WEB OF RICHES AND RUIN

“He’s the lazy one”

Marcus had been planning his farewell party from way back. This was just after he had received the news from his father about their relocation from the city. The reason as to why they were to relocate was not clear. His father was not a very talkative man, but a very powerful one. Marcus didn’t care much about the relocation, he knew that once they had settled down, he would easily go back to the city and as for the party he was hosting for his farewell, was just another Saturday in his life, only that it was to be bigger and with a title on it. His life was just like that of any other rich child where the parents never get the time to spend with their children as they are always busy making more money, as if what they have is not enough. These kinds of parents fill the void of their absence to their children with money. This was the case with Marcus. His whole life, he had lived in a world where anything was readily at his disposal. Well, you couldn’t blame the parents for giving their son whatever he wished for; after all, he was the main reason they worked; he was their son. Having everything you think of kind of makes you care less about your parents; the parent’s strategy had worked. He was more accustomed to Maria the maid than his mother. Maria was the one beside him ever since he said his first words to where he was then.

“Hello, Tony boy, it's Marcus. Did you get the stuff? ...wait what! Come on man, you can’t be serious right now. It's almost time. OK, I am on my way. See you in twenty”. He said, hanging up on the phone. He reached for the car keys and rushed out of the house. A few seconds later he rushed back in. He had forgotten something. “Hey, Maria, Maria, Maria!” He shouted, almost losing his temper. “Yes Marcus. I'm sorry, I couldn’t quite hear you from my room.” Said Maria. For Marcus, raising him meant nothing. Maria was just a maid. Yes, just a maid. He couldn’t respect her; how could he? She was just another maid to him. “Whatever you say, maid. I'm having my friends later for a party. You know what that means. I am heading out. When I come back, just please don’t be here. Find somewhere to go.” He said in haste, and before she could say anything, he was gone.” Marcus… but Marc…” she had then tried calling him back, but it was too late. She heard car tires screeching outside and some seconds later it was all quiet. She gave up and went back to her room. Maybe, whatever she was trying to tell him could have waited.

This wasn’t Maria’s first time; she was used to it. Since Marcus’s parents were never home, he had always hosted parties in the house; I mean, why not? He was rich and had no parents around. Besides, isn’t that what rich people do? Maria was used to the parties; she would just go visit her husband whenever Marcus needed her to leave. One thing she still couldn’t get around her head and was not sure if she would tolerate much longer was the disrespect Marcus portrayed. He wasn’t always rude, but as he turned seventeen, his attitude towards her changed. She couldn’t get it. She was practically like a mother to him and had always loved him like her own baby but then Marcus was there to remind her to know her place in his life. Maria was old and was not open to the idea that the young could disrespect the aged just as they felt like. This felt very wrong within her every nerve and her very fiber of existence. She had thought of approaching the parents about her quitting but after she had learnt of the relocation, she decided to let things move on; She knew that she couldn’t relocate with them.

By the time Marcus got back, Maria was gone. He never really cared where she went, only that she was gone. Tony was busy unloading the beer from the car. These were the drinks for the farewell party. It was that night; the night Marcus had been planning for all along. Marcus was busy confirming if the sound system was good and after he was done, he joined Tony to help set up the house. “This will be the sickest party ever bro”, said Tony, sounding very excited. He had been looking at the large quantity of the liquor they had purchased. Marcus gave a quick smile followed by a little nod. His concentration was now lost on his phone and didn’t even hear what Tony said. He was busy confirming if the people were still attending the party since it was about time. He reached for the door and opened it after a knock, the DJ had arrived. He welcomed her and showed her to the music station and immediately, the house started booming.

