Page 65 of The Actor and His Secret

‘Goodness, Nikos. Your language is terrible these days. Whatever would your mother think of you now?’

I jolt forwards, blinded by rage, and crack the glass into the side of his temple. Father rocks back, flopping off his chair like the pathetic prick he is. Blood seeps down his face as it pours out of my palm. Shards of glass have embedded into my hand and scattered in father’s thinning hair.

‘If you ever speak of her, I will -’

‘Kill me?’ My father laughs, pushing himself up, face a mask of blood and enjoyment. He’s smiling wider than ever before. ‘It wouldn’t be the first time, would it? Mentally sick Nikos Drakos, who killed his mother, attempted to kill his father, and then took his own life.’

The scar on my hand aches, the place where the broken glass I’d used to cut him had opened my skin too. It’s not the first time he’s threatened to kill me, and I’m numb to it now. ‘Lies.’

‘Perhaps,’ my father says, standing up on wobbly feet, the blood pouring down the side of his face. ‘But imagine what would happen now, if I went and re-opened the case I closed. Do you think the police would second-guess the accusation when they see what you’ve done to me?’ Father smudges the blood with fingers, making the wound look worse than it is.

‘You killed her, not me.’

‘And yet it is your fingerprints that were found all over her. Not to mention the bruises on my neck and the gash the broken glass from that stupid picture frame made across your arm and mine.’

‘You killed her!’ I scream, breathing hard, my fists clenched.

My father leans in close until all I can smell is copper and beer mixed together. ‘Because she was weak. Weak enough to listen to you and try and run from me. You can never run from me. Never. You’re mine. I own you.’

‘You’re a monster,’ I say, shaking like a leaf caught in a storm. ‘I hate you.’

‘Hate is the best motivator. Don’t you think?’

I spit at his feet. ‘You’ve got what you want.’

‘Not exactly. There is still the issue of money. Money makes the world go round’

‘Money feeds your habits,’ I retort.

A dark thought passes through my mind. It wouldn’t take much to kill this man. To actually complete what I tried to do after he pushed my mother down the stairs. I’m stronger now, taller and broader. My hands, although numb from the alcohol I’ve consumed, are large. It would take little effort to wrap my fingers around his throat and squeeze the life from him.

If I was asked what I wanted most in the world in that moment, his demise would have been the answer.

‘You’re the one who wanted me to come here,’ my father says, snapping me out of the murderous thoughts. ‘Did you come just to assault me, or do you have an offer for me, one so good I cannot turn it down?’

I step in, so close that our faces are inches apart. I enjoy the fact he has to peer up at me just to hold my stare. ‘Do whatever you want to me. Take everything from me. My money, success, my life. But touch Oli, hurt him, affect his world in any way, and I will kill you.’

Father’s eyes narrow on me. ‘I believe you.’

‘That isn’t an answer.’

‘You didn’t ask a question. All you do is threaten me - your poor, helpless father who simply wishes for a relationship with his son. A son who poisoned his mother’s mind and wanted her to run from me. A son who tried to kill me. A son who - for all intents and purposes - is the greatest disappointment of my life whilst also being my pride and joy. Look at you. All that fury, the drinking, the obsessions. You really are no different to me.’

‘I’m nothing like you.’

‘Say it with your chest, Nikos. I might actually believe you.’

I don’t care if I make the issue worse. I lash out, grasp his arms and hold him so tight that my fingerprints will likely etch themselves into his skin. ‘Actually, you’re right. I am just like you. I hurt people, I cause them pain, and more importantly, I have it in me to kill.’

‘More threats?’

I’m so close, I know my breath assaults him. ‘No threats. Promises.’

‘So…’ he says, enjoying every fucking minute of this. ‘What now?’

‘Call back the leaked photos.’

My father mocks a shocked expression, pulls back and breaks my hold on him. ‘Do you know what. I completely forgot that I already accepted an offer on the way over here. Gosh, it must be my old age.’

---