The Fake Smile

“Hi my name is Thomas Pattinson. I am 11 years old. I live in Los Angeles with my Mom and Dad. My father is a very famous person in this city. He is a film director. My mother helps him write the scripts, that’s her job. I’m also an only child, I wish I had any siblings. Well, I also w…”

“Thomas”???

“Yes, Dad”?!

“Please come, dinner is ready”.

“My Dad is calling me for dinner, so I’ll continue writing my diary later”.

So, now you kind of know who I am…

But I have to tell you something, being an only child is the most boring thing ever. I help my Dad with his work in order to be busy with stuff.  I don’t have many friends at school even though they are quite jealous of me. They say that I am a lucky boy for Having a famous father who makes a lot of money, a big house, a fancy car, tons of toys and gadgets, a large pool…. and.. you know what I’m talking about.

Night has fallen and I was getting ready to bed when I heard yells.

”Martha we can’t stay here!”

”WHY NOT JOHN?? What are you hiding from me?!?”

I heard my parents fighting and arguing last night… It ended with me being locked up in my room so I wouldn’t hear. The next day was the same.

“Martha, my love, I have managed to find a safe place, Pennsylvania, a cute house, away from all our problems”.

“But what about Thomas, John? It would be so difficult for him. He barely has any friends here, it would take him forever to find new ones…”

“Mommy?”

“Yes, honey”?

“Are we leaving?

“Yes, I hope not for too long. We are moving away. Daddy has some issues at work, we cannot stay in LA anymore”.

It’s night, I’m trying to fall asleep but I can’t. There are too many noises from outside. Mom is awake, why is she awake? Where is Daddy?

I looked outside the window to understand where the noises are coming from. I saw my Dad with those three armed guys wearing black suits.

“What about the money John? It’s been 2 months since we last warned you”.

“I know, I’ll give you the money I promise. It’s been so difficult lately and I don’t have enough to give you. I tried to publish the new script and sell it but nothing moves.”

“It’s not our problem, John. We did our part of the deal, now do yours, or else ….”

“Give me one more week, PLEASE!”

The armed guy noticed me watching. He gave me this fake smile and told my Dad:

“We are sorry John, but we have orders to follow”.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.

“MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“MARTHA!!!!!! NO!!!!!! Thomas get inside!!!! You will pay for that bastards!”

“Mommy!!!! Nooooooooo! Oh my god NO!”

“We are sorry John, but you brought this on yourself!”

The armed guys entered their car, and in seconds drove away.

Silent…

Dad looked at me and ran straight to mom, who was no longer breathing.

“Martha I’m so sorry, I should have listened to you”.

Dad’s tears could fill our pool, he cried for hours, held my mom. And I? I stared at her, shocked, terrified, traumatized. I lost my mother and I don’t even understand why.

The next morning was.. well.. I can’t even explain it. My dad talked to so many people on the phone, so many phone calls.

“Let’s go Thomas, everything is ready.”

My dad could have barely function. He was troubled, sad, anxious, tears were coming out. My father ordered some men to bury my mother properly as we left the house and entered our car.

“We are moving Thomas, a new place, a new life, we have to hide”.

Dad had finished his last arrangements and we started moving.

“Dad?”

“Yes, love?”

“What happened…?”

“It is a long story son”.

“PLEASE DAD! I have to know why my mom…”

Dad looked at the mirror to see me sitting behind with my tears.

“Of course, it is your right to know the truth.”

Dad sighed.

“Your mom and I were a great team. We worked on a new script, we hoped it would give us some money. The past year has been awful for me. There was no income and  I didn’t know how to pay the bills and…”

“And..?

“And I had no choice but to ask for money from bad people, they were the only ones who could help me. I owe them a lot of money and it cost your Mom’s life”.

My father didn’t have to elaborate too much. I understood it all.

We continued driving for another hour. I started imagining my life without Mommy.

It is a one more hour drive to Pennsylvania.

I wonder what will happen next…

The story continues in the next chapter of “The Fake Smile”.

To be continued…