Destroyer of Time: Pyrokinesis

Chapter Six: The time when tears are necessary

The next day, as I went down the stairs, I had the feeling that the confrontation that I was postponing since yesterday would happen today. I sighed. Not that I couldn’t go back to my room and hide, but I knew that a day would eventually come when it would be inevitable to face him and talk it all out, so it might as well be today. 

I continued going down, remembering last night. After I dropped Nick home and walked back to my house, I immediately went to my room because I knew my dad was still awake, and I felt like a little kid sneaking around. Nick’s mood didn’t change when I left him, and I hoped it lightened up this morning. Now that I thought of it, I guessed it would be better if my dad and I made up because he was the only relative that I knew. Even though I treated Nick like a brother, my dad was still the single connection that I had from my last name. I never met any relatives my entire life, besides Uncle John, who died because of cancer. He was pretty cool, not that I knew much about him because he died when I was just five. Well, I guessed it was time for mending broken hearts. I thought I finally went mentally insane because I was blabbering about broken hearts.

When I reached the final step, I stopped and exhaled deeply. This was the moment where everything would change. I hurried down to the kitchen and saw my dad reading the newspaper. I guess I better start the conversation so we can get this over with.

     “Hey, Dad, ‘morning!” I tried to greet him cheerfully.

     “Hey, Hunter,” he muttered, oblivious to my indifference this morning.

     “Watcha’ readin’?” I asked, trying a way to stir the conversation to the topic of the day.

     “Just some good fresh stories,” he replied dryly.

     “Good for you!” I said, feeling like an i***t now.

     “Hunter, what is this all about?” My dad asked, putting down his newspaper and looking directly at me. I think I swallowed my tongue. I had never been afraid of anyone except this one guy.

     “What happened? Cat got your tongue?” he asked, smirking. The fear went out of the window, and my temper started boiling.

     “Okay, I’m going straight to the point. I want to know what happened yesterday,” I said, trying to control my temper.

     “Yesterday? What happened yesterday?” he asked innocently. This arrogant bastard is trying to play me.

     “When you said that from now on, you would be here, and you will help me, remember?” I declared, having a firm note of irritation in my voice.

     “Oh, that! Right...” he remembered. “It was just a joke,” he shrugged. My patience snapped, and my temper skyrocketed. 

     “A joke? Are you for real? My emotions are not for you to play with. I’ve waited a long time, but I realized that I’m waiting for something that already died a long time ago!” I snapped at him, shouting. Then, I realized that it was the biggest mistake of my life. “I’m sorry about that. I think I should go,” I said, turning back while still trying to rein my control. 

     “No, no, no. I'm sorry. That’s what I get for toying with you. I’m just trying to stall for time, I guess,” my dad said at my back. Then I looked at him and saw the truth in his eyes. “This is very difficult for me. I’m not used to being sentimental, so it’s challenging how to explain it to you. Yeah, it’s true. The things that I said to you yesterday. I want a new start, where we can be both happy and have an actual relationship,” he said shakily, he was smiling, but it was faltering. That was the first time I saw my dad in such a state. It was pretty painful to see it. When I was a kid, I thought that my dad has only one expression: serious. But now that I was watching my dad showed that he was still capable of human emotions, forgiving him maybe a lot easier. I just wanted to know one thing first.

     “Is that so? After all these years, you just decided to pay attention to your kid and have a happy life, huh? Tell me, Dad, what’s really the reason that made you do this?” I said, trying not to sound as confused and doubtful as I felt. 

     “I guess I become so obsessed with myself and my work that I hardly pay attention to anything around me anymore. Then recently, I woke up one morning and realized that I have a kid that I abandoned when he needed me. After so many years, I felt like I snapped out of this trance I was living under. But I said to myself, "s**t. I guess he must really hate me, so why try to fix something that I can't anymore?". So I didn't try to approach you because I didn't want to disturb that peace you found without me." Then while I was cleaning up the basement, I saw your photo album. You know, the one where all your pictures in every event in your life were taken, I realized that even without me, you've been happy. So why destroy it by interfering in your life?".

He rubbed his wet eyes and looked down while I tried not to let the burning in my eyes turn into actual tears. "But then, I saw your wish list, and I read everything. I know that I’m a useless father, but you still keep wishing for me to love you and understand you, and it broke my heart to know that I have a son who has been waiting for me. That I’m not alone in this world." He finally broke down, tears streaming freely from his eyes as he choked, "I wish you can forgive me for everything that I’ve done. For everything that you went through alone because I wasn't there to support you. I know how strong you are to pass all those tests in your life by yourself, and you probably don't need me anymore. I’m the weak one for not realizing that I have my salvation in front of me. You. The one who gripped tighter to the edge and still wishes for me to be there for you even after leaving you hanging for so long. I promised myself that I will always be there for you, even if the world crumbles down. Even if you hate me and don't want anything to do with me, I will be there. I just want to tell you that I’m proud of you and I love you, my son,” he declared, tears dripping in our eyes. He grabbed me and hugged me so tight that I could barely breathe.