In about an hour, the house was packed. It was ‘the sickest party’, just as Tony had said. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits mostly from the influence of the liquor which was in plenty and from the music played by the female disk joker. Her song selection was just perfect and that’s what had made her cost a fortune to hire. Marcus had always felt good seeing everyone in such good spirits and on that day, everyone was apart from himself. His mood had just dropped suddenly. This was after spotting Stacy who had just arrived with her girlfriends. Stacy had bosomed into a very beautiful young woman. Her enlarged chest, her widened hips, and slim waist said it all; needless to say, her beautiful smile on her perfect face. She was worth looking at. Stacy had been Marcus’s girlfriend. They had met just before Marcus quit college, which was six months before, and had been together ever since. For the past few days, Stacy had been ignoring Marcus. It felt like she had lost interest in him and her showing up at his house just gave him mixed feelings.

Stacy seemed to be having a good time with her friends. This made Marcus feel irritated. “I will go to her, yes I will”, Marcus said to himself. “Hi”, said Stacy. Marcus had been staring at her for quite some time; she had noticed and decided to approach. He had then been so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t see her approaching. “Hey, look who finally decides to show”. He said feeling angry. Stacy tried to speak to him, but he acted as if he couldn’t hear her from all the music so she decided to take him to one of the rooms to get away from the noise. He didn’t refuse, he just followed her. He had to hear what she had to say for herself.

The nearest room was Maria’s room, so in they went. Marcus could not believe it. Maria was in her room. She didn’t leave the house even after Marcus had instructed her to. Her husband was out of town so she had decided not to go. Luckily, she was not a bigger issue to Marcus, at least not as big as the issue between Marcus and Stacy. Marcus gave her a bare stare for a moment then looked at Stacy who was now looking at both Marcus and Maria most likely waiting for something to happen. “So, I want to speak to you in private”, said Stacy after realizing that all concentration was on her. “What, you’re now afraid of her?” Marcus said pointing at Maria. Maria had noticed the tension in the room and so she excused herself and left in haste.

“I don’t know how to say this and I don’t want to upset you Marcus but I think it’s time we broke up. I have been seeing another guy and you are relocating and I don’t think I can work with a long-distance relationship”. Stacy said looking towards the wall. She just couldn’t face him. “What! Now you are just going to leave me for another guy! After all we’ve been through together. Are you being serious right now Stacy? I told you I would come back but you just can’t wait, can you!” Marcus said looking directly into her eyes. He was very upset with her. “Well, at least tell me who it is that you have been seeing”, he said. “Promise not to get mad please”, she said. “Out with it, stop wasting my time. Will you!” He shouted. “Ok it's Tony. There, I said it”.

Marcus could not believe what he was hearing. He had made her repeat her statement thrice, hoping that being drunk was making him hear wrong and was hoping to hear her say something different but Tony it was. He was now very angry. His anger had shifted from Stacy to Tony. For some reason, he understood Stacy and since she had decided to come clean, his anger towards her was less, and deep down he knew that he too wasn’t a saint and his feelings towards her were fading. Tony was now who his anger was at. For a man, finding out that one’s best friend went behind your back and took your girlfriend, was a betrayal like no other. It was an act beyond words. Marcus, filled with rage dragged his drunk body out of the room. He was so angry that he couldn’t confront Tony. He went outside the house to get some air trying to clear his mind.

Stacy feared that Marcus would try to do something stupid and would end up regretting it. She knew that she was the cause of the whole ordeal. She had to find him. She got out of the room and started looking for him. “I saw him walk out a while ago”, said Maria. This was after Stacy had looked for him in the house for quite some. She had then bumped into Maria in the kitchen who told her where Marcus was. She quickly got out of the house and looked around and there he was out in the cold.

“Marcus, am sorry. I didn’t intend for things to end this way but…” she had then stopped talking after realizing that Marcus wasn’t even looking at her. His concentration was somewhere else; He was staring at the driveway to his house. He seemed shocked; more shocked than he was before. His night was getting more and more worse by the moment. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. At that moment, he could have easily been convinced that he was dreaming. He was looking at his father who had just pulled over his car and was now approaching him. Stacy didn’t have to get a second glimpse of Mr. Highwood. She immediately didn’t care anymore about Marcus and all she was thinking was how she would get out of there. She looked down and walked past Marcus, increasing her pace with each step and in a matter of seconds she was nowhere to be seen.