Father figure Chapter 7 - Aftermath
#1 of Father Figure
Three weeks, that's how much time has gone by since Jim has been caught in between the sheets. Since then his mom has been watching him like a hawk, no extracurricular activities after school and not to mention the bombardment of questions he gets even if he's just five minutes late. His phone has been taken away, and his internet cancelled, he never knew his mom could be such a bitch.
It still haunts him, that afternoon. His mom chased Bruce away like a stray dog. The tears, the countless hours of apologizing for something he didn't do wrong, the uncountable amounts of times he tried to slip out of the house to see Bruce. Not that he really wanted to, he felt betrayed, but still he just couldn't stay away. He tried and tried, but alas every attempt was unsuccessful.
Jim stares at his homework, but that's not where his head is at. He's had enough, he needs to see Bruce and he needs to see him today. He listens carefully; his mom is in the kitchen, washing away at the dishes. If only he can sneak past the kitchen, he could have one chance at sneaking out the door. Then again, if she finds out he's been gone; he'll be in trouble all over again.
"No!" he musters at himself. "I have to do this."
He gets up, confidence glowing in his eyes and turns towards his closed door. He opens it ever so slightly, peeking down the hall. He can still hear the sounds of metal pots and fragile plates being washed off and put on the drying rack. Quietly, he sneaks out his door, closing it behind him softly. He leans against the wall and, quiet as a mouse, sneaks over to the kitchen arch. He peeks around the corner; her back is turned towards him, golden chance.
"She's been letting her guard down lately." He thinks as he safely reaches the other side of the arch. He peeks around again, the lioness has no suspicion that he's there. He continues to sneak to the front door, pick up the key and turns it. He hears the clicking of the mechanism inside, just half a turn and he'll be on his way to Bruce.
"What do you think you're doing?" The voice from behind crushed all his hopes, he has been caught again.
"Time to go back to my room I guess" he thinks, but in less than a second he decides that he's had enough of being kept in his own house like a prisoner.
"Where do you think you're going young lion?" his mother asked again.
Jim closes his eyes, collects his thoughts and gathers every ounce of courage he can. Even though he know he'll be in worse trouble than he can ever imagine, he decides it's time to stand up to her.
"I... I... I'm going to see him." He says, as confidently as he can. He looks at her, trying not to show his fear.
"I don't think so, you're going back to your room mister!" his mom scolds, seeing right through him.
She reaches out to grab his arm, Jim evades her and, like a bullet from a gun, dashes past the surprised lioness. By the time she turns around to see where he went, he flings open the kitchen door. He runs down the steps, skipping two at a time until he lands on the ground, sending puffs of sand and dust from underneath his sneakers into the air.
"Jimmy you come back here this second!" his mom shouts from the top of the stairs, but it's futile. The young lion is already halfway across the lawn, on his way to jump the gate.
Loud clinging and clacking sounds emit as Jim grabs the gate, with one thrust of his left foot he jumps the gate. His right foot, however, trips over the top and the young lion hits the ground with a thud. Pain spreads through his shoulders and back as he forces himself up from the ground, trying to get his senses together. He looks down at his clothes; it's full of light brown dust and small dried out grass.
"No time to clean myself up, that witch is on her way here" he tell himself as he hears the roaring of the car engine from inside the garage.
He races down the street, it's far to Bruce's office, but if he uses his brain he can make it without her catching him. He starts running, the fall at the gate took its toll on him, but he nevertheless endures the pain, confident that he'll see Bruce again before the sun sets.
A few blocks down he turns left, into an alley. He takes a few minutes to collect his thoughts and realizes something terrible. His mom could just go straight to the doctor's offices, not that that will stop him though. He climbs on a few nearby crates and jumps the wall, landing in someone's yard. He races around the house, up the driveway and out the gate. No way would his mom look for him here, but then again, she's probably drinking a coffee take away in front of the doctor's offices already. His legs are numb, is feet hurt but the resilient young lion continues as he walks up the street, trying to catch his breath and at the same time trying to get to Bruce as fast as possible. A few blocks down he crosses the street and heads into town.
He crosses the parking lot of a gas station; he looks to the left only to see his mom pull out from the Mug and Bean shop.
"You're so damn predictable" he thinks as he stares at her. Her eyes catch him and she drives right up next to him.
"Get in this car right now." She scolds at him
Ignoring her, Jim continues to walk while taking some time to dust of his clothes. Jim's mom opens the car door, making the young lion dash into the distance once again. He feels terrible for treating her like this, even though he doesn't like her much, she's still his mother.
A few minutes later the young lion reaches the street where Bruce's office is situated. He can see the sign on the other side of the street. Looking for oncoming traffic, he starts jogging over to the office when his mother comes around the corner yet again but before she can reach him he's in at the gate. She decides to sit and wait, until he comes out. Then the sparks are going to fly!
Jim flings open the office door, it's nice and cool inside. He's never appreciated air conditioning as much as right now.
"What on earth happened to you?" the receptionist asks, even for an owl her eyes seem to be more wide than usual.
Panting, Jim tries to get the words from his mouth, but there's no breath for him to speak with.
"Wait here, have some water" the receptionist offers as she hurries over with a glass of water.
Jim gulps down the water.
"I need..." he tries, but he's still too much out of breath. "I need to speak with Bruce" he says, finally uttering the words he wanted to say for the past three weeks. Bruce is finally within his reach.
"Son..." The receptionist starts. "I'm sorry but Dr. Bruce doesn't work here anymore. He moved to another city about two and a half weeks ago." She says, knowing that for whatever reason this young lion wants to see the doctor so badly, he's going to be disappointed.
Jim's eyes widen as the news reaches his ears, surely Bruce would have told him if he planned on moving. The receptionist glares at him, and suddenly remembers something.
"Would your name happen to be Jim?" she asks.
"Yes ma'am, my name is Jim" he replies as he calms down, amidst what he just heard.
The owl scurries back to the desk, and returns with an envelope.
"He told me to give this to you, should you come by the office."
Jim takes the envelope. "To: Jim" is written in big letters on the front, Bruce's handwriting.
Jim stares up at the old owl, "He didn't say anything else?" he asks, his eyes begging for more answers.
"I'm sorry kiddo, that's all he gave me." She replies sympathetically.
Jim stares at the envelope, "What's going on?" he asks himself quietly.
The navy blue BMW still stands exactly where it did when Jim entered the office, his mom still waiting inside; she's probably considering murder by now. Jim slouches out the small gate, and looks back at the offices for one last time before he gets in the car. He hides the letter in his jacket.
The silence in the car is uncomfortable and the tension can be cut with a knife, it's not moving. Jim's mom looks at him, he stares into blank space. He doesn't want to admit that the only one he ever loved left him for dead. Words like coward, betrayer and jerk went through his mind as he tried not to cry.
His mom can clearly see the cub is heartbroken; she puts her paw on his shoulder.
"Jim, are you okay?" she asks sympathetically.
Jim turns to look at his mother, "He's gone mom. He left me behind." He says before bursting out in tears on his mom's shoulders.
"Oh honey I'm so sorry, it's all going to be okay." She says, realizing what she had done. Then again, any other mom would have done exactly the same if they catch their son having sex with their high school prom date, and that in her own bed too.
"Come on, let's go home. It's been a rough afternoon." She says before lifting his heavy head off her shoulder. Jim nods, and as he clenches the envelope in his pocket, the BMW pulls out of the parking lot, heading home.
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Well, it's been some time since I posted a chapter, but i finally got the time to do it. Any comments and questions are welcome, good or bad. I like to know what you guys think of my work.
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it, until the next chapter!