Chapter 2 The Tyron We Knew

• ( Atty. Wenziel )
• Sympathy poured in as I looked at James’ body laid on the hospital bed. It has been years since he was put on life support. He was no more than skin and bones begging to be laid to rest. He’s our friend and I wanted him to finally have peace.
• Eriez held the folder tightly. We’re both queasy knowing how hard it would be for Tyron to be reminded of that document over and over again. It was the Health Care Directive that was created and signed by James after the three days he was hospitalized. We both knew it was crucial in case anything happened to him. It states that James is willing to be taken off the life-support, in case he falls to a vegetative state, at the time Tyron accepts and signs the document. Eriez and I have signed it as witnesses the moment it was created. The final decision lies at Tyron’ s hands.
• Tyron looked at us with fiery eyes when we handed him the document. He’s always been that way when we talked about his father’s condition. He’s just too sensitive about it. He crumpled the folder and threw it in the trash.
• “Nobody touches my father,” Tyron tried to keep his voice from breaking. “How many times do I have to remind you?”
• “For the past five years, your father showed no signs of improvement,” Eriez spoke. His voice always had that power to convince, like a natural paternal talent “He’s just suffering even more. And as a dear friend to him, we feel your grief.”
• Tyron remained looking at his father’s limp body.
• “You’ve been a good child. You’ve been exceptional at running the company. You have proven us your capabilities and as the sole heir to Zel Cantheliz and Cryzastic Corporation, all you’ve got to do now is do your what you father wanted,” Eriez continued. “It’s up to you to decide if you’re letting your father free or prolong his restless sleep.”
• All eyes were on Tyron in that cold room as we waited for his decision. The quietness grew longer until he told us to give them some privacy first. Eriez nodded in approval and before we left, I saw the first tears Tyron has shed for years. All the pain he had kept behind that steel mask has finally been released. It was heartbreaking. But I was a little glad that I saw his human side again.
• The Tyron we knew…
• (TYRON)
• Before, I didn’t quite understand why my father used to leave and go out then back the country often. I was left in a huge mansion where every corner was heavily guarded or secured by cameras. It was frequently quiet and no one to ever talk to.
• I was usually confined to my room, sat by the window as I watched my father go after we just had breakfast together. He’d disappear for a month or how long his business trip would take.
• I was always alone…
• Life was a cliché. I was homeschooled so books were my constant companions. If not, I was outside, on the meadows of the Zel Cantheliz Villa, riding my white stallion. Of course, my father’s men were always watching my back.
• One day, while I was out on that little bridge, I heard my father’s voice. He was surprising back home.
• “The only Zel Cantheliz that will be left alone someday,” he teased. I didn’t turn to see him and kept quiet. “Is already always alone.”
• He stepped closer and handed me a fishing rod, “You shouldn’t grow up like that Tyron, I’m about to leave you a huge responsibility in the future…a family and a company.”
• I took that rod and gave him a short smile. He sat beside me at the wooden bridge’s floor and spoke, “I used to fish alone when I was a kid. That way the catch is often plenty.”
• He threw the tipple with the bait on the water and I did too.
• “I often got none when I fish with my three older siblings so I decided to fish alone after ever since,” father’s face fell a little. His eyes were downcast and his mind was somewhere back in the past. “You were aware of the Zel Cantheliz massacre, right?”
• I nodded although it wasn’t really a question.
• “I’ve went fishing just to see everybody dead when I got home. All of the Zel Cantheliz lineage was killed, except me and grandpa, the eldest in line. He helped me escape.”
• The lake remained calm for a while but I felt a little tug at the hook of my fishing rod. Eventually, a hungry fish bit my bait and struggled against being pulled off the water. It was a moderately big one. I smiled at my catch but instantly felt bad as I watched it pathetically wriggle for its life and was slowly dying. Our family has been shrouded with death and father has been its witness.
• “Scared and confused, I asked him why something as terrible as that did happen,” father resumed his story. “Greed. It was about greed, he explained to me with conviction. Our family initiated the killing of its own bloodline. It has been a gladiator battle where the strongest gets to live and amass all the wealth of Zel Cantheliz for his own.”
• I looked at father blankly and he smiled back with concealed brokenness. “I was your age at that time and was clueless about the power Zel Cantheliz held. I’ve been left alone often, just like you. And before my grandfather passed away, he bequeathed me everything that the Zel Cantheliz family owned. The only words he gave me before dying was that it’s hard to run a company alone.”
• The fish has stopped moving in the bucket. It has died sooner before I even released it back to the lake. I averted my gaze to the sky and tried to understand my father’s words. He has always spoken to me like I was an adult capable of the burdens of adults. And all of it made me lonelier.
• “You’re my only son, Tyron. Whether you like it or not, you will bear all the responsibilities I will leave you with when I die. Firstly, don’t let our company taste its first failure. Secondly, fulfill grandpa’s will for me. Promise me that you will marry and make the Zel Cantheliz bloodline flourish again. Do something that I failed to do.”
• The sun was setting down when we went home. But before I reached my room, my father stopped me. “I never blamed you for your mother’s death, Tyron. Nobody wished for it to happen…so don’t blame yourself anymore.”
• His face was clear of all the hints of pain he has shown earlier. I just stood there as I watched him retreat to his study room, smiling. How that day went has felt so eerie, like the calm before a storm. Like something tragic was about to happen.
• Sya, the maid I grew up with, approached me cheerfully. She’s a big woman in her fifties and has been a mother to me. “Master James rarely had his time off work. It’s good you two had bonded. I heard he’ll be going abroad again tomorrow.”
• Noticing how her words made me sad, she tousled my hair and gave me a hug.
• After a few days, something tragic did happen indeed.
• @SenaMangampo