17 Father And Son

I reached the car park and walked leisurely to my father's car. I saw him standing near the door of the driver's seat.

"Hi, Dad." I greeted him with a smile as I stopped at the door of the passenger's seat.

"Hi, bud, ready to go home?" He flashed me a smile, showing his straight white teeth, and asked rhetorically as he used his car key to open the door.

"Always." I opened the door and climbed into the tall car. As we sat on our seats, I closed my door with a bang and another bang resounded a few seconds later as he also closed his.

The engine of the car roared as he sparked it while I drew the seatbelt diagonally across my body and locked it inside the buckle. He similarly buckled his seatbelt and then navigated the car out of the filled car park, driving towards the exit of the school.

We were on the road, outside the school in no time...

"I came by to check on you when you were in the nurse's office. Heard you were sick." He remarked casually as he shifted the gear, passing by a car to get in front of it on the two-lane road.

"Yeah, she told me. I just had some headaches." I turned my head to look at his passive-serious face and said.

"...Son, talk to me. Are you sure you're okay? Is this like the side effects of those drugs or something? Do you need to go to the hospital?" He started shooting questions, his hard voice softened and brimming with care.

"No, no, it's not that. There's nothing wrong with me. I just stayed up all night studying again and the effects are now catching up to me." I shook my head and explained softly, my tone convincing.

He turned to glance at me with his blue eyes and then nodded, turning back to face the road. The sound of cars speeding along the road, and honking echoed everywhere.

"If that's the case then you need to slow down Son. You aren't in a race. You're fine where you are now so there's no need to rush." He said calmly, but his voice still held a little worry.

"Don't worry Dad, this won't happen again," I assured him, a smile on my face. He nodded, a faint smile on his face.

"Hey Dad, are you going somewhere this weekend?" I asked casually as I shifted my body to better relax in my seat.

It was time to get information to see if I'd have to improvise my plans or stick to the ones I'd made. He was a teacher, more importantly, a principal, so there was a high chance he'd go somewhere this weekend. And hopefully, I'd be right...

"Why? What's the problem?" He looked at me from the corner of his eyes and questioned.

"Oh, nothing. I just want to know if I'll have the house all to myself this weekend or not." I answered, my tone carrying a hint of playfulness that my father caught.

He snickered and shook his head.

"Don't worry bud, you'll have the house all to yourself. I'll be going to a conference in New York on Friday. It'll last more or less two days so by Sunday evening, I'll be back." He remarked and I had to force myself to prevent a grin from growing on my face.

Good, my plans wouldn't have to be improvised or changed after all. And I'd have two whole days to travel to Nevada, launder the money, and then come back home like nothing happened.

It was going to be peachy...

"Dad, when am I going to get a car?" I looked at him and asked, my tone casual, my fingers tapping the dashboard.

Wordlessly, he turned his head to look at me with a raised eyebrow, his face crestfallen and his eyes boring into mine with weird intent.

His whole mood had shifted...

"...Are you sure you want it now Xander?" He asked seriously and turned back to face the road, his voice still soft but I detect traces of weariness and sadness in it and his eyes.

Did I say something wrong? And what did he mean by 'it'?

"...Uhm, I guess. If that's alright with you of course." I answered unsurely, not sure how I was supposed to react in this situation.

I could tell there was something deep behind his question but I didn't know what it was. At that moment, it felt like I'd made a mistake, like I had opened up some skeletons in a closet that wasn't supposed to be opened...

He sighed deeply, his voice grave and somber, changing the whole air inside the car.

"Ever since the accident, I didn't think you'd ever want to drive again. You know, the psychologist told me you had developed some form of trauma, something like PTSD.

"All this time, I've been fearing for the worst. Thinking that incident, which wasn't your fault in any case, had scarred you for life. That you wouldn't be able to live a normal life..."

He paused, and I could see his eyes almost watering. He was trying his best to remain strong but his emotions were overwhelming him.

From what he said, the original Xander must've been the one driving the car when the accident that took his mother's life occurred. He said it wasn't his fault so I'd have to take his word for it.

Because of that, he became traumatized and basically, a hollow shell of himself, pushing himself away from people and even his father.

If this was true, then it probably meant that his mother used her power to save the original from the crash in exchange for her life.

Hence, the original's obsession. Everything seemed in place now...

Smiling wryly, I grabbed my father's hand that was on his thigh and squeezed it tight.

"It's okay. I'm stronger now Dad, you don't need to worry so much again. Everything's all right now." I assured him firmly, my voice as hard as I could make it.

He turned his head to stare into my eyes and after seeing how unflinching it was, his features softened into thinned into a warm contented smile, one that showed pride.

"I can see that son and I'm happy you are, sometimes I almost forget you're almost eighteen now," He turned back to face the road and chuckled fondly. "I'm proud son, I truly am. If it's a car you want then it's a car you'll get. Besides, I'm getting tired of driving your ass to school every day." A smirk played on his face.

