Buch lesen: «Unwanted child»

Author's word

I invite you to dive into the second book of my new universe, modestly titled Scott Melanie's Universe.

I decided to take a short break from the story of Michael Silver and delve into the fate of his half-brother. This book will be about just that.

I thought readers would be interested in learning about the history of his younger brother. What was he like before he joined the Silver family? How did his relationship with his birth family work out, how did he live with George and Mariana after Michael left? And finally, how did he get involved in the story that he and Michael had worked out in the first book, Mercenary at Heart.

This book will tell the story of Theodore's personal and athletic achievements and failures, and the struggles he faced during his childhood and adolescence, from family relationships to his interactions with his peers. The book will tell you how the boy came to this ruthless sport called boxing, and how in his own way he decided to go against the accepted system. You will see that despite the fact that the brothers are not blood relatives, they are united by an unbreakable bond, the desire for honesty and justice. Both, they stand up for their own right to choose in this big and dangerous world.

Intro

762. Theodore sat on a bench in the men's locker room, waiting to be invited into the ring. He was dressed in blue boxer shorts, his hands wrapped in bandages, fixing the damaged joints of his fingers and hands. The guy closed his eyes and started actively rubbing the hair on his head, as if toning and mentally preparing himself for the fight. 1/8 finals of the city tournament, which the young man had been through quite a few times during his current sports career. In essence, nothing unusual, but internally, Ted felt that this fight would change his life.

His trainer entered the locker room along with another black man. Both of them seemed to be from other worlds. One in a worn blue tracksuit. The other in a white business suit, tailored by the best tailor in town. The latter, Theodore knew well, because he was Dries, the bookmaker who co-owned his sports club and had recently been appointed general manager. In fact, this was the man who paid the guy's salary. He set the rules here: he said who should lie down and at what moment. This was his business, in which the man was perfectly able to shovel money, not leaving his companions in debt. Yes, and athletes competed in his tournaments not for prestige or glory, but more often than not to make money.

People like Dries were destroying the sport from the inside, but unfortunately no one, on a serious level, objected, because all the people Dries needed remained in a solid profit, including himself. The only people who lost money were the gamblers who lost hundreds and thousands of eurodollars month after month at the bookmaker's club. Poor people counted on luck, and thought that they were well versed in the sport, without knowing its kitchen from the inside.

Among the businessman's clients were not only ordinary citizens from a small town, but also unsuspecting businessmen and politicians from various localities.

The men sat on either side of the athlete and stared at him. The black-skinned businessman smiled at the boxer with his full mouth white smile. He took out a twisted wad of money from his inside pocket and handed it to the trainer. The latter instantly tucked the received amount into his tracksuit pocket.

Dries: ‘Well, how is our fighter doing? Ready for the fight?

Theodore: ‘As always.’

Dries (laughed loudly): ‘Ahahahaha. I like working with you. You're a very bright guy and you understand the business. So here's the deal, you're gonna lay down in round three tonight. Pretend you're exhausted and miss a few punches. Derek's been warned. He's not gonna hit you hard. But don't forget, you have to go down like he hit you really hard!’

Theodore: ‘I'm not giving in today. If I win, I win.’

Dries put his hand on the boxer's shoulder and smiled again: ‘Bargaining? Good. I'll throw another five per cent on you. Consider me in a good mood tonight, so I gave you a concession. In return, I expect you to lose in the ring to Derek tonight.’

Theodore: ‘No. I've been in this sport my whole life not to constantly leak contractual agreements. I only plan on adding to it so I can break through to city major competitions at the gold level and beyond.’

Coach: ‘Tedi, that's no way to do business. Stop fooling around! I've already taken the money. These are his requirements, his rules, and it's not for us to tell him what's right or wrong with them.’

Dries rose from his seat and pointed his index finger at the coach, pretending that the athlete needed to heed his advice.

Theodore: ‘I've said it all. Tired of being a punching bag already. I deserve better than that. I'm not you. For tonight's fight, I didn't take any extra money, and I'm not going to.’

The accompanying manager looked into the locker room, ‘Theodore Silver, you're being announced. It's time!’

The sportsman got up from the bench and headed for the locker room exit. He was blocked by Dries and with a serious expression said: ‘Don't mess this up, kid! You and I are in the same boat. If you try to jump out of it, I will personally drown you. I'll drown you myself, believe me!’

