The Perfect Son (10 page)

“You’re Cody Winters,” Frederick said plainly.

“Right, I’m Cody Winters, not–”

“I’m not here for you, Cody. I’m here for the one inside of you,” Frederick said, and Cody’s eyes grew impossibly wide. “Kettering, come forth.”

At those words, Cody lost control of his body, and was only allowed to look out of eyes he could no longer control. Outwardly, his head turned as he seemingly assessed each corner of the room, before finally turning to focus on the man casually standing by. Tears formed in his eyes anew.

“Oh Father,” Kettering said as he met Frederick’s gaze. The body and face were different, but the style of speech, stance and look in his eyes were recognizable anywhere.

“So you did hear all of that? Good, I was hoping me bringing you here would open your eyes,” Frederick said as calmly.

“Father, what have I done? I didn’t mean for this to happen. All I remember is being lost and scared. I wanted to go home, but I couldn’t find my way no matter how hard I tried. I then heard a woman’s voice telling me to come back to her, and not to die. I thought it was Mother, so I followed it. My God, what have I done!”

“Kett, this isn’t your fault. The fault lies in a foolish, old man who is still paying for his mistakes nearly a century later,” Frederick said as his eyes clouded.

“What do we do now?”

“You must leave that body.”

“I don’t know how… Please! Take me back to Sister Mary Ava, she can call-”

“That won’t work. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as an exorcism. When you joined with that boy, he was in between this life and the next. In order to separate, you’ll have to return to the meeting place,” Frederick said, and then handed the boy the revolver. Stunned, Kettering nearly dropped it.

“Father, what are you saying! If I do this-”

“There is no other way, and you two can’t stay like that. Look at him Kett; he’s suffering. His family is suffering, his friends are suffering, and you are suffering. Living in and out of mental institutions and being strapped to beds is no way to live. There are some things that are worse than death, and the reality he faces with you here is one of them. At least this way, he’ll have a chance to survive it, even if it’s slim. As it is now, it’s already written that you two will destroy each other. You must leave that body.”

“I…,” Kettering uttered, and then stopped when his eyes landed on the gun. Slowly, he walked over to it, and let the weight settle in his palm. He then turned to his father with haunted eyes.

“Don’t be afraid, my son. There are enough bullets in that gun for the both of us, and I will be right behind you.”

At a snail’s pace, Kettering lifted the gun to his temple. He then placed his other hand on his chest, and felt the heart beneath beating rapidly and strong.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and then pulled the trigger.

***

“Excuse me, can you please tell where I can find Cody Winters!”

The medical receptionist looked up at the frantic man, and could guess the answer to her question, but her job had long taught her to never assume.

“Does he work here, or is he a patient?”

“A patient! He’s a patient!”

“Okay, no problem. Hang on a second,” she said as she searched the computer. She then stopped typing for a few moments, before a frown adorned her face.

“I’m sorry, Sir, but I can’t give out any information on that patient. His whereabouts are classified.”

“Classified! What do you mean his whereabouts are classified. I’m his father, God damn it!”

“Robert!”

Upon hearing his name, Robert looked over and saw Kelly briskly walking towards him. Instantly, he gave up his interrogation of the medical receptionist, and sprinted over to his ex-wife.

“Kelly, where is he? What the hell happened to him? What is going on!”

Instead of responding, Kelly led him silently down the hall, down a floor, and through a maze of doors until they reached a waiting room where Sister Mary Ava sat in deep prayer.

“There is so much I’ve kept from you, and I never regretted it. But, as I sat out here waiting for even a hint of information, I got a glimpse of what I put you through, and I can’t even comprehend how you’ve been able to bear it,” Kelly said solemnly, before she finally met his gaze. “This all started after our divorce…”

In the span of an hour, she told Robert about Cody’s depression, his attempted suicide, the sessions with Dr. Cruson, the accident and subsequent amnesia, his fragile mental state, his kidnapping and his recent shooting.

“He’s now in surgery to have the bullet wedged in his brain removed. They said that his chances of survival are slim, and if he does survive, the odds of him having long lasting impairments are high, if he doesn’t wind up in a vegetative state,” Kelly said as tears flowed freely. Robert just looked at her with an expression that said everything, yet nothing at all. If teased apart, anger, disgust and pain would all be present. Most prominent was the look one gives a person they’ve only just met.

“Oh God!” he finally exclaimed, and then dropped his head in his hands as soul-crushing sobs wracked through his body. Kelly immediately squeezed her eyes shut, and brought up her hands to cover her ears as her tears flowed faster. When Robert had wronged her, she vowed to make him pay, and now that she had completely and consummately wounded him, she felt no joy. Next to her sat the man she had fallen in love with at the end of their ninth grade year. He was her first and last love. Never did she think that their union would turn out like this.