Laughter spilled out of my mouth upon hearing him getting crass and with a delighted smile on his face, my father turned the car to the right at a familiar intersection after the traffic lights turned green. Our neighborhood was on the left side of the road.

"Where are we going, Dad?" I stopped laughing as I noticed this and asked him as we moved toward unfamiliar territory. The trees were becoming more than usual and it was leading to a highway.

"We are going to the ranch. Has it been this long you haven't been there that you've forgotten the way to it?" My father raised an eyebrow in surprise as he drove into the highway.

It was more or less deserted and there were a lot of tall green trees around us on the left and right sides of the road.

"Of course, I remember, just caught off guard that's all," I said with a weird look on my face, and I was glad he was paying his full attention on the road.

He drove calmly and then branched to the left at some point to enter another road that looked like it was made with a combination of regular mortar and dirt.

The road was narrow, only allowing passage for two cars, and it was surrounded by tall green grasses and fields.

The car wobbled slightly due to how uneven the road was and after a while, he drove left again into a dirt road covered with brown gravel, sheltered by the thick branches of the tall trees on the left and right sides of it, blocking the sun and casting large shadows on us and a starting part of the road.

The tires of the car bit into the gravel as it moved, producing muffled cracking sounds that sounded around us.

Ahead of us, at the end of the road, was a large field surrounded by white tall fences. A metallic gate stood in front of us and behind the gate were men dressed like cowboys who opened the gate as we came near.

The car passed through the gate slowly and my father nodded at the men as they tipped their white hats downwards at my father respectfully. As we entered, I observed the place with interest.

The field was large with sprawling green grasses and crops like grains and maize and grazing on them were large numbers of cattle, sheep, and goats who were being watched by more men and women dressed like cowboys.

All around at vantage points were red rectangular pentagonal-shaped barns and some of them were opened to display farm tools, fowls, etc. I could also see a set of one-story houses at the far back, probably where some of the staff lived.

As the car drove along the dirt road that seemed to cut through the fairly large ranch, some of the workers waved at the car and my father did his best to wave at all of them in response, a small smile on his face.

I was beginning to see how rich this man was or my new family. It wasn't millionaire rich, like my old family was, but it was up there and in America owning land, especially of this size was a big deal.

This land was probably family land that had been passed down through several generations till it got to my father and in the future me.

I was sure that even if he stopped being a principal, he'd still have enough money to let us live our lives comfortably without it getting finished. I was starting to respect the Andersen name more...

In minutes, we arrived in front of one of the towering big barns and he stopped the car at the entrance. I took the time to study the surroundings of the barn which had a wooden enclosure filled with sheep on the left and a small cabbage field on the right.

"Get down son." My father prompted as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got down from the car after opening the door.

I headed to him and opened my door to step down out of the vehicle and closed it with a bang as he closed his first. The place smelled like vegetables and hay and it laced with the strong scent of the nearby goats.

My father moved to the gate of the barn and pushed it open, revealing a wide dark space occupied by bundles of stacks of straw and hay and some farming tools and vehicles.

"Over here." My father beckoned me with his hand and I quickly left the car and joined him as he entered the space.

I followed behind him as he walked to the center of the barn where a large and long white cloth covered a relatively large structure from head to toe.

"This is it, the surprise." My father let out as we stopped by the structure. He immediately grabbed the top of the cloth and pulled it away, revealing an all-red sportscar.

My eyes widened as I recognized it immediately while a reminiscent smile drew on my father's aged face as he beheld it. It was a Pontiac Solstice, a very classic car that a friend of mine owned as a collectible.

I remembered him telling me it was one of the hottest cars in the two thousands.

"When you were eleven, you used to bug me constantly to give you this car, something I bought for your mother on her birthday," His smile almost looked sad. "The car is still functional but I'll take it to the dealership for them to spray paint it black and check for any faults then it's yours Xander."

He looked at me and explained with a living smile that infected me. I could tell this car meant a lot to him and that the act of giving this to me showed how much he valued me.

And to say I was touched would be an understatement.

In my previous life, I had a wide range of cars but none of them were given to me out of the goodness of either my father's heart or my father's business or political colleagues who gifted them to me.

It was either because he bought them for me to fulfill his warped sense of fatherly duties or because those 'friends' and colleagues of his wanted to get into his good books or look good in front of the camera.

It was never out of love or anything related to affection. And I was cool with that because I'd grown used to it and my situation was better than most so who was I to complain?

But seeing my new father essentially handing this car to me even though it was an object that held a lot of his profound and memorable memories of his dead wife hit me in the very core of my heart, something I didn't expect.

So with a wide and genuine smile on my face, one I couldn't stop from spreading, I walked up to him and pulled him into a tight hug that surprised him.

"Thanks, Dad, you're the best," I whispered and he immediately, wrapped his arms around me, his body trembling.

"Thank you, Son."