Chapter 4 Deafening silence

Mario got dressed in a vintage black suit - he liked to keep it classy when it came to an occasion like this and thank God that Juanita was there before he got dressed, who knows? He might have been demotivated already and maybe dressed in casual clothes which of course his father wouldn't ignore but would end up adding more salt to his injury.

He took one last glance at the mirror.

"You look stunning." That would have been Juanita words if she was there but she already left before he dressed up so he said it to himself trying to put himself in good spirit 

"You actually look stunning, Mario Stone." He smirked and then headed outside.

As soon as he was out of his room and now in the sitting room, his brother Tyler who was seated with a TV remote in his hand and a glass of wine on the glass table didn't waste any time in trying to ridicule him.

"Oh wow... Look at that. Stone's first born is out of his room finally and wow he is looking handsome as always. Except for the fact that his face ain't wearing a smile. The girls would be scared of you today. Too bad that I don't get to follow dad on such things. You are the first born after all and you are the one that the World is used to."

Mario wasn't in the mood to reply to his incessant talks. He already knew that his father would be waiting for him outside and didn't want to keep him waiting and so he ignored Tyler and headed straight for the front door.

"Oh! That's serious. Big brother ain't in high spirits today." Then the door banged and shut -- Mario was no longer in the parlor. "Weak wolf." He muttered to himself before laughing out loud. "Let's see what the football World has for me today." He casually said as he pressed a button on the remote and then lifted up his glass of wine to sip from it.

Outside the building, Sylvester was already seated in his SUV with the window wind down. Mario sighted him and thought that there was no need for him to sit inside the same car with him so he passed him without saying a word to join the other car but Sylvester called him back.

"Mario." Sylvester called him and for a nanosecond, Mario doubted that it was him that called -- how he loved to hear his father call his name. Though he didn't want to show his delight in hearing his name from his father's mouth. He just turned around and answered him.

"Yes sir." That was how he referred to him. Calling him father wasn't something that he was used to, probably because of his cold relationship with him. To Mario, the word "father" was ordinary and didn't feel like it and so he decided that it didn't make sense to call him what he didn't feel.

"Don't you think it will get odd for the people to see both father and son coming out from different vehicles. Today is a new launch. A launch of one of my prestigious new businesses, I wouldn't want to give the World a bad impression. We should ride in the same vehicle. It will make the event much more interesting or don't you think so?" His face curved out that little sly smile he always gave out. That smile that showed nothing but selfishness.

Mario was already used to him and so there was absolutely nothing that his father would do that he would find offensive -- 30 years was enough to get used to his crap. Without wasting any time, he turned and joined him in his car, distancing himself from his father a little and just sitting down there in silence.

The both of them sat in silence and the silence was almost too deafening that it made Sylvester a little bit uncomfortable. He was a man that hated quietness -- he liked to hear the chattering of people, the honking of vehicles, the clapping sounds of rain, the buzzing sounds of the radio. He liked it all as long as they were meaningful -- he always referred to those things as the "sounds of life." And there he was sitting in silence with his son. It wasn't like he had anything to say to him anyway. He would just throw Mario quick stares while he gazed outside the window and when he felt he couldn't handle the quiet, he requested that his driver turn on some music.

"Duke, turn on some music." He said to his driver who didn't hesitate to turn on the music. Duke already knew the kind of music that his boss liked. He liked anything ranging from Country music to jazz and then to blues. Although sometimes depending on his mood he liked to listen to some rap music and he only listened to Tupac Shakur who he nicknamed "a man of truth." Duke gave him pleasant melodies from the artist Bill Withers' song "Ain't no sunshine."

"Duke... That is why you will always be my driver. You always know how to set the mood right." Then Sylvester started humming along. For some reason, the song's lyrics gave Mario concern. The lyrics that caught his attention was;

"Ain't no sunshine when she's gone, only darkness everyday. Ain't no sunshine when she's gone and this house just ain't no home, anytime she goes away..."

Could it be that his father was thinking about his mother again? Or was it just another song with lyrics that seems to bother him for no reason? Yeah maybe that was it. He was just over thinking things for no reason.

...

A few moments later, they arrived at the venue where the launch was supposed to be held. The guards opened their doors and they were welcomed by the flashing lights of the paparazzi's cameras and reporters held up at one region. How Mario hated the flashing lights, he just couldn't comprehend it. But then he had to play along because he was attending an important event and didn't want them to notice his unusualness. No matter how the guards tried to protect them from the invading crowd, Mario still felt the hands of the ladies touching him and it irritated him so badly. He was this close to yelling out but managed to keep his cool. All hell was let loose when a female fan dragged his wrist alongside his wrist watch until the wrist watch injured him.