CHAPTER 33 - JOURNEY'S END
* * *
This chapter is Rated: TEENS
As we traveled back to Tricia's place, I started to think about the day. Things were still going too fast for me ! I was interrupted in my thoughts by feeling us bump over the groove of the gate grating showing we were nearly there.
The first thing I would do is call up Dad and find out how he was doing. It wasn't like him to ever be vulnerable like this and I was worried about him. Because I remembered the time Dad had saved me - from so many things. And not just when I was a child.
Then I saw that odd building again. There was no doubt about it. It was completely seamless, as if it were somehow made from a single mold and then deposited on the Earth. Then I felt a twinge in my back. It was like an electric shock. I've had that before, it meant that Susan was calling me. I had left her in the trunk along with everything else and likely she was getting uncomfortable in there.
We stopped and as Smithers reached around to open the trunk I immediately grabbed the bag that Susan was in and looked in on her.
"Is that a pet you have in there, mawster David ?" he asked in a friendly tone.
"Umm - no ... It's just - well. It's kind of personal."
"I see." he said and shot a wink at me as one might shoot a stinging rubber-band at someone. Tricia was stepping out to see why I was so agitated at the contents of the trunk at the moment. Seeing that I had the bag with Susan, she, too, smiled at me, thinking it was silly I was concerned for a silly old Teddy Bear.
But Susan was more to me than that. She always had been. She was a survivor.
I remembered - long ago. When I caught my sister doing something - terrible. Sure kids at school were doing it too but that didn't mean she had to do it as well. And I knew Dad would definitely have to say something about it, because it was - harmful what she was doing to herself.
I told her, "Ummm ..." (you know, that silly thing where you say it and raise the pitch like it's a warning - and maybe at this point it was).
"What do you want ?" she asked, angry at being interrupted from it.
"I'm gonna tell Dad what you're doing !" I said proudly. While I was still only 7-years old, maybe I could blackmail my sister into paying me quarters for not telling or something ?
"You do that and you're gonna regret it !" she warned me and squinted her eyes in a fearful fashion.
There - really wasn't too much more she could do to me. Having already banged my head on the phone several times (they were made out of metal back then you remember), and dropped a bucket of water on my head where the bucket hit and cut my head open, and many other diabolical things, I couldn't possibly see how she could threaten me with anything else.
Yeah, we were brother and sister, although since I was younger, I usually paid for it.
"Just you wait." I said, eager to finally have something to hold against her. "I'm gonna tell Dad ! I'm gonna tell DAD !" and then I ran out of her room back into mine and slammed the door shut to play with my stuffed animals which were my best friends then.
That night I told Dad what she did, and of course he was =VERY= upset and angry launched into my sister like a radioactive warhead and of course she caught Holy Hell for it and I was the perfect angel for telling him and I felt really good about myself.
But the next day at school, for some reason my sister got home before me. I thought she wanted to watch TV or something as it was in her bedroom. But no. I saw what she did and why she was so insistent on getting home before me.
She had taken a pair of scissors to every single stuffed animal I had in my bedroom and cut them to pieces ... And not only that, she ripped out the stuffing, clearly with her bare hands and tore the heads off all of them.
And since I really had no friends at school except for Tyr, and she really didn't count cause she was so mean to me all the time and she got me in trouble and she had my face wet and sticky and stuff all the time from her kissing me to try and get me to cry.
No, THESE, these stuffed animals - they were my true friends ... And my sister - MURDERED THEM.
I - didn't know what to do. I think I was too little to really comprehend the gravity of what she did. I - was so upset and I cried because my heart was breaking. All my teddy bears, all my stuffed rabbits - everything. And I had them all named.
And now they were all snipped to pieces and the scissors were still sitting on my bed.
Dad came in an hour later and saw me and I rushed right into his arms and I led him back to my bedroom to show him. He of course was as upset as I was, seeing the fluff pulled, ripped, and torn from my stuffed animals because he had seen me playing with them, making believe they could talk, and everything. Perfectly normal behavior for a boy my age.
And I had gotten them from Birthday presents, Christmas presents, and Easter presents. I really couldn't afford any myself and I was very careful with my toys, but this ... !
"Andrew ? Did you do this ?" my Dad asked me in a concerned tone.
I shook my head but I still couldn't speak because I was so upset.
He nodded and took by my hand and we both entered his bedroom. My sister who was in the adjacent room just turned up her TV.
Dad closed the door behind him and sat me on the bed and rubbed my hair and hugged me and told me everything was alright, that he knew why my sister did this, and that she would get punished for it.
