Lydia- The Pet Communicator

Chapter 26

Cracking the immense silence, my father started some music while driving. I didn’t feel like talking as I was physically drained and hungry too. My father was looking at me from the rear- view mirror, and then shifting his gaze to Drake with a devilish smirk. He was actually teasing me with Drake, and Drake was unaware of it as he was busy writing some notes on his smart phone. I stuck out my tongue at my dad and hurriedly looked away, out of the car window.

Only then, my favorite song by Ronan Keating was on track. My father started singing at full volume along with it. He always dedicated this song to me.

Sometimes late at night

I lie awake and watch her sleeping

She's lost in peaceful dreams

So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark

And the thought crosses my mind

If I never wake up in the morning

Would she ever doubt the way I feel

About her in my heart

If tomorrow never comes

Will she know how much I loved her

Did I try in every way to show her every day

That she's my only one

And if my time on earth were through

And she must face this world without me

Is the love I gave her in the past

Gonna be enough to last

If tomorrow never comes

His tone changed while singing the song. He started stuttering, like he was about to cry at any minute. “Dad, change the song, please. No more tears okay?” My father sniffed and gulped hard. Drake was confused and he was looking at both of us blankly. My father changed the track and the next song was Boyfriend by Justin Bieber.

“Who is this singer? I mean, why she is singing, if I was your boyfriend?” Drake asked immediately.

“Drake, it's Justin Beiber!” I shouted in his face.

My father chuckled and spoke, “Drake, Don’t hurt the feelings of all the young girls out there. What if they go nuts in their pink world after hearing your question? Ha-ha! Anyway, tell me, where do we go?” Drake laughed out crazily at my father’s comment. I wanted to smash their heads. I really didn’t understand why every guy thinks the same. Not all the girls like pink, One Direction and Justin Beiber!

“Straight to Pizza Hut, please daddy!”

“Don’t you have better places sweetie?” My father mumbled in irritation.

“We can try Chinese food today, I know one good place! It’s called, Lucky Dragons.” Drake responded.

“Oh yes, I have heard of it too. Let’s go there! Do you have any problem with our plan Lydia?”

“No dad, I am fine with it. What about our pets? Have they had their meals? Are they alright?”

My father changed the direction to the left and beamed, “Don’t worry. We gave them their food before coming to see you at the police station. By the way, the new dog is really friendly. It’s cute too! Where did you get it from?”

“Isn’t he cute? Amanda came to drop him off early in the morning because she couldn’t take care of him.”

“So she just abandoned it?” My father wondered. I pouted, as I had no answer.

My father stopped the car in front of a Chinese restaurant. There was a beautiful board outside, designed of three cheerful chef dragons with food plates in their hands and they were colored in crimson. The restaurant's name was engraved in Chinese text. When we entered, some Chinese attendents welcomed us in and directed us to a table for four. The restaurant was brilliantly decorated. Iit was cozy and warm, along with some soothing Chinese music in the background.

Shortly, an attendent came to our table with two menu cards. It was actually the first time I was going to have Chinese. I took one menu card from her hand and scanned through it. I couldn’t make my choice. I looked up at Drake and my father impassively, as both of them were waiting for me to place my order. I shook my head and made a, I- got- no- idea face.

My father and Drake decided the dishes, as well as they placed the order. “One Beef Brisket, one Chow mien, two plates of Hainan chicken rice and three Hot and sour soups.”

The waitress jotted down our dishes and kept us some fortune cookies on the table. I was about to pick one cookie and my father stopped me, “Don’t believe in such things. God can change his decisions anytime, so have faith in him only.”

“Dad, let me do it for fun please?” My father heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes at me in displeasure. I grabbed a cookie and broke it into two. A piece of paper came out of it. I opened it quickly, while munching the cookie and it read, “All the troubles you have will pass away very quickly.” I smiled at the note and kept it back on the cookie plate.

“Drake, how did you meet Antonio? He is a true gentleman!” My father asked unexpectedly.

