THE UNFORGIVEABLE ACT

THE UNFORGIVABLE ACT

“Happy birthday, our prince,” my dad said for the 1000th time today. I smiled brightly. My parents and I were coming back from celebrating my 13th birthday at my dad's newly opened hotel.

"Afonso, my prince, when you get to 23 years old, which will be 10 years from now, you will take over Dad’s hotel,” my mom said.

“Really!! Mom? That big hotel is mine,” I said happily.

“Your dad already registered you and your little sister’s name there, Afonso Junior,” she said, smiling. My mom was heavily pregnant; we just had a month to welcome my little sister after 13 years of my parents waiting for a child.

“I love you, Daddy and Mommy; I promised to always be the best to my sister,” I said, smiling.

Suddenly, a car was coming in our direction at a very high speed. The car was driving directly toward us. My dad suddenly took the left turn, and Mom was holding me tightly to herself, but the approaching car took the left turn and crashed into us. I was screaming in fear when my mom smiled at me as she held me tight and slowly closed her eyes. I couldn't talk or scream; I felt like my voice was gone. A man came out of the car that crashed into us; he was holding his neck. He approached us and stared at my dad. I shot my eyes out of fear; he brought out his phone, and his hands were trembling. I believe he was dead drunk.

"Hello, Mom,” he said, but I couldn't hear who was at the other end of the phone.

“I just had a little accident, and these people crashed into my car, and they are not moving. I think they are dead; they have a child here.” He said this, shifted his phone from his ears, and shut his eyes like he was being screamed out on the phone. After he was done, he said something that caught my attention.

“Just tomorrow for me to be appointed as chairman, then this little trouble comes knocking; I can't just have fun without trouble.”

He said this and kicked his car tyres angrily. After some time, as I was about to go to sleep, I heard sirens, and I smiled and said, “My parents are saved.”

*******************************

I opened my eyes little by little. I looked around me; I was in a hospital bed. I could see people staring at me; the only person I could recognize was the man who hit our car. Fear gripped me the way he was staring at me like he wanted to strangle me. I thought to myself, “Why is he here instead of the police station?”. The doctor came closer to me to inspect my eyes.

“Can you see me? he asked, and I nodded in response.

“What is your name?” he said, but I couldn't answer.

The doctor beckoned the man that hit my parents and an old lady standing with him; she has been staring at me with eyes filled with guilt and pity.

“Afonso can't talk, and he has lost his memories of 13 years of his life. He is like a child starting to store a new memory. But once he has overcome his shock, he will start talking again. The smoke from the fire affected his lungs so he needs to heal gently”. He said, and I thought to myself,