Epilogue

LEILA

I can hardly understand what the priest was saying as I watched my father's coffin slowly going down the newly dug hole in St Anna's Cemetary. My tears were running down my cheeks. I couldn't understand how he could have died so young. He was only thirty-nine years old. I have never heard him of being sick. He had a very good physique, masculine, and he goes through a one /hour exercise routine everyday just to be in shape.

Heart attack. The coronary examiner wrote on his death certificate. I talked with the doctor who was assigned to him when he was rushed to the hospital. He could not give a single reason why his heart just stopped pumping.

My father was a good man. He was always kind and soft spoken. He was an electrical engineer working in a big company an hour away from our house.

He tried to be so good to Mom and me but they were always arguing with each other. Mom said he should resign and look for a better job. He kept saying she spent too much.

I tried to remember the happy times. He used to carry me a lot. He would throw me in the air and I would scream and laugh. He loved giving me a piggyback. Until he died, he would bring me to school everyday. He taught me my alphabet. He taught me math.

Math became my favourite subject because of him. He made sure that I was smarter than my teachers. And I was.

I had already been accelerated twice. My classmates were two years older than me. While they were memorizing their multiplication table, I was already learning the complex equations of algebra.

Since my Dad also taught me how to read, he was the one who bought books for me. He continued buying books for me even though I already learned to go to the public library.

My relatives started throwing flowers at his casket. I threw mine. I looked behind me. Mom was also crying silently. Her eyes were downcast, like she was in a totally different world. I wondered what was in her thoughts.

Then I saw her looking sideways, then a slight smile formed on her face. She noticed me looking at her, quite frightened by her smile. Her face hardened. The smile disappeared and her eyes became very cold. I had never seen her look that cold. Then she must have noticed my frightened look, because her face suddenly softened and a smile formed on her face.

I looked away, my heart was thumping loudly. A chill went down my spine. I looked up into the heavens and asked God to help me.

Yes, I was only nine but I knew how to pray.

"Leila!" A feminine voice called out to me. I glanced around. There was a woman in her mid fifties smiling at me. She beckoned me to come to her.

She was my father's mother, Grandma Stephanie. She was a sweet lady. I went to her and she gave me a hug. While she was hugging me, she slipped an envelope inside my pocket and whispered into my ear, "Call me anytime. If you need help, call me."

She looked at me tenderly and fresh tears appeared in her eyes. "Leila, Grandma loves you so much!"she said sweetly. I just stared at her.

"Leila!" my mother's voice called out loudly. She angry for some reason I couldn't understand. I felt her grab my left arm and harshly pull me away from my grandmother.

Grandma continued to look at me, smiling, her eyes still misty. She looked so sad. She waved goodbye. We continued looking at each other until I was too far away.

I was only nine years old then. But after my father's death. I lost my childhood and I learned how difficult and unrelentless life was.

JASON

I was in a sports club playing tennis with my friends when my Dad called me up.

At first, I ignored the phone. I already had three wins and two losses. We were on the sixth round. I was already tired but I want to prove I'm a better tennis player that George.

The phone kept on ringing. I started to lose my concentration. I missed the ball. I sighed.

I signaled to George that it's game over. So it was a tie.

I went to the benches and answered the phone.

"Hey, Dad! What's up?" I tried to sound jolly even though I didn't feel it. I was going to see him at dinner, which was just three hours away. Why couldn't he wait?

"Son, where are you?" He asked in his deep voice.

"Just playing tennis with George."

I guess he must have heard the disappointment in my voice because he apologized.

"I'm sorry, Son, but can you come home now? Brian, my attorney is here?"

I slightly frowned. "Why? Is anything wrong? You're not going to jail, are you?" I kidded my old man.

He laughed. "Not yet, not soon anyway. We were just talking about the future of Emzitech so he suggested that we include you in the conversation."

He really tried to make it sound casual but I was able to feel the eagerness in his voice. I was only fourteen. I felt I was too young to know about Dad's business, which was one of the top AI companies in the United States, if not the world. But I don't want to disappoint my Dad.