     “I forgive you, Dad. I always wanted you to notice me because I feel alone in this world. Now, I guess I can move further if you’re there behind me and supporting me,” I said, hugging him back, allowing the tears I've been holding back fall. We cried out all the anger, resentment, loneliness, and all the pent up emotions we kept inside us for so many years. We let them all out until all we had inside of us were forgiveness and love. I knew that it would take a while to repair our relationship, but knowing that we were at least going to start mending, it brought great joy to me. It had been my dream since I was a young child for my father to love me, and now, it was happening. Finally, my father was there for me. 

After a few minutes of hugging, we let go of each other and wiped the tears on our faces. Then we laughed at each other. I guessed it was hilarious how the world turned. That was the new beginning of life—a new beginning for father and son. 

     “Let’s start a new life, son,” my dad said.

     “Yeah, let's!” I replied happily.

After staring at me for a few seconds, he returned reading his newspaper. There was a smile on his face. Then he folded the paper down and put it on the counter. He grabbed the remote and turned the TV on.

Yeah, I forgot about that habit of his. He was such a news buff that even though he just read the newspaper, he also needed to hear the news playing in the background. 

A woman flashed on the screen. Then I froze when she started reporting.

     “We are here right now on what used to be the club called “The Party.” This club was very famous, especially for young adults. But now, only ashes can be seen from the remains of the entire building." It cut to various images of the ruined structures. "Midnight last night, as the club was closing, a fire ignited inside the facility, taking the lives of twenty-seven young people and the entire club crew. The source of this tragedy hasn't been identified, but the police are working hard to identify it quickly. Based on the witness who noticed the fire and called 911, the club was engulfed quickly by a massive inferno, making it impossible for anyone to escape. Now here’s one of the witnesses that saw what happened."

A guy named Ricky Santos staggered in front of the screen. As if somebody’s gonna believe him. He's our town drunk, for crying out loud, and I bet the news network knows that. They must be desperate for some flashy story to let him appear on TV.

     “I saw what happened. Eleven-fifty last night, I was walking down the street to go home...” he said, acting very skittish and paranoid. His eyes couldn't even look directly at the camera. He just kept glancing around him, seemingly looking for something or someone.

The reporter interrupted him by saying, “Where did you come from that you were walking so late on the street?”

Ricky flushed and stammered at the camera. “I-I... From the store. Buying something,”

     “What are you buying at the store?”

Ricky scowled at the reporter and replied, “What is it to you? What are you gonna do if I say that I bought tampons, huh? Would you care? I’m here because I’m the witness of the fire, not to sit around and talk with Oprah.”

Jeannie Stringfort’s cheek reddened but she managed to keep her composure and continued working on. She looked pretty all the same, and I didn’t mind watching the news every day just to see her. She looked like a walking and breathing doll. She should know by now that talking normally with Ricky wouldn’t get her anywhere. The guy only had a brain for beer and alcohol. I bet that he was walking that late because he just came back from one of his drinking parties. He sure looked like he was hammered still.

     “Okay, then Mr. Santos. Tell us what you see,” Jeannie prodded.

     “Yeah. Then I saw this guy standing in front of this club staring at the sign. I went near him and asked him what he’s doing, and then he replied, “Just trying to etch the memory of this place.” I asked him why but he didn’t say anything back, so I thought that maybe he’s just drunk.” 

     Well, isn’t that ironic? A drunk is asking a drunk about what's what? Good grief.

     “So I continued walking, but I wasn't even very far from the place when something made me turned back. What I saw wasn't the guy standing in front of the club anymore, but the club engulfed in the fire of hell. It wasn't a normal fire, you see, because it just covered the entire place with it. You know how usually, a fire starts small and then becomes big to cover the entire place? It ain't that. The whole place was just on fire suddenly. The firefighters couldn’t even do anything about it. That fire was sent from hell to...”

Ricky never finished because Jeannie retook the mic. “Can you give us any description of the man that you saw standing here before the fire?”

     “Well, the police asked me earlier too, but I can't do that as I said to them. The guy’s cloaked up from head to toe. Maybe he’s an assassin or something,” he replied, then he started jumping, “Or-or-or maybe he’s Grim Reaper, you know the walking skeleton! Or maybe he’s an Alien…” he trailed off because the camera focused on Jeannie. I would have laughed at them if this was any other time, but something was bothering me.

     “Thank you, Mr. Santos. We’ll get back to you folks if there’s any further development. Back to you, Allie.” Then the news anchors in the studio appeared back on the screen. 

I didn’t stick around for Jeannie to finish her speech because before the news anchors could even make their appearances, I was halfway to the door.

     “Hunter!” called out by my dad, which I ignored.

I burst outside with one destination in mind.