Theodore silently walked round the broad man from the side. Then Dries turned to his trainer, ‘You make sure, Sebastian, that the agreement between us is honoured. Otherwise, you'll get it too. It's your job to keep an eye on the kid. There's a lot of money at stake. I didn't come here personally for nothing…’

Coach: ‘I'll do my best, Dries. I'll do my best.’

The announcer solemnly introduced Theodore to the crowd. To the general buzz of the stands, Theodore, his accompanying manager and trainer made their way down the red carpet to the ring. Dries took his seat on the bleachers, took out a cigar, lit it and tensely began to watch the preparations for the upcoming fight.

Theodore climbed over the ropes and put gloves on his hands to greet the audience. He looked into the stands and saw Dries smoking his cigar. The announcer announced Theodore's opponent. A few dozen seconds after that, a large and aggressive fighter appeared from the other side of the ring, looking like a young, angry bull, raring to fight. The referee took his place in the centre of the ring. Both fighters approached him.

Judge: ‘I expect you both to fight fair. No holds barred. Only boxing.’

The referee simultaneously gestured and blew his whistle to start the fight. Both fighters rushed into the fight from the first seconds, hoping for a quick and legitimate victory.

FIRST STEPS

Parents

According to the new chronology, the year was 735. Gai was a relatively small settlement, where no more than 20,000 people lived and worked. Mostly people were engaged in agriculture and crafts. There were a couple of schools and a couple of kindergartens for children. Most of the townspeople still couldn't understand why rural children needed an education, as they were taught the craft of farmers and artisans by their own parents based on their years of experience. Despite the small population, the traffic on the country roads was quite busy. Every now and then, there were lorries and trucks travelling around delivering food to other settlements.

After borrowing money from his parents, Lars had moved here with his wife about five years ago, hoping to find peace and escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Although he had lived in Lockfood City before that, where he learnt the trade of a chef. The man was not a bad cook, and also knew most of all about the quality and freshness of the products needed for cooking. So, one day, he caught himself thinking that he would not be engaged in the manufacture of these products. In order to do so, he needed to get his own farm and cattle. He also needed to hire a few workers who knew how to care for and keep the animals.

At first, Inessa (the wife) was strongly against such a step, as it seemed illogical to her – to change a big city for some village. However, Lars managed to persuade her by telling her tales of a profitable business and how it would flourish.

Acquiring a working farm was difficult and prohibitively expensive, even for such a small village. Just like buying an empty plot of land to organise a new one from scratch. So the idea of buying a farm had to be abandoned. He used the borrowed money to buy several rooms in a two-storey house. One of them was on the ground floor, the other one was directly above it. The entrepreneur converted the first room into a small restaurant. It was a novelty for a small settlement, so there were plenty of visitors. The business gradually grew and developed. The second room was renovated and converted into a cosy two-room apartment, where the young family lived. By that time, Lars was 35 years old and Inessa was 27.

Communication with their parents did not work out well, so at some point the relatives stopped coming to Gai. No phone calls, no texts. It was not clear where it all started. It was much more important for the couple to preserve the idyll between them than to struggle to regain the long-lost relationship with their loved ones. Lars was madly in love with Inessa, and this feeling persisted in him even after many years. The couple started their relationship before marriage, and only after two years, they decided to get married.

It was only after three years that the family managed to pay off their debts to Lars's parents. He knew their account number and just silently sent them the agreed amount every month. From the outside, of course, this could seem both strange and sad. A native child who is bound to his parents by only two things – the formal details of kinship, and his debt. However, it happens, too. Especially when lovers protect each other in front of their parents, independently entering into conflicts and disputes with them.

Inessa more than once started a conversation with Lars about trying to have a child. At least one. After all, she said, they had everything they needed for that: enough money, their own apartment, their own business and love for each other. But Lars persisted and categorically refused to talk about it, believing that the time had not yet come. Yes, and in principle, man not very much love children, and somewhere inside, sincerely hopeful that Ines early or late stop this talk.

However, there are things that happen in life that do not depend on a person's will. Simply because it had to happen sooner or later. It happened to them in the year 740. Was ordinary everyday day. Inessa was helping Lars in the kitchen, once again thinking that she would like to have a child while looking at one of the happy families sitting at a table in their restaurant. The woman hadn't felt well all day, and she couldn't understand why. At one point, she felt nauseous, dizzy, and sick to her stomach and ran to the toilet. Lars saw that his wife was getting sick. He quit cutting the meat, leaving the knife on the table, and went to the closed toilet door, knocking quietly on it.

Lars: ‘Inna…are you okay? All good?’

