Sometime later, Rodney’s eyes fluttered open after he regained consciousness. He immediately sat up and observed his surroundings. He was in an exquisite bedroom with grey walls. The expensive bed had a grey headboard and a soft mattress covered by a beautiful duvet.  Next to it was a black bedside drawer with Rodney’s old phone and wallet on top. A few metres away from it was a dark brown couch with a pillow.

Clearly this man was stinking rich. Rodney wished his mother had told him about the man earlier. Mother. Rodney shot out of bed when he thought of her. Putting on the sandals near the bed, he ran out of the room and walked into the hallway until he found a grand staircase.

“Mother,” he shouted, not caring who would hear him.

“Roddy,” his mother voice repeated from somewhere.

Rodney’s heart relaxed when he heard her voice. It was like music to his ears. He saw his mother down and descended the stairs to meet her. They hugged each other.

“Come with me to the living room,” she said. “We need to talk about this situation.”

Rodney took a look around. The place looked like a palace and he had never been to such a luxurious house. Hell he didn’t even have friends that were not poor. He was still staring while walking when he bumped into someone.

“Watch where you’re going idiot,” the voice said. It was feminine and strong at the same time. He looked up to see a beautiful young woman with blonde hair staring at him. She was wearing a green dress with a black belt and blazer. Her heels made her taller than him by a few inches.

The woman turned and the two glanced at each other, a look of realisation showing on her face. “Let me guess, you’re the street rat willing to sell your kidney to a man who doesn’t deserve it. Wish you well.” she laughed before waltzing away, her heels clicking on the marble floor.

“She’s right,” his mother said as they walked to the living room. “He doesn’t deserve it and we need to run away from here. There is security everywhere outside this house which is why we need to think of a plan.”

Rodney was tempted to stay. He didn’t want to give up his kidney, but the amenities in the house were busy calling out to him. He imagined living there with servants at his beck and call, having plenty of food and never having to sleep hungry, wearing designer clothes, attending a-list parties. Rodney would have been ecstatic if the price wasn’t his own kidney.

But then again, life had always been unfair to him. Every time something good happened to him, something bad came alone with it. The previous month he had finally got a job at the nature centre and then this woman accused him of sexual harassment because he refused to give in to her advances. Now he was a jobless boy running away from druggies who wanted him to work for them by force. He couldn’t really win.

“We really need to go. I can’t stay in this house any longer.” His mother was pacing up and about the living room.

A golden chandelier hung over a glass table in the middle of the living room.  There were two long couches on two sides of the table with lots of pillows on them. On the other side were cute love seats. The ceiling was white with gold skirting on the sides. Light grey curtains had been pulled to the side, letting spray into the room.

“We will, but not now.” Rodney remembered Louis and his companions. He didn’t want to go home just yet. He knew they would pounce on him the moment he got him.

“I think it’s safer here,” he told his mother.

“What the hell is wrong with you? You know nothing about this man. Do you think I did not have a good reason to hide you from him all these years?”

“I don’t know because you haven’t told me, but I don’t think it was best for me. It was best for you because you didn’t want to deal with him. Maybe my life would have been so much better if I’d known. You can go back but I’ll stay here for now.”

His mother gasped. “Let’s go home and I’ll tell you everything.”

“Like you said, there are guards everywhere. Maybe you should tell that story now. We are safer with the security here.”

“He’s right.” A loud booming voice said. Rodney’s father strolled in, his hands in his pockets. For a man of his age, he was in great shape. Rodney figured he worked out all the time.

“I have many enemies,” he said. “If they know that I have a son, they will go after him. They will kill you because you may be the only thing that can save me. Didn’t you see your sister Maria? She had to leave her apartment because she was attacked yesterday and almost died, although she is not a matching donor.”

“I knew that you would one day drag us to your mess, you slimy bastard. Now you have my son on every assassin’s radar.”

“And you too. So for now its best you stay here. You will have everything you need.”

“You’re not going to buy us out. I will die before you take my son’s kidney.”

“So dramatic,” the man said. “Take care of your mother, son. I have things to take care of.”

His mother followed the man out to beg him while Rodney leaned against the plush couch with was the softest one he’d ever sat on. As he waited for his mother to return, a plan began forming in his head.

He was going to leave, but wasn’t going to leave as empty handed as he had come. He looked around the living room and saw so many things that he could still and none of the family members would know. Most likely only the servants would know they were missing.

A man strode into the room. He was of Rodney’s height and looked to be of the same, age but had stronger muscles. Since he looked so much like father, Rodney thought he was his brother. He kept quiet and waited for the man to speak first.

“So you’re Rodney?” he said, proffering his hand. “I’m Octavio, your cousin.”

Rodney shook his hand. He was the first friendly person he had met in the house so far.

“So I hear you’re the newest one in line to be tested. Uncle is trying to trace all the women he ever met so as to see if any of the illegitimate children he fathered is a match. Selfish bastard, don’t you think. I wonder how many the kids might be because he probably has slept with millions of women.  You better hope you’re not a match because it would be a waste donating to a douchebag like him.”

Rodney was starting to feel bad for his father. Everybody seemed to hate him even those living under his roof and benefiting from him. He wondered if he was mean because of the ungrateful people around him.

“If he’s such a douchebag why are you in his house?”

The man chuckled. “You’re really his son, I can see. Ready to defend him even when you have no idea who he is. The Roco blood in you must be strong.”

“You’ve not answered my question.”

“I was once like you, naïve, a loyal dog to my uncle but he betrayed me, just like he betrays everyone. Your time will come and you will wish you had listened to me and run away while you still could.”

“Look here, if you are recruiting haters of my father, I’d rather you don’t involve me. Let me get to know the man, and then I will decide for myself. I have spent eighteen years wondering who the hell brought me to this world, now that I met him, I won’t run at the slightest provocation.”

The man laughed and stood up. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. My work here is done.”

Rodney watched him leave. A few hours ago, his life had been a boring existence he wished to end, now it was so dramatic he didn’t know which was worse.