The Perfect Son (2 page)

“Alright then, off to bed with you. If I hear one peep out of you, I’m coming up with the pills.”

“But Mother, the dishes–”

“Don’t worry about that; I’ll handle the dishes. You just get some sleep.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Without another word, Cody headed upstairs as Kelly cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher. Without her son and work occupying her thoughts, her mind wandered to her recent divorce. It had only been a little over a year since it was finalized, and she was still trying to adjust to the changes that had taken place. Instead of coming home to a prepared meal, she was now in charge of keeping everyone fed. Instead of devoting large quantities of time to furthering her career, she now had to cut back to play the role of mother and father to a teen boy. Now, the holidays were rapidly approaching, and she wanted them to be a good memory for Cody, yet she was already stretched thin.

‘One day at a time,’
Kelly thought as she turned off the lights, and then headed upstairs to the room on the left. Everything was silent, but she wanted to make sure Cody was actually resting peacefully. So, carefully, she peeked in and saw him in deep sleep with Sandy lying across him. Instantly, the dog looked up at her as if she was questioning her intrusion, making Kelly laugh while shaking her head.

‘One day at a time. We don’t need him. We’re in a great city with great schools, we have a nicer home, and we’re fine. We don’t need him.’

***

A large crash startled Kelly awake, followed by the sounds of ransacking. A quick glance at her digital clock revealed that it was 3:43 in the morning. Without a word, she quickly, but quietly opened her nightstand drawer and retrieved her 9mm, before padding over to her bedroom door. Upon further listening, she heard laughter: Cody’s laughter. The gun was then swapped for a robe, before she followed the sounds to her home office. She could see papers and files littering the floor before she even reached the door.

“What in the hell is going on in here!”

Not only were all of her case files thrown about, her desk was overturned, her degrees and awards were ripped off the walls, and her media was scattered across the room. In the center of it all was Cody, maniacally laughing with tears streaming down his face as he stared at the floor.

“I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want it to be true, but it is. I now know it is. Oh Mom, it really happened, didn’t it? It all happened. Oh Dad, why? Why, why, why–”

Completely taken aback, Kelly didn’t know how to respond to her son. He looked disheveled and half-crazed. Mostly, he looked beyond broken.

“Cody, what on Earth are you talking about? What supposedly happened? What’s true?” Kelly asked as she approached. Wet, blue eyes lifted to her gaze, and Cody’s face morphed from heartbroken to enraged.

“I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you!”

Before she could blink, Kelly was falling to the floor with hands wrapped tightly around her neck. Her head banged the hardwood, but she could barely feel the pain due to her throat burning and her eyes feeling as though they were bulging out of their sockets. Sounds were loud, but distant, and she could barely see beyond the blur of her tears. What she did see, however, were the eyes of a killer; her killer, if something didn’t give.

Panicked, she scratched along his wrists with her sharply filed nails, yet he just increased the pressure. She then kneed and hit him, until spots formed in her vision. With her consciousness fading, she spotted her laptop, stretched as far as her fingers could reach, and then hit him across the face with it with the last of her strength.

***

“Mother, what happened last night? I did something, didn’t I?” Cody asked as he and Kelly sat quietly in front of his school. He had woken up to bruises across his cheek, a cut on his nose, and a split lip. Suspiciously, his mother was wearing a thick scarf, and had bandages on several of her fingers.

“Yes, Cody, something did happen, but don’t worry about it. I’m going to fix this. Everything is okay,” Kelly said plainly.

“If I did something, then everything is not okay. Please, tell me what happened. It’s not okay,” Cody insisted.

“It may not be okay right now, but it will be soon. Let me worry about this. You go on to school. I’ll be here at two thirty sharp.”

For a long while, Cody stared at his mother, before he grabbed her into a tight hug. He then gathered his bag and left the car. Refusing to cry, Kelly put on her sunglasses, and then drove off.

***

“Hello, I’m here to see Dr. Cruson. Tell him Kelly Winters needs to speak with him, immediately.”

The receptionist looked up at the leggy blonde woman in Prada who was oozing power, and already knew that her once good morning was about to turn to shit.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but he’s with a client at this time. Do you have an appointment?” she asked, pleasantly.

“No, I do not, and this cannot wait for one, either. I need to speak with him, now,” Kelly said with authority, and the woman decided then and there that she was going to ask for a raise later in the day.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to either make an appointment, or come back at another time. He’s with a client right now and–”

Without waiting another moment, Kelly headed to the office door down the hall.

“Ma’am! You cannot just walk in when… Security!”

“Dr. Cruson, we need to talk,” Kelly said as she walked in on the psychologist and what seemed to be a twelve-year-old boy.

“Ah, Mrs. Winters, how good to see you. Unfortunately, as you can see–”

“It’s okay, Dr. Cruson. I don’t want to be here anyway. You can just tell my dad I had a full session,” the boy spoke up, and Kelly looked from Dr. Cruson to him and then back, expectantly. Just then, the guard entered.

“Is there a problem?” he asked while looking at Kelly. Without flinching, Kelly met his gaze full on.

“No, it’s quite alright, Reese. Please, escort Jimmy out to the lobby, and shut the door on your way out.”

Dutifully, the man obeyed, leaving Dr. Cruson to sigh over the unexpected turn to his day.

“Kelly, what can I do for you?”

“Cody, attacked me last night,” she said, and then whipped off her scarf and threw it across the desk. Deep purple and blue rings surrounded her throat, and Dr. Cruson couldn’t hold back a gasp.

