafia and packed up everything to leave Russia. But I wanted to see you one last time before I left because you were my good luck charm. So, one day I disguised myself and came back to your mansion, without your father’s knowledge.
I searched for you everywhere and I was surprised to find you inside your room, because when I was around, it was a battle to keep you inside the house. But when I saw your face, it felt like someone had pierced my chest with a sword. There was something very different about your state and it was like I almost didn’t recognize you. The fire you had in your eyes were gone and you looked defeated and sad. I had no idea what happened to you so I secretly gathered information.
When I finally learned that the reason of your state was none other than me, I was shocked. I was the sole reason that you changed and I felt a lot more depressed when I found that you were being treated to forget me. On top of all this, your father’s health affected his work and many of his ‘friends’ took advantage of it and backstabbed.
I was very angry at myself for doing that to you. I was broken when I left you and, in the process, unknowingly, I broke you too...
I left the place and headed to Italy with a heavy heart, but I was determined to bring back all the happiness in the world to you. Spearheaded with my desire to protect your father’s crumpling kingdom and to see the smile back in your face, I became an arms dealer and conquered many territories with the aid of many loyal men that joined me.
I also figured out the shortest and least hectic ocean routes with the help of drone mapping technique and thereby became the biggest shipment regime in Italy. I also helped in fighting wars and won many battles. Gradually, I was crowned as the Capo of the Italian mafia. But I kept my identity and my previous relations with the Russian mafia hidden because I didn’t want my new enemies to target you and your father.
A week after I became the Capo, I paid a visit to your father. At first, I thought that he was going to rebuke me for your broken state and turn down my help, but he accepted me with welcoming arms. He mentioned everything about your treatment, but never pointed a finger at me or accuse me for your distress.
Whenever I came to your mansion for business work, my eyes always searched for you and you would smile back at me politely, regarding me as a stranger. Every time you counted me off as someone less important, my heart clenched, but I was happy to know that I was able to keep you safe.