Brad sat on his bed, the corner of his lips twitching in deep thought. With the dim bedside lamp as the only source of light, he cast his eyes at the many papers scattered on the bed. Addresses, street names, maps - all dead ends. He had never felt so hopeless in his life.
Tearing his tired eyes away from the bed, he looked around the expanse of the motel room. Small and dingy. The drapery curtains were stained all over with God-knows-what, and looked as if the softest tug would shred it into pieces. Torn wallpapers hung, revealing dust-kissed walls with cracks and holes.
Sweat trickled down his earlobe, the heat was gradually becoming unbearable. He could have sworn the room temperature was very much like his mother's oven.
His mother…
He fought the urge to cry. A man never cries.
Home…
How he missed home. Heck, he even missed Sophie, the housekeeper who was always a pain in his lazy ass. A weak smile appeared on his face. He remembered each time the middle aged woman called him lazy when he woke up late in the morning.
Brad cast a final glance at the dark motel room. Everything screamed cheap, dirty and poor. Nothing like the luxury he enjoyed at home.
And oh boy, he was poor. Poorer than he wanted to admit. Poorer than he imagined he would be. When he made the decision of leaving home, it never occurred he would end up this hopeless and penniless.
Bradley Owen Harrison Jnr had all the necessities of life and even more. He attended the best schools, drove the flashy cars, wore the nicest things and enjoyed the goodies of life. Standing majestically on a 23-acre land in the upscale part of town, was a house he called home. The Harrisons were a wealthy family, the wealthiest in the neighbourhood. Raised as the last child of a family of seven, Brad swam in the abundance of everything - money, love, warmth and affection.
A devoted family man, Carl Harrison a business mogul and father of five, loved his children and gave them equal opportunities. He believed in saying the truth, and instilled in them honesty. It was because of this that he decided, with his wife to tell Brad a secret they had kept for two decades…
Brad shuddered at the remembrance of that day. The day he lost trust in his family. The day he never looked at his parents and siblings the same. The day he felt like an alien in the midst of humans.
The day he learned he was adopted.
He had gone crazy, crushing flower vases and kicking chairs in his father's study. He fumed with rage and they sat there, just sat there, looking tightly composed. They seemed to have prepared for his reaction.
He looked at his mother, she had the decency to shed a tear; he had thought.
Liars! Freaking liars! Everyone of them!
He loved and looked up to them only to be hit with this bombshell? And how the hell did everyone but him knew?
Everything he believed in was lies.
He made his decision. He wanted to find his family.
Still on the bed, Brad reflected on his quest. It had been two months. Two solid months of futility and dead ends. The foster home he visited had provided him with some addresses, but they led him nowhere.
He travelled places, talked to a few people but when it seemed he was close to getting anything, the trail became cold.
He had run out of cash, had no home, and had no family.
He thought of his mother… he missed her.
He could not count the calls and messages he had had from her. Everyone had reached out, but he was too stubborn to rescind his decision. Then.
And now, making a decision was difficult. How could he live like this? Penniless and alienated with no friends or family. But how could he face the family? The family he deserted. The family who gave him everything he never could have had.
He had a decision to make, and he'd better make it quick.
Thanks for reading. Till next time…
