Wrong Number

The Art of Anesthesia

Song: The Art of Anesthesia

Artist: SayWeCanFly

^^^

That night, when mom came home from work, Kiki told her and Stacy about how she'd been feeling. We talked as a family for hours about how we all dealt with dad leaving us and how we tried to move on. It was a rough conversation. But when Kiki asked for help, mom suggested it'd be good for her to see a therapist so she could talk with someone who'd know how to help her better. As much as we may have been there for her, we couldn't help her the way a professional would.

It broke my heart to see Kiki like that. For so long, I'd been used to seeing her keep a stoic face as she went about her day. She'd been numb for so long, I hoped that when she finally felt something again, it'd be joy. She'd come downstairs and join the conversation, laughing and joking with us like a family.

I wanted to thank Tylor for helping me with Kiki. If we never talked about her that night, I wouldn't have known how to start the conversation with her. Who knew what would have happened if I had never walked into her room?

I didn't want to think negatively about it. She agreed to get help, and we were going to help her find it. We would do whatever we had to.

When I messaged Tylor on Snapchat that night to thank him, he never responded. He never even opened them. I knew he'd been busy working with his band. Even though they weren't playing any concerts, they still liked to meet up to either rehears or hang out. He likely went out with them and went to bed when he got home. Yet when he still hadn't read the message in the morning, I expected the worst.

The only other person I could reach out to about him was Levon. Even though I was sure Tylor was fine, I had this weird, nagging feeling that made me think something was wrong. It had to have been like the one Tylor felt about me with my dad. Could something have happened with Tylor and his own dad? Or was there something else wrong that was even worse?

On my way to Levon's, I stopped at a coffee shop. I figured bringing Levon something to drink would ease him into telling me what was wrong. If there was something wrong. I hoped there wasn't anything wrong.

As I waited for my coffee, I spotted Tylor sitting in a booth in the back. He clenched his mug in his hands and stared blankly at his drink.

Once I had my drink, I walked over and slid into the seat across from him. "Tylor?"

He didn't look up.

"Tylor?" I repeated, and he finally glanced up at me.

"Oh... Hi."

"Hey," I whispered as I placed my hand over his. "Are you okay?"

His eyes glistened as he stared back into his coffee. "I don't know."

"What happened?"

Tylor opened his mouth, the words caught in his throat. He let out a strangled sound before letting go of his mug and running his hand over his face and through his hair. Staring out the window, he said, "I just found out Ryder is my dad."

He chuckled softly once he turned back to me. "That's how I feel."

"Ryder is your dad?" I asked, and he nodded. "How..."

Tylor loudly sighed and ran his hands over his face. "So... I guess Ryder was in denial about being gay when he was a kid, because of our... his dad. Because of grandpa, he dated a girl in his class who had a crush on him for a long time. They had sex, and she was soon pregnant with me. They were both fifteen."

Tylor tightened his hands back around his mug. "My real mom didn't want me, but she couldn't get an abortion. So, Ryder's parents decided they would take the baby when I was born. Since they wanted Ryder to have a more... normal life, go to college, they moved back to their hometown and raised me as his little brother."