“Nice question. I will tell you the whole story in details, whereas we shall wait for our food to come.” Drake replied and continued,

“I was walking back home from my friend’s place after midnight. It was only a fifteen minute walk from his place to mine, so I chose to walk. So, I saw a courageous police officer stopping a heavily drunk driver, who was driving uncontrollably on the roads, while the whole area was entirely calm. The driver looked like a notorious criminal by his appearance. As Antonio asked him to exit his vehicle, the driver came out and appeared to look for witness around him. Seeing no one, the drunken driver grabbed Antonio's hands and begun a shoving match that would soon escalate. Then, the bandit reached for Antonio’s weapon belt, and grabbed his gun. Antonio pleaded for assistance on his wireless radio. "Give me some help!” And I was watching the whole scene from behind a parked car. I hid there, as I didn’t want to get involved in the fight. Selfish of me, but I was new to the city. Next, the driver pinned Antonio to the side of the car. Numerous motorists passed Antonio in the midst of the scuffle, but I hurried to save him. I couldn’t let it go worse. I immediately called ‘911’ first. Later, I joined in the fight and formed a tag team with Antonio in beating the driver away until another police officer arrived to take the driver for good. Antonio thanked me a lot for saving his life, and told me that he will always be there to help me whenever I needed him.  Antonio and I met again in a book club after some weeks of the incident. From there, we started talking and knowing each other much better.

“Wow! It’s an interesting story.” I exclaimed, and my father whined.

Shortly, two attendents came forward with our food. They arranged it systematically on the table and everything looked so delicious. “So Drake, the story was very interesting. Can I know more about your family background?” My father insisted.

“Sure, I want to tell you both everything now. It’s a long history, but I will try to make it short.”

“You mean, you didn’t even tell Lydia?”

“No sir, I never got a perfect time to tell her. I am sorry.” He spoke, while lowering his gaze with shame.

Drake, it’s alright. Let’s have our food first.” I uttered quickly.

“No, this could be the perfect time, since we all are together and dining out too.” Drake stated.

I nodded, and my father was observing Drake carefully, waiting for him to speak.

“I was born in an underprivileged family with having four brothers, elder to me. My biological parents couldn’t afford my expenses, so my father adopted me to my uncle who was very rich and based in California. He doesn’t have any children. My foster father owns a grand casino and is involved in a lot of illicit activities including drug dealing and prostitution. His wife supports him in the business fully. I grew up calling them my parents, although, they were busy in their luxurious and unpleasant life. They kept some maids to look after me and they brought me whatever I needed.

However, I never got their attention which I was always looking for. I tried spending my time in studying and hanging out with my friends. After getting matured enough, I couldn’t see the wrong things done by them. I did my best to make them understand that all this is illegal and dangerous, but they never took it seriously. They enjoyed taunting me about my biological father being a beggar and a man with no brains. Moreover, my aunt used to look at me with awful intentions, whenever my uncle was away she used to come around and sexually harass me.

Out of frustration, I ran away far from them. My best friend Eric knew my situation at home, he talked with his parents and asked me to stay with him. I did a part time job, so that I could continue my studies. Eric’s parents were really nice and supportive. They took care of me and Eric equally. After some months, my uncle came looking for me, but I refused to return back with him and he didn’t come back until last month, he came all the way here to Cambridge, with his wife to give me my property and I refused to take it."

Drake cleared his throat and drank some water which was already filled in a glass from before, by the waitress who gave us the menu card. I understood his throat was dry after speaking so much, but we didn’t even ask him to take a break. His story was really interesting. Drake continued,

"Back to the story, I completed my studies with very good ranks and got an offer of doing a teaching job from the same university I completed in. I accepted it as my career, given that I needed some money for spending. My life went on normally, I gave all the money I earned in the hands of Eric’s parents since they did a lot for me, but they only took the half of it and gave the rest back to me. We stayed as a happy family.

Two years later, I applied in Lydia’s school –Saint Mary’s High School for a job. I wanted to move out of California and settle my life somewhere else. Luckily, the school offered me an apartment, a car and thirty thousand dollars per annum. I took my decision and flew all the way to Cambridge to be independent.”

Drake shrugged and pointed towards the food on the table, which was getting cold. I assumed he was done sharing his story. I looked up at my father, he was amazed with Drake. A tear escaped his eye and patted on Drake’s shoulder, while saying, “I am proud of you Drake.”

I was speechless. I didn’t know Drake suffered a lot in his life. At least, he could have shared it with me! Or had he remained unspoken, because I was in problems all the time? I stood up from my chair and hugged him tightly.

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Howdy! Hope you all are on top of the world- meaning- doing all good! Lol! Here's a tight hug for reading this chapter. Leave a comment please, if you enjoyed it. I am open to critiques too :P 

So, here is everything about Drake. I will be back with the animals in the coming chapters. But we all needed to know Drake right? How many of you love him more? Raise your hands in the air! He-he!

Okay, you can listen to the song which Lydia's father dedicates here. Oh! It's there, on the right side ;) Got it? Good! Love ya!