“Yeah, it shocked the hell out of me, too. He may not look it, but he’s
strong
. I debated between coming here and going to the hospital to see if I have any structural damage,” she said, and then barely repressed a shiver at the memory of Cody’s enraged face. She knew that it was not uncommon to hear of women being afraid of their nearly adult sons, but since Cody was only five seven and 125 pounds, Kelly figured she could take him if need be, especially considering she had him by an inch and ten pounds. Never before had she felt so utterly wrong.

“Kelly, I do not understand. What has happened?” Dr. Cruson asked.

“That’s what I would like to know. First, I went to you about the persistent amnesia and night terrors, and then you recommended that I take him to his primary physician. So, I take him to him, he runs every expensive test he could perform, and then says that there is nothing physiologically wrong with Cody, before sending me back to you. Now, here we are again, and he’s worse than ever. In addition to the original night terrors and amnesia, do I now have to prepare for bouts of insanity as well?”

“Please, tell me exactly what happened,” the therapist said, and Kelly had to stop and count to ten. She was too angry to even breath properly, so recollecting her thoughts would take a serious effort.

“The day passed by like any other day. He had been having trouble sleeping, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. He went to school, he came home, we made small talk–”

“What did you talk about?”

“A little of everything, but we mostly talked about his friend Sean and our dog, Sandy. He was convinced that they hated him.”

Upon hearing the word
hate
, Dr. Cruson quickly zeroed in on that topic.

“Did he seem particularly bothered by this prospect?”

“No, not at all. He did his homework, completed his chores, laughed over dinner, and then he went to sleep.”

“I see,” the therapist said, and then made a mental note before moving on. “Did he have any trouble getting to sleep?”

“None that I could tell. He looked peaceful when I checked in on him, even more so than when he takes his pills.”

‘Pills!’
he thought, and then let his mind run over the possibilities. There were countless drugs, legal and illegal, that could lead to a psychotic episode.

“What medication is he taking?” he asked concernedly, and Kelly turned ashen.

“It’s just an herbal sleep aid I found at the health store. I asked our family doctor if it was okay, and he said that he didn’t believe it would cause any problems. Do you think
that
could have caused this?”

Mentally, she was already preparing her lawsuit.

“Kelly, please calm down. It is unlikely that the sleep aid is the culprit, but for the time being, I would discontinue its use to be on the safe side. Please continue,” Dr. Cruson said, disrupting her thoughts.

“About three thirty this morning, I woke up to him destroying my office. He literally tore it apart, and by the time I got to him, he was simultaneously laughing and crying about some event his father and I are supposed to know about.”

“He mentioned his father?” the therapist asked in surprise.

“
Oh yeah.
”

“Was he one of the topics you discussed earlier in the day?”

“No, but I was thinking about him,” Kelly said, before she grew even angrier. “Damn, just the thought of that bastard brings bad juju to my life…! Anyway, right after he mentioned whatever incident he was talking about, Cody decided that I had to die.”

One look into Kelly’s eyes, and Dr. Cruson knew that she wasn’t exaggerating.

“I see. It is quite possible that memories of the divorce are resurfacing. The intrusion of such a painful memory could cause atypical behavior to arise,” he said, pensively.

“That’s just it; he doesn’t remember anything from last night. Besides, why would he attack me? I’m sure as hell not the one that caused the divorce.”

Seeing just how close he was to opening an entirely different can of worms, Dr. Cruson pulled the conversation backed to his patient. He specialized in children for a reason.

“It is not uncommon for memories to resurface disjointed or incomplete, nor is it uncommon for them to be appear fleetingly. The most important thing is that he remembered an event that took place prior to accident, but I cannot make any assessments without interacting with him. I am booked solid for the rest of the day, but I am willing to see him after hours. Can you bring him in at five o’clock?”

“Yeah, we’ll be here.”

***

“Good evening, Cody. How are you feeling, today?” Dr. Cruson asked as he surveyed the boy’s appearance. Besides the markings, he seemed no different from the session he had with him a week ago.

“Physically, I feel fine, but I know something happened last night,” Cody said while looking sadly at Kelly, only shifting his gaze when Dr. Cruson spoke again.

“Do you remember what happened last night?”

“No, I don’t, but I can tell something did. My body is sore, I’m bruised, and my eyes and throat hurt as if I had been crying. Mother has been acting strange as well.”

At that, Dr. Cruson motioned for Kelly to remove her scarf. If possible, it appeared as though the discoloration had gotten worst.

“Oh my God! Am I the cause of that?” Cody asked Dr. Cruson, before turning to Kelly. “Did I do all of that?”

“Yes, Cody, you did,” Dr. Cruson answered. “Mrs. Winters, will you please wait in the lobby? I would like to speak with your son in private.”

Wordlessly, Kelly rewrapped her scarf, and then exited the room. Cody sat perfectly still, shell-shocked.

“Now that we’re alone, we can speak more freely, if you want. Have you had any past memories resurface? It doesn’t matter how small, or seemingly insignificant they may seem. Have you recalled any names, scents or sounds?”

“No, I remember nothing. I’ve tried so hard, but nothing comes,” Cody said quietly. Dr. Cruson decided to change tactics.

“I see… As you already know, your parents separated about a year before your accident. At the time, you were not handling it very well, and once the divorce was finalized, you got worse, which is why we started seeing each other. After your accident, besides your lost memories, you appeared to be doing well, so I didn’t bring any of that up. But, now, however…” Dr. Cruson said, before he calmly walked over to his file cabinet, pulled out a folder, and then silently handed several sheets of paper to Cody.

Cody looked at them oddly, before turning his questioning gaze to the therapist.