CHAPTER 246: DENZEL’S DEAD

"Why are you here alone?" Hazel approached Eilon and sat beside him, as no one was paying attention to him, and he seemed lost.

Eilon lifted his head. He looked at Hazel with his big eyes. "Mom told me to stay here," he replied. "But I am hungry."

"Have you had lunch?" Eilon shook his head. "Breakfast?" He shook his head again.

Denzel fell from the stairs early this morning, and they found him a few hours later. There was a possibility that, in the hectic situation, Ema had forgotten to feed her son.

Hazel had a strong dislike for Ema, particularly because she constantly meddled in her affairs. However, that didn’t mean she would extend those feelings to her son. After all, Eilon was Ranon’s brother, and he had just lost his father.

"Come, let’s go to the kitchen and see what we can eat." Hazel stood up and took his hand. Eilon followed her.

In the kitchen, there was only a clear soup. The maid didn’t prepare any food; therefore, Hazel had to whip up something simple to save time. She opted to make a plate of fried rice with slices of meat that she found inside the fridge.

It took Hazel fifteen minutes, and when it was done, Eilon’s eyes lit up. "It smells good," he said happily.

"Dig up." Hazel caressed his head and sat next to him. They didn’t say anything, and she used this silence to think about other matters that had been plaguing her mind.

As cold as it sounded, Denzel’s death didn’t bother her. She was here because she had to be, not because she wanted to be. And to some degree, Ranon was the same.

From outside, she could hear more people beginning to arrive; most of them must be business partners. The plan was to bury him the next day, as they prepared for the funeral.

Daniel handled most of it, but since he couldn’t move freely, Ranon would likely take on the responsibility. He would be busy in the coming days.

"I am done, thank you," Eilon said sweetly.

"You are most welcome," Hazel replied. The boy was surprisingly polite, despite how annoying Ema could be. It seemed that you could be a shitty person, yet also a good mother.

"Can we stay here? I don’t want to go outside." Eilon played with his spoon when Hazel was about to stand up and took him back.

"Sure. We can stay here a little bit longer if you like." Hazel sat down again. They didn’t say anything, and Eilon was staring at her; it was a little bit awkward. Therefore, she tried to make small talk, even though that was not her forte. "Are you sad?"

"No."

Oh, okay. Hazel didn’t know what else to talk about and then remembered something. "Are you still drawing?" Eilon nodded. "Why don’t you show me your drawings?"

The last time they met, the little boy was excited to show Hazel his drawings. Since then, Hazel had visited the house a few more times, but usually, she didn’t see the little boy or interact with him much because Ema didn’t permit it.

"Okay!" He beamed happily and then jumped from his seat, starting to ramble. "Dad doesn’t like it when I draw, so I don’t draw much."

Eilon took Hazel’s hand, and they went to his bedroom. Hazel had been here once before, but she noticed that a few drawings from the last time were no longer there; however, she assumed it was because Ema kept them away since Denzel didn’t like them.

"My dad wants me to be good at math, but I am not." Eilon took a drawing book from the drawer and showed it to Hazel proudly. The last time Hazel saw it, she praised him, and he liked it. "Dad wants me to be like Brother Ranon, but I don’t like it. I am bad at it. Dad said I am a bad son."

"I am not good at math either." She was not very good at some things that were related to business. "Just because you don’t like something, it doesn’t mean you are bad."

Hazel then found a crumpled paper that had been smoothed. It seemed that the drawing had been thrown away, but then it had been picked up again.

There was nothing unusual about the drawing. There were only three people, whom Hazel assumed were Eilon and his parents. However, the man was not sitting in a wheelchair.

What piqued Hazel’s interest was the paper that had been crumpled.

"Why is this drawing like this?" Hazel pointed at the paper.

"I was angry with my mom because she was yelling at me when I showed her the drawing, so I threw it away," Eilon replied as he rummaged through his drawer to get another drawing book to show to Hazel.

In this house, his drawings went unnoticed. Although his mother did not say anything harsh about them, she did not express much happiness either, as she preferred him to be more like what his father wished him to be.

"This is me, Mom, and my brother Daniel," Eilon explained.

"But Brother Daniel is in a wheelchair."

Eilon giggled when he heard that. "Mom said the same thing, too. But she says I can’t tell anyone about it."

Now, Hazel was invested in this. "What is it? You can tell me, you know; we are friends, right?"

It was not difficult to make Eilon speak. He looked very innocent, just like a child at his age, and Hazel felt bad for digging for information from him, even though she didn’t know what she was looking for.

Eilon then told her what he saw. He woke up after his nap and went downstairs to get water because he was thirsty. But then he saw Daniel standing up from his wheelchair and walking to grab something.

Eilon was surprised; thus, he didn’t say anything until Daniel sat down again and entered the pantry. Eilon asked Daniel if he could walk. Daniel said yes but told Eilon to keep it a secret.

Well, Daniel should know better than to make a seven-year-old boy, who loved to chatter, keep a secret. Hazel thought to herself.

Because right now, not only Hazel but also Ema knew about it.

Later that night, Hazel had to go back alone because Ranon had a lot of things to take care of in the house, and she didn’t have anything to do there. So, it would be better for her to go back and check on their baby.

"I will call once I get home," Hazel said as she kissed Ranon’s cheek. "Are you sure you will be fine?"

"I will be fine," Ranon reassured her. He kissed her cheeks and opened the car door for her.

"Don’t forget to lock the door when you sleep."

Ranon laughed when he heard this. "Do you think my father will wake up and haunt me?"

"Not your father." Hazel glanced at Ema, who was still talking to the guests, but Hazel knew she had been glancing over a few times, staring at Ranon for a little bit longer than Hazel’s liking.

"I will make sure to lock my door," Ranon said when he knew what his wife meant.

"Good." Hazel nodded in satisfaction.

However, before Hazel could enter the car, Laurel had approached them. "You are going home? I want to go home with you, too. I want to sleep in your house."

Laurel didn’t even ask permission. She jumped right to a decision and then entered the car. Hazel wanted to protest, but she saw how distraught Laurel was.

As an ex-business partner, James came here as well to show his condolences, and meeting James at a moment like this was not in Laurel’s best interest.

"It’s okay," Hazel said when Ranon wanted to tell his sister to get out of the car. "I need someone to accompany me too, since you will not come home. See you tomorrow."

Hazel tiptoed and pecked his lips, but she warned him again in a low voice to lock his door.

However, on their car ride, Hazel regretted her decision to let Laurel stay over at her place because she kept crying and then got angry when she remembered what Denzel had done to the family, and then she started crying again.

Laurel was very emotional; for someone who typically kept her feelings to herself, this outpouring was overwhelming for Hazel to handle. She was overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do or what to say. Consoling others was not her specialty.

***

It was close to three in the morning when Ranon finally could lie down for a while, after all the hustle. He closed his eyes but was not sleeping, because he had to be up again in two hours. He decided not to sleep.

And suddenly, someone jiggled the door handle, as if trying to enter the room without even knocking first.

However, Ranon had locked the door, thanked to his wife’s reminder; thus, the other people wouldn’t be able to enter the room as they pleased.

Ranon occupied his old bedroom. Nothing changed, but then again, there wasn’t much here to begin with.

"Ranon? Can you open the door, please?" Ema’s voice travelled inside. She sounded very frail, as if she had been crying the whole day. "Ranon? I know you are awake. I just need someone to talk to, please."

Ranon stared at the closed door, and then there was another knock again. The sound was irritating.