"Alright, I will be there in thirty minutes."

"Great!" He sounded so delighted and relieved. "See you, then." He hung up.

George was already in the shower when I entered the locker room. I went to the adjacent cubicle and took a shower, too.

"That you, Jay?" He asked loudly.

"Yeah." I turned on the knob. The water felt wonderful on my face. I let it wet my whole body, washing away the sweat. After the shower, I hurriedly put on a black tshirt and a pair of jeans.

I didn't have my own car yet so George dropped me off my house. Not really in front of my house, but outside the gates.

My house was in an exclusive subdivision in California. There were a lot of rich celebrities in the neighborhood. We had been living here since I was a toddler. My whole family loved the neighborhood! We all try to be kind and helpful towards each other. Disagreements were resolved quickly. Neighbors loved to visit each other, bringing food or gifts which they felt their neighbor needed.

The kids in my neighborhood always visited one another. Most of the parents were busy. So all the children in the neighborhood really got close even though we were of varying ages. When we are outside the neighborhood, we are seen as aloof, conceited brats, but in the neighborhood, we were one big family. We rarely fought. Could you believe that? I couldn't believe it myself. No bullies! No one gets ostracized!

I remember Dina. She grew up in a wheelchair because she was born disabled. She and her mother came over at our house and told us that her sweet Dina needed friends who can bring her around because of her disabilities.

My mother volunteered me to start introducing her to my friends. At first I did it because I took pity on her. She was very shy and was silent most of the time. But as time went by, she started to relax and be herself. Now she became part of our gang! Wasn't that great?

So I finally knocked at my Dad's door. Dad told me to come in so I pushed the door open. Brian and Dad were both standing up. We all sat down.

Dad started to talk. " Like I told you on the phone, Brian pointed out that I need to include you in Emzitech's future. Son, I know it's too early for you to think about it, but have you thought of what you want to be when you grow up?"

I shifted on my seat uneasily. "I did tell you I wanted to go into sports…"

"Well, yes, that's a great idea, and I want you to know I'm proud of you for winning that silver medal a few months ago," I saw Dad was being very careful with his words. "But Emzitech is worth billions. You can't earn billions playing sports. So are you sure being a tennis player is what you wanted to do all your life? Men in sports can only do that until they reach thirty-five. After that, they need to choose another career."

"How about David?" David was my brother and was two years younger than me.

"He already agreed to be part of the company. But he's not doing well in school. We already both agreed that since you excel in all your subjects, especially Math and Science, you are more equipped to be the CEO of Emzitech later on."

Silence. I felt controlled and manipulated. But even at a very young age, I didn't like making rush decisions. I saw their point. I didn't want to admit it, but the I did like Emzitech. I loved computers. I had not yet told my Dad, but I already created programs, apps and websites as my own personal business. I was already earning money secretly without my family knowing about it. I just use a different name when dealing with my clients. In fact, Emzitech was currently one of my clients without them knowing about it.

My Dad cleared his throat. "Son don't worry about it. Just think it over."

I hated hurting my Dad's feelings. I knew he really wanted me to take over his company later. He had hinted it a lot over the past years so I really I wasn't surprised we were having this conversation right now.

I just wasn't ready to be serious about it. It was a big responsibility.

So I smiled at him to comfort him and suggested. "I don't have classes tomorrow. Why don't I visit your office tomorrow?"

My Dad looked at me, shocked. His mouth slightly open. I wanted to laugh but I didn't want to offend him.

His face broke into a happy grin. "That's great, Son! Good idea!"

I stood up. "Just a short visit then we can have lunch tomorrow."

"Yes! Yes!"

I saw him overcome with emotion. He went over to me and hugged me and patted me on the back.

I felt pushed in a corner. But am I sure I didn't want to be there? Maybe. Maybe not. Everyone who was into IT would kill to be in my shoes. A dream come true. This was all so confusing. Why did I feel so confused?