The unpleasant sounds of nausea, vomiting and the gurgling of water in the toilet bowl were heard behind the door. Inessa ripped off the toilet paper hanging nearby and wiped her mouth several times, spitting the rest of the vomit into the toilet bowl periodically.

Inessa: ‘Lars, I think I have something poisoned. I don't know how I'll be able to continue working.’

Lars: ‘Erm…then go back to the apartment. I'll serve the last of the customers and be home soon. I'll ask the guys. Someone will fill in for you in the lounge.

Inessa had already realised what the ailments were about and that it was hardly poisoning. The next day, she bought a pregnancy test and her suspicions were confirmed. What the woman had been dreaming of for several years had come true. However, she was in no hurry to tell her husband about the news. First, she wanted to carefully prepare for her acceptance. For this purpose, Inessa from time to time started talking to the man about the children and emphasised his attention to small details related to their content. This only irritated him.

A month later, in August, when she visited a doctor, in one of the neighbouring cities, to determine the embryo's due date and get counselling. The city's hospitals had special scanners that could determine the sex of the baby in the womb from the embryo's two-month age, with 85 per cent accuracy. As well as the date of its birth down to the exact date. However, with dates, everything was not very well organised. The possibility of error was up to 70%. But it was possible to determine the approximate date. Research showed that the child should be born on 17 February. From statistics, taking into account the error, it meant that the exact month is February.

Inessa was over the moon. She had already started dreaming of a nursery, of the clothes she and Lars would buy, but suddenly, at one of the subsequent consultations, the doctors in charge of her maternal health brought her sad news. Due to the appearance of a foetus in her body, her congenital disease, referred to medically as ‘Hyena’, had become active. It progressively affected inside vital organ – kidney and liver. Treatment of this disease in modern medicine yet not exist. There are ways, only slow down the course of the disease. On the child's birth this also could say negative. But there was no turning back. Process has already been run and stop it was impossible. Only cared about the baby so that he could be born as healthy as possible.

On the same day, the woman gave her husband all the information about the baby, her illness and the possible risks. There was nowhere to put it off. As a result, she dumped a whole stream of data on him at once, for which the man was not ready. She got the expected reaction in return.

Lars: ‘I knew it! I told you that all this talk about children would not end well. We'll figure something out, okay? We'll definitely find a way to cure you. If you need an abortion, we'll do it. Since it's killing you…’

Inessa: ‘Lars, how can you say that? It's our baby! Having an abortion won't solve the problem! Promise me that when I'm gone, you'll take care of him the way you take care of me. That's the most important thing to me right now. More important than anything else in the world…’

Lars: ‘Don't worry. Just don't worry my dear. We'll think of something. We'll think of something.

It was getting dark. They stood in the kitchen near the dining table, hugging each other and crying. Lars, though he tried to be strong and firm, could not cope with the realisation that his wife would soon be gone. And Inessa, who had been living the dream of having a child, began to realise that she might lose it and never see her husband, whom she loved so much. For a moment she imagined in her mind that the woman would die agonisingly from the intolerable pain caused by the incurable disease, and she became even more frightened than she had been before.

It's February 741. The month of labour. Inessa had already been placed in a ward under constant observation because she was due to give birth any day now. Lars was constantly torn between business and the hospital. He was rushing to his beloved to see her during visiting hours and to support her. On the day of the birth, Lars closed the restaurant and waited nervously outside the delivery room, biting his fingers and nails with excitement. Finally, the obstetrician who was delivering the baby came out of the door. He was holding an infant in his arms. Lars rushed over to him.

The obstetrician: ‘Congratulations on your son, Mr Davel! You are now officially a daddy. Your wife, said to give him the name ‘Theodore’, do you consent to that?’

Lars glanced at the baby. He had already been washed, but there were still small traces of blood on him. He was crying and twitching. The baby's father quickly turned his gaze to the obstetrician, not reacting to his congratulatory words.

Lars: ‘How is my wife? Is she healthy? When can I see her?’

Obstetrician: ‘That will have to wait a little longer. Her condition is assessed as critical. After giving birth, her condition has deteriorated significantly.’

Lars (nervously): ‘how long do I have to wait?’

Obstetrician: ‘Have patience, Mr Davel. Our doctors are doing everything they can to stabilise her condition. You still haven't given us an answer as to the boy's name. Would you agree to us putting him down as Theodore Davel in the city's registration system?’

