FreeWrite: A Blessing & A Curse

Gene's father had said something to Gene that had wounded his pride.

"It doesn't matter how big the pool is, a small hole will still drain all the water eventually!"

He, Gene was the small hole. It irked him that his father didn't have the guts to tell him off to his face. He hated the hints and the riddles. It annoyed him immensely.

Being born with a silver spoon in the mouth was a blessing and a curse. His father never failed to remind him how hard he and his father before him had worked for everything they had. The houses, the cars, the businesses. That he, Gene, had the responsibility to make their empire even bigger. That he had it easy.

All this talk didn't interest him. His brother was already making the business bigger, and what for? Gene had a burning question, If we are not spending it, then why do we need it? To take it to our grave?

But of course he bit his tongue every time his father gave him a father-son talk. His mother wouldn't even do that. She was so angry with his evil "alcoholic" ways that brought shame to the family, she would actually answer calls from his friends with a "He is dead!" before slamming the phone down.

And this shows how many lovers, and this determines how happy...

All his frustrations were taken out on the women who hovered around him. The ones who swooned at his every word, laughed at all his jokes. He was a master storyteller, he was witty, he was funny, no doubt, and they treated him like king. And he was, King of his universe.

His women surrounded him. And this shows how many lovers, and this determines how happy I am! That thought made him feel superior over his friends. He knew they envied him. Friends and enemies. Money, a curse and a blessing.

He loved spending money on his women and friends. Gene liked being generous and it gave everybody a good time. They couldn't afford it, but he could. No point being rich if you can't share.

So Gene, swallowed his father's words to him and his mother's words to his friends. HIs Gin & Tonic helped numb the existing nothingness in his life. And at the same time, filled it with laughter and bought love. Life was always beautiful after a couple of those GnT's.

Lately, one girl in particular had been in the shadows, almost waiting and somehow it made him feel a little more special than the ones who threw themselves at him. She was his friend Andrew's sister, but she was nothing like him. She was quiet, and thoughtful and there was a classic beauty about her. Except, he wouldn't break the bro code. Not that it should matter. She was after all a big girl.

She stayed close enough to be noticed but kept her distance so her brother wouldn't fuss. But Gene could tell, she liked him a lot. Not that anything was going to happen. He never cared for the chase.

But every night, she'd be there for all the parties, meet-ups, hang-outs, just within reach but not quite.

It's a matter of survival

Days turned into weeks turned into months and she was still there. Time brought them closer, as friends. And he could tell she was a "good girl", probably keeping herself for marriage. But she was getting very comfortable with him, especially when Andrew wasn't around. Alcohol does that. It makes a slut out of a nun. And Gene could see she was ready.

One night, when her brother hadn't come out with the gang, he offered to take her home. He took her to his Uncle's first on the pretext that he needed to check on his Uncle's house. Which was true. His Uncle had gone off for a business trip, leaving the house keys with him to check on the house except he didn't have to do it then.

Everything just fell into place. She wanted it as much as he did. And things did happen. And when it was over, she seemed like all his other girls. No fuss, no expectation, just a "Please take me home."

Gene figured it was working out better than he had expected. But it couldn't happen again. If Andrew found out, he would be mad. It was a matter of survival.

He drove her home and she was very quiet all the way. He turned on the radio to fill the silence. A familiar song played and he jumped at the opportunity to start a conversation.

"This is my favourite radio show. Do you like Top 40?" Ok, that was a blatant lie but either way, they could have a conversation and it will ease the awkward tension that was building up. Maybe he'd tell her some of his jokes and she'd laugh, and everything will be good again.

"Let's pretend it never happened", she said. Ok, he wasn't expecting her to say that, it was normally his line. But this was turning out to be better than if he had planned for it.

"Of course. Errrr... What never happened? We went out for some drinks and I sent you home - straight home. There's nothing else." He can make it casual. He knew he sounded like an 4ss, but he had never had the tables turned on him. But hey, this is what she wanted.

Gene didn't want to look at her, but he was sure she had started crying. This now was turning into a nightmare. Was she tricking him. Geez, did he not have enough people in his life, who talked in riddles? Was he not supposed to have agreed with her? Now what?"

It's the Weekend Prompt sandwiched between the Friday's "burning" and Sunday's "radio show" prompts. @mariannewest, cheekily used Radio Show because she was on one with Team Malaysia and you might want to check out the other stories inspired by Radio Show here

Image taken with my trusty iPhone 7 Plus, edited with my favourite app Photofox

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