“I’m sorry! I know that it doesn’t mean shit coming from me, but I’m truly sorry. I never wanted this. I only wanted to make Cody’s life better than ours had been. To me, that meant providing him with the best opportunities to be successful and removing anything that could negatively influence him. I didn’t want him to grow up poor and living in shit housing with parents working dead-end jobs like we did. Somehow, it went all wrong. This is all wrong,” Kelly cried, and then attempted to touch Robert’s shoulder. Instinctively, he flinched away without looking up. At that moment, if he had had a gun, he didn’t know whether he would shoot Kelly, or turn it on himself.  His pain wanted him to put all the blame on his ex-wife, but deep down, he knew that some of it belonged to him as well.

‘
I should have fought harder for him,’
he thought as he remembered the time Cody showed up on his doorstop. Instead of closing the door on him, he wished that he had pulled him into his arms, and told him that he loved him. Now, he may never get the chance.

‘I’m so fucking weak,’
he thought as he truly looked at what kept him from his son. The pictures that Kelly took of him had once been the equivalent of the Boogeyman, yet now, they were just blank photographs. If exposing them meant he could have back the time he had lost with his son, he would gladly pay to have then posted on every billboard in America.

“What the hell is taking so long? It’s been nearly four hours already!” Kelly yelled unexpectedly, finally forcing Robert to look up at her. Somehow, without him noticing, she had gotten up, and was now pacing the floor. She appeared to be worse off than he ever seen her. Her makeup was smeared, her hair was in disarray, her face was swollen and puffy and the rings around her eyes could not possibly have been the result of one day. She was obviously going through her own personal hell, and surprisingly, it didn’t bring him joy. He had enough misery in his life, and seeing hers only made him feel worse.

“Kelly?” he called, trying to distract her from her musings. All it did was turn her attention to him.

“Do you know they still haven’t identified that son of a bitch! The car was registered to a Samuel James, but he reported it stolen three days ago, so who in the hell was that with Cody? They ran his fingerprints, but he must have had no priors, because they came back clean. If he was so clean, then why in hell did he go after my boy!”

Not having anything to add, Robert just watched her rage.

“You know what, this is my fault. If I hadn’t gone to that damn conference, I would have been there. I would have seen the face, and he would not have gotten my boy. I bet he’s just some asshole I sued; that’s why I quit the firm.”

That got caught both Robert’s and Sister Mary Ava’s attention.

“Quit the firm?” Robert asked in shock and confusion.

“Yes, I quit the firm. I quit the minute I got the call that Cody was here. You were right, you know? I don’t really know him as well as I should, and I was happiest the year I stayed home with him. A lot has happened since then, but he’s not grown yet, so there’s still time. There’s still time for me to travel, laugh and talk with him. I won’t care if he sleeps all day. I won’t even care if stays in my basement until he is forty-five, still listening to his rap and playing his video games. As long as he’s happy, it’ll all be okay,” Kelly said in a rapid speech. Robert tried to interject, but she rambled on.

“I can only hope that he still wants me. If he doesn’t, that’s okay, too. If he prefers to stay with you, I’ll give you full custody, and I won’t bother you two ever again. If that’s the case, can you find it in your heart to at least send me updates on how he’s doing?” she asked with a smile that didn’t mirror what was in her eyes. Wordlessly, Robert got up, and then pulled her into his arms. Kelly immediately broke down.

“It’s going to be alright. We’re going to get through this. Cody is strong; he’ll pull through,” Robert said in an effort to comfort them both.

“If he doesn’t, I’m going to follow him.”

Silence instantly filled the room.

“Kelly, what are you saying?” Robert said as he pulled back to look at her face.

“If he dies, then I’ll die, too. I have to protect him. I don’t want to leave him alone and scared anymore. Can you imagine how scared he must have been earlier? I can’t allow that to happen ever again. I must follow him. I won’t let him die alone,” Kelly said with certainty in her words, making Sister Mary Ava walk over.

“Kelly, that is not the way. I know it may be tempting, but if it is not His will, nothing good will come of it. You must be strong, gather your faith and let all that you have been given thus far fill you with gratitude. There is a reason for everything, and in time it may be revealed to you, but first, you have to live long enough to see it. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Kelly said with her eyes averted away from the pair. On her face was a look of contemplation that did not match her response. Robert wanted to press the issue, but in the next moment, the doctor came down the hall.

“Mr. and Mrs. Winters, I have a status update on your son…”

END