Lars: ‘Write him down however you want…’

Lars clutched his head and started pacing from side to side. In his head he was cursing the doctor, the labour, the baby and the whole situation. The obstetrician at first wanted to pass him by, but then turned to the man and said, ‘Then I'll put him down as “Theodore” at the mother's request. We'll get the paperwork done quickly enough so you can have the baby in an hour… and Mr Davel, I know you're going through a very difficult time, but don't blame it on the baby. It is not at all to blame for what is happening to its mother.’

Lars took the baby even though he didn't want to do so. The man had no time to prepare an apartment, a room or at least a cot for the baby. Clothes and nappies too. In fact, he didn't want to do it. Firstly, he was not completely sure that the labour would go well, and secondly, the father had absolutely no sympathy for his firstborn. He saw in him only the cause of his beloved's illness.

As a result, he laid the boy on a warm woollen rug that lay beside the bed, wrapping him in a plaid. Of course, the entrepreneur was not going to hire a nanny. So the baby lay on this mat, which he had enclosed with a dog enclosure, while Lars was working in the restaurant. The baby was doing his best, smearing his faeces all over the mat. Within a couple of days, Lars realised that it was necessary to buy nappies and nappies, as it would be cheaper than having to take the carpet to the city dry cleaner or buy a new one every time. However, the boy's conditions have not improved. Ah, if the juvenile affairs inspectors had seen this spectacle....

The little boy was fed three times a day. Once in the morning before Lars went to work, once at lunchtime, and once when the man returned from work. The boy was remarkably quiet for an infant. But, like any other child of that age, allowed himself to be capricious from time to time. including waking his father up at the crack of dawn.

Inessa was discharged home three weeks after the birth. According to the doctors, her condition was already stable enough that she did not need outpatient treatment. However, she was still weak. The disease was eating her from the inside out. The woman's appearance was pale and tortured. Lars was faced with another problem. Now both had to be taken care of at the same time. Davel spent most of his time taking care of his wife, sometimes forgetting about the child. Only when Inessa reminded him that he needed to feed the baby or change his nappy did he remember.

With Inessa's discharge, Lars' life became more complicated, as Inessa constantly gave him a lot of tasks to do and made sure that the baby was clean, clothed, fed and as happy as possible. With the arrival of the mother in the house, the baby, on his tiny face, finally began to appear a sincere and good-natured smile. Inessa herself, in spite of her unenviable state of health, was also greatly transformed around the child. She found extra strength to babysit him, talk to him, rock him and feed him. She had to feed him with formula milk, as she did not produce milk due to the same illness. Doctors were amazed that such a sick mother had a perfectly healthy child. After all, there was very little chance of the baby having such health, given the mother's problems with a large number of organs.

A couple of years went by. The child was growing up. Lars saw how reverently Inessa treated the baby and began to soak up her warmth and affection for this tiny creature. Unfortunately, the disease did not share their feelings. The disease had its own plans for the child's mother. Inessa was getting worse and worse with each passing month, until it came to the point that she had to be hospitalised again, as home treatment with medication alone was no longer sufficient. Constant medical supervision was required. Lars had to quit his job completely, hire a couple of other people, and become a housewife, torn between hospital and home. Only a couple of times a week, he stopped by the restaurant to check on his condition. As a result, the quality of service deteriorated and the flow of customers decreased, followed by a significant reduction in the income of the establishment.

For the last few days, Inessa had been almost completely immobilised from the illness and the large amount of chemical drugs. She had become so skinny that the outlines of bones and veins were visible through the stretched skin. Her head resembled the skull of a living dead person who had not yet had time to decompose, with deep pits and hollows. Her uncombed hair had already begun to peel away from her head, and whole strands of it were sliding down her pillow, falling to the floor. In place of the torn hair, her head was a patch of dark maroon-coloured, inflamed patches, some of them even showing pus. Her hands trembled frequently, the nails on them beginning to flake and fall off. It was not a sight for the faint of heart. And Lars, every time he saw his wife, doomed to death, so helpless and defenceless, could not hold back his tears. They poured from his eyes every time he sat down next to her hospital bed.

Every day, he came to the room with the baby and fruit. When Lars came inside, he lit a scented candle, put it on the bedside table, and put her favourite sweets in a saucer. She was tied to the bunk and there was no way she could eat them. It was part of some inalienable personal ritual for the man, carried out for the health of his wife. He knew how dear Theodore was to Inessa and how she felt about him, so Lars had hoped to the last moment to awaken in her new strength to fight the incurable disease by bringing a child with him. However, these attempts, as well as many others, proved futile. In May 743, Inessa died of the Hyena disease, making Lars a single father. Although, in fact, he had been such a long time ago, and now, it was only officially registered in the city registry.