My father was never there for me. He was always gone on a business trip or just sleeping in his room, locked behind his door. I’ve never been in his room. My mother always said it was off limits and shouldn’t be entered, ever. I took her words as a challenge, and for year, I tried to get in. His room has no windows. The door has a door lock that is not like any other. Pick locking is impossible or to be saved for people with pick locking skills. By the time I was fifteen, I’d given up. It was pointless. Whatever was behind the door must have been a super secret. I figured that it just wasn’t worth my time. I told myself It probably wasn’t anything good anyway, just a whole bunch of useless paper work and random calculators everywhere. The room was probably dark with lamps everywhere. Maybe there was even a bathroom in there.
Three months after I turned sixteen, I received news from my mother that my father was killed in a freak accident while on his business trip. It was pretty surprising. Though I didn’t know him much, and he was never there for me much, I always thought he was invincible. 1 week later after we heard the news, we were ready to move. The door remained locked even till the day we were leaving. The last day we were there, my mother and I had to wait till our taxi came to pick us up to go to the new house. I sat in front of my father’s room still wondering what could have possibly happened to him that caused his death. He told us before he left that he was going to Germany for two months to sell something for the company. I even still remember what he said to me before he left. All he said was, “Be good. You’re the man of the house. You watch your mom and this house. Protect it.” He didn’t even say goodbye. And with that, he left in his taxi to the airport. I didn’t really understand at the time. It didn’t make much sense. I mean, of course I was going to be good. It was not like I was going to be bad. How would I protect the house? Stand outside and watch it? So many questions floated through my brain as I stood outside the door of my father’s room, and none of them were being answered when suddenly, the door clicked. I was startled when I heard the door open. With a slight creak it opened just a little. I didn’t know how. Being the curious person that I am, I went in. The first thing that hit me was the cold breeze and the surprising smell of febreeze.
The room was cold. No heat anywhere. There was a huge window that looked over the backyard. This confused me because there was no window when you looked up from the backyard. I assumed it must be a one-way window and that he had painted the wall so it looked like it was the roof. Next to the window was a bulletin. It was plastered with pictures of people I’d never seen before. Some had giant red X’s on the pictures and the pictures were arranged so that they resembled a pyramid. The picture at the top was some scary man with a monocle and a very scruffy beard. The name under it was Dragostein. As I stood looking at the bulletin, the chest next to a desk popped open by itself. As an experienced video game fanatic, I instantly hit the deck because I thought it was an explosive that had just blown up. Instead there were weird feedback noises coming from the chest. I opened it. Inside the chest was the most organized treasure I have ever found. There was a dvd player that lay in the middle of a rectangular box that seemed to be attached to a string and a ring that was just gold all around and had some weird symbol in the middle of it. To the right of the dvd player was a gun. It looked like a glock, but it could have been a desert eagle. I had seen lots of guns before because of all my videos games. Either way, I was freaking out that there was a gun in this chest. Should I touch it? Should I turn it into the police station? Suddenly the dvd player turned on, and there was static. What the heck? Was there a dvd in there? Then an image of my dad came on the screen. He was all blood, beat to a the pulp, and he looked like he was barely alive.

“Son. If you’re watching this, then I’m in luck. Listen, I’m sure you have seen the bulletin that is right behind you. There is a name at the top of the bulletein, Dragostein. One of his henchman has me captive. The spy company has me proclaimed dead which is fine with me. I wouldn’t want them sending in spy squads here. It’s way too dangerous just to save one agent. I tried to keep my spy business a secret for as long as possible but it seems my secrecy has ended. Son. It is your turn to continue our legacy. It is your turn to continue the pride that has led this family to victory. Go seek out my friend Ralphie, our friend at the Michigan house.” He took a pause to cough some blood; then he continued. He looked absolutely defeated. He had a big bruise on the right side of his cheek that seemed to be glowing a dark shade of purple.

“He is also in the spy business with me. He is our weapons master. Your plane ticket to Michigan is under this dvd player. I placed this there because I wasn’t sure if this mission was going to be a complete success. I had some sort of feeling that it could fail. Either way, don’t take the gun because you don’t need it. Yet. Take the hidden blade though. It’s been passed down for generations and the quality of the blade is still amazing. Go see Ralphie. You’re our only hope, son. Please. Get out quick. This house will explode. I needed some way of removing all the evidence in here. Everything will be gone, so get out quickly.” He stopped. He got up and smashed the camera with his foot. I saw nothing but static for a while until the screen came up with a time limit. Two minutes. I quickly picked up the plane ticket and the blade. I quickly ripped off the picture of Dragostein and left the room. I was freaking out, sweating like a pig in hundred degree weather, trying to find my mom and get her out of the house. After I realized she was outside, I jumped outside and the whole house exploded into flame like a cool movie scene except it wasn’t cool at all. That’s my house and it just exploded into flames. Papers flew everywhere and the apple tree we grew next to our house was engulfed in the flame. We stood there as my mother cried on my shoulder. Though she wasn’t crying a lot so I knew that she knew the reason of why the house blew up. I told my mom what needed to happen next and how we are to deal with this. The taxi eventually came, along with the fire department and police but we left before they could question us. I wasn’t in the mood to receive endless amounts of questions that had to do with how the house imploded. It would raise suspicion if I was to say my father blew up the house to get rid of evidence about his work in the field. I wondered how much my mother knew about this spy work that my father did, and why she kept it a secret from me for so long. Was it because my own mother and father didn’t trust me with their secrets? All these questions haunted my mind but soon I was distracted by the view of the airport. I grabbed my jacket and went into the airport, and my mother followed.
“Honey. This is where we part,” my mother sobbed.
“What? Mom. What are you talking about? You’re coming with me, aren’t you? “ I replied.
“I can’t. Your mission is far too dangerous for me. Also your father has requested that I stay behind on this,” she stated firmly.
“Mom. You’ll be safe, right? Without me or dad?” I asked. I tried my hardest to hide my tears. I didn’t want to cry in front of my mom. I didn’t want her to feel even more worried about me. I talked with a straight face full of no emotions.
“I’ll be fine. I’m going to be with your grandfather so no harm can be done to us. I want you to be safe, okay? Ralphie has the best protection anywhere. I know you’ll be safe. You’ve got your father’s mind. The mind of a spy. You’ll be fine.” She spoke with confidence.
“Thanks, Mom. I guess I’ll see you then. I be back home with dad.”
I left her standing there and didn’t look back. I couldn’t risk the quick glance because I was afraid I would drop my luggage and run towards her and cling onto her so I wouldn’t have to leave her side. I didn’t want want to leave the woman that has been there for me my whole life. I couldn’t look at the woman who has raised me all these years while my father killed people who were of threat to our country.