Chapter one Part four
With no where else to go, the next stop for Joe was Seattle. It was still summer and so Joe was not used to the sun presenting itself so often, albeit, it still rained most of the time. Little Jeremy stood in the yard, watering the plants. He was now 13 years old with bright red hair and blue eyes. His mother had heard the news and spent that evening after school giving him an earful about his father.When Jeremy suddenly noticed Joe walk up to the house his face struggled to show no emotion. But there was one physical manifestation of his feelings he couldn’t easily hide. The plants began to smell heavily of apple juice.
‘Mom, Dad’s here!!!’ Jeremy announced.
Erica ran to the door.
‘Come inside Jeremy’ she said ‘help your brothers with their homework.’
Joe opened his mouth to talk, but was interrupted.
‘You have a lot of nerve showing up here after what you did.’‘Erica…’
‘I had to find out from the newspaper? Do you know how humiliated I felt? And you couldn’t even pick up the phone.’
‘I’m sorry.’ He uttered, trying to keep his answers short so they wouldn't be interrupted.
‘I guess the reason it took you so long to get here was that you were visiting your other families?’
Joe turned silent.
‘Is it?’ she asked again, as if not believing she was right.‘Can I see the kids?’
‘No.’ she said abruptly. ‘I want a divorce.’ She thought for a moment. ‘Can we even get a divorce? Am I even legally your wife?’
Erica had not yet told Joe about his children’s gifts. They had three children together. There was 13 year old Jeremy with his love for apple juice. There was 11 year old David, who to Erica’s knowledge had not yet presented, and 8 year old Timothy who had a certain influence over water that was, at the time, confined to the bathtub.Even though no one had noticed, 11 year old David had presented with an ability no one could call trivial. When he was sad, or angry, or even anxious it rained. Every mood warranted a different type of downpour. Extreme anger would sometimes even make it hail, as was demonstrated when he was denied his first trip to summer camp a few years earlier. Hail poured over the city for days. It being Seattle, no one noticed.
With no where else to go, the next stop for Joe was Seattle. It was still summer and so Joe was not used to the sun presenting itself so often, albeit, it still rained most of the time. Little Jeremy stood in the yard, watering the plants. He was now 13 years old with bright red hair and blue eyes. His mother had heard the news and spent that evening after school giving him an earful about his father.When Jeremy suddenly noticed Joe walk up to the house his face struggled to show no emotion. But there was one physical manifestation of his feelings he couldn’t easily hide. The plants began to smell heavily of apple juice.
‘Mom, Dad’s here!!!’ Jeremy announced.
Erica ran to the door.
‘Come inside Jeremy’ she said ‘help your brothers with their homework.’
Joe opened his mouth to talk, but was interrupted.
‘You have a lot of nerve showing up here after what you did.’‘Erica…’
‘I had to find out from the newspaper? Do you know how humiliated I felt? And you couldn’t even pick up the phone.’
‘I’m sorry.’ He uttered, trying to keep his answers short so they wouldn't be interrupted.
‘I guess the reason it took you so long to get here was that you were visiting your other families?’
Joe turned silent.
‘Is it?’ she asked again, as if not believing she was right.‘Can I see the kids?’
‘No.’ she said abruptly. ‘I want a divorce.’ She thought for a moment. ‘Can we even get a divorce? Am I even legally your wife?’
Erica had not yet told Joe about his children’s gifts. They had three children together. There was 13 year old Jeremy with his love for apple juice. There was 11 year old David, who to Erica’s knowledge had not yet presented, and 8 year old Timothy who had a certain influence over water that was, at the time, confined to the bathtub.Even though no one had noticed, 11 year old David had presented with an ability no one could call trivial. When he was sad, or angry, or even anxious it rained. Every mood warranted a different type of downpour. Extreme anger would sometimes even make it hail, as was demonstrated when he was denied his first trip to summer camp a few years earlier. Hail poured over the city for days. It being Seattle, no one noticed.
Joe was tired. It had been two days since he slept or ate. This trip had taken its toll, both emotionally and physically, and it was nowhere near finished. Erica sat at the kitchen table and cried. Her three children sitting next to her, helpless to help, were shedding tears of their own. Joe walked to find a place to eat. When he arrived at a diner, all he could order was coffee. He stared out of the window at the rain, oblivious to the fact that his son had manifested it. This was not going well, he thought. He had another flight to catch in an hour and another sleepless night ahead.
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