Breaking the Curse

Chapter 17

In the suburb of the capital city of the People's Republic of Cambodia, there is a dark navy Chavy car driving slowly past the street full of homeless people and adults in their twenties doing drugs in the alleyway.

Simon's car comes to a stop in front of a one-story house with only one small dim light to illuminate the front door.

Taking one last deep breath before going up and facing his dad whom he hated to the bone since his parents divorced each other five years ago.

He taps on the door gently several times and waits for a few seconds but the door remains closed and no one answers from inside. After trying to knock on the front door a few more times and still getting the same result, he takes a step back and looks through the windows in the door. He hears a sound from the television, signaling someone is indeed inside the house. Simon also notices that the lights are on in the living room even though it is in the middle of the afternoon and the sunshine is in its full swing. Simon pounds on the door again, hard this time, nearly breaking the damn door but luckily someone comes to open it in time.

"Hi," Simon says to a young lady in her twenties wearing only her bra and panties with one cigarette in her hand.

"Can I help you?" The mystery girl asks.

"Is Roy around?"

"Yeah, he is out back. What do you want with him?"

"To talk to him, that's all."

Hearing something suspicious coming out from a locked room across the hallway, Simon brushes past the girl and goes straight to the locked room, thinking his missing brother might be in there.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" The girl shouts.

"I'll be quick," Simon replies.

"Sabastian, are you in here?" But to his disappointment, the locked room is just a storage room with a cat in it.

Still not satisfied, Simon continues to check the other rooms in the house, hoping to finally get an answer if his brother is here or not.

Simon paces down the hallway back toward the living room when his father, Roy shoves him against the wall but Simon easily pushes his father off him and breaks free.

"Get off of me," Simon shouts.

They're facing each other in a really tense situation with just three feet apart.

"Damn kid! You're getting stronger," Roy compliments his older son but to Simon, he doesn't buy any of that. To him this good gesture is just an act from his father.

"Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on here?" says the mystery girl who is standing right beside Roy.

"Simon, this is Cheryl. Cheryl, this is Simon, my older son," Roy introduces the two and they glance at each other before pulling all their attention back to Roy, who stands right in the middle of the two.

"Come here, KIddo... I really missed you, you know that." Roy leans for a hug with his son but before they can do anything more, Captain Jack suddenly walks in through the front door that is still left wide open.

"Wow! You guys do a family reunion or something, did I interrupt you?" Said Captain Jack.

"Yes, kinda, and what about you? Can I ask you why are you here officer?"

"Captain, he is a Captain, not an officer," Simon adds.

"So you two knew each other? Did my son do something wrong? is that why are you here?" Roy asks which made Simon really angry. Angry at the fact that the first thing that comes to his father's mind is Simon has done something wrong like he did before and not about his missing son.

"Seriously? Is that what you think of me?" Simon takes a step back with his eye locked into his father, his body is boiled in rage. This family reunion can't get any worse than it already is, is it?

"No, actually, I'm here on a missing person case and I believed Simon is here for the exact same reason too." Captain Jack tells them.

"Who is missing? your mom?" Roy asks.

"You didn't know? Christ, can you get any worse than this?" Simon yells in anger with tears starting to build up in his blue pair of eyes.

"Know what?" Roy asks again, confusion is written all over his face.

"Simon, you didn't tell your dad who are you looking for?" Captain Jack asks.

"First of all he's not my DAD anymore, and second I'm here to find Sabastian, your younger son, do you still remember him?" Simon responds.

"And you think I Sabastain is here?" Roy adds.

"No, our conclusion is that he ran away and come here." Captain Jack adds.

"Is that so, Simon?"

"Yes, it is, Roy. And do you see him come around here?"

"Can I search your house, is that okay?"

"Don't bother, Captain. I have already done that, he is not here. I checked every room in this hellhole."

"What about the backyard?" Capt asks.

"No, not yet," Simon replies.

"Backyard it is then, this way gentleman." Said Roy, leading two of his unexpected guests through the kitchen and to the backdoor that lead to the backyard of the house.

"Gentleman, take a look at this beauty, I no kidding, you should see her when I first get it, it is a one-of-a-kind car." Roy is showing off his old classic Roll Royce car to Capt and Simon. It's parked on the grass in the backyard soaking with rain water. But for Simon, he is more interested in the closed trunk of the car.

"Really? you wanna check up my ass too after you two done check every inch of my house?"

Simon found a shovel next to him and he quickly grabbed and pry open the trunk while Roy and the Captain stand behind him and watch. To his disappointment again, the trunk is empty.

Like you said before, he is not here and he never has been." Roy adds.

"Then why didn't you call mom back?"

"I don't know, I just ...... I assumed she just forgot where he was. You know, he was just lost in the wood or something, that boy was never very good at taking care of himself."

"This isn't some joke, all right? There are search parties, reporters...."

"Tell your mother she's gotta get you out of that hellhole. Come out here to the city. People are more real you know, Then I can see you more."

Simon shakes his head,

"What, You think I don't want to see you?" Roy adds.

"I know you don't," Simon responds, his eyes flashed with anger and resentment.

"See, that's your mother talking right there. She even knows you're here?"

"One kid goes missing and the other one runs wild? Some real fine parenting right there. Look, ALL I'M SAYING IS, maybe I'm not the asshole after all, all right." Roy continues.

Don't want to waste any more time with his father, Simon takes a poster out from his satchel and presses it against Roy's chest. "In case you forgot what he looks like," Simon says to his father before storming off.

Roy looks at the poster, It's folded, The photo of Sabasgtain is facing up. Cheryl walks up behind Roy, she put her arms around him and says under her breath "He's kinda cute, huh? Maybe I'll trade you in for the younger ones."

Shoving the poster right into his pocket, Roy decided that he should head back inside and get things straight with his son before he leave the house and never saw him again. But before he can do that, Captain Jack grabbed Roy by his shirt and pull him back to face him.

"What?" Roys raised his voice.

"Let me get this clear with you! if you see him on your property the next time, you call me, okay, Or I'm gonna charged you with kidnap you understand, you gonna rotted in jail at least 10 years, do you want to rot in jail?" Captain Jack tells Roys before, he too storms off back to his car that parks in front of the house.