The Marigold Wilts As the Daisies Blooms

Chapter 3

Narrator - 4 years ago

At the time Venice was three years old and Pete had gone to the park with him to play and look around. When one of Venice's toys rolled down and Pete went to pick it up, Venice was taken away. There was no sign of him. Pete looked everywhere but no one even recognized Venice. It was crazy how he couldn't find anyone with him. 

He called the police and ran everywhere in the park. "This is my son, please tell me if you've seen him. He's only 3 he cannot walk far" he said as he pleaded with random strangers. He came back to the same place and waited while Phairoh and Chay looked for Venice.

He stayed there until it got dark with his eyes open wide. His eyes started filling up with tears but he did not cry, now was not the time for it. "Young man, you should go home now, if we find the child we will call you." The security guard told him. Pete was hesitant but he knew he couldn't stay there forever. He got up and gave the security his number and left the park. 

When he got home he just slumped down and curled up in a corner. He had no idea what to do. There was no trace of him, how is that possible? Finally, the tears he kept gradually made their way out. He felt ashamed and disgusted with himself. Everything he did wrong came rushing back into his mind.

"If only I didn't pick it up, if only I hadn't moved to the city if only I didn't study here... maybe, maybe he wouldn't have had this horrible fate. If only I didn't adopt him knowing that I can't even take care of myself nor Yai...."He repeated to himself until he fell asleep.

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'TRIn! TRING!!!" The phone rang. It was about 10:00 am and Pete was still asleep. He sprang up from the corner he was in, he hadn't moved so he was sore everywhere. But now wasn't the time to think about all of this. "PETE!!!" Phairoh screamed. "They've found him!" She said ecstatically. It was as if Pete's life came back. He rushed outside and went to the police station. "thank god, thank you! Thank you!" He prayed as he ran.

Phairoh was already there with Venice. Venice kept screaming and wailing for his dad. Once he saw phairoh he did calm down but not completely. Pete walked over and grabbed Venice and started crying again. Phairoh patted his back, "It's ok, we have him now." She said. "Where- sob- Where was he?" Pete whispered.

"Um actually are you his parents?" The police asked them. "I am his legal guardian, could you tell me what happened exactly?" Pete asked as he switched on his work personality. "Sir a couple of children including your son were kidnapped by a local robber, we had been tracking him for months but luckily we found him before he could do anything to the children. It seems he is also an abuser and an extremely skilled psychopath. When the police caught him he was in his warehouse but there is no signs of trauma on the children. We are assuming nothing happened."

Shivers ran down both Pete and Phairoh's spines. They were horrified as anyone would be. Children being nabbed like that, with no witnesses, is it really that easy? 

"Sir, would you be pressing charges? The other parents are going ahead." 

"Please give me some time to think," Pete told them politely and the trio left the police station. At that time Phairoh did not have her bakery yet so she invited Pete to her bar but Pete did not want to do anything, all he wanted was to go back home and protect Venice.

 After they reached home, Venice calmed down and slept in Pete's embrace. 

It was just the events in one day but since then Pete had never been the same. He would forever be worried about Venice's whereabouts. Although he was a workaholic he made sure he was around Venice whenever possible. If not Phairoh or Chay would look after him. 

They made sure Venice was never alone again. After the incident both Venice and Pete had nightmares and stress. But Venice recovered better than Pete. For Pete, it was just a constant playback of horrible incidents over and over again. He ultimately stopped smiling.