* * *
But I felt numb. Like all the blood was drained out of me. How could she - possibly - have ... I started to cry again.
Dad tried to cheer me up, "Look, tiger." (that's what he called me when he was in a good mood or to try and get my mind off things)
"We'll go and buy you some more." he said. "Why don't we go right now and you pick out what you want."
I shook my head and continued to cry. I wanted - well, I didn't want this, and I didn't want replacements, I wanted my - friends back. I guess I was still pretty young and I knew when I was over at one of friend's house one time he shot me with his plastic gun. He was a bully at school now, but at one point we were friends.
"BANG ! You're dead." he said jerking the plastic gun like it had a recoil.
"Ohhh ... You got me !" I growled. I gripped my chest, gritted my teeth, and swirled precariously before finally falling down in a clump.
He laughed and stood over me. "Okay goofy, you're not dead now no mores." and helped me up.
I took his hand and - I guess - I really didn't know what being dead was because my friend said I wasn't now after he shot me so I guess - I was better ? We played a little more. Mostly with action figures. You didn't dare call them dolls. And then Dad called and I headed back home.
But this - what happened here ? You couldn't use tape, or glue, or ... anything ! To fix what she did. And every 'friend' I had in school eventually turned on me, to become a bully. But not my stuffed animals, they never did. And I loved them for that. I loved them for - tolerating me. That was the only way I could put it.
"Well how about we go out for some ice cream, hmm ?" Dad offered, determined to take my mind off of the terrible incident my sister did.
"Is she going ?" I asked angrily.
Dad looked at his door where my sister's room was just beyond, "No, and I'll talk to her later, because what she did was very VERY bad." Dad promised me. Then he took my hand, "Ready to go ?"
I shook my head, pulling back my hand. I really didn't feel like ice cream, I didn't feel - anything. I looked down at my feet and started to cry again.
Dad looked at me and hugged me harder and rubbed my head and it was wonderful. Finally he looked up at me again, clearly asking without words, "What do you want to do ?"
"I'm - tired. Can I just go to bed now ?" I said finally. Dad looked at his watch. It was only 5:30pm. Usually I was the one that wanted to stay up late and cried and complained that I couldn't. But now, it felt like all the energy was drained out of me. I didn't even want to play with my other toys.
And I had some great ones. One of which was a robot that ran on a treadmill that went upside-down my Real Mom got me. Not even that, my favorite.
Dad nodded. He said, "Do you want to sleep in here tonite ?"
I shook my head. No. I wanted to sleep in my own bed.
Dad got up off the bed, "Well stay here for a moment. Can I get you to do that ?"
I nodded and lay back in the bed, I guess for just a minute. I heard - and I guess I didn't want to hear it all - because it wasn't good and I grabbed Dad's pillow to stick over my head.
Dad was mad, furious. My sister was mad too, livid. There was yelling. And despite her young age, she yelled back at him ! Oboy was she gona get it. Then I heard her slam her door. Then I heard Dad go to the back porch and there was a rustle of plastic like someone was picking up the trash in the house.
I had to - stop myself several times from getting up to - stopping Dad from doing what I knew he was doing. He was collecting all my torn up stuffed animals and tossing them out in the trash.
I guess - I passed out or something then - from grief. A dark sleep. Full of blackness and nightmares.
Dad finally came back and without a word, took my hand in his and led me to my bedroom. He was very thorough and had gotten them all. Then he looked on a high shelf and there was Susan. The maid Tommie had put her there I guess because she was tired of constantly finding her underfoot.
She was the SURVIVOR.
She was the only one out of reach from my sister so she was not cut to pieces like the other stuffed animals were. At once Dad reached up and handed her to me. Then I took her and ran under the dining room table and rocked back and forth and cried.
I - don't remember much at that point. I know Dad didn't go after me. I think he knew where I was but he also knew that I wanted some quiet time, some privacy right now.
I saw his shadow. He stood in front of my bedroom door for a moment. Stretched like he was tired too. And then he went to see my sister again. And OH was there yelling !
And I stayed under that table for - I guess hours. I know Dad went back to his room after telling my sister off and I started to think how comfortable I could be living under the dining room table, just me and Susan. Forever.
* * *
And perhaps it was in that desperate state of loneliness where I heard her speak. Not make-believe like I used to do. No, she really spoke to me where I could hear it with my own ears ! And her eyes - they did something, they sparkled like a million diamonds !
"Andrew. I will always be with you. You will never be alone. Anytime you want to talk about what's going on with you, I'm right here."
