“I know, and I have not tried to fix him, I have just been myself, honest and true,” I replied.
“You know, I only want what’s best for you, and either way I’ll support you, no matter what you decide.”
“You are a good friend Mandy, and I always listen to what you have to say in situations like this, because ultimately, you are much more experienced,” I replied.
“I’ll take that as a compliment, I think,” she said as she giggled.
“Well Mandy, I have updated you on everything I know, apart from that Elijah has gone to see his mother today, but I have no idea how he got on,” I said as I stood. “We must get going. It will be dark in a while.”
“Yep, Kendall, keep me updated and remember, just be careful, you never know,” she said.
I grabbed Bo from the couch, and we finally headed home before the night totally set in. As I turned into the driveway, I could see that Elijah had come to the house. I thought it was strange unless he wanted to tell me about his mother
“Hi Elijah, what are you doing here?” I asked happy to see him.
“I had to see you before I headed home,” he replied.
“So, how did your visit go with your mother? I mean was it as expected, or worse?” I asked.
“It was alright, I learned a lot of things, and one of the biggest things I learned was what a complete dick I had been, and I feel really bad about it,” he said with a tear in his eye.
“You want to come in and talk about it?” I asked.
“No, here is okay, I can’t stay too long.”
“So, what did she tell you then?” I asked.
“Well, I learned Peter is gay, and I had held this against him, even though he had protected me against Dad when he had beaten me. As you know, he used to jump in and take my beatings,” he said.
“And what about the relationship with your mother? How did all that start?”
“When I was much younger, she had an affair, and I caught her with her boyfriend. She made me promise not to tell anyone, especially Dad. He later found out, and that was the reason he started drinking, and even though he used to beat me, I used to spend the most time with him because by then, he’d disowned Peter and Mom,” he explained at length.
“That is terrible. So you got the majority of the business and his fortune?” I asked.
“No, I got all of it, every last cent, apart from a few tens of thousands each, and the odd bit of furniture like Peter’s desk and all that. Peter had just become so disengaged from Dad that he wasn’t really sure Peter existed toward the end of his life, and he hated Mom for what she had done.
“That is dreadful,” I said as I stood in shock.
“Yes, but I followed Dad, I never looked at Peter hardly, even though we had been close, I just got influenced by Dad and his mentality, and I lost my brother for a few years. And with Mom, I just blamed her for everything that happened. It was her fault to a certain extent, but that should have been between her and Dad, and I was too young to be involved. I was kinda dragged into the middle of it. I could have, and probably would have, ended up with no family at all. I m
ean, it was only Peter who had always cared for me.”
“Wow!”
“The one thing that sickens me more than anything is, I inherited a company that was worth so much, and I had just let them go and basically be penniless, while I abused my power and my wealth,” he continued to say.
I had listened to everything that Elijah said, and felt sorry for him, Peter and his mom. He must have had a bad childhood having to keep his mom’s affair secret for all those years. I just wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be alright from now on.
And it must have been horrible for Peter to be just cast aside, and not thought of at all, not just by their dad; Elijah had also stopped communicating with him for the most part.
“I have made so many decisions today, and one is quite harsh,” he said as he looked at me dearly.
“What are your decisions, and why are they so harsh?” I asked.
“I have become very fond of you Kendall, and I’ll not ever let myself put you in that situation, I just can’t, it would break your heart, and it would probably break mine in the process,” Elijah began.
“So, what’s it you’ve decided? I don’t understand where you are going with this?” I replied.