CHAPTER 43: A SLAP.
Richard climbed down the staircase with his right hand holding his phone and the other one inside his pocket. He had his headphones hung around his neck while he shook his head gently to the sound coming out of the headphones.
He strolled towards one of the majestic chairs in the sitting room and sat on it ignoring the presence of his grandmother and his aunt who were sitting down as well.
“What are you doing, Richard? Can’t you see we are sitting here and you just can’t greet us?” His aunt scolded him. Richard’s glances at her were blank as if trying to show that he had no idea what she was saying. He crossed his legs against each other and faced his aunt.
“Since when did you start caring about respect? I mean you shouldn’t expect one when you rarely give it. Moreover, I have greeted my grandmother a couple of times today so…yeah.” He answered.
His aunt nodded in embarrassment and continued watching the show with her mother-in-law who did not say a word since their confrontation started. Richard decided to text Kira to know her whereabouts.
‘Hey, this is Richard. Are you home?’
A few minutes later, he received her reply.
‘Yeah.’
‘See you in a few minutes then.’
‘Okay.’
Richard jumped off his chair and was about to leave when Elizabeth Gulf, his mother, entered with a stern look. She seemed angry and was holding a brown envelope. Richard wanted to overlook and leave but his mother stopped him with a scream.
“Don’t you dare move a muscle, Richard Gulf!” She warned and he internally rolled his eyes, knowing what was about to go down.
“Mum, what is it?” He asked unbothered by the look on her face.
“When will you stop being a disappointment to this family, Richard, when?” Elizabeth asked in a fit of rage as she slammed the envelope against his chest. He caught it and slowly tore it open, inside the envelope were pictures taken of him on one of the race tracks. His eyes turned gloomy before holding his mother’s gaze.
“How is this a disappointment?” He asked back and Elizabeth scoffed.
“You are asking me how this is a disappointment? Are you pretending to be dumb or you are born naturally with it?”
“I will pick the second option; I was naturally born with it and I must have inherited it from my mother.”
His response made him receive a slap across his face and the two women who were watching were stunned. This was the first time Elizabeth would raise her hand against her son. Matriarch Gulf stood up to intervene.
“Elizabeth, that is enough.” She cautioned her. Richard licked his lips and touched his face before looking at his mother, he curled his lips.
“Now that you have done what you pleased to, I hope that you are satisfied because you just gave me more reasons not to do whatever stupid plans you want me to do. Excuse me.” He left their midst and in a few minutes, he was back again but in a different dress. He walked past them, ignoring their calls.
“Richard, get back here!” Elizabeth shouted at him but what she received as a response was the intruding of the car’s roaring engine and the zooming off.
“When will you stop treating him as if he is your slave? He is the precious grandson of this family so treat him right.” Queen Gulf, the second daughter-in-law of the family, said but Elizabeth glared at her.
“Don’t teach me how to raise my kids! Focus on yours.” She retorted and bowed a bit before the Matriarch. Queen snorted before leaving.
“Let me handle him in my way, Elizabeth.” The aged woman spoke as she strolled back to her seat. Elizabeth sighed and followed the aged woman from behind before sitting in front of her.
“Mother, I can’t see any changes in him yet, he is only growing tough against my wishes. I need him to become a better person.”
“Elizabeth, he is at the prime of his youth so he is meant to be rebellious but you need to understand that the more you scream at him the more he is going to grow tough and uncontrollable. He might not see reason with you but give him time, he will definitely grow out of it.”
“What if the media houses get a whiff of this? What then? He is going to bring reproach into the family.” Elizabeth bore her mind worriedly.
The Matriarch smiled and shook her head, “No, he isn’t going to. He might be silly but there is a way to get a hold of people like him, it all takes a little bit of patience.”
Elizabeth still did not want to heed this. The Gulf family was an extended family and they all lived in the mansion because the Matriarch wanted them to, she was growing old and wanted her two sons alongside his family to be here with her. This gave rise to competition between the kids and the daughter-in-law, the ones who were less bothered were the two sons as they hardly stayed at home not to talk about involving themselves in an unreasonable competition.
Richard was the one giving her a headache, he just wouldn’t listen to her opinion. Couldn’t he see reasons with her? She was doing this for his future’s sake and nothing else, what other words was she supposed to say this in?!
_*_*_*_*_*_
Kira ran from the kitchen to answer the door when it rang. Evelyn and her son went back home not quite too long so the only person that was supposed to be there was no other than Richard.
She did not know why she felt so excited to see him. She checked her hair and brushed it with her hand before opening the door.
“Hi.” She greeted him with a smile but the smile soon faded off when she saw that he looked different.
“Hey.” He replied coldly and entered while she closed the door.
“What is wrong, Richard?” She asked and stood in front of him, her eyes went straight to the side of his swollen face and she gasped. She touched his face and he winced as it stung him badly. He had never received a slap before in the last nineteen years of his life.
“What happened to your face? Who slapped you?” Kira asked worriedly. He removed her hand from his face but was still holding it. He pulled her along to the couch and they both sat down.
“My mum slapped me.” He replied with a quivering voice. Kira’s heart was saddened because his face was indeed red and his eyes were getting watery as he wiped them to prevent tears from falling.
Kira pushed herself closer to him and touched his shoulder.
“Did you do something wrong?”
“I didn’t. She managed to get a hold of pictures taken from one of the race tracks and she got annoyed. We got into an argument with her telling me that racing is bad and illegal, she said that I was a disappointment for indulging in racing. But what the hell is wrong with racing, Kira? Please tell me, what is wrong with doing something that I love?” Richard held her hands as he asked.
Kira swallowed hard and thought about it, it seemed she was getting a hold of what was happening in his life.
“What job or occupation is that that your mum wants you to do in the future?”
“I am an engineering student but trust me, Kira, I don’t want to be there. I want to become a racer and I am pretty good at it. I have seen lots of people doing it since I was young on TV and I had an interest in it but no one is supporting me. They think that I am trying to evade the family’s responsibilities when I have my dad, his brother, my brother, and my Nephew working as a way to take it up.
I don’t understand a thing when it comes to engineering so I just go into random sports in school to make myself happy.” He answered her sincerely.
Kira sighed softly, it seemed she should take up the job of a seer and an adviser because lately, she had been giving too much advice when her life desperately needed one.
“I understand your plight, Richard, and even the angle at which your mum is coming from. Sincerely, when it comes to issues like this, my hands are tied because I can’t offer a single piece of advice. I don’t like it when a person is being forced to do what they don’t want to but she is your mother and you are living under the same roof, this makes it complex. She believes being a racer is something bad and you won’t earn the entitlement or recognition of being the family’s son…I mean grandson, that’s why she is doing this so I have two ideas I can offer you that won’t affect you negatively.”
Richard’s face brightened up when he heard this.
“What are they?”
Kira smirked and stroked her chin.
.
.
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Don’t worry, guys. We will soon know more about the Gulf family.