CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“My parents died in my last and third year in high school, my friendly and best uncles became hostile to us, they were all of a sudden, strangers to me. They threw me and my younger sister out to the streets, to fend for ourselves. I was 17 years old and Amanda was about nine years old back then. How did they expect us to survive?”

“We were let on the streets and there was no way we could survive. I had to work about seven jobs at the same time before we could rent an apartment at a shabby building. We had to squeeze ourselves in a room that was wasn’t up to 100 feet. There were days I would starve so that Amanda would have something to eat, there were days we starved together, there were days we only drank water. I sincerely hated my uncles that time, I despised them and told myself I was going to kill them if I ever got the opportunity” Zane said as he smiled.

“One day, while coming back from school; I ran into this ad on a billboard and there was a young woman in the billboard who was smiling and It felt like she was smiling at me and telling me it was going to be okay, that I was going to be fine. The ad played for a few more times and that was what actually kept me going. I realized she was a very popular celebrity at that time and I would intentionally wait beside the roadside to watch her ads, they were comforting; she was my greatest support in my hardest times. I wouldn’t get hungry or tired while watching her, I would feel at ease while watching her. That time, I don’t know what I would have done, what would have happened if I didn’t that ad that day” Zane said as he dropped his head.

“These days got better with those ads around, we still got hungry, we still starved, we still slept after drinking kegs of water but we were fine. I got a scholarship to study in college and that was when I met grandpa, my foster grandfather. After my father; nobody has treated me that good in my entire life. That was when life got better” Zane said as he pursed his lips.

“Now that I’ve gotten to where I am; the thing I’m happiest about is that I was able to give my younger sister a good life. Now she can eat all she wants before she sleeps, now she can have whatever and everything she wants, now she doesn’t have to cry when hungry to fall asleep. Those bad days; they are unforgettable but now we’ve covered and buried those memories with newer, more beautiful memories” Zane said as everyone remained quiet.

“Ha, are you crying?” Zane asked as Brenda chuckled a she wiped her tears and smiled.

“To think that President Wilson had such a story. One would have never imagined that at a point in your life; you were at the lowest and now you have struggled, pushed and here you are. I envy you honestly; I’m trying to put myself in your position and I can’t bring myself to because I’m sure I would either sold my body or killed myself but you….. I’m glad you got through such a period in your life” Brenda said as Zane nodded.

“This celebrity you are talking about… I mean the whose ads and videos kept you going” Brenda said as Zane nodded.

“Yes; she is Harley Madison” Zane replied,

“Harley Madison?” Brenda asked and Zane nodded with a small smile.

“Wow. That’s amazing” Brenda said.

Harley blinked her eyes unable to believe what she had just heard as her mom turned to her and she smiled.

“Is this why you came visiting?” she asked as Harley bent her head and burst into tears.

“Mom, even when he needed me the most, I wasn’t there for him and to think he has gone through such… I don’t know mom” Harley replied as she buried her head in her mother’s bosom and started sobbing like a baby.

She imagined a seventeen-year-old Zane walking about trying to find food for his younger sister, the imagined the seventeen-year-old Zane all skinny and bones. Her body racked forward and backward as she sobbed loudly as her mother tried to comfort her quietly.

By the time Zane stepped out of the station, Adrian was waiting for him in front of his car and Zane chuckled as he walked towards him.

“I thought you said you wanted to go on vacation; why are you here?” Zane asked as Adrian walked towards him removing his sunglasses startling Zane who realized that his eyes were red.

“hey, what’s wrong?” Zane asked with concern as Adrian swallowed his saliva.

“Can I hug you. just once?” Adrian asked and even before Zane could answer him; Adrian pulled him into a hug as he sniffed his nostrils slightly.

“I’m happy” Adrian said softly.

“That I have you now. I’m sorry nobody was there for you when you needed them the most, I’m sorry that you had no one Zane but now you have a lot of us. And no matter what happens, you’ll never go to bed on a hungry stomach ever again Zane. Ever again” Adrian muttered as Zane sighed softly as he hugged Adrian as well.

“I know. I’ve got a lot of you now” Zane replied as Dylan wiped his tears behind him.

“Hello, you must be Amanda” Harley said quietly as Amanda nodded.

“Yes, you met me the last time and jumped to conclusions that I was Zane’s girlfriend” Amanda replied as Harley swallowed her saliva. Amanda had watched Zane’s live interview and remembering all those memories that she had buried deep in the pit of her stomach, they just had to resurface again, knowing why Zane had told that story in the first place; Amanda decided it was time she settled this once and for all, she couldn’t keep watching Zane suffer more and more. He had already suffered so much because of her.

Harley had been more than startled when she got Amanda’s call and the latter asking to see her immediately.

“That….” Harley said as Amanda chuckled.

“Don’t tell me you are trying to defend yourself here?” Amanda asked as Harley swallowed her saliva

“Of course not. I made a mistake” Harley replied as Amanda folded her arms.

“A mistake you never apologized for” Amanda shot back at Harley who swallowed her saliva without saying anything.

“You didn’t call me here to scold someone eighteen years older than you, did you?” Harley asked as Amanda chuckled.

“I wasn’t raised that way but if I want to, I can scold you because you are older but find it hard to understand the simple things, you deserve to be scolded” Amanda replied as Harley scoffed.

“You watched my brother’s interview, didn’t you?” Amanda asked as Harley swallowed her saliva and nodded.

“Yes, I did” Harley replied as Amanda chuckled.

“Everything he said; was true. He had liked you since then. Since that very moment, at first I thought it was just adoration for a celebrity but when grandpa took us in, he would save and go to the cinema to watch your movie openings, he would go to your fan signings just to watch you, he would buy your fan merch and all kinds of things. And even when things got better, he wouldn’t stop watching your movies, ads, interviews, everything he didn’t stop. Even by the virtual of his position, to meet you shouldn’t in any way be a problem but he didn’t well until maybe I thought fate brought you two together” Amanda said as she chuckled.

“I want to believe that you liked him as well, that’s why you went out with him all those while before that small incidence happened and you just decided to act like the older person that you are. Trust is very important in relationships, friendships, dating and whatsoever. There even has to trust in between an employer and his or her employee but that day; you didn’t deem Zane any of those trust, whether be it the one of friendship or the relationship. You dumped him” Amanda said as she chuckled.

“And ever since then, it hasn’t been the same. You don’t know how it feels when the person you love the most accuses you of something you know nothing about. Doesn’t trust you, it is very hurtful. You didn’t even come to apologize when you realized your mistake and then some days later, you started dating Patrick Kelvin, I don’t know whether to give you a round of applause for that” Amanda said as she shook her head.

“Harley, you… you owe Zane a lot of things you don’t want to imagine, things he did for you that you have zero ideas about” Amanda said as she sucked in a breadth.

“First, those flowers in your home. For the past seven years, from the day Wilson Corporations was launched, Zane has been sending you flowers” Amanda said.