And I
did. I did talk with her. And as the years passed, while she got a bit
more frayed and ruffled from time, Rose knew that she was very important
to me, psychologically, and took her home one time and sewed her up,
really good, and made her as new and sturdy as can be.
And I
still buy outfits for her, and sometimes, even today, we have long
conversations about what's happening in my life, especially if something
is distressing me. I remember we danced together - on a Sunday when I
was really feeling suicidal - but that's another story.
"David ... David. David ? David !? Are you there ?"
I looked up from my long-past memories to see Tricia standing next to me, clearly concerned. I saw that I had knelt on the ground, reached in the bag, taken out Susan, and was holding her by her hand on the grass, and I wasn't even aware of doing it. And tears were streaming down my face.
"Hey ! Who's your friend ?" Judy said, seeing what was happening and crouched down to get a better look, and maybe she was hoping to cheer me up seeing that I was upset about something at the moment.
"Nothing. No - no-one. It's just - Look are we going in or not !?" I said raising my voice crossly that everyone was bothering with Susan right now.
Judy looked at me with wide eyes and I could see they were full of concern but compassion as well. But she knew well enough to leave alone. I hurriedly jammed Susan back in the bag. Tricia spoke with Smithers and gave him a key.
I made out a few words, "Smithers, go around back. Drop off everything in the trunk in storage. I'll have Trudy meet you there to let you in."
So saying Tricia reached in her purse and pulled out what looked like a walkie-talkie but it was much more high-tech and considerably smaller than the ones I was familiar with.
She tapped the center red triangular button and I heard a beep as she depressed it 3-times in sequence.
"That you, Trish ?" I heard Trudy's voice speak on the device from the static.
Tricia raised it up to her mouth and held the side-button, "Yeah. Smithers is here. He's new hired help and he's unloading the trunk. Can you give him a hand and tell him what to do ?"
"Sure thing ! I'll come around back. Be there in a sec."
Tricia clicked off and dropped the device back in her purse and then we went to the cylindrical entrance I saw her enter earlier.
I hesitated, a little afraid. Tricia smiled at me, "It's okay, David. It's perfectly safe, and that is the point of it. It's SAFE."
I shrugged and still holding my bag with Susan and my other hospital items I went inside the entrance alongside Judy.
Judy was still a little upset and she said, "Hey, David. Look, I didn't mean to - "
"Leave me alone." I said crossly and then tried to apologize for that by giving her a friendly smile, but it didn't quite work out. And if anything, I appeared - defensive and angry. I wished I wasn't but I was. That was the only and one thing in the world that could really make me angry.
She nodded to that and kept silent. And then Tricia spoke, "Now look you two. Pay attention."
I looked and we were indeed inside a cylindrically shaped room. There was like a short marble pillar in the center, about 3-feet tall, 2-feet across, and not much else. At once my claustrophobia kicked in but Tricia added, "It's okay, David. This is a LIFT. We won't be here very long. But SHE needs to get to know you."
"She ?" I asked. I looked at Judy and she had no idea whom Tricia was talking about either.
"SHE ! S.H.E. Sentient - Heuristic - Eidolon."
"What does sentient mean ?" Judy asked.
"Able to perceive things." Tricia replied easily.
"And heuristic ?" I questioned.
"Discovering for yourself." Tricia answered, "Like you should be doing." and she cuffed me on my head.
"Eidolon ?" Judy queried but backed away just in case Tricia was going to smack her too.
"An ideal person, like a husband. Look you two, are we going in or not ?" Tricia snapped a little angrily now, seeing how limited our vocabulary was.
"Okay okay," Judy spoke defensively. "It's just - you don't - hear those words every day."
"It's an artificial intelligence, isn't it ?" I asked, a little curious now.
Tricia smiled at me, "Why yes, David. It is ! You two might get along very well since you're a bit of a programmer."
Then Tricia did something odd. She knocked on the pedestal. Twice in fact.
Suddenly a ring of lights started from the top of the ceiling of the room we were in and descended slowly downward. As I looked more closely, I could see that there were receptors inter-spaced between each light so the light at the opposite end would be received and I guess - to determine who all was in the lift.
"Identify ?" SHE spoke in a purely beautiful and digital female voice from an unseen speaker above us.
"Wow !" I spoke breathlessly, fully impressed and in love with the sound of her. I mean we were still in the BBS era here !
Tricia replied, "Tricia Candy - with two guests."
"Confirmed." SHE spoke. And then after a moment the floor descended, clearly a lift like Tricia said it was earlier, and apparently the main residence was underground ! We were on our way ... !
END OF
CHAPTER 33
To be continued in Nancy Principle The 2nd Novel ...
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