The Secret Successor

CHAPTER 08

Tears streamed down his cheek nonstop as Russell stared down from the clifftop. However, because he was hypnotized, his expression was flat. Nevertheless, his heart was heavy. He jumped without even closing his eyes.

A fall from that height would result in a quick death for sure.

However, Russell felt someone grabbing his shirt and pulling him back just in time. It was a vicious pull where he got tossed onto the ground.

“Whoa, dude, you couldn’t find a better time to commit suicide than when I’m going out to make pizza delivery?” a guy removed his bike helmet and kept looking at Russell’s face to better assess his state of mind. He snapped his fingers right before Russell’s face, and Russell was snapped out of the spell he was put in.

Russell, for a second, found himself staring at this man. He was so good-looking even though he wasn’t tall like Russell. He had one of those ethereal faces you wouldn’t mind looking at for hours. “W-Who are you?” he looked around, wondering where he was and what he was doing.

“That’s my question,” the pizza-delivery guy squatted down. The name tag on his shirt read ‘Benjamin.’ “Who are you? And why have you given up on life?” he wiped Russell’s tears with his fingers. “Why did you try to jump from the cliff?”

(I tried to jump from the cliff?) Russell didn’t even remember that, but he pushed the pizza-delivery guy’s hand away. “You wouldn’t get it even if I told you.” The last thing he remembered was taking sleeping pills, so he had no clue why he was still alive. He stood and began walking toward the cliff edge once again.

“Yeah, I might not get it, but dying won’t solve anything,” Benjamin, the pizza delivery guy, walked alongside Russell and held his hand.

“W-What are you doing?”

“If you are going to jump, I’m going to come with you,” he casually said.

“A-Are you crazy?”

“Yeah. I’ve gotta make a delivery, but here I am, trying to help a crazy guy,” Benjamin exhaled audibly. “I should be crazy.”

Russell shook his hand, trying to free himself, but Benjamin held him rather tightly. Russell couldn’t shake him off. “Let go of me!”

“Nah. Not happening, but I will let go of you after you make a call and talk with the person you love the most.”

Russell’s eyes slightly widened. “Don’t blame me for doing this.” He tried to jump, but Benjamin hit Russell’s foot and steered his momentum back toward him so that he wouldn’t fall down from the cliff. Russell crashed on the ground, face-down. Benjamin locked Russell’s arm behind his back. “If you aren’t going to do it, I’ll do it for you.” He took Russell’s mobile from his pocket, switched it on, then dialed the first number in recent calls. He put the mobile next to Russell’s ear.

Russell was struggling to free himself. The call was answered. “Russell,” a female voice came from the other side, and his heart felt squeezed from hearing his mother’s weak but caring voice. “Russell, I don’t know why you haven’t called me in four days, but it’s okay, son. You can talk with me. I’m not angry at you. I have no one else but you in this world. How can I live if even you don’t talk with me?”

Tears overflowed from Russell’s eyes.

Benjamin let go of Russell who then grabbed his mobile, wiped his tears and spoke with his mother over the phone. Benjamin put a pizza box on Russell’s car and left in a hurry.

“If you have any issues, come to me. We’ll talk about it,” Elora told her son. “Am I not your friend also?”

“M-Mm. I’ll be there shortly, Mom.” Russell hung up and exhaled heavily through the mouth. He looked back at the cliff’s edge, but he didn’t feel the urge to jump all that much anymore, even though his situation hadn’t really changed. He walked back to his dad’s car in slow steps and noticed the pizza box. It was from Rye’s Pizzas. “Benjamin…” he remembered the delivery guy’s name. “I don’t know if I should thank you or not, but… after I sort things out, I’ll definitely come and meet you and share a drink together.”