The Servant Son

It was quiet for a moment.

Then, the man burst into shrill, deranged laughter.

“What a joke! You’re the son of the owners of this place? If you are, then I’m the king of the world!”

The man laughed so hard that he was shaking all over. He pointed a finger at me and said, “Listen, punk, you shouldn’t mess around so much. Although I’ve never met the guy, Professor Corleone told me her son is a king among men. He’s studying abroad! He doesn’t wear no-name trash like you! I’ve met a lot of your kind. You think you can pretend to be rich and powerful just because you’re not as good as others. Do you really think that will get you anywhere?”

The man’s laughter died off, and his gaze became something vicious.

“I sympathize with you. It’s hard to find work when you’re young. You should just do your work diligently, and I’ll pretend you didn’t say any of that. If you keep going on this way, you won’t get a single cent. Worse, you’ll have to pay me compensation for the stress you’ve put me through!”

I took a deep breath. I could feel my temper rising.

“I’ll only say this once more. This is my home. My name is Xavier Newitz. If you don’t believe me, you can call Professor Corleone and check.”

“Why would I call her? She’s busy and doesn’t have time for a scammer like you!”

The man seemed to be convinced that I really was some kind of scammer. Or perhaps he was simply refusing to believe that I was telling the truth.

“Give me my phone back.” I took a step forward and extended a hand to grab it.

“Hey, I was trying to give you a way out!” The man suddenly went berserk and threw my phone to the floor hard.

The smash reverberated through the living room. That phone was barely a month old, with all the top specifications. The screen had spiderweb cracks, and the frame was in pieces.

I was stunned in place. I never imagined that he would dare to break my phone.

“You…”

Before I could say more, the man picked up the filled bucket of water that had been meant for me and threw the water in my face. Its coldness was piercing as the water started seeping through my sweats, slicing into me like knives.

It was really very cold.

It was the middle of winter. Although there was heating inside the house, the water in that bucket came straight from the tap and was icy cold.

I just stood there in a daze, and I could not stop shivering all over. My hair stuck wetly to my face, droplets of water dripping onto the expensive marble floor.

“Did that clear your head?” The man still held the bucket as he looked at me condescendingly. There was twisted pleasure in his expression. “Aren’t you the master of the house? Isn’t this your home? If you ask me, you’re in for a lesson to learn! How dare you peacock around in my territory? You should have checked who you’re dealing with first!”

“Y-You’re nuts…” I wanted to speak properly, but my teeth chattered so hard that my voice shook.

“I’m nuts? I think you’re the one who’s nuts!”

The man flung the bucket away and stalked forward to grab me by the hair. My scalp burned as I was forced to look up and meet his furious gaze.

“This place is full of mansions, and they’re all far apart. You can scream all you want, but no one’s coming to save you!” he said viciously. “Do you want to call the police? Well, tough luck, your phone’s broken!”

Indeed, this area was full of mansions and so was more isolated for privacy reasons. The mansions were separated by huge gardens and trees. Unless I could escape outside, no one out there would know what was going on in here. Besides, I was already cold and tired. I had been standing in the train for six hours, and my legs were practically useless. After the cold water attack, I felt incapable of fighting against this muscular man who seemed to work out a lot.

“What do you want?”

“What do I want? I want you to remember this lesson!”

He dragged me by the hair like I was nothing but a beast and shoved me into the first-floor bathroom.

“Let go! Let go!” I struggled with all my might and tried to grab his wrists. I even tried to punch him, but my strength had sapped away too quickly, and my punches were light.

“Well, the kid dares to fight back!” The man scoffed and punched me in the face.

The punch hit really hard, and my head started buzzing. My left ear rang, and I even saw stars. Before I could get my senses back, I was shoved by the sink. The man turned the tap all the way open, the cold water blasting out.

“This should clear your head!”

He shoved me by the back of my head and pressed my head under the water in the sink.