Where The Monster Dwells

Chapter 2

The ride seems infernally long. The only thing that would break the silence was the occasional chatter through the radio. Eventually, the cop decided to start up a conversation.

"So, why'd you go to that party? You don't seem like the kid how'd be the first to be invited there." His bluntness strangely calmed me.

"Well, my mom made me go," I muttered in slight embarrassment.

"She what?" He said chuckling.

"Made me go," I repeated.

"You mean to tell me that she encouraged you to attend a party with alcohol?" The cop said.

"Yeah," I said quietly. I didn't really want to talk to him or anyone. I just wanted to be alone right now. However, I knew that this talkative cop was going to talk whether I wanted to talk or not.

The rest of the ride was filled with a very one-sided conversation. He went on to talk about his family and personal issues he was facing. By the time we got to the station, I felt like I knew him more than I knew myself. His name was Graham Watson. He was forty-two and had three children. One of his children was a result from his first marriage, but that marriage ended after two years. His wife had left him after discovering his affair with another man. Graham went on to say that he was happily married with this guy and they had adopted two other children. After it had seemed like I knew everything about him he went on to tell me more. He talked about how he became a cop. How he wanted to help people of the community by enforcing the laws. He wanted to be there first hand within the law system.

We arrived at the station and he open the door to pull me out. "Come on, kid." He said.

He escorted me into the building. I had never really seen a place like this before. It felt foreign. Once again, my hands started to tremble. Graham paused to talk to a co-worker. I began to think about Graham's life. He was someone who was different from the cultural norm. Yet, he managed to overcome the limitations that presented themselves. Now, he was a happy man living the life we always wanted to live. His story was a success story. His life was my life with a few minor alterations. It gave me hope. For once in my life I had hope for a better tomorrow. A tomorrow in which my mental limitations were believed. A tomorrow where I could be a simple, productive member of society. I wanted that for myself. As Graham took me to get my prints into the system, something occurred to me. In a spontaneous car ride Graham had become this confident, happy man that I strived to be. In just moments, he had unknowingly become my role model.

After my sudden epiphany, Graham took me to a phone and told me I had one phone call. "Maybe you could call someone other than your mom, Carver" He said using my name for the first time this night.

"Why would I do that?" I asked.

"Because she's the one that indirectly caused you to be here in this mess."

I thought about what he said to me for a moment before I answered, "To truly be angry with someone you have to understand where they're coming from. If you know their reasons for doing something and you're still mad then you've experienced true anger. If not, you have move on whether or not you want to at that initial point."

"Oh," He said and took a step, "I take it you aren't mad at her?"

"No. My mom is my mom. She's all I have." As I finished speaking I turned to look at the phone picked it up and dialed a familiar number. I hoped that my mom would pick up the phone. I didn't want Randall to answer the phone. I simply wished he wasn't even in the house. He was a creep and just plain evil. I personally consider him to be the reason why Mom never did anything in her life. They were high school sweethearts, but my mom met my unknown father sometime after Randall left to get married. My mom didn't know what to do without love. Love is usually what heals someone, but in my mom's case, love was the weapon of her undoing. She began to fall in a dark place. At least that's what I've been told. This was when my mom fell to drugs and the lust of men. After Randall's wife died in some "accident" he started to stop by my house. He was the one who really pushed my mom into prostitution more than she had ever been.